From an early age, we’re taught to identify animals by imitating the sound they make. For example, cats go “meow,” dogs say “woof,” “moo” for cows, and so on. The process of forming a word that mimics the sound of a thing or person is called onomatopoeia, which is also the term for the resulting word. Aside from animal sounds, …
Expletive: A Word that Does Not Add Meaning
Let’s learn about the definition of an expletive and how it is used. What are Expletives? There are better ways to start a sentence other than with “there are.” In English grammar, certain words and phrases are considered expletives – words that do not add meaning to a sentence and are often used as fillers. They are also called empty …
Compliment vs Complement: What’s the Difference?
Let’s learn about the difference between compliment vs complement. The Difference Between Compliment vs Complement “You look great!” is a compliment, but “Your red dress complements your figure” means your red dress enhances your figure or completes your look. Compliment and complement are commonly confused words mainly because they’re homophones – words that sound similar but have different meaning and …
Lay vs Lie: What’s the Difference?
Let’s learn about the difference between lay vs lie. The Different forms of Lay vs Lie: Although English is one of the most widely used languages in the world, it is complex and hard to learn – especially if it’s not your first language. So, if you’ve ever committed the error of interchanging lie and lay, don’t sweat it; you’re …
Compound Complex Sentence: Sentence Structure
Let’s learn about compound-complex sentence structure. We’ve been taught since pre-school that the basic parts of a sentence are its subject and verb. Taking that to heart, let’s delve into the different kinds of structure – the simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex. Why do you need to learn these? Because the plain existence of a subject and a verb in a sentence …
Complex Sentence: Sentence Structure
Let’s learn about complex sentence structure. We’ve been taught since pre-school that the basic parts of a sentence are its subject and verb. Taking that to heart, let’s delve into the different kinds of structure – the simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex. Why do you need to learn these? Because the plain existence of a subject and a verb in a sentence …
Compound Sentence: Sentence Structure
Let’s learn about compound sentence structure. We’ve been taught since pre-school that the basic parts of a sentence are its subject and verb. Taking that to heart, let’s delve into the different kinds of structure – the simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex. Why do you need to learn these? Because the plain existence of a subject and a verb in a sentence …
Simple Sentence: Sentence Structure
Let’s learn about simple sentence structure. We’ve been taught since pre-school that the basic parts of a sentence are its subject and verb. Taking that to heart, let’s delve into the different kinds of structure – the simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex. Why do you need to learn these? Because the plain existence of a subject and a verb in …
Run On Sentences: Stop Rambling
What are Run-on Sentences? When we speak, our silence, pauses, gestures, and facial expressions complement what we say. We take a breath in between commas, and pause in between sentences. However, in writing, we only have punctuations—commas, periods, and exclamation points— to let readers know where to pause, stop, or put emotions to. Incorrect use of punctuation results in run-on …
Interjection: An Omittable Expressive Word
What is an Interjection? An interjection is a word or utterance that expresses emotion. It is generally used to add emphasis or effect and are not essentially related to other words in the sentence; an interjection can be omitted without changing the message of the sentence. “Oh! You finally arrived!” means the same as “You finally arrived!” with the latter …