The family is having fun Collective nouns take a singular or plural verb depending on the context A collective noun refers to a group of people or things, e.g. herd, assembly, staff, jury. When a collective noun refers to a single entity it takes a singular verb. The tax office is revising its management strategy. […]
There are four types of brackets: parentheses, square brackets, angle brackets and curly brackets. Parentheses ( ) Parentheses, sometimes called round brackets or just brackets, are the most common brackets in business writing. Use round brackets (parentheses) to add extra information to a sentence. You can use dashes or commas instead of brackets in some instances. Would […]
When to use apostrophes With so many different punctuation rules that need to be followed when writing the English language, it can sometimes get confusing. Language researcher David Graddol predicts that in 2010 there will be 2 billion people on the planet speaking English, of whom only 350 million will be native speakers. So how […]
Empathetic and empathic have subtle differences in meaning Reader’s question: So many people say empathetic but I like empathic. What’s your view? Answer: I think they can be used interchangeably, but Daily Writing Tips has an interesting take on these words. In summary, it says: ‘Because of the Star Trek influence, I do see a difference between empathic and empathetic. I would use empathetic to describe the […]
e stands for electronic We invent new words all the time and we’ve made several new words by putting ‘e’ in front of them. I wonder if the original meaning of ‘e’ has now been forgotten. We usually hyphenate these words when they are new. e-mail e-newsletters e-commerce e-business e-learning Some hyphens drop off over time. […]
The difference between disinterested and uninterested If you are not interested in something are you disinterested or uninterested? disinterested Disinterested means impartial. I am disinterested in politics. uninterested Uninterested means not interested in. I am uninterested in music. I wonder if this distinction is dying out. I think we tend to say I am not interested rather than I am uninterested. Learn […]
The difference between deprecate and depreciate He made deprecating remarks that led to the house depreciating in value. deprecate Deprecate means to put down or disapprove of. He made deprecating remarks about the evening. depreciate Depreciate means to decline in value. The property depreciated. Learn more Learn more about other commonly confused words with my online Business Writing course. Subscribe to […]
Palindrome A Toyata’s a Toyota Have you ever wondered what a palindrome is? A palindrome is a word or phrase that reads the same way forwards or backwards. Anna don’t nod madam nurses run Watch this YouTube video that reads the exact opposite backwards as forward. Not only does it read the opposite, the meaning is the exact opposite too. […]
Singular or plural? A pair of slippers takes a singular verb Slippers take a plural verb Non-native English speakers sometimes have difficulty knowing whether to use a singular or plural verb with some nouns. For instance, it seems odd to use a singular verb with a ‘pair of’ when we’re obviously talking about two things […]
Mid-year sale – buy one online course and get one free Buy one course and choose another (excludes Write to Govern). How this offer works: Buy your first course online at Online Writing Training – you will receive this course automatically. Email me and let me know what additional course you would like – I will add […]