Search results for “19”

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 …

For some people, punctuation in English might be a fuss over details. For others, it provides vital markers for clear, precise, and eloquent writing. For yet others, a missing apostrophe can represent a great expense. In October 2020, an Australian man claimed in a Facebook post that a real estate agent did not pay his …

Contractions in English are the shortening of words, phrases, or numerals by omitting characters and replacing them with an apostrophe. The apostrophe represents the missing letters or numbers. You likely use contractions daily in your communications. In writing and speech, they help us save time in exchanging thoughts and ideas. They conserve space and length …

English has four types of sentence structures: simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex. In this review, we’ll discuss what a compound sentence is. A compound sentence is one that includes at least two independent clauses that are connected by a conjunction and a comma or by a semicolon. Examples Ricky went to the park on his bike, …

Than and then look and sound alike, and both are used in casual conversation all the time. Because of their similarity, they can sometimes be tricky to keep straight, especially in writing. In today's post we'll review the differences between than and then so you know how to use both correctly within your communications. The …

American English can be flexible and expressive in conveying thoughts and ideas. For example, we might write or say something such as that guitar has been lounging in my living-room corner since Reagan was president. Many of us may understand what that sentence conveys, but some of us might also ask ourselves if a guitar …

The chances are good that you have seen (and may even own) some collectibles. At the same time, you probably have other things that were collectable. The real question, though, is whether you know the difference between the two words. If not, today's post should be a big help. Collectible vs. Collectable Let's start by …

The en dash and the em dash offer different functions for punctuation. They also have different ways they can be made using a keyboard. In this brief discussion, we’ll review common uses of the en dash and the em dash as well as methods for forming them with your keyboard. En Dash An en dash …

Those who write in American English may sometimes wonder when to abbreviate a word as well as how to abbreviate it. This review will help address those questions. An abbreviation is a shortened or contracted form of a word or a phrase (e.g., Mister to Mr.). If you're ever in doubt about when and how …