English grammar explained in plain language simple enough to be understood.
A subject is the person or thing that a sentence is about. A subject does the action in a sentence. I collected colorful fall leaves for an art project.I have been studying math all weekend. In each of these sentences,… Read more181. Use the Pronoun I as a Subject
Section A: In each sentence below, find the two words that need a hyphen. Write the new hyphenated word. One sentence does not get a hyphen.1. My cousin has twenty three chickens in his backyard coop.2. His home sits on… Read more170. Practice With Hyphenated Words
Here is a usage mistake that I hear quite frequently:Be sure to let Jeff or I know.Talk to Bob or I if you have any questions. Maybe you’ve heard this too. If you take Bob and Jeff out, these sentences… Read more184. Pronoun with a Compound Object
Section A: Move the adverb closer to the verb in each of these sentences.1. The little girl accepted the gift from me eagerly.2. My brother walked home from school slowly. 3. Mom read the letter from the principal quickly. Section… Read more180. Practice With Troublesome Adverbs
A dash ( – ) looks like a hyphen. A hyphen is used inside of words. A dash is used between parts of a sentence. Use a dash when you want to show an interruption in thought. I really need… Read more171. Using the Dash
Look at this sentence: He likes ice cream more than me. Do you know what the writer is trying to say? Here are two possibilities: He likes ice cream more than he likes me.He likes ice cream more than I… Read more183. Pronoun Problem
Parentheses ( ) are a type of punctuation. Parentheses always come as a pair – in twos. We put parentheses around words and information that are not of major importance. The words in a parentheses can be left out and… Read more172. Parentheses
A direct quotation is the quoting of someone else’s words. When you write someone else’s words into your own document, you must place quotation marks around those quoted words. Quotation marks always come in a set of two. Here is… Read more173. Quotation Marks in Direct Quotations
An adverb modifies a verb by telling more about the action. Be sure to put the adverb as close to the verb as possible. Sam walked to his room dejectedly. In this sentence, the adverb dejectedly is separated from the… Read more177. Mistakes with Using Adverbs
In writing, we use italics (slanted writing like this) to designate titles of larger pieces of writing. Use italics for book titles, movie titles, television shows, magazine names, newspaper names. I saw the movie Jaws.My mother has a subscription to… Read more174. Quotation Marks and Italics in Titles