The confusion between “who’s” and “whose” is pretty much the same as with “it’s” and “its.” One is the contraction of “who is” or “who has” – the other is used to show ownership. Compared to one of our previous articles about “who vs. whom,” this topic here is much easier to understand. Continue reading SOS English: “Who’s” vs. “Whose”
The words “literally” and “figuratively” are indispensable to our everyday communication and social interaction. Most people will understand that when you say, “I literally peed my pants of fright when my friends pulled this stupid prank on me,” you most probably didn’t really pee your pants. However, you’d use “literally” for the case you’d actually peed your pants and “figuratively” when you were just really, really scared at that particular moment. Confused? Well, let’s dive in deeper and have a closer look. Continue reading SOS English: Literally vs. Figuratively
Verbs describe a physical (run, jump, talk) or mental (think, confuse, guess) action or a state of being (to exist, to live, to be).
With a noun or pronoun (which primarily functions as “subject”), verbs tell us what the subject does or performs. Even though that might sound easy to understand, there are, however, a couple of things you have to keep in mind, especially if you’re currently trying to learn English. So, let’s get going, shall we? Continue reading Grammar Basics: Verbs
“Who” and “whoever” are so-called “subjective pronouns,” whereas “whom” and “whomever” are used for objective cases. Usually, we use those words in combination with a question or a relative clause about a person. Although the usage of “who” and “whom” is quite simple to most people, some may still stumble upon some difficulties.
With this short guide, it’ll be much easier for you to decide when to use “who” or “whom” correctly in the future! Continue reading SOS English: Who vs. Whom
You may or may not believe it, but sometimes even co-workers here at Grammatica struggle to find out when to use a hyphen in English. Then I’ll get the question ‘To hyphen or not to hyphen?’ and that’s when we figured we should create an own article for that specific topic. Yes, this one’s for you, Christoph. Continue reading To Hyphenate or Not to Hyphenate – That’s The Question
Whether you’ve just recently started learning English, want to get a better understanding of your own language, or like to learn something out of curiosity – understanding the basic rules of a language is a must, not only to create proper and solid sentences but also to improve your overall communication skills in both written and spoken form. Continue reading Grammar Basics: Nouns
“Live life to the fullest.” – or is it “Life live to the fullest.”? Not sure? Well, it happens more than often that people confuse “life” with “live” and vice versa. But fear no more! Check out this quick explanation to make your life a little easier 😉 Continue reading SOS English: life vs. live
“Run-on” sentences are just compound sentences gone wrong. Like very wrong. You could also say that “run-on” sentences consist of too many ideas and thoughts without the proper punctuation. If “compound sentences” and “dependent vs. independent clauses” don’t ring a bell, make sure to check out one of our previous articles. But continue reading to find out how to recognize run-on sentences and especially how to fix them! Continue reading How To Fix “Run-On Sentences”
You’ve probably heard and also used the terms “e.g.” and “i.e.,” especially in scholarly writing. It’s also possible that you’ve used them interchangeably as many other people do. However, these two abbreviations that actually derive from Latin (and not English) mean different things. It is necessary to use the correct abbreviation to ensure that the meaning of a sentence is retained.
You mostly use “e.g.” and “i.e.” at the beginning of a nonrestrictive element which is enclosed in either commas or parentheses. It’s also suggested to use a comma after both “e.g.” and “i.e.”
But let’s have a closer look! Continue reading SOS English: e.g. vs. i.e.
“Which” or “that” – we can use both words in various contexts, but the confusion starts when we use them as a relative pronoun. Even though many people believe that the differences between those two words aren’t really differences at all, there are actually some rules for their usage. But let’s have a closer look! Continue reading SOS English: which vs. that
