"Verbify" is a great example of a word that does what it means: to verbify is to change a non-action word or even a...
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Articles on Language, Writing, and Professional Development
Introducing yourself
You are trying to communicate who you are to your listeners, but you’ll connect more authentically if you think of your introduction as a conversation rather than a speech.
Five “Mistakes” Native Speakers Make
Languages are messy because communication is messy! I love grammar, but I’m not a fan of blogs and memes that shame...
Not only…but also…
Not only is it cold, but it's also snowing. Inversion means a change in the normal order. In English, we see this most...
In to vs. into and On to vs. onto
"The cats jumped onto their tower and fell asleep." Do you know when you're supposed to write IN TO vs. INTO? What...
Bitterly cold or scorching hot? — describing hot and cold
In the early 1990s, Michael Lewis described the lexical approach to learning and teaching language. The concept...
How writing is like piano practice
When people hear that I specialize in teaching writing, they often say "I really want to improve my writing. I'm not a...
Pronunciation of nouns/adjectives and verbs ending in -ATE
English pronunciation is super weird, but you probably already know that. The spelling is a mess, the rules are...
Suggestions for Editing
One of the biggest mistakes I see writers make is that they worry too much about grammatical accuracy...