Grammar & Usage

Words You Always Have to Look Up

The dictionary is here to help

Plural and Possessive Names: A Guide

A guide to plural and possessive names

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

We promise you're not the only one who has trouble with these words

Popular

31 Useful Rhetorical Devices

Beyond 'simile' and 'metaphor'

Using Bullet Points ( • )

'Gray' vs. 'Grey': What is the difference?

Spelling isn't all black and white

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

As in: learned, alleged, and wicked

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

In which we definitively answer a thoroughly uncontentious question

More Commonly Misspelled Words

Because spelling is tricky

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

Be dashing—and do it well

'Lose' or 'loose'?

Keep this somewhere you won't forget it

Commonly Confused

Commonly Confused

What's the difference between 'sympathy' and 'empathy'?

You don't know how it feels

Usage Notes

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Singular Nonbinary ‘They’: Is it ‘they are’ or ‘they is’?

Notes on a conjugation

Is Singular 'They' a Better Choice?

The awkward case of 'his or her'

8 Grammar Terms You Used to Know, But Forgot

Plus yodeling

Words in Disguise: Do these seem familiar?

Some words resemble other words enough to make you think you know them. You might not.

Is it 'graduated' or 'was graduated from'?

No, this will not be on the test
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Spelling & Pronunciation

Spelling & Pronunciation

The Many Plurals of 'Octopus'

But which is correct?

Punctuation

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The History of 'Ampersand'

How the '&' got its name

All About Ellipses ...

How to use them … and talk about them

Should that word have a hyphen?

On open, closed, and hyphenated compounds

Comma Splices: What They Are and How to Correct Them (or not)

Adventurous writers pull them off regularly

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

The shifting role of the apostrophe
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