Appropriately enough, the self-centered word self, when combined with others, sometimes gets special treatment. Self, as a prefix, is attached by a hyphen to other words in several parts of speech. The combination can be a noun (self-control), an adjective (self-absorbed), a verb (self-medicate), or an adverb (self-importantly). It can also refer literally to a
What’s the difference between denounce and renounce? Their related Latin ancestors shared a neutral sense, but in English they acquired exclusively condemnatory connotations. Denounce is externally directed — one denounces another’s words or deeds — while renounce is internally focused — one renounces one’s own viewpoints or actions, or is called on to do so.
Errors of organization plague writing — not just in overall structure or paragraph formation but also even within sentences. One frequent problem is a misunderstanding about how multiple elements in a sentence must be marshaled to clearly communicate relationships between the components. In each sentence below, repair the lapse in parallel structure and then compare
How do you determine whether the adverbial form of an adjective should end in -ly or -ally? For most adjectives, the reason to use -ally, rather than -ly, is that you’re adding -ly to a noun plus the inflection -al, which forms the adjective, as in emotionally, musically, or traditionally. You’re starting with emotion, music,