Search results for “bbin”

We use verb tense in English to communicate when an action or state of being occurred. We also combine verb tense with grammatical aspect, which further indicates time-related characteristics such as the tense's duration, completion, or repetition. English has three tenses (past, present, future) and four aspects (simple, perfect, progressive, perfect progressive), creating twelve primary …

To many Americans, big words are an affront. People who use fancy words are trying to show us up, flaunting their education and intelligence, rubbing our noses in our own shortcomings. It’s true there are people who use their vocabularies to intimidate. It’s a shabby tactic, and it’s sad how effective it can be. Many …

I was on a mission. It was dicey. It was bold. It had cloak-and-dagger undertones, although the weather was too balmy for a cloak, and rather than a sharp weapon I was wielding a Sharpie Permanent Marker. Let me set the scene. I live in a charming little tourist trap in Northern California. A couple …

What happens when you come across a word you don’t know? Do you just keep reading? Most people do. They believe they can figure out a word’s meaning by looking at the sentence and using common sense. Maybe they’re right … but what if they’re wrong? Here is a passage from a profile of a …

Several readers have asked why kinship names, such as names of brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, etc., are sometimes capitalized and sometimes not. Let’s have a closer look. Rule 1: Capitalize a kinship name when it immediately precedes a personal name or is used alone, in place of a personal name. Examples Andy and …