Unabashedly Bookish

The Grammar Devotional, reviewed Read more...

Q: How do you feel about opening sentences with "Hopefully"? A: Despondent B. Tired C. Perfectly comfortable D Frankly, my dear . . . Read more...

This just in: a reader and first-time author asked me, "Do I need a comma before the final "too" in a sentence? I put them in, but my editor is removing them all!" Luckily for our new author, the answer is not too complicated at all. Read more...

Comma, die! is more like it. Many people feel profoundly uncomfortable around commas, vaguely recalling a mess of murky grammar school rules, fearing that somehow, obscurely, they are doing something wrong with their commas. Let's peer into the murk. We've already examined the serial comma; let's look at the introductory one. Read more...

"If you take hyphens seriously, you will surely go mad." -John Benbow, Manuscript and Proof (1937) Stay safe. Stay sane. Read on! Read more...

The Holy Modal Rounders were a fine and folksy New York City band. They had nothing to do with modal verbs, but wouldn't it be nice if they did? Because should/could/would/can/may and so on are all modal verbs, and very interesting indeed. If you're a grammar nerd, know your modals. Read more...

Count nouns might not be as scary as Count Chocula, but they and their cousins, mass nouns and collective nouns, can be puzzling. Get down with nouns as we look at mass, count, and collective nouns and how to use them correctly. Read more...

Last week we looked at just deserts and desserts, then and than, and more. Are you waiting with baited breath for this week's discussion? What are you, a cat? Read more...

It’s all spell check’s fault! Well, not really, but spell check can be a very deceptive friend. Read more...

What do you like to end a sentence with? Did that last sentence terrify you? Let's look at some prepositions! Read more...