Author: GrammarBook.com

That’s right, I admit it. I’m a word nerd. I pick, pick, pick at the way you express yourself. Despite protests of apathy, people of all ages care about how well they express themselves. Deep down, everyone likes to be right about language, and you can even hear little kids teasing each other about talking …

NOTE: An independent (or strong) clause is a simple sentence with a subject, verb, and a complete thought. A dependent (or weak) clause has a subject and verb but does not express a complete thought. Rule - Use a comma to separate two independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction—and, or, but, for, nor. You …

Rule - When starting a sentence with a weak clause, use a comma after it. Conversely, do not use a comma when the sentence starts with a strong clause followed by a weak clause. Examples: If you are not sure about this, let me know now. Let me know now if you are not sure …

Rule – Use a comma to separate the city from the state, and always put one after the state, also. Example: I lived in Denver, Colorado, for 20 years. NOTE: The U.S. Postal Service's two-letter capitalized abbreviations (e.g., CO for Colorado, IL for Illinois) are not recommended in formal writing. However, when writing an address …

Rule – Use commas to set off the name or title of a person directly addressed. Examples: Will you, Aisha, do that assignment for me? Yes, Doctor, I will. NOTE: Capitalize a title when directly addressing someone. Joshua, please remember to buy lettuce. Please remember to buy lettuce, Joshua. Rule - Use commas to surround …

This election year’s political dialogue has divided the country into the obscenely ultra-rich one percent and the ninety-nine percent who comprise the poor, the shrinking middle class and the, I guess you could say, tastefully affluent. Compare that with the literary one-percenters, a mulish minority of nitpickers who believe “proper” speaking and writing preserve English’s …

In this lesson, we'll examine a more advanced concept for using the comma. Rule: Use a comma to separate two adjectives when the adjectives are interchangeable. Examples: He is a strong, healthy man. We could also say a healthy, strong man. We stayed at an expensive summer resort. We would not say summer expensive resort, …

I know many avid readers, and I wish I read as much as they do. But to my surprise, very few of them read with a dictionary on hand. When I ask why, the answer is some variation on “It ruins the mood” or “I want to relax, not study” or the most self-deluded one: …

Last week’s grammar tip focused on the rules for using who vs. that. This week, we will learn the rules to guide us on when to use that vs. which. NOTE: We feel that maintaining the distinction between that and which in essential and nonessential phrases and clauses is useful, even though the principle is sometimes disregarded by experienced writers. …

In a recent newsletter, I corrected myself after some readers wrote in saying the word that should have been who in the sentence "There's not one mother I know that would allow her child to cross that street alone." However, it got me thinking more about this topic, so I dug a little deeper into …