Adjectives have inflections. That is, adjectives change in spelling according to how they are used in a sentence. Adjectives have three forms: positive, comparative, and superlative. The simplest form of the adjective is its positive form. When two objects or persons are being compared, the comparative form of the adjective is used. When three or … Read more
Ambivalent (ăm-bÄv’É™-lÉ™nt) is an adjective used to characterize things that have conflicting feelings or attitudes. If you are ambivalent about politics, for example, you have opposite feelings about it. Google evokes ambivalent feelings. Some users now keep their photos, blogs, videos, calendars, e-mail, news feeds, maps, contacts, social networks, documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and credit-card information—in … Read more
The words quiet (two syllables) and quite (one syllable) are frequently confused. Quiet! Please be quite. Quiet! I encountered this bit of dialogue in a mystery published by W.W. Norton. A character is being kidnapped and the words are spoken by one of the kidnappers. Obviously all three words are meant to be quiet. Quiet … Read more