Search results for “yb”

A relative pronoun substitutes for a noun to introduce a subordinate (dependent) clause, which is one that must be joined with an independent (main) clause to complete the sentence in which it appears. A dependent clause led by a relative pronoun is also referred to as a relative clause. You might hear it called an …

We may often find ourselves distinguishing between two words that sound the same but have different meanings. In today’s post, we have a threesome of such words. That’s because palette, palate, and pallet are all said the same way, but each has a unique meaning and spelling. To help you tell them apart, let’s begin …

An indefinite pronoun is one that refers to an unspecified or unidentified person or thing. Unlike a definite pronoun, it is vague, and it does not have an antecedent. She drives the car. (The pronoun reference is specific to a person.) Anyone can drive the car. (The pronoun reference is general; no particular person is …

Two common figures of speech in English are the simile and the metaphor. Sometimes their functions are confused or mistaken. In this discussion we'll further explore what a metaphor means and how it can enhance our writing when properly used. What Is a Metaphor? Before we focus on the meaning and function of a metaphor, …

The em dash in American English is a punctuation mark that helps to convey emphasis, introduction, interruption, or a swift change of thought. In doing so, the em dash acts similarly to commas, semicolons, colons, and parentheses. In formal writing, an em dash is the width of an m and longer than both a hyphen and an …

The en dash and the em dash offer different functions for punctuation. They also have different ways they can be made using a keyboard. In this brief discussion, we’ll review common uses of the en dash and the em dash as well as methods for forming them with your keyboard. En Dash An en dash …

We've probably all either seen or written the abbreviations i.e. and e.g. Some of us may have understood them, and some of us may have not been sure. For example, perhaps we've come across a statement such as: Please bring something to the potluck dinner (i.e., salad, appetizer, dessert). The context of that statement doesn't …

When we want to express a reciprocal relationship between two things, should we write eachother as one word or each other as two words? Plenty of American English speakers ask this question, including many who grew up with the language. Fortunately, this area of grammar is rather simple to sort out. The short answer is …

We conclude each twelve-month grammatical trip with a review of what we’ve studied and learned together. The 2020 master quiz features twenty-five items inspired by the year’s many different GrammarBook articles.

Pronunciation changes gradually through the years—that’s evolution, and nothing could be more natural. But nowadays, if an influential public figure goes on TV or the Internet and says a word wrong, millions of people hear it, and the mispronunciation may gain an undeserved legitimacy. That isn’t evolution, it’s weeds taking over a rose garden. Virtually …