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Computer Keyboard Symbols and Punctuation Posted by Gabriele on Jan 20, 2012
Have you ever wondered what the names are for all those extra symbols on your keyboard? Many of these symbols are punctuation marks of one kind or another, while some are just symbols that are commonly used in writing. Below I’ve made a table that gives you the names of all of these symbols. The…
Tipping in Restaurants in the United States: Necessary or Voluntary? Posted by Gabriele on Jan 19, 2012
Many visitors to the United States do not fully understand our custom of tipping* waiters and waitresses in restaurants. To help clarify this custom I’ve put together a brief explanation of the importance of tipping and some general guidelines on tipping in restaurant in the United States. The first thing you should know about tipping…
Red Velvet Cake – An American Classic Posted by Gabriele on Jan 17, 2012
I was discussing what constitutes “American food” with a friend recently and we were trying to come up with some foods that are truly American. This is harder to do than you would think given that the United States is such a melting pot of culture and food. So many foods that we Americans think…
Martin Luther King Jr. Day Posted by Gabriele on Jan 16, 2012
Today, January 16th in the United States, is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. This is a federal* holiday commemorating the life of Reverend Martin Luther King. This holiday takes place each year on the third Monday of January. This is a day to remember the life and work of Reverend King. Martin Luther King was…
Parts of Speech in English – Conjunctions and Interjections Posted by Gabriele on Jan 13, 2012
The last two parts of speech that we have to cover in our review of parts of speech in English are conjunctions and interjections. Here we go! . Conjunctions A conjunction is a word that “joins”. It joins two parts of a sentence together. There are two important ways to categorize conjunctions by their relationship…
Parts of Speech in English – Pronouns and Prepositions Posted by Gabriele on Jan 12, 2012
Today we continue with our review of the different parts of speech in the English language. The two parts of speech that I will review today are pronouns and prepositions. Pronouns Pronouns are words that take the place of nouns. You use a pronoun instead of a noun, that is, the pronoun replaces the noun…
Parts of Speech in English – Adjectives and Adverbs Posted by Gabriele on Jan 10, 2012
Now that we have reviewed verbs and nouns (see my previous posts), it makes the most sense that the next two parts of speech we look at should be adjectives and adverbs. Adverbs and adjectives are the words that we used to describe verbs and nouns. Adjectives An adjective is a word that tells us…