



July 4, 2022
Churchgoer, Concertgoer, Park Goer?
TOPICS: GOER, hyphenationChurchgoer and concertgoer are in the dictionary, which puts to rest any questions of whether they should be one word, two words or hyphenated. But what if you want to write about someone who goes to the park or the mall or the track? Dictionaries don't list goer as a suffix, which means it's not a good idea to attach it to any word you like. Here's what you need to know about using goer.
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June 27, 2022
The Peculiar Power of 'Every'
TOPICS: COPY EDITING, SINGULAR VERB WITH EVERY, SUBJECT VERB AGREEMENTThe word "every" has an unusual property: Add it to a some sentences that require a plural verb, like "The dog and cat are in the yard," and suddenly you need the singular verb: "Every dog and cat is in the yard." Here's the whole story.
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June 20, 2022
How to Write Academic Degrees
TOPICS: COPY EDITING, GRAMMAR, PERIODS IN PHDPhD or Ph.D.? Master's or masters? Here's how to write academic degrees.
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June 13, 2022
Do You Know About Dummy Operators?
Sometimes when we form questions, a word appears out of nowhere: the word “do.” Grammarians call it a dummy operator. Here's what you need to know.
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June 6, 2022
Upside Down Subordination
TOPICS: COPY EDITING, EFFECTIVE WRITING, GRAMMAR, SUBORDINATE CLAUSES, SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS, UPSIDE DOWN SUBORDINATIONWhen you accidentally emphasize the wrong information in your sentence, your message can fall flat. Here's how subordinating conjunctions can put your reader's attention right where you want it.
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May 30, 2022
How to Use a Dictionary
TOPICS: GRAMMAR, past participles, SUPERLATIVES AND COMPARATIVES, SWAM VS. SWUMDon't know whether to choose "gotten" or "got"? Need to know the plural of "medium"? What's the correct spelling of "doughnut/donut"? Does your sentence require "swam" or "swum"? To most people, these answers are out of reach. But once you understand how to use a dictionary, a whole world of answers opens up.
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May 23, 2022
Spacing Between Sentences and Around Ellipses
TOPICS: COPY EDITING, GRAMMAR, ONE SPACE AFTER A PERIOD, ONE SPACE OR TWO BETWEEN SENTENCESLong ago you were supposed to double space after every sentence because old typewriters gave the same amount of space for every character, be it a tiny period or a capital W. Today, almost all publishers agree you should use just one space between sentences. Here's the whole story, plus how to space around ellipses (hint: use a space before ellipses).
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May 16, 2022
Parts of Speech
TOPICS: COPY EDITING, GRAMMAR, PARTS OF SPEECHNouns, pronouns, verbs, articles, adjectives, adverbs, conjunctions, and prepositions are the building blocks of communication. Here's a quick overview.
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May 9, 2022
Weak Sentences and How to Fix Them
TOPICS: GRAMMAR, SENTENCE STRUCTUREFaulty sentence structure can make your writing ineffective or even unreadable. Often, you can fix these simply by finding the main clause and making its subject tangible and its verb action-oriented.
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May 2, 2022
50 Easily Confused Words to Watch Out For
TOPICS: COMPLIMENT VS. COMPLEMENT, COPY EDITING, GRAMMARStationary and stationery, breath and breathe, dessert and desert, compliment and complement: Here are the words that can cause errors even if you know better.
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