We learn to speak before we learn to read and write, so sometimes when putting words onto the page it’s easy to confuse those that sound the same (also known as homonyms or homophones). For example: bred and bread plane and plain great and grate led and lead to and two and too there and they’re […]

Do you know the difference between THAT and WHICH? My friend Debbie likes to say this: If it sounds like you could use either, use “that.” For example: *Cooking is an activity that relaxes many people (CORRECT) *Cooking is an activity which relaxes many people (INCORRECT) In the above sentence, to the untrained ear it may […]

Are you using hyphens when you shouldn’t be? Hyphens are used to avoid ambiguity when two descriptive words are placed next to each other before a noun. (They are also used for compound words such as dead-end.) For example, take the following sentence: The small business owner got a great loan from the bank.  Is the […]

I love yoga. I love my yoga teachers too. They are kind, positive, nurturing people who strive to make their students feel good inside and out. They aren’t always so great at grammar. In nearly every class, at some point the teacher will gently say “Now lay on your backs.” While I love this part […]

ITS vs. IT’S is tricky because the way to use ITS goes against everything we’re taught about possession. Here’s a quick explanation that I hope will clear up the confusion: When something belongs to someone or something (possession), we normally use an apostrophe: This book belongs to Gloria This is Gloria’s book I enjoy reading blog […]

One of the most common capitalization errors I see is regarding family members, especially parents. Here’s a refresher on the rule: If the “Mom/mom” or “Dad/dad” is replacing the name of the person, then capitalize it because it’s a proper noun. If it’s replacing the title of the person, leave it in lowercase. For example, […]

I get that many (most?) people are convinced they’ll never understand the difference between “who” and “whom.” If you fall into that group, here’s a way to look at “who vs. whom” that might shed some light: WHO is a subject, so if in a similar structure you would use I, HE, SHE, WE, or THEY, […]

In a recent post I explained that the seasons of the year should not be capitalized, nor should job titles that don’t come directly before a person’s name. Here are two other areas in which I frequently see capital letters where they shouldn’t be: Fields of study/work Unless it’s a language, fields of study or […]

Last week I read a novel that contained multiple capitalization errors. The book was published by a small press, which made me wonder how thorough the copyediting process is there. It also made me wonder if certain capitalization errors have become so prevalent that some copyeditors aren’t aware that they are mistakes. Here are two […]