Colons and semicolons look a lot alike, but their functions are distinct. Let’s take it one punctuation mark at a time. The colon Colons usually introduce text. A colon might introduce a list or an explanation. In fact, here comes a colon to introduce this list of examples: Karen needs to find the following items … Continue reading Colons and Semicolons
If you write words that other people will see, it’s a good idea to hire a professional proofreader to check those words. If you’re not sure what proofreaders do, read this previous post, What Proofreaders and Copyeditors Do. Here are seven people who should most certainly hire a proofreader: 1. Self-published authors This one’s obvious. If … Continue reading 7 People Who Should Hire a Proofreader
Student: “Can I go to the bathroom?” Teacher: “I don’t know, CAN you?” Most of us experienced this exchange in our childhoods. The reason behind the teacher’s snarky response is this: In a question like “Can I go to the bathroom?” the word can indicates physical ability. But the student probably isn’t asking whether they’re physically able … Continue reading Can vs. May
People often mix up “flesh out” and “flush out,” especially in the corporate world. Despite the phrases’ similar sounds, their meanings are very different. Flesh Out To flesh out something is to add substance to it. When we flesh out an idea or concept, we take the framework (or skeleton) of the idea and add … Continue reading Flesh Out vs. Flush Out
Imply means “to strongly suggest.” Infer means “to deduce or conclude.” In other words, the speaker (or writer) implies something. The listener (or reader) infers something. Many people interchange imply and infer, thinking they mean the same thing. Some people simply opt for infer every time. All these people are misguided. Here are some examples of correct use: In his speech to … Continue reading Imply vs. Infer
Few grammar issues are more dividing these days than singular they. For those unfamiliar, I’ll briefly explain the hubbub before I dive deeper. Traditionally, they (along with related words their and them) is a plural pronoun, meaning it represents two or more people. He and she are singular pronouns. While he is masculine and she is feminine, they can represent two or more … Continue reading Singular They
This one confuses almost everyone. Simply put, who is a subject, and whom is an object. To determine which one to use in a given sentence, it’s important to first be familiar with other object and subject pronouns. Subject pronouns: I, he, she, they, who Object pronouns: me, him, her, them, whom Notice him, them and whom all end with … Continue reading Who vs. Whom
