http://data.grammarbook.com/blog The #1 Grammar & Punctuation Resource on the Internet! Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:23:17 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Today I will answer a couple of questions I received from radio listeners when I was a guest. Question: Should you say "pled guilty" or "pleaded guilty"? Answer: Either one is considered correct. Question: Does "enormity" mean "something monstrous" or "something important"? Answer: Both Enormity Definition: something outrageous or heinous, ... http://data.grammarbook.com/blog/uncategorized/pled-v-pleaded-enormity-defined/ You don't need to use an apostrophe to show the plurals of symbols. Examples: #s 1, 2, and 3 (numbers 1, 2, and 3) $s, not €s (dollars, not euros) For information on apostrophes with numbers, dates, and letters, click here. Take an Online Quiz Try an online Apostrophes Quiz and get your score and explanations ... http://data.grammarbook.com/blog/uncategorized/plurals-of-symbols/ An inquisitive reader asked the following question: When do you use on to vs. onto? Answer: Use onto as one word if you can add up before on. Example: He climbed (up) onto the roof. Example: She held on to her child in the crowd. (She did not hold up her child.) Click here ... http://data.grammarbook.com/blog/uncategorized/on-to-vs-onto/ How does one know when to use into or in to? One of the main uses of the preposition into is to indicate movement toward the inside of a place. Examples The children jumped into the lake for a swim. Mom drove the car into the garage. In to is the adverb in followed by the ... http://data.grammarbook.com/blog/uncategorized/into-vs-in-to/ Rule: With words that indicate portions—some, all, none, percent, fraction, part, majority, remainder, and so forth —look at the noun in your of phrase (object of the preposition) to determine whether to use a singular or plural verb. If the object of the preposition is singular, use a singular verb. ... http://data.grammarbook.com/blog/uncategorized/none-were-vs-none-was/ In a blog first published on August 11, 2007, I helped you understand how to use colons with lists. In this blog, I'd like to help you with other uses of the colon. Rule 4: Use a colon instead of a semicolon between two sentences when the second sentence explains or ... http://data.grammarbook.com/blog/uncategorized/colons-continued/ Before computers, we used our typewriters to underline book titles and we placed quotation marks around article titles. Some organizations still prefer this method. However, current style manuals recommend italicizing book titles and magazine names (impossible to do on a typewriter) and using quotation marks around articles. Example: I read Lord of ... http://data.grammarbook.com/blog/uncategorized/how-to-reference-books-and-articles-in-text/ Reprinted with permission by Editor Laura Lawless, http://www.elearnenglishlanguage.com/. When talking about something that didn't happen in the past, many English speakers use the conditional perfect (if I would have done) when they should be using the past perfect (if I had done). For example, you find out that your brother saw a ... http://data.grammarbook.com/blog/uncategorized/if-i-would-have-vs-if-i-had/ Perhaps you've wondered if and when academic degrees (bachelor's, master's, etc.) should be capitalized. The Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) recommends writing academic degrees in lower case, except when using the degree as a title. Examples: Orlando is pursuing a bachelor of science in civil engineering. He introduced Jennifer Miller, master of fine arts. He ... http://data.grammarbook.com/blog/uncategorized/capitalization-of-academic-degrees/ A subscriber recently wrote in with a question that's a good followup to last week's Tip of the Week, Writing Numbers: "When are hyphens used with numbers? Is it 13 feet or 13-feet; 12 hours or 12-hours?" Rule: Generally, hyphenate between two or more adjectives when they come before a noun and ... http://data.grammarbook.com/blog/uncategorized/numbers-as-adjectives/