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Marcel Iseli

Hey fellow Linguaholics! It's me, Marcel. I am the proud owner of linguaholic.com. Languages have always been my passion and I have studied Linguistics, Computational Linguistics and Sinology at the University of Zurich. It is my utmost pleasure to share with all of you guys what I know about languages and linguistics in general.

Deciding where to place commas often takes its toll on anyone trying to write a sensible text. Comma-decisions oftentimes are a cause of writing mishaps such as meaning ambiguity or unnecessary complexity. Although accidental comma mistakes sound amusing and entertaining in many cases, it is still recommended to correctly position this punctuation to prevent misinformation. …

Read More about Comma before or after “nonetheless”: The Definitive Guide

Some words are more common than others. Others just sound cool. No matter whether a word is as typical as “and” or as unusual as schadenfreude, however, one thing that doesn’t change is commas. That’s because, contrary to popular belief, what determines the rules for comma usage is not the word itself but the part …

Read More about Comma before “whereas”: The Definitive Guide

Translation is an art, rather than a science, and in some cases there isn’t an exact duplicate of a word or phrase in other languages. This is especially true for Japanese and English, two languages with very different origins and two very different approaches to grammar and meaning. As an example, let’s consider the English …

Read More about How to Say “Good Job” in Japanese

Japanese people have a reputation for being unfailingly polite, pragmatic, honorable, and so on. That reputation is partially based in Japan’s guest culture. However, it also has to do with racist stereotypes of Japan and Japanese people that have been given free reign in newspapers, movies and other cultural institutions in Europe and America for …

Read More about Sarcasm in Japanese: Here’s How It Works

No matter how many times you use the word now and commas together, you might still get confused about whether you are doing the right thing. You are not the only one experiencing this. English can be a complicated language with complex punctuation rules, especially when it concerns comma usage. In this article, we are …

Read More about Comma before or after “now”: The Definitive Guide

Some people would say that oral speech is more difficult than writing; however, others also think the other way around. In writing, punctuation rules are one of the most vexatious concerns. Punctuations, such as commas, provide further meaning to the reader because of their ability to alert the initiation of pauses. Pauses are then essential …

Read More about Comma before “except”: The Definitive Guide

Commas can be tricky. On top of that, “thus” can be a tricky word. “Thus” can mean “in this way” or “like this.” It can also have the same meaning as the words “consequently,” “therefore,” and “as a result of.” Knowing when a comma is needed with the word “thus” depends in part on which …

Read More about Comma before or after “thus”: The Definitive Guide

Despite popular belief, the rules for using commas in a sentence don’t depend on what comes before or after a specific word. Another common misconception is that you need a comma any time you would pause when speaking. The truth is that the purpose of a comma is to provide clarity to a sentence by …

Read More about Comma before “and”: The Definitive Guide

The internet is a fascinating place. It brings people from all walks of life together and gives them an opportunity to connect and interact with one another. It fosters communities, giving everyone the chance to feel like they belong. However, an interesting side effect of the rise of diverse communities is the morphing and amalgamation …

Read More about LULW: Here’s What it Means (on Twitch)