Related Articles

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  Quotations and Punctuation: A Tale of Cultural Differences

  2577 readersGrammar is confusing enough for those of us in English-speaking countries, with multiple style guides, conventions that have fallen out of fashion, and rules people simply forget. If all that’s not enough, Americans also follow different rules than our English-speaking neighbors to the North. I’m not talking about the random letter U Canadians like to [...] Related

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  Vote for Apostrophe Catastrophes!

  5588 readersGrammar.net is having a contest for the best grammar blog. Vote for Apostrophe Catastrophes using this link and I will be eternally grateful.In other news, Russ sent me this apostrophe catastrophe that he spotted on Animal Planet:If the apostrophe in Paw's just moved before the "n," everything would be fine.Thanks, Russ!

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  Grammar Book Review: Grammar Done Right

  2312 readersBased on the cover of Grammar Done Right, which shows the words Grammar Done “Good” and “Well,” with those adjectives crossed out, I expected a humorous, lighthearted look at grammar. Compared to other titles written in the same style, however, Grammar Done Right falls short in the humor department. If you’re expecting “wit and wisdom,”

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  Mea Culpa

  2514 readersHave you ever been so absolutely sure of a grammar rule you haven’t looked it up in decades? Did you cringe whenever you heard or saw people break the rule? Did you correct people with a righteous tone in your voice? Only to find out, years later, that you were wrong? In writing this column,

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  Grammar Checker: Friend or Foe?

  1439 readersWhen grammar checkers first came out – I think it was shortly after sliced bread and just before the Ford Pinto – people thought they were the greatest thing. A computer could tell you what was wrong with your writing. Just click “change” and your work would be perfectly publishable. It was the end of

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  Who’s Who and the Blues – A Short Lesson on Subject-Verb Agreement

  5752 readersWho reads The Washington Post on a regular basis? I have to admit that I do not, but I still look up to them. Who doesn’t? It seems, though, that their writers are but human just like the rest of us. Recently, a reader pointed out a mistake that some grammar nazis enthusiasts will find more

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  The Ins and Outs of Lines

  2138 readers// “That girl looked like Kate from Lost,” I observed as we left the bank. “Who? The one on line?” my husband asked. I gave him a blank stare. “No, the girl in the bank…  She looked like Kate from Lost.” “Yes. The girl on line… in the bank,” he specified, sounding frustrated. “Oh! Yes! Didn’t she?” And that is

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  Happy Spring!

  4523 readersA sentence in my previous post sent me rushing to several different grammar resources for the correct capitalization rules. It’s a small point, but I often wonder about it, so I thought you might, too. Do you capitalize the names of the seasons? It turns out, according to the Oxford Dictionary, the AP Style book and

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  World Series / AT&T Catastrophe

  2640 readersMany of us are suffering from a bit of winter malaise, so I thought it might be nice to post a baseball-related apostrophe catastrophe. Pitchers and catchers report to spring training just one month from today!In this context, its should not have an ap...

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  Her website cited the Site as “The Best Sight in the City.”

  1348 readersSite. Cite. Sight. I caught myself confusing these words in a blog post the other day, and I figured if I do it, I’m sure others do, as well. If I’m not careful, I use “site” when I mean “cite.” Perhaps it’s because I get so accustomed to typing “site” when I’m referring to websites? Incidentally, “website” is