Book Review: “Sin and Syntax”

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How Spelling Diverges Between American and British English

As George Bernard Shaw is said to have said, “England and America are two countries separated by the same language.” It’s easy enough to find books and Web

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3 Cases of Superfluous Semicolons

Semicolons serve one of two purposes: A semicolon can act as a weak period to separate two independent clauses so closely associated that dividing them into

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3 Types of Erroneous Use of Dashes

Dashes, like semicolons, are basically commas with superpowers. However, while semicolons take the place of commas to set off independent clauses or separate

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5 Cases of Insufficient Punctuation

In each of the sentences below, the omission of one comma (two commas, in one case) obscures the intended meaning. Discussion and revision following each

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3 Examples of How a Comma Can Change Meaning

Omission of a lowly comma often alters the intent of a sentence, as demonstrated in the following examples, each followed by discussion and a revision.

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Metaphorical Usage and Scare Quotes

Writers often mistakenly believe they are being helpful when, in the act of using a word or phrase in a nonliteral sense, they frame the term in quotation

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3 More Sentences with Unnecessary Semicolons

1. Some new entrants probably need to have a deeper focus on security and privacy than they have; not least because it is only a matter of time before they,

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The Dash Family's Roles

The en dash is the oft-neglected middle sibling of the horizontal-line family of symbols that serve to connect words and numbers for various reasons.

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5 Functions of Quotation Marks

This post discusses the use of quotation marks to distinguish dialogue, parts of compositions, phrases as phrases, scare quotes, and epithets.

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7 Types of Punctuation Errors

Each of the following sentences below demonstrates a specific type of error involving internal punctuation, usually involving a problem with a comma.

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Word of the Day: Pedantic

Pedantic (pə-dăn'tĭk) is an adjective that represents an excessive concern for precision and formal rules. It can also refer to the ostentation of knowledge.

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3 Strategies for Combining Sentences

One approach to making prose more concise is to stitch together two related sentences by revising one so that it serves as a subordinate clause to the other

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Finding, Founding, and Funding

Find, found, and fund could conceivably be related on the basis of the notion of obtaining something, but the words (except in the case of the link between

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Punctuating Appositives

A reader requests clarification on the punctuation of appositives:

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The Language Police

Lovers of language and literature, especially those with children or grandchildren still in Grades K-12, will find The Language Police by education historian

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Word Games to Improve Your Writing

It’s hard work to increase your vocabulary by memorising long lists of words and definitions, or to improve your spelling by constantly writing out words you

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Five Reasons Why Blogging Leads to Writing Jobs

Daily Writing Tips has already covered Five reasons why blogging improves your writing. But once you’ve polished up your skills, and grown used to writing

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Classic vs. Classical

What’s the difference between classic and classical? Both words, befitting their roots in the word class, refer to quality, but the meanings are distinct.

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Minimise Distractions When Writing: 4 Practical Tips

Perhaps you’ve managed to get into the habit of writing every day, but you’ve also acquired the distraction habit. You sit down at your computer, fire up your

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Verb Review #1 Run and Drink

Native English speakers frequently make mistakes with the irregular verbs run and drink, even in contexts that call for standard usage:

2 2024-12-13 04:55 查看原文