A common error is to confuse into, spelled as one word, with the two words in to. When deciding which is right for your sentence, remember that into is a preposition that shows what something is within or inside. As separate words, in and to sometimes simply wind up next to each other.
A preposition is a word that shows a relationship, usually in terms of space or time, between words in a clause or phrase.
This poll is part of a series that Grammarly is running aimed at better understanding how the public feels about writing, language learning, and grammar.
Please take the poll and share your thoughts in the comments. We can’t wait to hear from you!
If you are interested in more, check out last week’s poll.
Words influence our thoughts, our decisions, and our actions. They have a palpable effect on our lives. You can accomplish anything by saying the right word to the right person at the right time. That’s the power of words. (And of good timing, but mostly of words.) No one is more acutely aware of this than copywriters—people who use words to persuade other people to do something, like buying a service or a product.
Even though the difference in spelling between hoping and hopping is just one letter, the difference in meaning is actually much bigger. All you need to do is hope and hop to see how big a difference it is.
When you look up the definition of hoping and the definition of hopping, you notice that they have one thing in common—both are present participles.
The Associated Press Stylebook is a guide for style and usage in written news reporting. Why do writers need a style guide? A style guide helps writers know what the rules are: whether the Oxford comma should be used or not, when to spell out numerals, how to capitalize the names of organizations, etc. Writers may use other style guides in different situations, including the Chicago Manual of Style and the American Medical Association Manual of Style.
Martha Brockenbrough is the founder of National Grammar Day and author of The Game of Love and Death, which comes out April 28 and has received starred reviews from Kirkus Books and Publishers Weekly. Martha recently spoke with the Grammarly team to provide some insight into National Grammar Day and to share her perspective on language.
Grammarly: You established National Grammar Day in 2008.
Honesty is the best policy. This old adage proves true in many situations. According to Monster.com, truthful job seekers project confidence and a sense of integrity, qualities that employers highly value. However, have you ever met someone who is too candid? TMI is an acronym for too much information. For certain, you do not want potential employers to be reminded of these three letters when they read your resume.
Do you often find yourself scrambling to get everything done? The good news is that taking a few short seconds to install an app can save you hours. If you use Slack to communicate at work, learn how to make this collaboration tool work most effectively.
Reacji Channeler
Imagine that you want to send the same message to various people on a regular basis.
What do you call those tiny pictures we all use in texts and chats? Do you opt for the Japanese-inspired “emoji” or the English-focused “emojis”?
The debate between these two pluralizations of emoji has been raging for almost as long as emojis have existed. To quote Bustle writer Lucia Peters, the answer to this question is both “incredibly simple and unexpectedly complicated.”
It’s always adorable when children attempt to write letters or caption illustrations, but can’t quite get the wording right. What’s even more adorable is when children write something they didn’t intend to write at all. Whether the culprit is bad handwriting or simply not sounding out a word correctly, ensure that you are encouraging your child to write by being supportive of all attempts.
A coordinating conjunction is a word that joins two elements of equal grammatical rank and syntactic importance. They can join two verbs, two nouns, two adjectives, two phrases, or two independent clauses. The seven coordinating conjunctions are for, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so.
The best way to remember the seven coordinating conjunctions is by using the acronym FANBOYS:
Guest Post By Akmal Akbarov at EnglishClubPro.com
Have you ever wondered about the difference between “I used to cook every morning,” where we don’t add –ing to the verb ‘cook,’ and “I am used to cooking every morning”?
If you’re confused about the difference, I am going to explain everything in detail. I am sure you will be able to get the hang of it. 🙂
Let’s go!
Guest post by David Dotson of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library
Dolly Parton has taught me lots of lessons over the past 16 years:
Be proud of who you are.
To reach your goals you may have to step around people or step over people, but never step on people.
Count your blessings more often than you count your money.
Yet the greatest gift she gave me was the gift of reading.
Is poor writing an indicator that you will be less successful in your career?
Kyle Wiens, CEO at iFixit, suggested as much in a July 20, 2012 article (“I Won’t Hire People Who Use Poor Grammar. Here’s Why.”) which appeared in Harvard Business Review’s blog network.
Yesterday, in honor of National Grammar Day, Harvard Business Review posted another article (“Grammar Should Be Everyone’s Business”) written by Grammarly CEO Brad Hoover.
Supposed to is part of a modal verb phrase meaning expected to or required to. Although suppose to crops up frequently in casual speech and writing, it should not be used in that sense. Suppose (without the d) should only be used as the present tense of the verb meaning to assume (something to be true).
To be supposed to is a common phrase that functions the same way a modal verb does.
Not feeling the holiday spirit yet? Hectic days at work and evenings spent shopping may leave you low on holiday cheer, but the feelings of generosity, gratitude, and closeness to your loved ones are what truly make the holidays special. If music, movies, and weather aren’t getting you in the mood of the season, try reading a good book. Sit down with a holiday classic or enjoy a new read to celebrate the holidays, both religious and secular, that come at this time of year.
Close your eyes. Can you picture the significant women in your life? The images of women whom you interacted with during your lifetime are vivid, but what about those who lived in generations past? Even when no physical traces survive, we can still envision them. How so? Notice how Emily Dickinson gave a glimpse of her physical appearance: “I had no portrait, now, but am small, like the Wren, and my Hair is bold, like the Chestnut Bur – and my eyes, like the Sherry in the Glass, that the Guest leaves – Would this do just as well?” Can you see her in her words?
Guest post from Matthew Quinn
It’s been said that everybody has got a book in them, but in these days of the big publishers consolidating, the small presses overwhelmed with submissions, and truly vast offerings available via self-publishing platforms like Kindle Direct and Smashwords, it’s more important than ever that people’s work stand out.
So here are some tips to make your NaNoWriMo project pop:
Oh, Valentine’s Day—the holiday of love and romance! Or, at least, it’s supposed to be. For me, as a strong introvert with generalized anxiety, holidays are pretty much like those “Mystery Gifts” you bought at dollar stores as a kid. Expectations for awesomeness bloom in your head, only to wither away under a hodgepodge of mediocrity. It’s not all bad, though. Here are a few things that introverts feel on Valentine’s Day and some thoughts on what to do about it.
