The apostrophe is perhaps one of the most-often misused punctuation marks. In one of our previous blog posts, we shared ten tips for using apostrophes correctly. This week, we are going to take a look at some of the most common mistakes people make while using apostrophes so that you can avoid making them too. Never use an apostrophe to form a plural One place where people often add unnecessary apostrophes is in plurals. You never need an apostrophe to form a plural. This includes the plurals for abbreviations, letters, numbers, spans of years, and surnames. For example: cars not car’s ifs and buts not if’s and but’s DVDs not DVD’s Ps and Qs no...
The summer holidays are coming to an end and if you’re not back at school yet, you will be soon. To help you prepare, we’ve compiled a list of our favourite posts on grammar and punctuation. Commas are confusing, but luckily we’re here to help. Click here to learn how to use commas to separate clauses, here to learn how to use commas as part of a list, and here to learn how to use commas in direct speech. If you think commas are difficult to use, you’ll probably think semi colons are worse. This punctuation mark is used to denote a break that has more emphasis than a comma but is less final than a full stop. In this article, we look at the two common circumsta...
A few weeks ago we shared an article on how to use our word list feature. Now that you’ve had a bit of a practise, here are ten word lists to test yourself on. Don’t forget: click on the ‘eye’ icon at the top of each list to take a ‘Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check’ test; click on the ‘ear’ icon to take a ‘Listen and Spell’ test; and click on the soccer ball icon to play games using your words. 50 Words Britons Struggle to Spell (part one, part two, and part three) This list features commonly misspelled words. If you struggle to spell any of them, why not come up with a mnemonic before testing yourself? The Di...
Most plurals are formed by adding an -s to the end of the word. However, you should NEVER use an apostrophe to form a plural (click here for Ten Tips for Using Apostrophes). If the noun ends in a consonant plus –y, form the plural by swapping the –y for –ies. Click here for a word list. Watch out: if the noun ends in a vowel plus –y, form the plural by adding –s as usual. For example, story (as in a tale/book) becomes stories, whereas storey (as in a floor/level) becomes storeys. If the noun ends in –ch, -s, -sh, -x, or -z, form the plural by adding –es. Click here for a word list. HOWEVER, if a noun ending in...
It’s really easy to get mixed up between using the word ‘fewer’ and using the word ‘less’. Both words express a similar meaning, but they are not actually interchangeable. As a general rule, ‘fewer’ is used to refer to things that can be counted, and ‘less’ for things that are uncountable. Do you mean ‘not as many’? Use ‘fewer’. Do you mean ‘not as much’? Use ‘less’. Of course, as is the case with most rules, there are exceptions - let’s take a look at how to use each word more specifically… USING ‘FEWER’ What does ‘fewer’ mean? Th...
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