Search results for “answer”

Have you ever heard of a concrete noun? Right away we'll establish that it isn't a noun that weighs more than others—rather, it is a division of nouns. Being familiar with concrete nouns can help you further improve your grammar and your communicative skills. In this quick post, we'll discuss what a concrete noun is, …

If you want to say how you ordered letters to form a word, would you express that you spelt the word or spelled it? For many of us, both versions might feel as if they are the same, so how can you choose the right one? We'll address that for you here. Should You Write …

One interesting thing about grammar is that we may often use it correctly without even realizing how or why. In other words, we might know the best way to apply a word or a phrase even if we can't explain it. As natural to us as the air that we breathe, simple subjects appear in …

Whether in conversation or in writing, we have likely shared expressions such as "if I were you" or "if I was in your position." We might also find ourselves shifting between "if I was" and "if I were" when making such statements. In these cases, we have a 50 percent chance of being grammatically right. …

Adverbs are important to writing and speaking in English. However, even though adverbs are taught in school, many of us may not often consider them in such a way; they become words rather than parts of speech to us. We'll review what adverbs are, how they are used, and what they can add to our …

Part of being a precise and eloquent communicator is conveying the right point of view. Person is used in grammar to distinguish who is speaking, who is being addressed, and who is not speaking or being addressed. Grammatical person includes first person, second person, and third person. In this post we will help you understand …

Imagine you are reading the police-report section of your community newspaper. Someone has been committing a rash of local burglaries. The description in the report says, "The man is identified as being age 20 to 25 and approximately 5'9" to 6' tall with shoulder-length blond hair weighing 160 to 170 pounds." You furrow your brow …

Inquiry and enquiry are closely related words—so close that some consider them to be the same and others don't know what differences (if any) exist. This can make precision a challenge, but it's one that we can master with a bit of mindfulness. Let's discuss proper use when we're stuck at whether to make an …

An infinitive is the root form of a verb before it is conjugated. It contains the main verb and the word "to": to write, to study, to wish, to walk. An infinitive is split when something separates the main verb from its "to." Few grammatical items have received a rougher rap. As with starting a …

English verbs are simple to work with when they are regular—i.e., they follow an obvious pattern for conjugating their past tense and past participle. Verb Infinitive Present Tense Past Tense Past Participle to breathe breathe, breathes breathed breathed to dine dine, dines dined dined to jump jump, jumps jumped jumped The pattern is basic and …