Search results for “conjunction”

It's another new year, and all of us at GrammarBook.com hope yours is off to an inspired start—including looking forward to another full year of mastering American English. At the start of each new year, we review what we've explored with you during the previous twelve months of discussion and study. The 2022 master quiz …

Mr. Burns is wiser than I. Tara knows more about football than baseball. Yama's thinking seeks truth; his writing, the expression of it. Many of us are familiar with these types of statements in English. They are elliptical sentence constructions, which omit sentence components without losing clarity. Those components can be words, phrases, or clauses. …

Have you ever found yourself wondering whether you need a comma before or after the word however? If so, you aren't alone. This is a minor point of grammar that is often questioned, debated, and searched. It can sometimes even be difficult to find a good answer online. We are going to fix that in …

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 …

Those who enjoy and study grammar often do so because they are inspired by the clear and eloquent expression of thoughts. They understand that when we open our mouths, put pen to paper, or begin to type, our minds are on parade. Precision in writing and speech involves the steady acquisition of grammatical details, or …

English provides us with punctuation as a system of symbols and signs that allow us to structure, pace, and clarify communication. When used correctly, punctuation contributes to succinct and persuasive writing (the word punctuation originates from the Latin punctuare, which means “making a point”). When used incorrectly, it can confuse and even repel our readers. …

American English grammar includes many components we use every day but may not always examine. For instance, you probably say, write, and hear noun clauses constantly even if you wouldn't be instantly ready to explain what they are. In this article we'll review the definition of a noun clause. We'll also look at its parts …

American English is rife with details concerning written style. One common item concerns how to punctuate lists and particularly whether to include commas in them. In this review, we'll consider ways you can approach presenting content in lists. Our focus will be on lists in a vertical format as opposed to in sentence form (e.g., …

Many of us have seen a run-on sentence or what we thought might be one. Even if we couldn't explain technically why it was a run-on, we intuited that such a sentence included elements that were either improperly joined or insufficiently separated. In this discussion, we'll further review run-on sentences as well as different ways …

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 …