You should capitalize the names of countries, nationalities, and languages because they are proper nouns—English nouns that are always capitalized.
Consider the following sentences and pay attention to the capitalized nouns:
A metaphor is a figure of speech that describes an object or action in a way that isn’t literally true, but helps explain an idea or make a comparison.
Here are the basics:
Remember to check your knowledge at the end with our Metaphor vs.
Networking is an artform. When you’re good at it, you become a Michelangelo, finely crafting relationships that will advance your career. But when your skills need work, you’re that guy on the street corner hawking pictures of Elvis painted on black velvet. Nobody responds to that guy’s email.
I’ve been writing and sending networking outreach for twenty years as a business owner, freelance writer, and media relations expert.
Have you ever wondered how introverted or extroverted your work style is? This short quiz will help you understand whether your writing personality tends toward introversion or extroversion.
What kind of writing personality do you have? What parts of writing are easy or challenging for you? Share your stories in the comments.
You should know these seven authors: Luis Spota, Carlos Fuentes, Octavio Paz, Juan Rulfo, Jaime Sabines, Martin Luis Guzman, and Valeria Luiselli.
As you drive down streets in Mexico, you will notice that many roads bear the names of famous people. In particular, you will find neighborhoods that honor authors and poets in the names of their streets. Let’s find out a little more about some of the most celebrated Mexican authors and their work.
“I hate vacation,” said no one ever. So why are we so bad at taking time off? North Americans in particular are notorious for rarely taking time off work. A study by Expedia found that each year workers in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico take twelve, fifteen, and twelve days off respectively, while Europeans take between twenty and thirty days off.
Granted, employers in North America tend to offer significantly less vacation time than European ones, but workers often don’t even take all the time they’re entitled to, and that’s bad.
What do you call three periods in a row? Take your time, we’ll wait . . .
Those three little dots are called an ellipsis (plural: ellipses). The term ellipsis comes from the Greek word meaning “omission,” and that’s just what an ellipsis does—it shows that something has been left out. When you’re quoting someone, you can use an ellipsis to show that you’ve omitted some of their words.
For many, the holiday season is a time of communication. Not only are we getting together with loved ones, but we also take additional time to greet others and get in touch with old friends.
Sometimes, however, it can be tough getting all the words right. Where should the apostrophe go in “Season’s Greetings”? Should you “ring in” or “bring in” the New Year? What in the world does “Bah, Humbug” mean?
“Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.”
So says the old proverb, often attributed to Benjamin Franklin. Of course, Franklin lived in a time before electric lighting, when staying up late meant burning the midnight oil and people had good reason to be productive during the daylight hours. Even so, at least when it comes to writing well, he may have been onto something.
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.
Would you like some good news about errors? The simplest mistakes to make are the easiest to correct. If you’re having a frustrating job search, it’s probably because you’re making these ten simple job search mistakes.
1 Failing to Make a Strong First Impression
Never forget that while you are searching for the perfect job, employers are searching for the ideal employee.
Anyone who has ever had to memorize a tough-to-spell English word (It’s fuchsia, right? Or is it fuschia? Fushia?) has noticed that the spelling of some words is wildly different from the way we pronounce them. To make matters worse, some words are spelled differently in American English and British English. If it makes you feel any better, the eccentricities of English spelling weren’t invented just to make life difficult for writers.
If you want to let someone know how much you appreciate what they’ve done for you or what they’ve given you, the classic way—writing a thank-you card—is still the best, the classiest, and the most appreciated way of expressing gratitude. Lest you forget this, there’s always National Card Reading Day to remind us how fulfilling it is to receive a thank-you card, and how respectful it is to send them.
Using hyphens to connect words is easy.
Let’s use this example to understand what a simile is:
Few tasks among a manager’s responsibilities stir up as many mixed feelings as writing performance reviews. We’ve scoured expert resources to bring you examples of how to communicate your company’s needs and encourage productivity without breaking morale.
It’s easy to extol an employee’s virtues, but things get tougher when you’re faced with assessing their challenges and keeping your feedback constructive.
Does your phone’s autocorrect drive you crazy?
Maybe it’s never caught on that you’re “doing well”. . . not “doing we’ll.” No matter how many times you type “gave” it still insists you meant to say “have.” Or it may even think that swapping words like “baked” and “naked,” or “stapler” and “stalker,” is a good idea. (It’s not.)
That feeling when autocorrect does the wrong ‘its’ in a reply to someone with a huge following… pic.twitter.com/gWy8m1zbGl
The Boys of Summer are in their glory! Last year, we ranked all thirty Major League Baseball teams by how well their fans write when they’re talking them up or just playing armchair coach online. Our ranking was such a hit that we decided to make it an annual event.
We gathered 3,000 fan comments (of fifteen words or more) posted to each MLB team’s SB Nation blog between June 1 and June 14, 2016.
