At a glance, stationary and stationery look very much alike. But they couldn’t be further apart in meaning and function. So confusing them—and they’re often confused—is a noticeable mistake.
When something is fixed, immobile, or not subject to change, we can use the adjective stationary to describe it:
Can you spot the gerund in the sentence “Learning about gerunds is fun”? No, the answer isn’t gerunds. It’s learning.
To understand gerunds, (pronounced JER-undz, by the way) it helps to understand the difference between a word’s grammatical form and its grammatical function in a sentence.
Take the word dancing. Dancing is the present participle of the verb to dance.
We’ve talked about the best ways to end an email; now let’s talk about beginnings.
You might wonder whether it’s really necessary to put much thought into how you begin your emails and other correspondence. If you’ve ever ignored a letter because it began with “To Whom It May Concern,” groaned because your name was misspelled, or wondered if the sender was human or canine because their greeting was so overly enthusiastic, then you know that getting your email salutation right is a big deal.
Whether you’re the friend that everyone calls when they have a grammar question or you’re just a big English language geek, you love reading about and talking about language online. When writing mistakes happen online, however, language and grammar can get pretty divisive—quickly. We all have a tendency to chime in, but not all of us are as productive as others. Find out how much of a grammar troll you are in our short, fun quiz.
“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” – Jack London
Many writers are of the mistaken opinion that great work only comes when they are inspired, but that’s backwards. A writer doesn’t wait for inspiration to find them; a writer creates inspiration by starting to write, even when they don’t feel like it. The simple act of writing will kickstart your brain and let your Muse know that it’s time to get started.
In theory, writing is not hard labor. It’s less backbreaking than laying bricks all day, for instance. And compared to the average herpetologist, most writers’ workplaces involve far fewer smelly rooms full of snakes. For that, we should be grateful.
Still, writing is hard work. And that’s just as true for vaunted authors with numerous books, awards, and honorary degrees to their credit as it is for newcomers who only recently resolved to hammer out more words each week.
Antidote vs. Anecdote Antidote: A remedy to counteract the effects of poison; something that counteracts or prevents something harmful. For example: We must find the antidote to the poison before its effects spread throughout the body. Her sense of humor is the perfect antidote to this stressful situation.
Anecdote: A short account of a real incident or person, often humorous or interesting; an account which supports an argument, but which is not supported by scientific or statistical analysis.
It’s Saint Patrick’s Day! Walk into any department or grocery store at this time of year, and you may find yourself surrounded by leprechaun hats, green shirts, rainbow banners, shamrock-shaped candy, and other Irish-themed paraphernalia. Embedded in these symbols of Irish tradition is the idea of luck (good, bad, and uncertain) and the language associated with luck.
“Get it in writing!” That’s a phrase we hear often. In things like bills of sale, freelance contracts, or employee compensation packages—if you and other parties are making an agreement, there’s value in using written language to document it.
We often relate the phrase “Get it in writing” to fancy legal contracts drafted by lawyers, whose time is expensive. But getting something in writing doesn’t have to entail a contract.
Learning a variety of writing skills isn’t as difficult as you may think. We’ve put together a list of steps to help you make dramatic improvements to the quality of your writing in short order.
Becoming a better writer takes practice, and you’re already practicing. No, seriously—you write a lot. Even if you don’t think of yourself as a writer, you put thoughts into text more often than you realize.
Guest Post by Alice E.M. Underwood
No matter where you are, Cinco de Mayo is a day to celebrate Mexico’s country, culture, and misunderstood military history. The holiday doesn’t mark Mexican Independence, as is commonly thought in other countries that break out the margaritas in honor of May 5—instead, it recognizes Mexico’s unlikely victory over the French in 1862.
Elon Musk is a visionary in many areas, but his memo on acronyms at SpaceX will be forever remembered as one of the greatest workplace satires of all time. The memo, aptly titled “Acronyms Seriously Suck,” explained that “excessive use of made up acronyms is a significant impediment to communication.” Musk then goes on for four paragraphs on why acronyms are ruining the culture at SpaceX.
Contractions. Everyone has messed up a contraction at one time or another. Sometimes these errors happen because a writer misunderstands the purpose of contractions, but most of the time they’re simply typos. Whatever the reason for your mistakes, we’ve got you covered.
If you don’t quite know the rules for contractions, you can brush up with our handbook.
If typos are your problem, try our free browser extension for help catching those keyboard slips (plus many other types of writing errors).
Last night, I performed at a local open mike. I’ve been singing forever. Performing was even a legitimate side hustle for me for about seventeen years. But at the open mike, I was sitting at the piano in front of a group of talented fellow musicians, and I was nervous as hell.
Even so, I got up there under the lights, sat down at the piano, and surrendered to the music.
The period, called a full stop in British English, is one of the first punctuation marks we learn about when we begin reading and writing. Compared to commas or semicolons, the rules for using periods are blessedly simple.
The most common use of the period is, of course, to end a declarative sentence. Interrogative sentences (questions) end with a question mark.
There’s a lot you can do to make your LinkedIn profile shine. You list your greatest achievements. You make connections. You take the time to write a great LinkedIn summary.
But for everything you do to make your profile stand out from the crowd, there are a lot of mistakes to avoid on LinkedIn, too. Whether you’re looking for a job or just giving your LinkedIn profile its monthly polish, here are eight problems to avoid.
That email is sitting in your inbox. You know the answer to the question it’s asking, but those two words are still haunting you: “please advise.” It can show up in the subject line, somewhere in the middle of a message, or, most frequently, right before the signature at the end of the email. But what do you do with it?
The good news: if you know the answer to the main question in the email, just write your reply and boom!
So, you’ve been asked to write a letter of recommendation.
Aside from the immediate awkwardness of having to articulate how we think and feel about another person’s work, figuring out how to write a letter of recommendation often induces anxiety that a poorly written letter will weaken your contact’s chance at success.
Whether you are writing a letter for an employee, co-worker, or student, there are some essential Do’s and Don’ts for how to write an effective letter of recommendation.
Plain language is a style of communication that ensures readers (or listeners) can understand a message quickly, easily, and completely.
But how do you know if you’re actually using plain language? Surely, just being able to decipher business jargon isn’t good enough on its own. How do you know if the language you use is “plain enough”?
To overcome complex jargon, understandable writing and communication
