We all know that names need capital letters. My name is Nick. See, there’s the capital ‘N’. I’m so important that I get a capital letter at the beginning of my name. That’s an easy example but it’s not always straightforward.
Tag Archives: grammar
Commas and adjectives
When do you need to use a comma when listing adjectives and why do you see no comma between some adjectives?
How old are you?
Rude! You should never ask that question!
But, are you the oldest in the room? Or the eldest? What’s the difference?
Telling tall tales
This is something that gets me each time I come across it. I don’t know why, but I must look it up each time I come across this in a manuscript.
They’re six foot. No, they’re six-feet. Or are they six foot tall? Six-foot-tall?
A fine line: between style and correctness
My job is frequently portrayed as being about pedantry. The correct use of the comma, the correct use of subject, verb agreement, the correct spellings.
But that’s not always the case.
Keeping it consistent
Many people believe that English is full of rules that must not be broken. They are slaves to finding the “correct” version.
Whilst many words do have “correct” versions, there are many examples of words that need choices to be made and then applied consistently. Take, for example, the word “banister”, a pretty ordinary noun and one that you wouldn’t think twice about. Right?
