As I’m sure you’re aware, our beloved English language is full of little subtleties that are a continual source of fascination and confusion. Even if and even though Consider, for example, the difference in meaning between these two sentences: 1.a. …
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Yearly Archives: 2018
Even if you think you know the answer, you may not! If vs though and may vs might
Tagged with: even if, even though, if, may, may have, might, might have, modal, modal verb, modal verbs, modality, modals, though
Posted in Grammar, Proofreading/copy-editing
Posted in Grammar, Proofreading/copy-editing
What’s maths got to do with modifiers? Only, just, both and either
At first glance, it may seem that the precision and regularity of mathematics bear little relation to the notorious irregularity of the English language, but there is one area in which English is surprisingly logical: the position of adverbs such…
Tagged with: adverb, adverbs, modifier, modifiers, syntax, word order
Posted in Grammar, Proofreading/copy-editing
Posted in Grammar, Proofreading/copy-editing
A particular fondness for particles – ‘enter into’, ‘meet with’ and ‘mitigate against’
As anyone learning the language will tell you (usually through gritted teeth), English is inordinately fond of peppering its vocabulary with particles – those irritating little words that get added to verbs (mostly), altering the meaning in subtle, and often…
Posted in Proofreading/copy-editing, Vocabulary
Now, where did I put it? Misplaced modifiers and dangling participles
As a regular reader of this blog, we would like to offer you some really useful tips on structuring your sentences logically. Does anything grate as you read the above sentence? I hope so, because it should! It’s a classic…
Posted in Grammar, Proofreading/copy-editing
Practice makes perfect
Proofreaders find many different errors in documents (thankfully, or we’d be out of a job!). However, some are much more common than others, and one that we seem to see time and time again is the word ‘practice’ – or…