Tag archives: grammar help
Abolishing angst regarding among versus amongst
One of our readers raised the following useful query a few months ago: What’s the difference between among and amongst? Happy to help! In the spirit of the January sales that are just winding down here in the UK, I thought I’d make this blog a twofer and deal with while and whilst at the [...]
We were stood at the bar talking about continuous tenses. . .
Call me a dyed in the wool reactionary, but the BBC (familiarly known as ‘Auntie’ because the broadcaster is regarded as the UK’s rather staid maiden aunt) has surprised me twice recently. Firstly, I was shocked to encounter someone saying ‘sh** happens’ at around 11.45 a.m. on Radio Four – and it was a Sunday to boot! Nowadays many people (including me) use this word, but context is everything [...]
Rein or reign? Hold your horses before applying pen to paper…
It wasn’t that many moons ago that horses were an integral part of our daily lives: in war and peace, in commerce and agriculture, they proved their worth by pulling various carts, carriages, and barges or they carried individual riders, from messengers to cavalry, on their backs. Since the dawn of the age of the [...]
Grammar myths #2: please miss, can I start a sentence with a conjunction?
‘No, young lady, it is an unspeakable offence against the English language, and I will mark any such errors with a large red circle and make a public example of you by reading out your ungrammatical prose to the whole class.’ An imaginary conversation, true, but hands up all those whose English lessons at school [...]
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