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Verbs First: Targeting the Crucial Action
Verbs First! A Golden Rule of Great Writing We can improve our writing by focusing on any unit of style—from choosing the just-right word to...
What Does It Mean to “Beg the Question”?
Pardon Me—May I Beg Your Question? Often I hear newscasters say something like this: “Which begs the question—why was the senator naked in the first...
What Exactly Is Grammar, Anyway?
What Exactly Is Grammar, Anyway? Thanks to Martha Brockenbrough, since 2008 we have celebrated National Grammar Day here in the U.S. every year on March...
“Which” Craft: The Broad/Implied/Vague “Which”
Communication is difficult enough under the best of circumstances, so we need to do everything possible to ensure that our writing is as clear and...
When to Capitalize People’s Titles and/or Positions
Can you identify problems with the capitalization of titles in any of the following sentences? The position of Comptroller for Acme Corporation is currently being...
One Space or Two after Periods?
Do you use one space or two after periods? Many people are surprisingly (even ridiculously) passionate about this issue. The Two-Space Camp Those who favor...
En Dashes and Em Dashes
A number of our readers have written to ask us to explain the difference between the hyphen, the em dash, and the en dash. Distinguishing...
Typing Characters That Don’t Appear on the Keyboard
One of the many advantages personal computers have over typewriters is that we can type a whole host of useful characters that are not visible...
To Lie or To Lay?
The verbs “to lie” and “to lay” have very different meanings. Simply put, “to lie” means “to rest,” “to assume or be situated in a...
Starting Sentences with And or But
One of our readers wrote to ask if she could ever start a sentence with the word but. The answer is yes. The word but...
Which or That?
While both which and that can be used in other constructions, the confusion usually arises when they are being used as relative pronouns to introduce adjective (or relative) clauses....
Compound Words: When to Hyphenate
A compound word is a combination of two or more words that function as a single unit of meaning. There are three types of compounds:...
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Typing Symbols and Characters That Don’t Appear on Keyboard
Get This Printable PDF of all the Characters on Available on the Keyboard, including Accents, Circumflex, Tilde, Umlaut, and more.
The First Fifty Tips – Second Edition
After almost two decades, the wait is over: the second edition of The First Fifty Tips is ready! More than a thousand printed copies of...
