Is it couple or couple of? is one use right and the other wrong? Or are there options? Is couple ever an adjective?

Continue reading Couples Policy »

While most adverbs don’t require commas, some special adverbs do. A lesson on the use of commas with sentence adverbs and conjunctive adverbs.

Continue reading A Tale of Adverbs and the Comma »

What happens to the comma when you have a question mark or exclamation point midsentence where a comma should go?

Continue reading Getting Specific—Addressing Readers’ Examples (Part 2) »

Three very specific questions about punctuation and grammar—are band names singular or plural, is a band’s name a possessive noun or an attributive noun, how do you treat two verbs in the predicate when one’s a linking verb?

Continue reading Getting Specific—Addressing Readers’ Examples (Part 1) »

A list of resources for grammar and punctuation as well as style and usage. Introduction to a series on very specific questions regarding usage.

Continue reading Answering Your Questions About Specifics »

Confused about how to capitalize holidays and religious holy days? Don’t know if holiday greetings should be capitalized in a story? Read on for tips for capitalizing holiday terms.

Continue reading Capitalizing on the Holidays—A Reader’s Question »

Is either singular or plural? What about neither? Does it get a singular verb or a plural one? Learn when the words either and neither are singular and when they’re plural.

Continue reading Either, Neither, and Subject-Verb Agreement »

Interrupters, digressions, asides, and comments can be set apart by commas, parentheses, and dashes. Explore the options for punctuating interrupters.

Continue reading Dealing With Interruptions »

Many introductory sentence elements are followed by a comma. Yet not all are. A discussion of comma use with elements at the beginning of a sentence.

Continue reading Introduce Me with a Comma »

Tips for spelling compound words—open, closed, and hyphenated compounds. The Chicago Manual of Style has a great section on spelling compound words.

Continue reading Compound Words—Using This Cheat Sheet is Not Cheating »