One of the frustrating things about English is that sometimes a word can be used in many different ways. This can be confusing if you are trying to figure out whether or not it needs a comma. Welcome” can be one of four different parts of speech, but fortunately, the rules about when to use …
Comma
When you say the words “I’m sorry” to someone, you are apologizing to them. That should be simple and straightforward, right? Of course, that isn’t the case when you are dealing with commas! The good news about commas and “sorry” is that using the comma wrong rarely affects comprehension. Knowing when “sorry” should be followed …
In this post, we’re going to talk about not one but two things many people are not very fond of: commas and the word “whom”! Comma usage can be confusing and seem inconsistent, so people often find comma rules frustrating. However, there really is a method to the madness of those rules! As for “whom,” …
If commas make you feel like tearing your hair out, you are not alone! Both native speakers and writers of English and language learners can get frustrated as they try to understand comma rules, which aren’t always straightforward and can be confusing. When it comes to a phrase like “in addition,” you need to pay …
One reason comma rules can be confusing is that sometimes commas are optional, or the rules vary based on the writing style a person is using. There are other comma rules that are very strict. If you do not follow them, your sentence will not make sense, or it will say something that you do …
The two words “according to” act as a single preposition. Although “according to” is always a preposition, it has more than one meaning. You have to determine which meaning it has in a sentence before you know whether or not to put a comma before it. Do you need a comma before “according to”? …
Some words or phrases have just one function in a sentence, and it is easy to say that they should almost always or almost never be followed by a comma. However, there are also words that may act as more than one part of speech or might be able to take up different positions …
Although one of the main functions of commas is to introduce more clarity into a sentence, sometimes it can feel like they just exist to make writing more confusing! One reason for this is that you may learn a comma rule and then see writing that breaks it, even printed in newspapers, magazines and books. …
English is a strange language and often seems to be made up mostly of other languages. There are lots of loanwords in English. Fancy some sushi? Maybe a hamburger or a croissant? Let’s set the food examples aside and focus on something more intrinsically interesting: the Latin phrase “per se. Do you need a …