2021-06-11 Making Sense of Demonyms – Nationality Nouns
Last week in Everyday Grammar, we looked at how English forms adjectives for country names. We found that, as is…
2021-06-04 Making Sense of Adjectives from Country Names
Recently a reader asked us about how English defines the adjective of nation or country. Hien Lai gave these examples:…
2021-05-28 Memorial Day and Grammar
Memorial Day is an American holiday that honors the memory of people who died while serving in the U.S. military.…
2021-05-21 Mom, Dad, or Parent? Lawmakers Rule on Gendered Words
In the U.S. House of Representatives on January 4, 2021, Representative Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri closed a prayer to mark…
2021-05-14 Bob Dylan Teaches You About Questions, Count Nouns
Nobel prize winner Bob Dylan is considered to be one of the best American songwriters. The answer is blowin’ in…
2021-05-07 Grammar and Mother’s Day
Many countries around the world will celebrate Mother’s Day on May 9th. In celebration of the holiday, we will explore…
2021-04-30 Phrasal Verbs with Spring in Them
Spring is lovely time of year in the United States. It is a time of growth and movement. Trees flower…
2021-04-23 I Want to Thank the Academy
The 93rd Academy Award Ceremony is to be broadcast on Sunday, April 25. “Oscar” is the name of the figure…
2021-04-16 ‘This Ain’t It’ and Other Short Forms
If you often use online social media, you will see many examples of informal English. One expression that you may…
2021-04-09 Apologies and Prepositions
German Chancellor Angela Merkel recently caused protests with the call for a five-day lockdown over the Easter holiday to slow…
2021-04-02 Fight Online Crime with Grammar
We have all seen them: emails with bad grammar, spelling mistakes and other problems. The writers ask us to go…
2021-03-26 Why Is the News Always Breaking?
One of our readers recently asked about the word ‘breaking.’ “I know about the word ‘breaking,’ as in ‘breaking glass.’…
2021-03-19 Different Areas in America, Different Second-person Plural Pronouns
In a recent Everyday Grammar, we briefly talked about a video that makes fun of the difference between two terms:…
2021-03-12 Are ‘Me and My Friends’ Breaking Grammar Rules?
Parents always have concerns about the way their children speak. Personally, I am unhappy when I hear my children saying…
2021-03-05 You, You Guys, Y’all: Second-Person Pronouns in American English
In an episode of the humorous television show Family Guy, an unusual short discussion takes place: Hey! You’re not in…