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Using “and” and “but”: Connecting Words Make a Difference
Conjunctions, such as and, but, or, and so, can make a difference in the meaning of your sentence. Be sure to choose the right one. Conjunctions are...
read moreConverting Nouns to Verbs has a Long History
Language traditionalists bristle when people use nouns as verbs and vice versa, but such conversions have a long history in English. Just be...
read moreUse Helping Verbs Only When They Help
Helping verbs (is, are, was, were, will be, etc.) often are necessary to express a point in time (verb tense), but you can strengthen your sentence...
read moreCreate Tight, Crisp Writing with a Semicolon
To make your writing a little tighter and more snappy, become friends with the semicolon. The semicolon is a misunderstood punctuation mark. Some...
read moreUsing Correct Punctuation with “because” and “however”
Where to use commas and semicolons can be challenging in many sentences, but how to punctuate around because and however can cause considerable head...
read moreKnow When to Capitalize
Excessive capitalization is widespread in business, particularly in job titles. Know when it’s appropriate to capitalize. People frequently...
read moreCommas are No Small Matter
Many people think that whether to put a comma before “and” in a series is a trivial issue, but two judges disagreed. For decades, people have...
read moreUse a Dash for Emphasis, a Hyphen for Clarity
People often confuse dashes and hyphens. Dashes are used for three reasons, most commonly to mark off information that you want to stress. Hyphens commonly join two or three words that are used together to form one adjective, modifying an adjoining word.
read moreDoes a meaningful job matter?
Managers and executives who want to motivate employees try various tactics: contests, free food, bonuses, and rousing speeches from a stage. But...
read morePuzzling Pairs: Words that Confuse Writers
English has many troublesome pairs that often perplex writers, because many words in English are similar to others but are not synonyms. Here are...
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