Its vs. It’s
Would you like to know the #1 Grammar Error?
Hint: The word involved is small and it’s contained in this sentence.
That’s right: its vs. it’s
Yet the two rules are actually quite easy to remember.
Rule 1: When you mean it is or it has, use an apostrophe.
Examples:
It’s a nice day.
It’s your right to refuse the invitation.
It’s been great getting to know you.
Rule 2: When you are using its as a possessive, don’t use the apostrophe.
Examples:
The cat hurt its paw.
The furniture store celebrated its tenth anniversary.
Posted on Thursday, April 12th, 2012 at 5:35 pm
Hyphens with Common Prefixes, Part 2
The current trend is to do away with unnecessary hyphens with common prefixes.
Examples:
noncompliance
copayment
semiconscious
unending
However, there are exceptions.
Posted on Tuesday, February 1st, 2011 at 10:33 am
The Number vs A Number
The expression the number is followed by a singular verb while the expression a number is followed by a plural verb.
Examples:
The number of people we need to hire is thirteen.
A number of people have written in about this subject.
Posted on Thursday, December 9th, 2010 at 9:01 am
Spelling: -ce vs. -se
It is easy to get confused between nouns and verbs that are spelled almost identically. However, here is a simple rule that will help you with two sound-alike pairs of words.
Rule: Generally, the verb form will be spelled with the “s” and the noun with the “c.”
Examples:
advise vs. advice
devise vs. device
Example: She gave us good advice.
Noun meaning recommendation.
Example: Please advise us of our options.
Verb meaning the act of giving a recommendation.
To learn more about confusing words and homonyms, click here.
Read more…
Posted on Tuesday, October 19th, 2010 at 3:49 pm
When to Capitalize People’s Titles
When should you capitalize someone’s title? I get this question quite often so here are some guidelines:
Rule: Capitalize a person’s title when it follows the name on the address or signature line.
Examples:
Sincerely, Margaret Haines, Chairperson
Margaret Haines, Chairperson
1234 South Wallace St.
Portland, OR 97232
Posted on Thursday, October 14th, 2010 at 10:35 am
Search the Blog
Blog Categories
- Abbreviations
- Adjectives and Adverbs
- Apostrophes
- Brackets
- Capitalization
- Colons
- Commas
- Dashes
- Dates and Times
- Definitions
- Effective Writing
- Ellipses
- Good vs. Well
- Humor
- Hyphens
- Lie vs. Lay
- Numbers
- Parentheses
- Possessives
- Postal Regulations
- Prepositions
- Pronouns
- Quotation Marks
- Semicolons
- Singular vs. Plural
- Spacing
- Spelling
- Symbols
- Titles
- Uncategorized
- Verbs
- Who / Whom / Whoever / Whomever
Monthly Blog Archives