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Grammar
Posted by: em-admin
24 / 05 / 11
‘That’ and ‘which’ can sometimes be used interchangeably. But it’s not always correct to do so. The general rule is: use ‘that’ to define and use ‘which’ to inform or add information. Defining These are the spending cuts that the Board agreed. Here, the spending cuts in question are defined and limited to being the […]
Posted by: Catie Holdridge
27 / 03 / 11
If you missed out on learning grammar at school – because it was no longer being taught in detail or you were too busy smoking behind the bike sheds – it’s worth swotting up on it now. Getting it wrong can give your colleagues and clients a poor impression of you; according to the latest […]
03 / 02 / 11
We received this question from a Write Now reader: Should I say ‘a block of bedrooms has / have been reserved’? I think it is ‘has’ as it refers to the block, but on past papers I can see it has said ‘have’. Please advise. Sandra Thanks, Sandra: good question. You’re right, of course, that […]
28 / 10 / 10
‘However’ is a useful word, however you look at it. [Sorry – Ed.] But readers of our e-bulletin, Write Away, often ask us to clarify the right ways to use it. However we can help, say we. Meaning ‘but’ The most common way of using ‘however’ is to mean ‘but’. This usually comes at the […]
24 / 10 / 10
People have some pretty strong feelings about the way our language is used and abused if a recent Emphasis blog post is anything to go by. One source of irritation that stood out as a real piece of apple skin between the teeth was the incorrect use of reflexive pronouns. What are they? Reflexive pronouns […]
07 / 10 / 10
A Write Now reader wrote to us to ask: is it ever acceptable to use the passive voice in ‘good writing’? It’s a good question. You may be surprised to hear that the answer’s yes. While it’s best to use the active voice in most cases, the passive voice can – on occasion – be […]
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