Grammar Underground - Podcast | Grammar Underground with June Casagrande

November 10, 2025

The 'Enormity' of the Storm?

TOPICS: enormity, GRAMMAR

If you use the word "enormity" to refer to size, that's OK. However, its main meaning isn't about size at all but instead about being wicked, vicious or improper.

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November 3, 2025

Spacing Around Punctuation

TOPICS: DOUBLE SPACE AFTER A PERIOD, GRAMMAR, SPACE AROUND DASHES, spaces around ellipses

You should never double-space between sentences. You can choose whether or not to put spaces around dashes. And ellipses should always be preceded by a space. Here's more about when to space around punctuation.

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October 27, 2025

Nominalizations

TOPICS: GRAMMAR, NOMINALIZATIONS, PLAIN LANGUAGE, VERBS

What makes a sentence like the following so awful: "The planning of the redecorating of the house was a decision made by Betty." Answer: nominalizations — nouns rooted in another part of speech, usually a verb or adjective. "Planning," "redecorating" and "decision," for example, are more dynamic in their verb forms: "Betty planned to redecorate the house." Here's the full explanation.

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October 20, 2025

How to Punctuate Bulleted Lists

TOPICS: BULLETED LISTS, GRAMMAR, PUNCTUATION

You can usually choose whether you want to punctuate bulleted items listed vertically. But a good guide: If each bulleted item is a complete sentence, consider ending each with a period. If each bulleted item is less than a sentence, often no punctuation is best. Here's the full story.

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October 13, 2025

Semicolons in a Series

TOPICS: GRAMMAR, PUNCTUATION, SEMICOLONS

Semicolons that enable unnecessarily long or complicated sentences should be avoided. But when it comes to organizing items in a series, the semicolon can be a lifesaver.

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October 6, 2025

Indefinite Pronouns

TOPICS: GRAMMAR, INDEFINITE PRONOUNS

One. Anyone. Neither. Little. Someone. Some of the most useful pronouns don't refer to anyone specific at all. These are the indefinite pronouns.

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September 29, 2025

Adverse and Averse

TOPICS: ADVERSE AND AVERSE, GRAMMAR

Before you say you're adverse to an idea, take care: You probably mean averse.

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September 22, 2025

The Reason Is Because?

TOPICS: GRAMMAR, THE REASON IS BECAUSE

Some people say "the reason is because" should be "the reason is that." Their logic: "reason" already covers the cause meant by "because." But while it may be a little circular, it's not necessarily wrong.