Category Archives: Grammar

Writing Wednesday: Affect vs Effect

These two words come up during the daily warm-up exercises with my students. Because of their similar spellings and meanings, they can be a tricky pair. Affect is almost always used as a verb. It means “to change or make … Continue reading

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Writing Wednesday: Lie vs Lay

Last week I went over the differences between lie and lay with my students. As I warned them, it’s probably the hardest grammar rule out there. I’ll try to make it as simple as possible. There are two basic steps: … Continue reading

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Writing Wednesday: Is it time to give up the “Can vs May” debate?

During my undergraduate years, I had a fabulous linguistics professor who told us that people often had the same response when they learned what he did for a living: “Oh, you’re an English professor? I guess I better watch my … Continue reading

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Writing Wednesday: Perfect Verb Tenses

Did you know some verb tenses are “perfect”? Everyone knows about the three “simple” tenses: present, past, and future. However, we also have three “perfect tenses” in English: present perfect, past perfect, and future perfect. So what makes a tense … Continue reading

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Writing Wednesday: That Vs Which

Most people probably don’t even think about the difference between that and which. However, they are used for different purposes, and they affect comma usage. That The word that is used to introduce something called a restrictive clause. This is … Continue reading

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Writing Wednesday: What is Progressive Form?

We all know about the three main verb tenses: present, past, and future. Some of us even know about the three “perfect tenses”: present perfect, past perfect, and future perfect. However, I’ve seen a lot of talk online about progressive … Continue reading

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Writing Wednesday: Does the apostrophe go before or after the ‘s’?

This is a common question/problem for my students. Even published authors bicker about the rules for apostrophes in forming possessive nouns. While the rules may vary from publisher to publisher, the classroom grammar books (assuming they are actually used–but don’t … Continue reading

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Writing Wednesday: Who vs Whom?

As requested by my good friend and fellow blogger Ginny Marie, today I’m discussing the difference between “who” and “whom.” First, the easy answer . . . Use who in place of he. Use whom in place of him. Now … Continue reading

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Writing Wednesday: When do you put a comma before the word ‘and’?

Welcome to my first Writing Wednesday post! On Wednesdays, I’ll be talking all things writing, including grammar and lessons I cover with my students. As a writer, I belong to numerous online writing communities. This past week, a fellow writer … Continue reading

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