An editor with a large database company is tussling with colleagues over the proper use of the words comprise and composed of. She believes the correct usage would be: The alphabet comprises 26 letters or The alphabet is composed of 26 letters...
The parent of a highschooler in Madison, Wisconsin, says that at the beginning of each semester, when her daughter’s classmates introduce themselves and their preferred pronouns, gender-neutral students often say their pronouns are they and...
What’s the rule on using they and their in place of his and hers? Grammarians a couple of centuries ago may have misapplied some Latin rules of grammar to the unruly English language, but the issue is clear today: the word they functions...
Can sentences end with a preposition? Yes! Grant assures a listener that all experts, including the most conservative of linguists and lexicographers, agree that a preposition as the last word in a sentence is something up with which we shall put...
Rabbit, Rabbit! In our latest archive edition, we dispense writing advice, discuss funny Spanish idioms, survey the wide array of names for grandparents, and talk about “fixin’ to,” “I’m all set,” and the ditty...
You know that grammatical “rule” about not ending a sentence with a preposition? Well, who ever decided finishing off a sentence like that is a bad thing? (Personally, we think it’s one of the silliest things anyone ever came up...