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Search results for “Ho”

Tackling More Tricky Word Choices:
As, Because, and Since

American English is a rich, expressive language. At the same time, it includes words that sometimes appear to be alike but have slight distinctions. Without recognizing those subtleties, we might use one word when we mean another. As, because, and since are three conjunctions that introduce subordinate clauses (those that cannot stand alone in sentences) …

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Whoever vs. Whomever Revisited

In the "English Rules" section of our website, GrammarBook.com, you will find our simple explanation for determining whether to use who or whom. Briefly, this is the trick: who = he (subject pronouns) whom = him (object pronouns) Example: Who/Whom is at the door? He is at the door. Example: For who/whom should I vote? …

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Whoever Would Use Whomever: Read On

Two weeks ago we discussed Americans’ odd fondness for whom. It’s a word that few really understand, but it just sounds so darned cosmopolitan. If we’re infatuated with whom, we’re over the moon about whomever. You hear it everywhere. People love saying it—right or wrong. Just recently, a major American newspaper ran a headline that said “… whomever …

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Whom Abuse Is Rampant

To continue our series on who, whom, whoever, and whomever, today we bring you a Tom Stern classic from September 2013. Consider the humble pronoun. It seems that fewer and fewer Americans know when to say “she” or “he” or “me” instead of “her,” “him,” or “I.” It used to be that little Gloria would run home and …

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Whoever vs. Whomever

In the "English Rules" section of our GrammarBook.com website, and in our blog post Who vs. Whom, you will find our simple explanation for determining whether to use who or whom. Briefly, this is the trick: who = he (subject pronouns) whom = him (object pronouns) Example: Who/Whom is at the door? He is at the door. Example: For who/whom should I vote? …

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Who vs. Whom

Let's crack the code for who and whom. It is easier than you might imagine. The following are informal methods rather than rules; however, they really work! Rule: Use who when you could replace it with he. Example: Who/whom is standing by the gate? We would say, "He is standing by the gate." So who is correct. Example: Gail wished she knew who/whom won. Gail …

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How Are You—Good, Well, or Fine?

We at GrammarBook strive to cover both current and established topics of relevance to you, our dedicated band of careful writers and grammarians. Periodically we still receive inquiries about when we should use the adjectives good, well, and fine. We, perhaps as you do, also still hear and read these words used incorrectly. We addressed the subject of Good vs. Well in …

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Media Watch: Word Choice, Articles, Pronouns

These articles used to be a lot more fun to write, but that was before newspapers and magazines went on life support. Mainly, we do “Media Watch” for the copy editors, those unsung word nerds who make journalists watch what they say and how they say it. When companies struggle, they downsize, so we shudder …

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Word Choice: Small Is Still Better Than Big

The true size of the English language is often debated and probably impossible to determine. Those who do try to quote the count tend to agree that English includes about 250,000 to 300,000 distinctly usable words. The second edition of the 20-volume Oxford English Dictionary (2009) comprises 171,476 words in current use; 47,156 obsolete words; …

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Whether to Give a Hoot About Moot

Those who follow the evolution of English understand that some words with a once-fixed identity can get pulled into the pool of common use and begin to lose their form. Some words become a new creation. Others obtain a duality that makes them hard to discern. One such word is moot. Dating back to the …

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