Hello there! I’m back to resurrect this blog with a question from a reader (hi Jenn!): What’s the deal with verbs that have more than one version… Read more “T/ED Talk”
Tag: words about words
Contraction conundrum
My friend Jackie texted me a question a few weeks ago that got me thinking about the weirdness of English again. She wondered if one should prefer… Read more “Contraction conundrum”
Words mean things
Writers (yes, even me) sometimes joke about having license to make up new words, but the ones that already exist have meanings ascribed to them, so you… Read more “Words mean things”
A portmanteau does so much more than hold your coat
Athleisure. Brunch. Franglais. What do all these words have in common? They’re known as portmanteau words, which combine portions of two (or more) individual words to create… Read more “A portmanteau does so much more than hold your coat”
Getting all the way to fluency
Recently I’ve been writing a lot about learning English, for a client, and it occurs to me that there are a lot of ways to do it… Read more “Getting all the way to fluency”
Comma chameleon
Reader request time! A friend asked for some information about when to use commas correctly (and when they are unnecessary). It’s a tough topic for me to… Read more “Comma chameleon”
Me, myself, and I
Who’s there? It’s me. Who’s there? It is I! Pop quiz: which of the above exchanges is grammatically correct? If I tell you it’s the second one,… Read more “Me, myself, and I”
I think I can, I think I can…
I bet most of you can think of a time when you’ve been corrected on your use of the word “can” – probably by an older adult… Read more “I think I can, I think I can…”
The invisible hand of the editor
No one writes it perfect the first time. That’s why there are editors in the world. When I was young and just starting out as a writer,… Read more “The invisible hand of the editor”
Let me lay it out for you
I’m not going to lie: I have been trying to write this blog post for two weeks. Coherently and clearly explaining the correct use of “lie” and… Read more “Let me lay it out for you”
