I’m sometimes asked this question at networking events, and a very interesting question it is. It makes sense for a business to employ a copy-writer to ensure its promotional material is professional and its website beyond reproach, and I would be the first to encourage this practice. However, the problem here is that most businesses [...]
I’m having a moan. I know, I know – most unlike me. Anyway, contrary to what many of my followers think, I don’t spend my days trawling websites and social media platforms looking for written English errors (honest!) but I have noticed a growing number, particularly from businesses. As I often say, I’m not being [...]
It is if you want to write properly. Which of the following is incorrect? I need to practise my spellings. I need to practice my spellings. Spell check won’t help you as it recognises both words: one as a noun and the other as a verb. If you don’t know the difference between a noun [...]
A selection of some of the most blood-curdling grammar crimes ever committed, creatively arranged for your enjoyment. A Halloween treat for all you English language pedants: poo your pants! His got the hole world in he’s hand’s. The monkies pulled each other’s tales alot. Truely, your such a lyer! Grammer is important, irregardless of [...]
I’d like to take this opportunity to bore … I mean regale you with a recent experience I had with a media content company. This company had shared a link on Twitter exposing the ten most common mistakes made in writing; however, the article itself was riddled with errors and contained information that was simply [...]
Do you worry about this continually? Deciding whether to use ‘continual’ or ‘continuous’ is, for many, a continual problem. Or is it a continuous problem? Read on so you can be sure you get it right… Continuous: without stopping. e.g It rained continuously for three hours. (It didn’t stop raining during that time.) [...]
First, I’d like to make it clear that I do not read the Daily Mail. I came across the following letter on a teaching website where there was a discussion about how important (or not) the Key Stage 2 SATs are for a pupil’s future. It seems somewhat ironic that the head teacher who wrote [...]
I was a school child for the whole of the 1970s, a time when the discrete teaching of grammar was considered unhelpful. The great educational powers of the time decided that grammar teaching was boring and not working so must change. It was decided that it should be taught in the context of whatever was [...]
In case you’re wondering about the title, it’s an example that shows why commas are important for conveying meaning. Having grandma round for dinner has a whole new meaning when the comma is left out. ‘Let’s eat, grandma,’ is so much more friendly and welcoming. Who would have thought that one little punctuation mark would [...]