How-To Onomatopoeia 22 Feb 2018 Onomatopoeia (AH-nuh-mah-tuh-PEE-uh) is a unique and indispensable technique. It translates the sounds of tangible objects in the world around us into phonetic sounds, represented by letters of the alphabet. The…
How-To Grammar Workshop: Portmanteau Words 4 Oct 201727 Sep 2021 Wordsmiths love portmanteau words. There is something appealing about taking two words that touch on our meaning and combining them into one that conveys our meaning exactly. Portmanteau is an…
How-To Confusing Words: Shades of Meaning 19 Oct 2016 Students have a tough time with certain confusing words. We’ve looked at perplexing prefixes, and pesky parts of speech. In this final installment we will look at: Shades of Meaning…
How-To Confusing Words: Parts of Speech 12 Oct 2016 We are looking at confusing words. Last time we covered those pesky prefixes. Let’s take a look at: Parts of Speech Many confusing words can be differentiated by examining their…
How-To Confusing Words: Perplexing Prefixes 5 Oct 2016 All writers can point to a collection of words and phrases that they find confusing—and each individual writer’s list looks a little bit different. Isn’t there a simple way to…
How-To Grammar Workshop: Possessives {Part 3} 22 Apr 2015 But What About... Not all of the rules of possessive usage are set in stone. Even within the guidelines provided in Part 2, there is still plenty of room for…
How-To Grammar Workshop: Possessives {Part 2} 15 Apr 20157 Aug 2021 Now that we know how apostrophes ended up showing possession in the English language, it's time to learn a handful of modern possessive rules. Basic Rules of the Possessive Case…
How-To Grammar Workshop: Possessives {Part 1} 8 Apr 2015 Possessives seem like they should be terribly simple to use and understand. Somehow, though, when the writing is in progress, the basic rules that we all know end up riddled…
How-To Grammar Workshop: The Em Dash {Part 3} 17 Sep 2014 We've talked about when to use an em dash -- and when not to. We've also looked at alternatives to using the em dash. Now it's time to put it…
How-To Grammar Workshop: The Em Dash {Part 2} 10 Sep 2014 Before we start exploring the toolbox, take another look at the possible uses for em dashes mentioned in the previous post. We will take each situation in turn and examine…
How-To Grammar Workshop: The Em Dash {Part 1} 3 Sep 2014 The em dash has been around since the time of Gutenberg, but there is no doubt that its heyday has arrived. It reigns triumphant among punctuation marks, spattered prominently across…
How-To Grammar Workshop: Fumblerules 26 Feb 2014 Fumblerules show rather than tell students what not to do. A common example of a fumblerule is the Plan Ahead poster where the d dangles off of the page because…
How-To Grammar Workshop: Hyphenated Compounds {Part 3} 25 Oct 2013 In part one of this series, we introduced hyphenated compound adjectives, and discussed the historical use of hyphens, the dehyphenation trend, and general rules. In part two we covered the…
How-To Grammar Workshop: Hyphenated Compounds {Part 2} 11 Oct 2013 In part one of this series, we introduced hyphenated compound adjectives, and discussed the historical use of hyphens, the dehyphenation trend, and general rules. Now we come to the exceptions…
How-To Grammar Workshop: Hyphenated Compounds {Part 1} 26 Sep 2013 Hyphenated compound adjectives? You’ve seen these; it’s exactly what the name says—a compound word with all of its constituent parts linked with hyphens to form a single adjective. For example,…
