Search results for “verb”

Many nouns in English have a plural form either with an s/es ending or without. For example, when is it correct to use youth vs. youths, fish vs. fishes, or hair vs. hairs? Use youths and hairs when countable. Example: Three youths were given awards for community service. If youth is being used collectively, do …

Proper use of certain English adjective and adverb forms of a word can be elusive because of what they describe. One such pair is bad and badly. The word bad is an adjective that modifies nouns and pronouns: She was in a bad accident. The word badly is an adverb that conveys the manner or degree of …

Homonyms often cause confusion. Here are a few tricky ones, mostly all vs. al- words, clarified for you. Allot vs. A Lot The word allot means "to parcel out." Example: The company will allot each of us a cell phone. The expression a lot means "many" or "much." Examples: We had a lot of fun. …

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? …

Good is an adjective while well is an adverb answering the question how. Sometimes well also functions as an adjective pertaining to health. Examples: You did a good job. Good describes job, which is a noun, so good is an adjective. You did the job well. Well is an adverb describing how the job was …

What is a gerund and why do you need to know? Maybe it would be better to answer the second part of the question first so that you have some motivation to identify gerunds. If you are able to pick the gerund(s) out in your sentence, you will avoid a grammar gaffe that often goes …

Affect and effect are similar words with comparable meanings and pronunciations, so it’s little wonder that so many speakers of American English confuse the two. Here we will provide a quick guide for using the two words correctly. Rule 1. Use the verb effect when you mean bring about or brought about, cause or caused. …

Spacing after periods, colons, question marks, and exclamation marks Originally, typewriters had monospaced fonts (skinny letters and fat letters took up the same amount of space), so two spaces after ending punctuation marks such as the period were used to make the text more legible. However, most computer fonts present no difficulty with proportion or …

Punctuation within sentences can be tricky; however, if you know just a few of the following rules, you will be well on your way to becoming a polished writer and proofreader. Rule: Use a comma between two long independent clauses when conjunctions such as and, or, but, for, nor connect them. Example: I have painted …

Let's crack the code for who and whom. It is easier than you might imagine. In addition, I will give you the technique for learning when to use whoever vs. whomever. 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 …