Knowing when to use a hyphen in a sentence improves your grammar. It allows you to tell between hyphenated adjectives and open compound words. This skill also helps you differentiate between a hyphen and a dash. If you’re not sure whether you should hyphenate a word or not, this guide …
Like every sentence needs to start with a capital letter, it also needs to end with an end mark. Exclamation points are a fun way to emphasize your sentences and provide your reader with a suggestion of emotion. Take a look at how to use an exclamation point to help …
An en dash, often called the en rule, is a horizontal punctuation mark used primarily to indicate a range between things. Not quite sure what that looks like? Think of it as the middle child in the dash family–it’s longer than a hyphen but not as long as an em …
The em dash performs a versatile function to help separate certain words from the rest of a sentence. They also can be used to focus a reader or highlight tone within a dialog. But, to use these marks effectively, you must understand the various rules associated with their use. An …
The English language can be complex not only because of word choice and sentence structure but also because of its many punctuation marks. The ellipsis is a punctuation mark that can signify more than one thing or belong in more than one place, sounding confusing. But using ellipses is easy! …
The comma is used more than any other punctuation in writing. Because of this, there are many misinterpretations of where a comma belongs, rule misuses, and myths provided by poor teaching practices. No, you do not use a comma anytime you take a breath when reading a sentence, but a …
English has several kinds of punctuation, one of which is the colon (:). Contrary to popular belief, this punctuation mark’s function is easy to remember: it introduces additional information after a complete thought. Nope, this colon post isn’t about your internal organs! Keep reading to learn the different functions of …
The rules of the apostrophe are reasonably straightforward, yet they are misused quite often. This is because they are confused with other punctuation rules, making their use seem tricky. However, apostrophe usage can easily be remembered if you make a note of 2 basic things: apostrophes indicate possession, and apostrophes …
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Postpositive adjectives are adjectives that follow the nouns they modify. Such constructions evince the influence that Romance languages, especially French, have had and still have on English. French, Spanish, and Italian all use postpositive adjectives as a rule. In general, postpositive adjectives sound unnatural in English, but there are a …
Sentence structure is important, but sentence purpose is necessary for the reader to understand the function of a sentence. Understanding the different types of sentences you can use to make your writing clear and concise is essential and helps your reader understand what point you are making without confusion. Take …