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Grammar
Posted by: Catie Holdridge
24 / 01 / 12
‘Run-on sentences’ may sound like a newspaper headline announcing that sentences are flying off the shelves. In fact, they are a product of the grammatically incorrect practice of running complete ideas into each other. Observe: I rock she rolls. As you can see, a run-on sentence isn’t necessarily long. When we say ‘complete ideas’ (of […]
21 / 12 / 11
One of our readers, Marc, wrote in with this question: ‘Should it be you and your partner’s luggage or your and your partner’s luggage? As in: “We were sorry to hear about the loss of you and your partner’s luggage on your recent flight.” The first one sounds right, but I’m not sure!’ Indeed, the […]
26 / 11 / 11
No one ever said English was a straightforward language. No sooner have you learned one rule than you are presented with all the exceptions. As dewy-eyed innocents, we were taught to put a before words beginning with consonants and an before those starting with vowels, only then to hear that the rule bends a bit […]
24 / 11 / 11
This may be a post mostly for our non-native English speaking readers. When to use in or on at any given moment is something native speakers give little thought to, simply because they’ve grown up hearing where these words slot in. But it can be more confusing for those coming to the language later. And […]
10 / 11 / 11
Apple boasts that there are now more than 500,000 iPhone apps available. Some are useful, and some less so (we particularly love the virtual stapler). But which camp does University College London’s Interactive Grammar of English (iGE) app fall into? For many, grammar is an alien and intimidating world of confusing concepts and unlikely vocabulary; […]
Posted by: Cathy Dann
15 / 10 / 11
Ah, what a wonderful language English is. You can bear a child, bear a responsibility, ask someone to bear with you, bear a heavy load or bare your teeth. Confusion arises in the verb form, especially in the past tense. In the present tense, there are two spellings: bear and bare. to bear has two […]
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