Here are three questions from readers about use of apostrophes to mark possession or plurality, followed by my responses. 1. When I have a list of people who all possess something, how do I handle the apostrophe(s)? Which of the following sentences is correct?: “Today is John, Mary, and my second anniversary with the company.” … Read more
A gerund is one of three classes of words called verbals — words based on verbs and expressing an action or a state of being but serving another grammatical function. (The other two are participles and infinitives.) A gerund, which functions as a noun, can consist of a single word or a phrase. The four … Read more
Words for the seasons and related terms often have both literal and figurative connotations. Here are the words and their various senses. Spring (from the Old English word springan, akin to the same word in Old High German, which means “to jump”) has a sense of freshness and growth. The word is sometimes used to … Read more
The possessive case is used to indicate relationships between one person, place, or thing and another. However, it’s more accurate to call it by its alternate name, the genitive case (genitive means, essentially, “generation”), because in many uses, one person, place, or thing doesn’t actually belong to the other. The genitive is indicated one of … Read more
Many writers — native English speakers and nonnative speakers alike — are confounded by uncertainty or confusion about usage, the complicated issue of what, exactly, a given word means regardless of its practical or official definition. Here are some questions and comments Daily Writing Tips readers have sent me about definitions and connotations, along with … Read more
Here are discussions of seven types of situations in which the presence or absence of a comma depends on various factors. 1. Word Function Whether a comma follows a word sometimes depends on the function of the word. For example, when now is employed at the head of a sentence to refer to the present … Read more
Writing is simply a matter of expressing ideas, but as we all know, it’s not so simple after all. One challenge is to coherently connect those ideas. This post lists ten categories of words and phrases one can employ to signal a transition, with several examples for each type. These words and phrases can be … Read more
Efforts to make your writing more concise are admirable, but although some words and phrases won’t be missed or fewer or shorter words can be substituted, others may serve a useful distinction. Note, in the following examples and annotations, the differences in the suitability of various phrases. “What the organization aims to do is produce … Read more
Human beings have developed cheating, fraud, and trickery into such a high art (or, more accurately, a low one) that, in English at least, we’ve created an extensive and colorful vocabulary to describe such activity. Here is an exhaustive but incomplete list of synonyms in noun and/or verb form for cheat, fraud, and trickery. 1. … Read more
Many terms, practical and poetic, refer to various periods in the day or to related figurative senses. Here is a selection, ranging from regular to rare. Dawn (from Old English dagian, “to become day”), a word for the beginning of the day, also figuratively describes beginnings in general, especially in the sense of renewal or … Read more
When an adverb or a phrase serving an adverbial function begins a sentence, the writer must take care not to introduce a simple punctuation mistake that erroneously associates that introductory word or phrase with the subject rather than the object. These three examples illustrate the problem and provide solutions. 1. “Eventually, I hope we’ll be … Read more
Here are three questions I received recently from Daily Writing Tips readers concerning capitalization, along with my replies. 1. I was taught that president is always capitalized when referring to the US President. A few publications uppercase president even in isolation when it refers to the US leader (“The President will discuss the issue during … Read more