This English grammar lesson covers some of the common ways that clauses can be joined in English. While there are other acceptable ways to combine clauses, you should defer to the following widely-accepted rules. [Independent]; [Independent]. Example 1: Jane went grocery shopping at Publix; she usually shops at Kroger. Example 2: Jane went grocery shopping…

We mentioned a few unconventional sentence structures in part one of this English grammar lesson.This week we’re going to look at some additional unconventional sentence structures. As a general rule, English is a SVO (subject-verb-object) language. However, there are several sentence structures that deviate (or appear to deviate) from the SVO “rule.” Participle Clauses This…

Syntax is extremely important in the English language. Minor changes in word order can alter the entire meaning of a sentence. As a general rule, English is a SVO language. The subject, the verb, and the object(s) of a sentence typically appear in that order: Madeline [subject] purchased [verb] the new J.K. Rowling novel [object].…

Whoever and whomever fulfill roles similar to the ones that who and whom do. Whoever functions as a subject and whomever as an object. In fact, the same substitution trick used for who/whom also works for whoever/whomever. If you can substitute he/she, you should use whoever. If you can substitute him/her, go with whomever. However,…

Who is a subjunctive pronoun. It always functions as the subject of a clause or sentence. Whom is an objective pronoun. It always functions as the object of a clause or sentence. This seemingly-simple distinction actually creates a great deal of confusion for both native and non-native English speakers. Much of this confusion stems from…

Test your knowledge of verb tense consistency with this short quiz. For each sentence, choose the form of the verb in brackets that is consistent with the other verb(s) in the sentence. Then check the answers at the end of the quiz to see how you did. Remember: Unless a sentence indicates a shift in…

This quiz covers some of the most common uses of commas in the English language. Add commas where you think they are needed to the dozen sentences below. Not all of the sentences require commas, so be careful with your comma usage. Check the end of the quiz for answers and explanations. While she was…

In this English lesson, we’re going to clarify the meanings of another dozen pairs of such commonly-confused words. Just like in our last blog post on common English malaproprisms, we’ve included brief definitions for each set of words, as well as sentences designed to illustrate the differences in meaning. Also like in our last blog…

As we’ve talked about before, native speakers are frequently poor custodians of their own languages. Native English speakers routinely commit a wide variety of grammar and usage errors in everyday speaking and writing. Today, we’re going to look at another type of native English speaker mistake: malapropisms. A malapropism is a misuse of a word…

English is a living language that continues to evolve, grow, and change. New words are created, old words take on new meanings, and some words are discarded altogether. Similarly, rules of English grammar and style are, to some extent, always in flux. “Standard English grammar” is a collection of rules that English speakers have (more…