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When we say, "Do not put a comma after 'so,'" we are talking about a single separating comma. A pair of commas can go anywhere. There is never a single comma after "so." We have this confusion ofte...

I keep seeing comments that Lillian Morson and I are contradictory. This just isn't so. I would say that we agree on about 90 percent of the rules. There are a few "sticking" points between us, but...

I am happy to announce that CCRA and I are going to be "partners." I am to be the education liaison, working to be sure schools are in the loop about what is going on in the field, helping students...

Dear blog people, If you remember a very successful Australian tennis player from the 1970s, Evonne Goolagong, you might remember that she had "walkabouts" -- times when she just wasn't with it, w...

When a noun clause direct object is pulled out to the front of the sentence -- where it does NOT belong -- it takes a comma after it before the subject and verb in the sentence. ...Where she was t...

Do not use a separating comma after the coordinate conjunctions -- and, but, or, nor -- nor after the one-syllable conjunctive adverbs -- thus, hence, still, then, so, yet. However, don't forget th...

Verbs in English (and many other languages) have a characteristic called "mood." When you make a statement or ask a question, the mood of the verb is indicative. When you directly tell someone to d...

Remember that the dictionary does not make a distinction for adjectives in regard to hyphenating. The dictionary gives the "direct adjective," right in front of the noun, form only. So if you look ...

...He said, "I have never seen him in my life." ...She said, "You may not access those files." ...He said something like "I have never seen him in my life." ...She said something to the effect of ...