The Full Stop in UK English
The full stop is the small dot that appears at the end of a sentence written in certain scripts such as the Roman alphabet, which is used for the majority of Western languages. Likenesses of a full stop, also called…
Category English Punctuation
The Difference between a Hyphen and a Dash
Many people can comfortably go through life without ever knowing the difference between a hyphen, a dash, and whether that dash is an ‘en’ dash or an ’em’ dash. If you are reading this article, you are not one of…
Colon vs Semicolon: When to Use Which
Colons and semicolons are punctuation marks that serve distinct purposes in writing. The use of a variety of characters is necessary when writing with the Roman alphabet because it enables a reader to see what words are associated with what…
Direct and Embedded Question Structures
A question is a spoken or written sentence or phrase that seeks information, clarification, a response or an explanation. Forming interrogative sentences simply means structuring questions. Interrogative sentences An interrogative sentence is a type of sentence that asks a question.…
Word Lists of Common Conjunctions and a Clarification of their Use
This post looks at conjunctions. Conjunctions are a part of speech or word class often described as ‘joining words’, because many conjunctions such as ‘but’ and ‘and’ join words or clauses together to form one sentence. However, not all conjunctions have…
Tag Question Examples and Practice Quiz
Tag questions are short phrases that are added at the end of a sentence to turn a statement into a question. They are often used to seek agreement or confirmation. This post gives examples of tag questions in positive and…
Double Possessive Marker or Apostrophe Use
Like possessives, double possessives are used to provide specific information about the relationship between a possessor and a possessed object. Double possessives, also known as ‘double genitives’ or double possessive constructions, occur when two possessive elements are used together to…
Possessives in English with Pronouns and Determiners
Have you ever wondered why one says ‘the dog’s bone’ instead of ‘the bone of the dog’? Or, perhaps you’ve pondered the difference between its and it’s? Then, let’s have a close look at possessives in English grammar; this means…
A List of Contractions, and Apostrophe Usage
Contractions and apostrophes are unique to a small number of the world’s languages. French uses them, and even Portuguese and Russian have contractions to a certain degree for convenience, but English really ‘goes to town’ with them! Contractions alter tone,…
How to Use Inverted Commas or Quotation Marks
Just as these units of punctuation are known by various names, ‘inverted commas’, ‘quotation marks’ or ‘speech marks’, so they can be used in a variety of ways. Different countries and different house style-guides use them differently. If you are…