Gateway to English

This collection of articles deals with the finer points of English grammar and style: grammar rules, spelling, punctuation, syntax and usage, typography, and much more. Other tools for writers are available in the Discover section.

• Grammar and Syntax
• Proverbs and Sayings
• Punctuation
• Spelling
• Style
• Typography
• Vocabulary

Grammar and Syntax

• Adjectives
  • Noun used as an adjective
• Adverbs
  • Continuously vs. continually
  • Punctuation with the conjunctive adverb rather
• Articles (a, an, the)
  • A Question of Sound, Not Sight
  • Use of a or an before words beginning with h
  • Use of the definite article with initialisms
• Clauses and phrases
  • Punctuation with the conjunctive adverb rather
• Compounds
  • Check in vs. check-in
  • Pluralization of Compounds
• Conjunctions
  • Comma with the conjunction but
  • Parts of Speech: Coordinating Conjunctions
• Dangling modifiers
  • The Elusive Dangling Modifier
• Definitions
  • Grammar-Ease: Terms and Definitions
• Nouns
  • Nouns with decimals
  • Verb agreement with total, number and range
• Parts of sentences
  • Parts of a Sentence: The Direct Object
• Prepositions
  • Among vs. between
  • Due to vs. because of
  • Report on or about?
  • Responsible for vs. responsible to
  • Signed at vs. signed in
• Pronouns
  • Reflexive pronouns
  • That vs. who with animals
  • That which or what?
• Verbs
  • Bring vs. take
  • Passive Voice: Always Bad?
  • Plural or singular verb with audience?
  • Rob vs. steal
  • Speak vs. talk

Proverbs and Sayings

• English expressions
  • Moot point
  • Please note that vs. be advised that
  • Valentine’s Day: Sweet or Sour?
• Translating French expressions
  • En catimini
  • Faire boule de neige
  • Faire découvrir
  • Faire table rase
  • J'ai besoin de vos lumières
  • Montrer patte blanche
  • Qui l'eût cru?
  • Remporter la palme
  • Renvoyer aux calendes grecques
  • Tout baigne dans l'huile
  • Translation of Mesdames, Messieurs

Punctuation

• Apostrophes
  • Apostrophes 101
  • Apostroph-Ease
  • Apostrophe in Students' Corner
  • Apostrophes in expressions of time
• Asterisks
  • Asterisk at the end of a sentence
• Brackets, braces, parentheses
  • Parentheses and Brackets 101
• Colons
  • Colons 101
  • Colon with a bulleted list
• Commas
  • Cancelling Commas: Unnecessary Commas
  • Comma after the year
  • Commas 101
  • Commas with such as
  • Comma with the conjunction but
  • Serial comma
• Dashes
  • Dashes 101
  • Format for spans of time
• Ellipses
  • Ellipses 101
• Hyphens
  • Country code in telephone numbers
  • Hyphens 101
  • Hyphens in suspended compound adjectives
  • Six-pack: number-plus-noun compound
  • Toll-free: noun-plus-adjective compound
• Obliques (slashes)
  • Spacing with an oblique
• Periods
  • Use of the period and comma with etc.
• Question marks
  • End Punctuation 101
• Quotation marks
  • Quotation Marks 101
• Semicolons
  • Semicolons 101
  • Punctuation with bulleted lists

Spelling

• Accents, tilde
  • Meaning of the tilde
• Frequently misspelled words
  • Koranic vs. Qur'anic
  • Why do Canadians spell so funny?
• Homonyms (like-sounding and similarly spelled words)
  • Co-locate vs. collocate
  • Flesh out vs. flush out
  • Sound-alikes
  • Types of homonyms
• Plurals
  • One headquarters
  • Plural of email
  • Plural of Mrs. and Ms.
  • Plural of winding-up
• Prefixes and suffixes
  • Hyphen in megacity

Style

• Figures of speech
  • Figurative Language: The Simile
• Inclusive language
  • Eliminating ethnic and racial stereotypes
  • Guidelines for eliminating ethnic and racial stereotypes
  • Layperson or layman?

Typography

• Abbreviations
  • Abbreviating inclusive numbers
  • Abbreviating street, avenue and road
  • Abbreviating the months
  • Format for telephone extensions
  • Italicizing abbreviations
  • Ph.D. or PhD?
  • RCMP—initialism or acronym?
  • Use of definite article with initialisms
  • Use of http in Web site addresses
• Boldface and Italics
  • Italicizing abbreviations
• Capitalization
  • Capitalization in headings
  • Capitalization of logos
  • Capitalizing short titles: the Act
  • Capitalizing short titles: the policy
  • Chemical elements: capitalized or not?
  • Internet: capitalized or not?
  • Use of capitals with Atlantic provinces
  • When to capitalize birthday and anniversary
  • When to capitalize government
  • When to capitalize member of Parliament
  • When to capitalize the seasons
• Numerical expressions
  • How to write phone numbers
  • Writing numbers under ten
  • Writing numeric dates
• Spacing (for punctuation)
  • Asterisk at the end of a sentence
  • Spacing 101
  • Spacing after a period
  • Spacing with an oblique
• Symbols
  • EUR or €?
  • Meaning of the tilde
  • Repeating the percent sign
• Word division
  • Word division

Vocabulary

• Foreign words
  • Plural: agenda or agendas?
• Vocabulary builder
  • Held in abeyance
  • Would a Camrosian by any other name smell as sweet?
• Word choice
  • Alternatives for facilitate
  • Make or take a decision?
  • Most vs. Majority
• Word origin
  • Co-locate vs. collocate
  • Exploring Etymology—A to D
  • Exploring Etymology—E to H
  • Exploring Etymology—I to L
  • Exploring Etymology—M to P
  • Exploring Etymology—Q to T
  • Exploring Etymology—U to Z
  • Origin of the whole nine yards
  • Segway vs. segue
  • Valentine’s Day: from Lupercalia to Goldfinches to Candy Hearts
  • Whisky