Archive for 'English Grammar'
What is an –ism? Posted by Gabriele on Feb 19, 2012
–ism is a suffix added to the end of a word to indicate that the word represents a specific practice, system, or philosophy. Often these practices, systems, or philosophies are political ideologies or artistic movements. Using –ism at the end of a word also suggests the word is related to a belief (or system of…
It’s or Its? Posted by heather on Feb 18, 2012
If you spend a decent amount of time on Facebook, then you may have seen some of the posts about grammar that tend to make the rounds. Often these posts are sentences that highlight a regularly misused or misunderstood word, punctuation mark or grammar rule. For example, “Let’s eat Grandpa! vs Let’s eat, Grandpa! (Commas, they save…
Gerunds: What Are They and How Can You Identify Them? Posted by Gabriele on Feb 13, 2012
Simply put, a gerund is a noun formed by taking a base verb and adding the suffix* –ing. Gerunds are very easy to make: you just add –ing to the base form of a verb, for example: give + ing = giving. It is important to remember though that gerunds aren’t verbs; they are nouns. …
Statements and Questions Posted by heather on Feb 11, 2012
Statements can be changed into questions. When we convert a statement into a question, we have to make some changes. One way of doing this is to change the word order by putting the verb at the beginning of the sentence and then adding a question mark at the end, like this: “He is interested…
Compound Words Posted by heather on Feb 8, 2012
If you have been learning English for quite some time, then you have probably come across the idea of compound words before. If you aren’t familiar with compound words, here is what you need to know. A compound word is formed by joining two words together to make a single new word. Some examples are…
Young Ones Posted by heather on Feb 1, 2012
With all this cold and snowy weather that many places are having, it might seem like a strange time to be thinking about babies. Usually spring is the season for that. But just this weekend one of my friends had a new baby, so I thought it might be the perfect time to review the…
Improve Your Writing by Not Using “And” Too Much Posted by heather on Jan 28, 2012
Many people want to improve their English writing. There are many things you can try to achieve this but one of the easiest tips is not to use the word “and” too much. When you use “and” a lot, your writing starts to become a bit boring. Instead try using some different words. For example…