How Reading Affects Your Brain

As you read these words, your brain is decoding a series of abstract symbols and synthesizing the results into complex ideas. It’s an amazing process. The English writer Katie Oldham described the “surreal” act of reading a book this way: “You stare at marked slices of tree for hours on end, hallucinating vividly.”

And as if it weren’t already strange enough, consider this: If you do enough of it—that is, read a lot—it may not only rewire parts of your brain, but perhaps even make you a nicer person. (Maybe.

That Emoji Might Not Be Saying What You Think

This morning, my guy texted me:

And I texted back:

He said, “Good morning! It’s a beautiful day. Love you!”

And I wrote back, “Good morning! I’ve got a song in my heart. Mwah! Love you, too.”

The texter and I are close. We know each other, so our emoji-only conversation made sense to us. The message is unambiguous enough that even an outside observer might have interpreted it similarly.

Bear vs. Bare—What’s the Difference?

Homophones sound the same but are spelled differently. People often confuse homophone pairs, and bare and bear are no exception. Which phrase is correct—bear with me or bare with me?

The Difference between Bear and Bare

Besides being the name of a big furry animal, bear functions as a verb. It means to tolerate, to carry something, or to endure.

The grizzly bear seemed friendly, but we wisely kept our distance.

Nowadays or Now a Days?

• Nowadays is the only correct spelling of this word.
• Spelling the word as three words—now a days—is incorrect.

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Nowadays means “at the present time.” It’s easy to use, but the spelling gives some people trouble.

How to Spell Nowadays

There’s only one way to spell nowadays—as one word. Even though this adverb evolved from the Middle English now adays, spelling it as more than one word today is a mistake.

9 Workflow Strategies That Will Make You a Faster Writer

Whether writing is your livelihood or your side hustle, being able to produce content quickly is a skill you’ll never regret developing. And not only will a solid process help you write faster, it will ease editing frustrations by making your draft more organized from the start.

I write all day, every day, and although I’ll never be the fastest writer in the world, I’ve had to make some serious adjustments to my own process in order to get things done and meet my deadlines.

25 Homophones That Most Spell-Checkers Won’t Catch

Spell-checkers have come a long way since a West Coast beach boy with an FBI record invented the first prototype at MIT in the 1960s. Nowadays, the überhelpful technology is not only ubiquitous in all word processors, quietly creating more error-free writing around the world, it also exists online, where it can point out mistakes in real time while we write emails or post on social media.

Ellen DeGeneres and Hugh Laurie compare British and American slang; how many can you get right?

How many of these do you know? Are you more American or Brit?

Share your results on Facebook and tag @Grammarly!

7 Brilliant Tips on How to Proofread Emails

That typo or grammar goof you just made in an email might make a bad impression. It could signal that you lack attention to detail. At worst, it could make you seem less intelligent, conscientious, and trustworthy.

Although email typos happen to everyone, they happen less frequently to those who take a little extra time to proofread. Here’s a foolproof step-by-step guide to getting it right before you hit send.

The Inaugural Guide to Writing the Perfect Tweet

Today marks the fifty-eighth United States presidential inauguration. As the US swears in Donald Trump as their leader, the world will watch not only the proceedings but also the new president’s active Twitter account. President Trump’s Twitter usage has been unprecedented compared to previous candidates and has put the social network squarely in the headlines for over a year.

Affective vs. Effective: What’s the Difference?

Is affective just another word for effective? Are the two words similar and entangled in the way the verbs affect and effect are? No, affective is not just another word for effective. And affective and effective are not derived from the verbs affect and effect. They come from the nouns affect and effect.

Affective is usually used in the field of psychology and addresses emotions and feelings.

Earliest Convenience: Is It Awkward to Use This Phrase?

Your out-of-office email message says, “I’m away from my desk right now, but I’ll get back to you at my earliest convenience.” Have you created a grievous business faux pas? Surely, you meant well. How could it possibly be impolite to say that you’ll do something just as soon as it’s convenient for you?

Language has power. Words and phrases are open to interpretation.

What’s the Difference Between Was and Were?

The key to understanding when to use was or were in a sentence is determining whether you need to use the subjunctive mood or not. A verb is in the subjunctive mood if it expresses an action or state that is not reality. For example, it might be hypothetical, wished for, or conditional.

“Was” and “Were” as Past and Subjunctive Verb Tenses

To better see what we are up against when deciding when to use was or were, let’s compare the past and subjunctive conjugations of to be side by side.

How to Structure a Less Stressful Sunday

Do you know where the seven-day week came from?

Your first inclination may be to assume that the seven-day week is based on some celestial phenomenon, like the year (loosely based on the earth’s orbital period) or the month (which was supposedly invented to mimic lunar cycles). Unfortunately, you’d be wrong.

The seven-day week, like the five-day workweek it encompasses, is completely man-made.

Top 5 Most Frustrating Writing Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them)

Recently Grammarly asked its social media communities which writing mistakes were the worst kinds of errors. Our fans tend to find substantive grammatical trip-ups, like verb errors, far more frustrating than typographical errors and “stylistic” errors, such as homophone misspelling and preposition placement.

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Here are the top five worst writing mistakes and how to avoid and correct them.

8 New Movies and Shows That Creatives Must Watch

Creative work can be especially fun and rewarding, but after a long day of writing, designing, composing, crafting, coding, building, imagining . . . it’s good to relax and recharge.

And what better way to kick back than with a movie or show that refuels your creative energy?

We’ve entered a golden age in US television, where creators are forging into new territory and bringing diverse ideas and voices to the forefront.

What Is the Singular They, and Why Should I Use It?

Last year, Grammarly polled our social audiences to see if they supported gender-neutral pronoun usage. The results were a bit surprising: more than half of the audience polled felt that the idea of gender-neutral pronouns was a nonstarter.

With this knowledge, I’d like to make an appeal to our audience: consider the singular they. Language has changed a lot in the last year, with the singular they being voted the most important word of the year, and numerous dictionaries adding gender-neutral usage notes.

How to Best Prioritize Your Work Tasks

When the first task lands on your desk, you think: “No problem, I can handle it.” The second and third requests cause a little self-doubt. Soon, you don’t even know how many projects you have on your to-do list.

Does this scenario sound familiar? How can you cope when the projects pile up and the time is short? Learn today how to prioritize your work assignments efficiently and keep your cool.

How to Write the Perfect Thanksgiving Message to Colleagues

Sure, Thanksgiving is about feasting, but let’s not forget its other main theme: gratitude.

This is the perfect time to show your appreciation for the awesome people in your life— especially those patient folks you spend your days working alongside!

Consider taking a few minutes this holiday season to write your favorite coworkers a Thanksgiving message letting them know how much you appreciate them.

Verbs

There are up to five forms for each verb: root, third-person singular, present participle, past, and past participle.

Root Form of the Verb

The root form of a verb is the base form of the word. Roots have not been conjugated and do not include prefixes or suffixes.

The root form of the verb is the same as the infinitive form with “to” removed. See the examples below: to see – see