Raphael asks: When should I use “a” and when should I use “an” before the different words? For example, should I say “a hour” or “an hour?” I stumble over this everytime and dont’t know if I’m getting it right, as I’m not speaking and writing English natively.
If you want to strongly emphasize a sentence, either because it’s emphatic or humorous, you may sparingly use a exclamation point. But use it sparingly! It’s supposed to express strong emotion. Don’t use more than one at the end of a sentence, unless you’re a strongly-emotional fourteen-year-old girl writing on MySpace.
No, I don’t hate children, young people, babies, infants, toddlers, adolescents, teenagers, or youth. I hate the universal use of the word “kid” or its plural to denote any and all of the categories of juvenile human beings.
For most professionals, communicating by e-mail is a part of daily life. E-mail is a very convenient way to communicate basic information to one or more people. Even though most professionals feel that e-mail makes their lives easier, there are also a number of complications related to e-mail usage.
With some words, a single letter can completely change the meaning. Take the letter ‘c’ and the words climactic and climatic. There’s not much difference in spelling and the words even sound the same, but there’s a world of difference in meaning.
Some English teachers actively encourage their students to depend on active voice, while others allow their students to depend on passive voice. What’s the difference, and why is the difference important?
The ellipsis seems to be one of the most alluring punctuation symbols, and I see it misused everywhere. From student papers to billboards to everyday e-mails and chat logs, the ellipsis is tossed in willy-nilly and often extends to four, five, or even six dots.
In classes I have taught, students lean towards using phrases that they think make them “sound smarter” but end up making their work wordy and clunky. By streamlining your sentences and cutting out a few phrases, you can communicate your point much more effectively.
Writers may all have digital recorders but there are still some times when we need to take notes the old fashioned way. You know, with a pen and paper. If you’re interviewing someone before writing an article, it’s good to take notes just in case the technology fails.
I just read a mystery by Sue Grafton in which her character Kinsey Millhone mentally corrects a maid who responds to her phone call by asking “Who may I say is calling?”
There are a number of words that people have a hard time keeping straight. Usually these words sound alike, but have very different meanings. For instance, should you say “Please accept my complement!” or “Please accept my compliment!”?
There is some confusion and controversy around the definition of homonyms, homophones, homographs and heteronyms. In this article we will explore the difference between those terms. Homonym comes from the Greek homo which means “same” and onym which means “name.” When we talk about words, however, what should we use to define their names? The … Read more