This is Part Four in our Grammar How-To Series. I’ll be brief. It matters, though maybe not the way you think it does. Or maybe exactly the way you think it does. Take the test and find out. 1. Choose the sentence that makes the most sense. a) Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado”…
Category: Grammar
How to Use Semicolons
This is part three in our original grammar series. Semicolons, or, in the words of Kurt Vonnegut, “transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing,” have been given a bad name. You and Kurt may avoid them if you choose. If, however, you’ll open your hearts to the tiny mutants, I think you’ll find they’re really rather “useful little…
How to Use Hyphens, En Dashes, and Em Dashes
This is part two in our original grammar series. It turns out the little horizontal lines you’ve been sticking between words when you weren’t sure what sort of punctuation should go there are actually different lengths for a reason. Go figure. Which of the following should fill the blank? 1. The confident student begins the well_proofed…
How to Use Commas
This is part one in our original grammar series. Today, we discuss the comma. It has rules attached to it that are easy to forget, and often hard to understand. Which of these sentences is correctly punctuated? A) Edgar Allan Poe’s short story, “The Tell Tale Heart,” describes the crazy narrator’s murder of the old man…