Sep 4, 2019 | Communication, Editing, Effective Writing, Punctuation and Grammar
Excessive capitalization is widespread in business, particularly in job titles. Know when it’s appropriate to capitalize. People frequently uppercase a word because they saw it capitalized elsewhere, because it “looks right,” or because they just...
Aug 28, 2017 | Punctuation and Grammar
English has many troublesome pairs that often perplex writers, because many words in English are similar to others but are not synonyms. Here are some “twins” that often leave a writer wondering which one is appropriate and why. i.e. and e.g. — Using...
Aug 7, 2017 | Punctuation and Grammar
Strunk and White’s “Elements of Style,” for 60 years a bible of good writing for many students and adults, is still valuable but has some “cockamamie advice,” says famed linguist Steven Pinker. In an essay titled Writing in the 21st...
Aug 30, 2016 | Punctuation and Grammar
Dashes are not a one-size-fits-all answer each time you need to pause. People frequently use dashes interchangeably with the comma: Anytime they want to pause, they just toss in dashes without realizing that the nature of the information dictates whether a dash is...
Aug 23, 2016 | Punctuation and Grammar
With all the nuances of the English language, writers often are stare at a sentence and ask, is that right? Here are a few issues people commonly ask about. Starting a sentence with and – Because many teachers said it was wrong, there remains a persistent...