By Judy Vorfeld Time to look at three pairs of words that give many people problems. Criteria vs. Criterion “Criteria” is plural (like “phenomena”), while “criterion” is singular, like “phenomenon.” You have one criterion or many criteria. It’s easy to be confused, since some words (e.g., “data” […]
Read more →The Confusing World of Reflexive Pronouns By Judy Vorfeld Have you ever wondered if you should say, “Jason and myself…” or “Myself and Jason…” or “Jason and I…” or “Me and Jason…” or “Jason and me…? Wonder no more. We have the answers. “Myself” is a reflexive pronoun, […]
Read more →By Judy Vorfeld Have you ever been confused about when to use an apostrophe with possessives? And where the apostrophe goes? Unfortunately, not all possessives use apostrophes. This includes the personal pronouns “its,” “theirs,” and “yours.” Since they are the most frequently misunderstood, let’s tackle them. The wonderful […]
Read more →By Judy Vorfeld HOMONYM: One of two or more words having the same sound and often the same spelling but different meanings. Examples: quail (cower), and quail (bird) fair (appearance), fair (county fair), and fair (reasonable). HOMOPHONE: One of two or more words pronounced the same but […]
Read more →By Judy Vorfeld Do you feel okay punctuating possessives until you have to decide on “men’s room,” “mens’ room,” or “mens room?” I have people regularly asking for the answer. Let’s investigate. In this case, we’re talking about attributive nouns, not compounded nouns. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary says an […]
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