‘That’ is a restrictive pronoun, which means that it introduces information that is necessary to the meaning of the sentence and therefore does not need to be set off by commas. ‘Which’ is a nonrestrictive pronoun, which means that it introduces additional information to the sentence and therefore the phrase that it introduces is set…
What words and expressions are you misusing? Aggravate: means “to add to” an already troublesome matter or condition. Irritate: means “to annoy.” E.g., Jeff, please do not aggravate the situation by irritating Tom—again. And/Or: is a shortcut that damages a sentence and can lead to confusion or ambiguity. Avoid using it. Please. Anticipate: should be…
All ready or already? ‘All ready’ means all are ready. ‘Already’ refers to time. A lot, allot, or alot? ‘A lot’ means much. ‘Allot’ means to allocate, assign, or ration. ‘Alot’ is not a standard word: don’t use it! Arc, or ark? ‘Arc’ means arch, crescent, half moon. ‘Ark’ means a vessel or a refuge.…
What do you do when you must choose between using ‘a’ or ‘an’ when it precedes a letter or word? Use ‘a’ before a consonant sound (b, c, d, f, g, etc.). Use ‘an’ before a vowel sound (a, e, i, o, u). The key is to look at the sound the word makes. Example:…
How do you know when to use who or whom? ‘Who’ replaces the subject of a clause or sentence. ‘Whom’ replaces the object in a sentence. How do I decide? Replace ‘who’ with he, she, or they. Replace ‘whom’ with him, her, or them. Examples: Can you tell me (who, whom) turned in their outlines?…
What do you do when you have ‘either/or’ or ‘neither/nor’ in your sentence? When subjects in a sentence are joined by ‘either/or’ or ‘neither/nor,’ choose the subject that is closest to the verb and make it agree! Example 1: Either the manager or the engineers (is, are) going to be fired. “Engineers,” which is closest…