Category Archives: The Grammar Cave

Whose Language Is This, Anyway?

I am happy to report that I have finally dug my way out from under a mountain of student essays and climbed back up to the desk to write some posts. Sorry for the mid-week hiatus. As I was examining … Continue reading

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My Favorite Sentence Revision Technique

My students typically get into a bad place about their writing style right about now – at midterm. Gripping their temples, they moan, “This is pointless. It’s stupid. You know what I meant.” Just a couple of weeks ago, they … Continue reading

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Writing Power’s Proper Usage Guide: B

Writing Power is proud to present the following compendium of tips on proper usage.  This is a list of some of the most commonly misused words and phrases in the English language.  In order to compile it, I consulted some … Continue reading

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Writing Power’s Proper Usage Guide: A (Part 2)

 Writing Power is proud to present the following compendium of tips on proper usage.  This is a list of some of the most commonly misused words and phrases in the English language.  In order to compile it, I consulted some … Continue reading

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Writing Power’s Proper Usage Guide: A

Writing Power is proud to present the following compendium of tips on proper usage.  This is a list of some of the most commonly misused words and phrases in the English language.  In order to compile it, I consulted some … Continue reading

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Spice Up Your Writing With A Sprinkle Of Dashes

It’s excitable, it’s dramatic, it’s useful it’s – the dash. The dash is a peculiar punctuation mark. Many of its uses are duplicated by the colon, but the dash’s zippy panache gives it an advantage in some cases. However, the … Continue reading

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Learn To Wield The Mighty Semicolon

Semicolons are one of the most feared punctuation marks around. They’re an inexplicable mix of a colon and a comma, and they justifiably intimidate many writers. How does one use this strange tool? Using semicolons can add an air of … Continue reading

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