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Expressing ourselves with words is as much nuanced art as it is refined precision and clarity. One can wield superior knowledge of grammar and verbal construction but not always reach readers with compelling rhythm and voice. The same can be said about our arrangements of words when we speak. Consider the following statements: We are …

Each writer's art is the formation of voice and technique over time. The more we write, the more we find and reveal thoughts and words connected only as we might convey them. The more we study and apply the principles for shaping good writing, the more eloquent and precise we can become. Writing differs from …

Many of us can agree that envy and jealousy are typically undesirable emotions: The words' mere utterance often indicates that something might be amiss. At the same time, some English speakers might sometimes mistake one word for the other or simply use them interchangeably. We'll explain their differences here. That way, none of us will …

English includes words that look and sound like verbs but are not serving a sentence as such. You likely hear them often: You said you like skydiving? What about cliff jumping? The door was closed, so I couldn't hear them—their voices were muffled. Alexander said their plan is to escape. Each underlined word is an …

English includes many words with sounds and spellings so similar they become easy to confuse. Impatient and inpatient are one such pair. If you've ever found yourself tripping between impatient and inpatient, you're in the right place. We'll explain what each word means and help ensure you can distinguish the two from now on. The …

Can you form the plural of the word basis without scratching your head and turning to Google? Many Americans, including native speakers, may sometimes find themselves wondering about how to refer to more than one basis. In this brief review, we'll establish the correct way to write the plural of basis, as well as how …

Clear and expressive writing in English will mainly apply the active voice, in which a lead subject performs an action by means of the verb. In developing style and voice, writers will become proficient in facets such as mood and tone and nimble variation as well. At times we also may find ourselves wanting or …

We often use language techniques and functions in our writing and speech with such familiarity that we might not even know what they are nor what we're applying. As one more-recognizable example, when we merge will with not to form won't, we are contracting the words. Another operation we use with instinct but perhaps not …

Many of us have heard of prefixes and suffixes along the way in learning English grammar. Prefixes and suffixes both belong to a larger category, the affix. An affix is any bound morpheme attached to a root word to form a new word or word form with a new meaning. Because they are morphemes, affixes …

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. …