GrammarPhile Blog

We often find mismatched subjects and verbs in even the most smartly edited client documents. But that's why we're here! Check out this week's post on the subject.

If I had only one day left to live, I would live it in my tenth-grade math class, because it would seem like infinity. If numbers do the same to you, fear not: you can master them by knowing the rules.

Authoritative style guide books contain pages and pages of notes on titles of works. Do you know that headlines, titles, and subtitles in proposals, white papers, and brochures are the most common spots for typos? And they are also hotspots for innocent errors (errors you look at and don't realize are errors) as well, mostly in capitalization and hyphenation. This week we're covering classic headline style.

Does anybody really care? It's high time you did! And you should also care how time is specified so your documents are second to none, precisely crafted, and, er, processed like clockwork! Benjamin Franklin said, "lost time is never found again." Save editing time with these tips for time treatment from The Chicago Manual of Style.

A word with several meanings is polysemous. One of the more interesting forms is the Janus word, also sometimes called an autoantonym or a contranym, in which two of the meanings of the word are opposites of each other. A Janus word is so named for Janus, a Roman god that is identified with doors, gates, and all beginnings and that is depicted with two opposite faces.

In America, the political season is fast descending on our daily routine. The news programs are replete with candidates posturing, posing, and preening. Listed below are some of the vacant phrases we may hear in the coming months. Here's hoping that some of those running for office would heed Mark Twain's advice about keeping quiet instead of speaking.

Sometimes it’s easier and clearer to convey important information in the form of a vertical list, sometimes also known as a bullet list. There are several forms, and the form you choose is up to you. Be consistent, though, and follow the general guidelines here.

Last week, we gave you some general rules on possessives. This week, let's focus on possessives of proper nouns.

To make singular nouns possessive, add an apostrophe and an s. For plural nouns (except for a few irregular plurals), add an apostrophe only.

Your choice of words will affect your job rating. It will affect the options you have regarding your career. Most important, it will affect the "readability" of your next newsletter, Web page, brochure, or proposal. So choose your words wisely!