Wednesday, February 23, 2005
Today I Am a Prophet Who Wants to Make a Profit
And I want to tell you about the difference between the words prophecy and prophesy. A prophecy is a prediction. This word is a noun, and it's pronounced /PRAH fuh see/. Example: Cassandra warned the Greeks not to take the Trojan horse into the city, but because of Apollo's curse, no one believed... Sign in to see full entry.
posted by editormum at 8:59 AM Comments (0) (link)
Thursday, February 17, 2005
When You Need Advice, Ask Someone to Advise You!
The Grammar Guru has been asked to explain the difference between advise and advice, two frequently misused words that should be easy to tell apart. Advise is a verb, meaning "to tell someone what they ought to do." It is pronounced /ad-VIZE/. Someone advised him not to invest in widgets. Advice is... Sign in to see full entry.
posted by editormum at 6:13 PM Comments (3) (link)
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Subject --Verb Agreement
I keep harping on this because it's important, even in a casual writing forum like a blog. And as I have seen not one or two, but literally dozens of violations of this basic grammar rule here on Blogit and on another blogging site that I frequent, I'm going to give you the lowdown on SVA. Nouns are... Sign in to see full entry.
posted by editormum at 6:55 PM Comments (2) (link)
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Commas are causing problems again
Another request for help with commas has landed on The Grammar Guru's electronic desktop. Commas can be confusing, especially as there are divergent opinions on some uses. Being the old-fashioned type, I'm going to give you only one set of rules, one that will leave only the smallest chance of your... Sign in to see full entry.
posted by editormum at 7:44 PM Comments (1) (link)
Monday, February 14, 2005
Getting Started in Freelance Editing
This is a bit of a bio / instruction list. So it runs a bit long. I'm a freelance copyeditor, typesetter, and writer. I started editing when I was in high school, and was the editor of my college's literary magazine for three years. When I was in college, I started a typing service (that was in the... Sign in to see full entry.
posted by editormum at 2:44 PM Comments (0) (link)
Sunday, February 13, 2005
Some Pointers for New Bloggers --- NOT Just Grammar
Hey folks! I'm seeing a lot of new faces here (handles, anyway), which is marvellous. But I also see a lot of people making some of the same mistakes I did....I'd like to save you some time, trouble, and embarrassment. Don't make a whole new blog for each post. Group your posts into general blogs.... Sign in to see full entry.
posted by editormum at 7:01 PM Comments (1) (link)
Saturday, February 12, 2005
The Effects of Improper Usage Can Affect Your Life
"Effect" and "affect" have the unfortunate ability to drive people insane. As homophones (or homonyms), their similar sound makes choosing the correct spelling difficult. But there is an easy way to select the correct one. "Affect" is a transitive verb meaning "to act on, cause change in" or... Sign in to see full entry.
posted by editormum at 7:02 AM Comments (0) (link)
Wednesday, February 9, 2005
Can You Cite the Site Where You Lost Your Sight?
This is a repost from last March, but, as I have seen a number of misuses of this trio in the past few days, I thought now would be a good time to bring the subject up again. A site (noun) is a place ---- virtual or actual ---- like a construction site or a website. To cite (verb) something is to... Sign in to see full entry.
posted by editormum at 7:26 AM Comments (0) (link)
Saturday, February 5, 2005
Don't Flaunt Your Tendency to Flout the Rules....
it might make you look silly. Here are a couple of words that are oh-so-frequently interchanged----incorrectly. Flaunt (pronounced "flawnt") means to ostentatiously display your behaviour, to show off. The little girl who has just gotten a new dress will show off, strutting about and making it... Sign in to see full entry.
posted by editormum at 3:39 PM Comments (2) (link)
Tuesday, February 1, 2005
Unh, Thag Use Big Word...
and nine-tenths of the population probably has no clue what Thag meant. I have come across the word solipsism or one of its variants three times in one day. That's not exactly a common word among the general population, yet the first two times I met it, I nodded politely and read on. The third time,... Sign in to see full entry.
posted by editormum at 6:21 PM Comments (5) (link)
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About this Blog
A professional editor, writer, and English tutor answers your questions about the finer points of grammar, word usage, and other technical aspects of the writer's craft. E-mail questions to editormum@usa.com, or use the Comments section of a previous post. Happy Writing!
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