Search results for “OGR”

Each writer's art is the formation of voice and technique over time. The more we write, the more we find and reveal thoughts and words connected only as we might convey them. The more we study and apply the principles for shaping good writing, the more eloquent and precise we can become. Writing differs from …

We often use language techniques and functions in our writing and speech with such familiarity that we might not even know what they are nor what we're applying. As one more-recognizable example, when we merge will with not to form won't, we are contracting the words. Another operation we use with instinct but perhaps not …

Many of us have heard of prefixes and suffixes along the way in learning English grammar. Prefixes and suffixes both belong to a larger category, the affix. An affix is any bound morpheme attached to a root word to form a new word or word form with a new meaning. Because they are morphemes, affixes …

There are too many orange M&Ms in this bowl. There is a lot of congestion on I-88 into the city. There's a piece of confetti in your hair. If you're an American communicating in American English, such statements are as common as corn in the Midwest. There is, there are, and the contracted there's are …

We often relate the word “verb” with an action: We eat, we work, we talk, we sleep. These verbs are also referred to as dynamic verbs. However, not all verbs describe physical actions. Some express: senses opinions thoughts ownership or measurement states of being emotions or feelings Such verbs are known as stative verbs. Examples …

Would you please hand me that flower vase, my dear? Joaquin, how much rice does the recipe call for? You know, my friend, I'm not sure if we're going to make it on time. Most of us are familiar with expressions like these. We might also communicate in similar ways when writing salutations such as …

Let's say you need to speak with a boarding agent about your flight. Or perhaps you're interested in an associate's progress on a project, or you just want to see how a friend's day is coming along. Any of these inquiries might be described as “checking in.” It's an easy concept to understand and to …

What do you call someone who has just entered their first year of high school or college? It's easy to confuse the words freshman and freshmen. They are spelled almost identically, and it's easy to miss the difference sometimes when we hear them spoken aloud. So how can we tell freshman and freshmen apart? Let's …

There's a chance that at some point in your communication in English, you've read or written a word that sounds like the right one when spoken but is misspelled in print. One such example is the use of "you're" when the context means "your" (or vice versa). This common tendency is the result of what …

The subject of transmitted disease became relevant for all of humanity in late 2019 with the onset of COVID-19. As the disease spread and infected people all over the world, the word pandemic also gained prominence in our daily communications. English includes different words to convey the geographic scale of disease: endemic, epidemic, and pandemic. …