Why Writers Need Friends

by | Aug 20, 2012 | Mechanical Monday, Writing

Thanks to fellow EWG member for the clarification (again! One of these days, I’ll get it straightened out in my head) on passed versus past. As per Laurie: Past can be: An adjective – I was thinking of past times An adverb – They hurried past (i.e. along)...

Mechanical Monday: Regular Nouns, Plural

by | Jun 25, 2012 | Mechanical Monday

Finally, a grammar tip I can understand: For most nouns, the singular is turned to a plural by adding an “s,” (song –> songs). Other tips: Words that end in ‘x’ ‘sh’ ‘ch’ ‘s’ ‘z’ –> add an ‘es’ (box –> boxes) Words that end in a consonant + ‘y’ –> drop the ‘y’ and add...

Mechanical Monday: Adverb Clauses

by | Jun 18, 2012 | Mechanical Monday

Argh, this is when I don’t get grammar, it gets me…so adverbs are words that end in “ly,” like “shortly, quickly, etc.” HOWEVER, adverb time clauses are dependent clauses (read: they don’t make sense on their own, they need another part of the sentence) which have...

Monday Mechanics: Will vs. Going To

by | Jun 11, 2012 | Mechanical Monday

I read that when using a future tense, “will” expresses a willingness, “going to” expresses a prior plan, and either is used for predictions…interesting and a little confusing given how often we interchange the verb…it makes me wonder if the best way to figure out...