Search results for “18”

An octopus is a marine cephalopod mollusk that has a soft body and eight arms. What word should we use if we are referring to more than one of these invertebrate animals? Two Ways to Spell the Plural of Octopus Unlike many words in the English language, the word octopus has more than one spelling …

English, like any language, is a body in constant motion. We maintain a system of grammar and syntax to give it an understood structure and clarity, yet we also recognize that language adapts as times and people change. GrammarBook.com has always advocated for proper principles of grammar in daily formal writing. At the same time, …

Numbers can often present different style questions in American English. When should we spell them, and when shouldn't we? In particular, what are ordinal numbers and what are cardinal numbers, and how do we treat them? Mastering these distinctions will refine your precision in your daily writing. For this discussion, we'll review style guidance from …

Another year of exploring the vast terrain of American English comes to a close. Once again, our routes of study with you have been rich with thought and discovery. We are thankful that you, our dedicated readers, joined us in the pursuit of greater precision and eloquence for self-expression. Each year, we wrap up the …

As November 11 approaches, some people may wonder how to write the name of the November 11 American holiday that commemorates the end of world-war hostilities in 1918 and 1945 as well as all who have served the U.S. Armed Forces. Do we use an apostrophe when spelling Veterans Day? The answer is no. According …

As the third Sunday in June approaches, many of you may be wondering how to write the name of the holiday—is it Father's Day, Fathers' Day, or Fathers Day? We last looked into the topic of where to properly place holiday apostrophes in a 2018 newsletter. Today we provide an update. Do You Use an …

The which vs. that usage dilemma pops up when working with dependent clauses—also known as subordinate clauses—that require one of these two relative pronouns. A dependent clause contains a subject and a predicate but cannot stand alone as a complete, independent sentence. Which and that are used with essential (also called restrictive) clauses, which contain …

You might sometimes wonder whether it's all right to use the word alright. As it turns out, there is a mostly right answer to that. The Meaning of All Right and Alright The two-word expression all right is a short way of saying "all is right." That phrase itself is a quicker version of the …

We conclude each twelve-month grammatical trip with a review of what we’ve studied and learned together. The 2020 master quiz features twenty-five items inspired by the year’s many different GrammarBook articles.

Governments, businesses, and private people alike often look to soften an idea they think may hurt, offend, or dishearten another. For that reason, they develop and use alternate phrasing intended to sugarcoat certain connotations. For example, a company reducing staff is not "firing people"; it is "downsizing." People aren't "poor"; they are "economically disadvantaged." We …