Do you know the difference between getaway (one word) and get away (two words)? Even native speakers of American English might get crossed up with these expressions, so we'll look at each version and how to use it precisely. That way, you won't wonder if you're getting away with using the incorrect version. Let's get …

We are familiar with numbers and the function they serve: We use and look at them just about every day. Recognizable enough in our checkbooks and calculators, numbers also have their own categories in writing. For example, the following sentences contain both ordinal and cardinal numbers: 1. Donetta took first place in the spelling bee. …

If you leave something in the oven for too long, it's probably going to burn. That's frustrating, but even worse is having to make a note about it later. Was your food burned, or was it burnt? What's the distinction between the words? In this quick post, we'll discuss the differences between burned and burnt …

Any language has its accepted daily misuses, even as they miff the grammatical purist. In English, we might often deal in statements with solecisms such as: Please inform Sheila and I about the tickets. I must of left my backpack on the bus. Every dog has it's day. We're still in awe of the enormity …

A modifier is a word, phrase, or clause used to provide additional information in a sentence. The information is not vital to the sentence's meaning, but it often gives details that offer readers extra clarity. Examples I love when Samantha wears that jacket. Josef waited patiently for two hours. Kathy plans to work as a …

We all want more money, but having lots of it stuffed into one sentence can become a grammatical issue. A common question we receive concerns how to treat the plural of money. In this review, we'll get to the bottom of how to treat money when we're referring to more than a single bill in …

There are too many orange M&Ms in this bowl. There is a lot of congestion on I-88 into the city. There's a piece of confetti in your hair. If you're an American communicating in American English, such statements are as common as corn in the Midwest. There is, there are, and the contracted there's are …

If you want to write about an unspecified period of time, is it better to use a while or awhile? Is one version correct? Do they both mean the same thing? We've seen versions of this question appear in comments on our website. In today's post, we'll guide you through awhile and a while so …

Michael plays basketball. Jeremiah doesn't trust pirate radio stations. Hailey dances in a ballet company. You likely recognize these statements as simple, declarative sentences that include basic components of grammar—namely a singular subject and a verb that agrees. When the subject position has two or more nouns or pronouns joined by a coordinating conjunction, we …

Imagine that you are walking down the street and you accidentally bump into someone coming from the other direction. That person continues walking. Moments later, you realize there is a fifty-dollar bill taped to your jacket. You turn around, but the person has already disappeared into a sea of others. Shortly after, you text your …