Tag Archives: common grammar mistakes

Hanged vs. hung

Posted on May 17, 2012 by

Hang in the present tense is not too difficult to use (except when it comes to idioms). To put simply, hang means “to suspend.” We hang mistletoe and stockings at Christmas. We hang pictures on the wall. We hang (our … Continue reading →

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A dis- and a mis-

Posted on March 27, 2012 by

Lesson: learning more about the prefixes mis- and dis- mis-: 1. badly, wrongly; unfavorably; in a suspicious manner 2. bad, wrong 3. opposite or lack of 4. not —Merriam-Webster dis-: 1. do the opposite of; deprive of (a specified quality, … Continue reading →

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Empathy versus sympathy

Posted on February 20, 2012 by

Lesson: learning the difference between empathy and sympathy empathy: the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another of either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, … Continue reading →

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Check out Grumble Party!

Posted on February 7, 2012 by

Dear all word nerds, grammar sticklers, owners of multiple dictionaries, and other language freaks, Ever feel like no one understands why you get hot under the collar when you hear someone say “between you and I”? Do you feel like … Continue reading →

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Confusing words: peek, peak, pique

Posted on February 7, 2012 by

Here’s another set of troublesome words: peek, peak, and pique. To make things more difficult, peek and peak can be both nouns and verbs. (Pique can also be a noun and verb, but since pique as a verb is much … Continue reading →

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Use versus utilize

Posted on January 17, 2012 by

There are very few words I despise. Today’s post is about the one at the very top of that list. Here we go. This word is . . . utilize. Utilize is one of those “smart” words people throw into … Continue reading →

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“If I were you” and other subjunctive stumpers

Posted on November 21, 2011 by

Lesson: using were in the past subjunctive mood Subjunctive is difficult even for most native English speakers, mainly because it’s not a tense; it’s a mood. Past, present, future—those are tenses. We use them to tell what happened at a … Continue reading →

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who vs. whom

Posted on November 15, 2011 by

A few weeks ago, I was listening to an episode of my very favorite podcast, A Way With Words. (Seriously, if you’re a word nerd, you need to check this out.) A woman called in to the show to share … Continue reading →

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a while vs. awhile

Posted on November 14, 2011 by

A while and awhile are tricky. Sometimes it is two words, and sometimes it is just one word. This lesson will teach you when to use which word. a while A while is a noun that means an unspecified amount … Continue reading →

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Quit Dangling Your Modifiers in Front of Me!

Posted on November 4, 2011 by

Today we have our first Grammar Party guest blogger! Judy Sawler is a freelance copy editor and the writer of a fantastic blog about copy editing, Write Or Revise Daily. Be sure to check it out to solve your writing … Continue reading →

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