September 9, 2024

A Dimly Lit Room or a Dimly Lighted Room?

Some people have strong feelings on whether the detective "lit" a cigarette or "lighted" it and whether a room was dimly "lit" or "lighted." Turns out, they're both fine and about equally good.

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September 2, 2024

Sometimes, 'Both' Must Go

“The hospital provides a supportive work environment for both doctors and nurses.”

That “both” is, technically, just fine. But when “both” is immediately followed by a plural noun, it could momentarily be construed to be modifying that noun only. Someone looking at the phrase “both doctors and nurses” might first read it as “both doctors” and wonder which two doctors you’re talking about.

Here's more on why editors often chop out "both."

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August 19, 2024

'An AAA member' or 'a AAA member'?

The indefinite article "a" comes before a word that starts with a consonant sound, while "an" precedes a word that starts with a vowel sound. So because A.A. starts with the sound "ay," it's preceded by "an." And because AAA is pronounced "triple-a," most publications use "a" and not "an." Even the auto club writes "Become a AAA member."

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August 12, 2024

When to Capitalize After a Colon

After a colon, don't capitalize the first word unless it's a proper noun or it begins a complete sentence. In book editing style, only if a colon introduces two complete sentences should the first generic word be capitalized.

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August 5, 2024

'Trouper' vs. 'Trouper'

If you want to write that someone is enduring a tough situation, you'd choose the o-u spelling: "You're a real trouper." But sometimes "trooper" can have the same meaning. Here's the full story.

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July 29, 2024

Can 'Since' Mean 'Because'?

"Since" refers to a time span: Since Joe was five, he has always loved cars. "Because" suggests a cause-and-effect relationship. Because he’s still just ten, he doesn’t own one yet. But "since" can be a synonym of "because" — just be sure to use it wisely.

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July 15, 2024

'Ran Him Over' or 'Ran Over Him'?

With phrasal verbs like "run over," "throw away," "give up" and many others, put the object where it sounds best because you're almost certain to be correct. In many cases, like "ran him over" and "ran over him," both are fine.

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July 8, 2024

A Friend of Joe's or a Friend of Joe?

"Of" shows possession, so technically the apostrophe and S in "a friend of Joe's" contains a logical redundancy. But that doesn't mean it's wrong.

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July 1, 2024

Don't Confuse 'Compliment' and 'Complement'

Think of "compliment" as praise and "complement" as something that goes well with something else. Think of "complimentary" as praising or, in its other meaning, free of charge. Think of "complementary" as going well together.

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June 24, 2024

Can a Sentence Begin with 'But'?

A reader was taught in school that "but" can't begin a sentence — that you either have to connect the clause to the previous sentence, preceded by a comma, or you have to use "however" instead. Unlucky for her but luckily for us, she was taught wrong.

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