This is part of the difference between series. If you use the word whole in a sentence (such as, “I counted the whole crowd.”), chances are Microsoft Word will suggest that you change it for entire. There isn’t much difference between whole and entire. In fact, several dictionaries have whole and entire as synonyms of each other—that’s how close they are… Continue reading Difference between whole and entire
Category: Grammar
Stop using capital letters for emphasis
From time to time, I come across people using capitalization to emphasize words. This is wrong. Let me show you why. Consider this sentence:
Do you capitalize “husband”?
Earlier this week, someone ended up on my website searching for the phrase “Do you capitalize husband”. Although that’s not a frequent search phrase used by my website visitors, I thought it would make a good topic for this week’s blog post.
10 examples of words to use instead of very
I’ve talked before about trying to avoid using very and really in your writing. There is no good reason to use them as modifiers when you can just use a more descriptive word. Here are 10 examples of common very phrases and some alternatives you can use in their place:
How to use an apostrophe after a name ending with S
One of the most confusing punctuation rules is when to use an apostrophe to make a name possessive if it ends in S.
Difference between waver and waiver
This is part of the difference between series. Recently, someone asked me to explain the difference between the words waver and waiver. Here’s the difference between the two.
Difference between whoa and woah
This is part of the difference between series. Recently, I came across the following Twitter exchange, which highlighted an interesting phenomenon: apparently everyone doesn’t spell whoa like I do:
Correcting grammar is classist
I’d like to take a moment to talk about correcting grammar. (Or spelling, or punctuation, or writing in general.) I get paid to correct others’ grammar for a living. I read dozens of pages every day, looking for editing mistakes. Sometimes, it makes my head hurt. So, when I log out for the day, the… Continue reading Correcting grammar is classist
Difference between rebuke and refute
This is part of the difference between series. Recently, someone asked me to explain difference between the words rebuke and refute. Here’s the difference between the two.
Difference between oriented and orientated
This is part of the difference between series. Recently, someone asked me to explain difference between the words oriented and orientated. Here’s the difference between the two. Actually, there is no difference.