Articles Tagged usage

Directing Action with Light Verbs

A light verb adds little meaning to the action of the sentence. Interestingly, these verbs have the ability to both help and hinder your writing.

Those who prioritize logic in their writing often avoid phrases like “center around.” However, this common idiom is not as bad as you think.

Are you taking an “alternate” route or an “alternative” route? We tackle this common grammar debate with a little help from the dictionaries.

Working with language can be puzzling, especially when dealing with business jargon. In this grammar bite, let’s explore using “action” as a verb.

Would you write 56-years-old, or 56 years old? There’s more than one answer, so let’s investigate why so many writers disagree.

Would you write 56-years-old, or 56 years old? Hyphenation can be confusing for editors, especially when certain style guides disagree.

Some industries use jargon that can confuse wide audiences. For instance, many PR agencies use the words “creative” and “digital” as nouns.

Mnemonic devices are useful when learning difficult-to-memorize information, however, beware that some mnemonics will do more harm than good.

If you’re looking for new words to express new ideas or old ideas in new ways, here’s five questions you should ask before using a new word.

Editing is a tedious task, especially when dealing with similar phrases “compare with” and “compare to.” It’s time to clarify the confusion.