August 31, 2026

Evacuate

Do you evacuate a building? Or are the people in it evacuated? Both are fine because "evacuate" is both a transitive and an intransitive verb.

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August 24, 2026

What We Can Learn From the Question 'Aren't I?'

The grammatical way to ask whether I am something would be "Amn't I?" But you don't have to sound so stuffy when the ungrammatical "Aren't I?" is completely acceptable. And that's all the proof you need that sometimes common usage is more important than grammar rules.

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August 17, 2026

Sentence Fragments

To be complete, a sentence needs a subject and a verb. Incomplete sentences, known as fragments, can be powerful, but only when used on purpose.

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August 12, 2026

Forming Plurals of Latin Words

It's tempting to show off your knowledge of Latin by insisting of saying "octopi" and "cacti." But the Latin words that have been adopted by English may or may not use English rules for forming plurals.

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August 3, 2026

Passive Voice

Passive voice is widely misunderstood and often misused. Here's how and when active voice is your friend.

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July 27, 2026

If a Title Is in Quotation Marks, How Do You Make It Plural or Possessive?

In the editing styles that put movie and book titles in quotation marks, how do you make those titles into plurals and possessives, like The future will not bring us more "Gone With the Winds" and The legacy is "Casablanca's"? No one's saying, exactly. But there's a precedent for putting the possessive or plural S inside the quotation marks.

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July 20, 2026

Vis-a-vis

If you're using vis-a-vis to mean "regarding," you should probably learn its primary meaning first.

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July 6, 2026

Predicate Adjective at the Beginning of a Sentence

Also delicious is the apple pie.

Flipping around a sentence like "The apple pie is also delicious" so that the adjective comes before the verb is perfectly grammatical, and it can be a good way to vary your sentences. But it could also mean you have nothing of substance to say.

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June 22, 2026

Synonyms, Antonyms, Homonyms, Homophones and Homographs

You know what a synonym is. But can you say the same for homonyms, homophones, homographs and antonyms?

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June 15, 2026

Upside-down Subordination: A Subtle Problem Undermining Your Writing

When your most important or interesting information is in a subordinate clause instead of the main clause, it can dampen the effect. Here's how to spot and fix upside-down subordination.

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