You don’t have to be an introvert to dread networking events. Initiating conversations with total strangers can feel a bit like going on a blind date—the results could be magical, or painfully awkward.
Though networking in person doesn’t have to be a nightmare, it can still be difficult to fit into your busy schedule.
Online networking via your smartphone has the distinct advantage of happening whenever and wherever is convenient for you.
It is generally best to write out numbers from zero to one hundred in nontechnical writing. In scientific and technical writing, the prevailing style is to write out numbers under ten. While there are exceptions to these rules, your predominant concern should be expressing numbers consistently.
Numbers can disrupt readability in a paragraph, so for most writing purposes, it is best to flex those fingers and type out numbers less than 101 as fully spelled words.
Many of us learned in school that adjectives modify nouns and that adverbs modify verbs. But as we’ve seen, adjectives can also act as complements for linking verbs. This leads to a common type of error: incorrectly substituting an adverb in place of a predicate adjective. An example you’ve probably heard before is:
Because “feel” is a verb, it seems to call for an adverb rather than an adjective.
Geoff Foster, of The Wall Street Journal’s “The Count” sports column, collaborated with Grammarly, the popular automated proofreader, to put NFL fans to the test. Each official NFL team site was analyzed looking at the top 150 fan comments (10,000+ words) for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors.
Grammarly ranked all 32 NFL team fan bases from worst to best. Whose smack talk was the most eloquent?
Contractions. Everyone has messed up a contraction at one time or another. Sometimes these errors happen because a writer misunderstands the purpose of contractions, but most of the time they’re simply typos. Whatever the reason for your mistakes, we’ve got you covered.
If you don’t quite know the rules for contractions, you can brush up with our handbook.
If typos are your problem, try our free browser extension for help catching those keyboard slips (plus many other types of writing errors).
A common English error is to misuse the words good and well. The rule of thumb is that good is an adjective and well is an adverb. Good modifies a noun; something can be or seem good. Well modifies a verb; an action can be done well. However, when you’re talking about health, well can be used as an adjective.
All you need to remember when you are pondering whether good or well is best for your sentence is that good modifies a person, place, or thing, whereas well modifies an action.
Adjectives can compare two things or more than two things. When we make these comparisons, we use comparative and superlative forms of adjectives.
One way to describe nouns (people, objects, animals, etc.) is by comparing them to something else. When comparing two things, you’re likely to use adjectives like smaller, bigger, taller, more interesting, and less expensive.
This post acknowledges the pesky spelling of acknowledg(e)ment. If the verb ends in -e, where does that letter go when you add the -ment?
For the most part, folks in the United States or Canada will ditch the E, while people outside North America tend to keep it. But that’s far from a hard-and-fast rule, so chances are you’ll see both spellings regardless of where you’re reading.
So, you want to know what your English grammar level is? You’ve come to the right place. This post will cover the answers and additional learning resources for “Grammar Skills Test—Master.” The Master test covers reported speech, conditionals, prepositions, tenses, adverbs vs. adjectives, the irrealis mood, and restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses.
Correct answers are highlighted.
Something great happened on March 4, 2008. Martha Brockenbrough, through The Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar, established National Grammar Day in the United States. It’s a day to celebrate all that grammar does. Would you like to wish your friends a Happy Grammar Day? Make sure you don’t have any errors in your messages! How can you make sure your grammar is in tip-top shape?
