Does it really matter if you use single quotation marks or regular quotation marks? Yes, it does. It all depends on what they are being used for. It turns out that the majority of the time, regular quotation marks are called for. Regular Quotation MarksRegular quotation marks are used to indicate a direct quotation or…
A redundant expression is an expression where each word in the expression means basically the same thing. For example: If you attend the opening, you will receive a free gift. Free gift is a redundant expression. Think about that for a moment. A gift is something that is given to you at no charge. When something is free,…
The English language is full of confusing words, and they become even more confusing when you don’t always see them used the right way. Lead and led are two words that are often used the wrong way. He lead the horse to the stall. He led the horse to the stall. Which one of the…
Did you realize that lightning and lightening have different meanings? I used to think that either one could be used to describe the flashing light show that takes place during a thunderstorm. Then I took the time to look up the word lightening and discovered just how wrong I was. The lesson learned? Don’t ever…
If you are confused about what dialogue tags are and how to use them, they are simple to learn. Ready?
I must not have been paying attention during English class when we were learning about the colon. I have discovered that it is one busy little punctuation mark with several different jobs. At first look, all of the things the colon does can be a bit confusing. Once you read about all this classy punctuation…
What is the purpose of this troublesome and often misused punctuation mark? The apostrophe has two purposes: to show possession and to indicate missing letters. In certain instances, it is also used to clear up confusion when making plurals. The photo to the right made me cringe, and it shows that apostrophe misuse is worldwide.…
There are enough rules about when to use a comma and when not to use one to drive any normal person insane. Instead of allowing that punctuation mark to drive me to insanity, I decided to give it a more in-depth look. I’m going to examine the use of commas with coordinating and subordinating conjunctions.…
How can one abuse an adverb? An adverb isn’t something you can grab hold of and beat up, but you can use them so often in your writing that the person reading your book is traumatized to the point that he wants to throw it across the room. Seriously? Adverbs can traumatize? Do an experiment. …
