When do you capitalize Earth, and when is it lowercase? Earth (capitalized) is used when referring to the name of the planet, especially alongside other planets and in this kind of scientific context. Examples: Of all the planets in our solar system, Venus and Mars are most like Earth. Scientists and governments met Monday to [...]
How much time do you have? This question is a bit more complex than one might imagine. First, is it EST or EDT? What do those even stand for? Is there a difference? EST = Eastern Standard Time, and during autumn/winter, this time zone is five hours behind UTC, or Coordinated Universal Time. EDT = [...]
LGBTQ is acceptable in all references for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender or for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer and/or questioning. It might be tempting to refer to “the LGBT community,” but in reality, "it is a broad and sometimes loosely bound group of communities comprising people from all races, religions, cultures and walks [...]
Should you avoid there is/there are at the beginning of a sentence? The short answer: Yes. Is it incorrect? No. But let's be honest, you can do better. Using "there is" or "there are" sounds a little Dick-and-Jane, and readers expect more from you, unless you're using it for emphasis. These phrases, although not curse [...]
You've likely seen it both ways: the word "too" with or without a comma before it. That's because the rules on this one are a bit loose and based on the writer's intent. However, if you are using "too" in the middle of a sentence, commas usually are needed for emphasis. Example: She, too, wanted [...]
A compound sentence is a sentence with two or more independent clauses. An independent clause can stand alone as its own sentence. Example: We launched our newest residential living experience, and prospective residents immediately began streaming in through our doors. You could separate the above sentence into two: We launched our newest residential living experience. [...]
Here’s how to remember the difference between "home in" and "hone": A person, bird or aircraft homes in on a target, but a person hones his or her skills. Most style guides tell us to steer clear of "hone in." Examples: Daenerys Targaryen's dragons home in on their targets before they light them afire [...]
This is a tricky one that makes us want to check and double-check to make sure we're using the right adjective. "Historic" and "historical" are adjectives that have very similar meanings: Historic describes something momentous or important in history. Historical simply describes something that belongs to an earlier period of history. Correct: The historic inauguration [...]
This is a question that always pops into the heads of those who learned Associated Press style before 2014. Even when we see someone use the word "over" in copy today, our brains often raise a red flag. However, AP now allows us to use these terms interchangeably when talking about quantities. For example, both [...]
"What's the big deal? They mean the same thing." True. "Less" and "fewer" have similar meanings, but they frequently are misused. When that happens, it's a grammar mistake that can leave your audience with less than they bargained for. Luckily, there's a quick and easy way to remember when to use these two similar words. [...]
