Month: June 2009

Regan

Meet Regan, our eight-year-old boy. Actually, he’s our only boy. Some people would say this is a posed portrait. I mean, he is looking at the camera after all. But if you knew Regan, you’d know that this is who he is. He is full of energy. He is the most spontaneous of our children.… Continue reading Regan

Subject-Complement Agreement

From Grammar Girl: A complement—that’s m-e-n-t—is a noun that completes meaning (1). Take the sentence “She is my sister.” The words “my sister” are the complement. There’s no agreement problem in that sentence, it’s all singular, but what about a sentence like this: “The two girls ate their sandwich”? Does this mean the girls shared… Continue reading Subject-Complement Agreement

Canadian Style Tip #33: Block format quotations

This post is part of the Canadian Style series. 8.06 Block format quotations Do not enclose in quotation marks a block quotation set off from the text. It does require indentation, single spacing, and double spacing above and below.

Fawn

Shortly after arriving at work this morning, I looked out the window and saw a brand new fawn, maybe a day or two old. It was lying in the grass, where I assume its mother had left it. A buck was coaxing it along by licking and pawing at it. It would get up, move… Continue reading Fawn

Ant Nest

I installed a new sidewalk in my backyard this spring, and have been slowly dismantling my old sidewalk since it doesn’t lead to the back door or the back gate. Last night, when I lifted up the concrete slab, I found an ant nest. In this photo, you can see all four stage of ant… Continue reading Ant Nest

Difference between principle and principal

This is part of the difference between series. I’ve heard some people confusing the words principal and principle. Here’s the difference between the two. Let’s start with the easier one first: principle. Principle Principle typically means something like rule, doctrine, or standard. I won’t compromise my principles. Principal Principal, on the other hand, has several… Continue reading Difference between principle and principal

Canadian Style Tip #30: Any, every, no & some

This post is part of the Canadian Style series. 2.08 Any, every, no and some The words any, every, no, and some form solid compounds when combined with the words body, thing, and where: somebody anything everywhere nothing somewhere everything