Thanks to the fine folks at Merriam-Webster, our dictionaries continue to get heavier and even more robust than they were twelve months ago.
As language evolves and new words continue to flood our lexicon, it’s good to have more ammunition for any conversation or correspondence you encounter. When new phrases from popular culture get cosigned and introduced into our language, it’s important to recognize the terms that make you stop and think and appreciate our evolving forms of communication.
Does your phone’s autocorrect drive you crazy?
Maybe it’s never caught on that you’re “doing well”. . . not “doing we’ll.” No matter how many times you type “gave” it still insists you meant to say “have.” Or it may even think that swapping words like “baked” and “naked,” or “stapler” and “stalker,” is a good idea. (It’s not.)
That feeling when autocorrect does the wrong ‘its’ in a reply to someone with a huge following… pic.twitter.com/gWy8m1zbGl
There are up to five forms for each verb: root, third-person singular, present participle, past, and past participle.
The root form of a verb is the base form of the word. Roots have not been conjugated and do not include prefixes or suffixes.
The root form of the verb is the same as the infinitive form with “to” removed. See the examples below: to see – see
to be – be
Just like food, your writing needs spice. Keep these tips in your cupboard to take your writing from bland to scrumptious.
About a year ago, I got interested in cooking. For most of my adult life, I’d been making things like spaghetti with sauce from a jar, macaroni and cheese complete with powdered “cheese,” and the occasional boxed meal (just add ground beef!). Sometimes, I went a little wild and threw some canned tuna into the mac and cheese, or added real frozen broccoli to the boxed meal.
Indefinite articles are used when we are referring to an unspecified thing or quantity. We use them when we don’t know (or don’t care) which thing we’re talking about.
There once was a sheep.
Since I don’t know which sheep it was—that is, I don’t know its name, where it’s from, or anything about it—I can’t say the sheep.
The two indefinite articles in English are a and an.
Merry LitMas Eve!
If you recall, LitMas is our made-up bookish holiday to celebrate all things nerdy and word-related before the holidays. So far, we’ve given you everything from winter quotes to Christmas grammar fails, and we’ve loved every minute of it. Although we’re sad to see this nerdy holiday season come to a close, our penultimate gift will be sweet. Literally.
Because we know food is a large part of any holiday, we’ve collected some of our favorite holiday food words.
Ask any job seeker or employee about salary negotiations and one of the most popular responses is, “I would negotiate but I don’t know what to say.” Having the right words to say, or write, during a salary negotiation is vital. Communication can make or break discussions and impact your ability to get paid fairly.
First things first, determine your current worth in the job market. Use Know Your Worth to receive a custom salary estimate based on your title, company, location and experience.
