Grammar

Pronouns and Inclusivity – How Are Pronouns Tied to Inclusive Language?

Related Concepts: Ableist Language – Disability Metaphors – Disability Studies; Inclusivity – Inclusive Language The way we use pronouns—in particular the use of the traditionally plural pronouns they/them in reference to both males and females—has recently been a subject of intense debate. This furor over pronoun use feels very current, yet linguistic scholars trace this ...

Subjects, Verbs, & Objects

Subject, Verbs, & Objects are the basic build blocks of a sentence in Standard Written English. Subject and Verb (SV) The subject is whom or what the sentence is all about. The subject performs the action of the verb. He or she (or it) is the actor, the protagonist. The predicate – says something significant (complete idea) about the subject. It ...

An illustration of a professor looking up from his phone to see a student's text: "Let's eat grandpa!" This illustration highlights a punctuation error and its humorous potential for misunderstanding.

Common Sentence Errors and How to Avoid Them

What are Sentence Errors? Sentence errors are deviations from the norms of Standard Written English, including grammar and mechanical rules, that disrupt the clarity, coherence, and flow of discourse. These errors violate established discourse conventions, affecting the text’s brevity, unity, and simplicity. By failing to adhere to grammatical standards and mechanical precision, such mistakes make ...

Coordination & Subordination - The mountain top view from a cabin's window joins the distant terrain below / John Read

Coordination & Subordination

What is Coordination and Subordination? Coordination and Subordination are commonplace ways for writers, speakers, knowledge workers . . . to combine sentences. Related Concepts: Independent Clauses, Dependent Clauses & Phrases Coordination Writers, speakers, knowledge workers . . . use coordination when they want to join sentences when the ideas expressed in those sentences are coequal ...

A woman selecting a book - image by freestocks.org is licensed under CC0 1.0 / “A girl in a library”

Sentence Patterns

Related Concepts: Parts of a Sentence; Sentence Sentence patterns refer to the way sentences are constructed in terms of their grammatical structure. In Standard English, as in many languages, there are specific patterns that sentences tend to follow. These patterns are based on the arrangement of subjects, verbs, objects, and other elements. The basic building ...

sentence types: people on a rope bridge traversing a ravine

Sentence Types

Sentence Types in English are Declarative Imperative Interrogative Exclamatory. Sentence Types categorize sentences by their function—i.e., by what the sentence is doing Declarative declare something! Imperative make requests, give orders Interrogative ask questions Exclamatory give emphasis and an excited tone! Examples of Sentence Types 1. Declarative Sentences Declarative Sentences literally declare something.   Ex: Today is ...

Phrases, Essential and Non-essential Phrases

A phrase is a group of words that lacks a subject (an actor) and a verb (an action): after the market correction (prepositional phrase) the clever stock traders (noun phrase) were ready to buy the dip  (verb phrase). An Essential Phrase is a phrase that contains the information needed to complete the meaning of the sentence. ...