Grammar Girl here. Today Bonnie Trenga will help us boldly go where many grammarians have gone before: deep into the dictionary to discover the true meaning and correct usage of the word comprise. Some of you may feel that this is an alien word to be...
Grammar Girl here. Todays topic concerns three sets of words that are easy to confuse: all together (two words) and altogether (one word), all ready (two words) and already (one word), and all right (two words) and alright (one word). As well see sho...
Who and whom have to be two of the most difficult words in English. Luckily, we've already spent two articles on the ins and outs. Unfortunately, though, some people are still confused. They may even find themselves agreeing with William Safire, who...
Today's topic is further versus farther. Almost every week someone asks me to explain the difference between further and farther. Three years ago when I was on the Oprah Winfrey Show, a production assistant grabbed me backstage while my head was stil...
Grammar Girl here. Today I'm going to cover two short topics. So while I was home sick and listening to Undead and Unappreciated and Undead and Unpopular I had two happy little surprises when the main character asked the kind of questions that you li...
Grammar Girl here. Verbal ambiguity can lead to a range of confusing scenarios. Guest-writer Rob Reinalda explains. How to Use Between Someone once said, Between Springfield and St. Louis theres only one brain surgeon. Oh, came the puzzled reply. Do...
Today we're going to talk about the difference between the words between and among. Between Versus Among You may have noticed that I said we were going to talk about the difference between the words between and among. I used the word between because...
Today were looking at various ways to say because, including due to,since, and as. Wordy Ways to Say Because First, lets disparage all the wordy ways to express the meaning because. There are quite a few: due to the fact that, owing to the fact that,...
By Mignon Fogarty Today's topic is bad versus badly, and to make it fun we have a celebrity smack down. On this week's Celebrity Apprentice, Donald Trump corrected Cyndi Lauper. Here's a clip. [audio clip] Not only is Donald Trump not very nice, but...
By Mignon Fogarty Today's topic is although versus while. I often have to tell people that their pet peeves aren't actually hard-and-fast grammar rules. I have to tell people that it's OK to split infinitives, and that in some cases it's fine to end...
This week well discuss choices about how best to use the words option and alternative. Frequently the words option and alternative are used interchangeably, but there is a difference. Do you know what it is? Lets say Horatio has a primary plan of act...
Grammar Girl here. Today's topic is dates. This podcast is sponsored by GoToMyPC. Use GoToMyPC to take your office computer with you wherever you go. Visit http://gotomypc.com/podcast for your free 30 day trial. Can you believe it's already almost 20...
Grammar Girl here. Today guest-writer Bonnie Trenga is going to tell us how one little comma can change the meaning of a sentence. Should we write, He has the ball too with no comma or He has the ball, too? Well, you can write the sentence either way...
Grammar Girl here. Today's topic is troublesome contractions. Guest writer Bonnie Trenga writes, This episodes about contractions. Or would it be better to say, This episode is about contractions? While were in the neighborhood, well talk about some...
Grammar Girl here. Today's topic is single quotation marks versus double quotation marks. Cyndy left this message on the MyChingo line: Hey Grammar Girl. I would love for a future topic to be on the use of quotes versus, I don't know, the single quot...