Monday, July 25, 2016

Four Ways to Read More Over the Holidays

Holiday season is fun, but it’s also hectic. You may get a few days off from work or school, but with all the parties, family gatherings, feast cooking, gift shopping, and other celebratory goings-on, there may not be much time left over. What’s a bookworm to do? Get creative, that’s what! Here are four ways to sneak some reading time into even the busiest holiday schedule.

1 Share the Joy

Thursday, July 21, 2016

Comma Splice

  • When you join two independent clauses with a comma and no conjunction, it’s called a comma splice. Some people consider this a type of run-on sentence, while other people think of it as a punctuation error.
  • Here’s an example of a comma splice: Koala bears are not actually bears, they are marsupials.
  • There are three ways to fix a comma splice. You can add a conjunction, change the comma to a semicolon, or make each independent clause its own sentence.

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

5 Basic Proofreading Habits for a More Productive 2018

Well, here we are, a new year and a clean slate. That’s great news, particularly if you’re still holding onto some embarrassment about an ill-timed typo or grammar gaffe you may have committed in 2017. Fear not! Things can be different in 2018, especially if you commit yourself to developing these five proofreading habits.

1 Make a list of your personal bugaboos.

What trips you up?

Monday, July 18, 2016

29 Hilarious Halloween Memes and GIFs You’ll Want To Share

Do you live for Halloween?

Whether you’re a fan of kitsch, horror, fabulous style, or coffin-loads of candy, this mischievous and creative holiday has got a spell for you.

In celebration of this hallowed season, we’ve cracked open the crypt and unleashed twenty-nine of the best Halloween memes and GIFs for you to haunt the Internet with your bone-tingling obsession.

1At First You Try to Play It Cool

Per Our Conversation: 5 New Ways to Say This Traditional Phrase

No one wants to be known as the king or queen of boring conversations. One way to prevent tedium is to avoid predictable speech patterns. Are you guilty of overusing “per our conversation?” Grab your listener’s attention with five fresh variations!

If You Want to Give Credit for an Idea

1 As Mentioned When you say “per our conversation,” your listeners understand that a conversation took place.

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Articles with Plural Nouns

The indefinite articles a and an are used to modify singular nouns. When using a plural noun, these two articles are unnecessary. Plural nouns can take either a definite article or no article at all.

The definite article is the word the. It precedes a noun when something specific (i.e., definite) is being referred to.

The phone is ringing.

Indefinite articles, on the other hand, are used before nouns that are nonspecific within their class.

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Presidential Debate Grammar Power Rankings

Ready or not, the U.S. presidential campaign season is upon us. Whoever your pick for POTUS, one thing’s certain—political topics inspire passionate discussions. With a light heart and heavy-hitting algorithms, we visited each candidate’s official Facebook page and looked at the comments there to see how well their supporters handle themselves when they communicate their ideas in writing.