Can you identify the correct use of loan or lend? We went to the bank to ask the manager to loan us $500,000. Sharon agreed to lend me a hand next weekend as I pack to move. If people want to remain friends, they should avoid loaning one another money. If you thought...
Recently a subscriber wrote to ask which of these two constructions is correct: The administrative assistant completed John’s and Rob’s report. The administrative assistant completed John and Rob’s report. In cases of joint ownership, only the second (or last) noun or...
Although very few people understand the subjunctive mood these days (and, thus, often fail to use it when they should), it’s important for us to understand it so we can use it in high-stakes situations—or, at the very least, so we will understand that it’s...
Style manuals do not agree on the issue of when writers should spell out numbers and when they should use numerals. And even a single style manual will point out that the guidelines change according to the type of number and the context in which it is being used....
When sentences start with either here or there, creating a situation in which the verb and the subject are reversed and making it easy for writers to use singular verbs when they need plural ones (or vice versa). Can you spot any problems in these sentences? There’s...
