Grammar
Checkout or Check Out?
Noun vs. Verb On shopping carts online, I see the word “checkout” a lot and I was wondering if it’s supposed to be two words or not. I think it should be if it’s a verb… and in those cases, it is a verb. They want you to check out – to check out your […]
American English for Indian Speakers
English is a tough language. For those of us that grew up speaking it, it’s not difficult – only at times, but for someone where English is a second language, it can be really confusing. There are a lot of rule and lots of exceptions. I’ve personally learned some Spanish and I’ve found out how […]
The Difference Between Hyperbole, Simile, Metaphor and Analogy
Ever just wonder about something and then just finally look it up one day? Hyperbole is an exaggeration. The definition is: An exaggerated, extravagant expression. It is hyperbole to say, “I’d give my whole fortune for a bowl of bean soup.”(Roget’s II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary […]
An Easy Way to Remember When to Use “Its” or “It’s”
Once you know this easy and simple rule, you start seeing it wrong all over the place. It’s kind of amazing. And let’s not forget that English is a bit confusing and one of the more difficult languages to learn because of all the rules. Just remember that “it’s” always means “it is” and that’ll […]
Is it “Etc.” or “Ect.” When Writing Et Cetera
The words, et cetera is a Latin phrase that means “and so forth” or “and other similar things” but people seem to write the abbreviation wrong sometimes. The correct way to abbreviate et cetera is “etc.” and it’s easy to remember because you can just take the first 3 letters: et cetera. It’s not “ec […]
How to Correctly Use Apostrophes
I think everyone was sick the day this was discussed in school because I see it wrong everywhere. That’s the thing, once you learn the right way to use apostrophes, you’re going to start noticing it wrong everywhere, too. WARNING: You can back out now and live in apostrophe bliss or else keep reading and […]