Sheer and Shear May Confuse You!
A simple tip today: don’t get these two homophones confused. Sheer is an adjective used to describe something that is nearly transparent (like sheer stockings) or that is smooth (like a sheer cliff). It is rarely used as a verb meaning “to move abruptly in a different direction,” as in The plane sheered away from […]
Subject-Verb Agreement With Intervening Prepositional Phrases
A fancy title for a simple concept. Another blogger asked the Grammar Guru, “Will you please teach people about proper subject-verb agreement — especially in cases where the subject may seem to be plural, but really isn’t . . . as in a flock of seagulls? I am getting quite sick of seeing things such […]
If You Meet a Murderer, Will You Mete Out Justice?
Watch these tricky little sound-alikes, because misusing them can really make you look bad. Both are verbs (well, most commonly used as verbs). Meet means to come face to face with, to come together with. (Example: We will meet in the conference room.) Mete means to dispense or hand out. (Example: The food pantry will […]
It’s Just a Phase; Don’t Let It Faze You …
and don’t give me any flak … I’m just a flack for good grammar and usage. These two pairs of words are consistently misused, so I want to set the record straight once and for all. Phase is a noun indicating a passing behavioural pattern or a certain stage of development. (Example: Most children go […]
Assure, Ensure, or Insure … When to Use Which
These three words cause a lot of confusion. There are some simple ways to remember which one should be used in what circumstance. I referred to the ultimate English reference tool, Fowler’s Modern English Usage, to ensure that I gave you the most accurate information on this sticky little problem. Assure is a verb meaning […]
Unh, Thag Use Big Word…
and nine-tenths of the population probably has no clue what Thag meant. I have come across the word solipsism or one of its variants three times in one day. That’s not exactly a common word among the general population, yet the first two times I met it, I nodded politely and read on. The third […]
If Only… Only if….Hunh?
It is a strange fact that the position of certain words in a sentence can affect the meaning of the sentence drastically. The word only is one such word. Consider the following examples. Only I love her. I only love her. I love only her. I love her only. Do you see the differences in […]
The Past Has Passed ….
Emergency beacons in my Inbox — a concerned blogger wants us to clear up the difference between “passed” and “past.” Actually, this one’s really easy, because the two words are completely different parts of speech. Past is either a noun or adjective. It means “previous times.” noun: His past is a closed book. adjective: That […]
Just between you and me, you have to pick your pronouns carefully!
One of the most prevalent grammatical mistakes that the Grammar Guru battles (on a daily basis!) is the wrong choice of pronouns in phrases like “between you and I / me” or “my sister and I / me.” It really isn’t so very hard to get the right one, when you know the trick. The […]
More Frequently Confused and Misunderstood Words
Let’s look at some words that are frequently misused and misunderstood. The problem with the completely wrong word is becoming more and more rampant, and we really need to address it. Founder as a verb means “to sink, to fail completely, or to cave in.” Flounder as a verb means “to flop about clumsily, to […]