by Phil Williams | Jan 9, 2024 | Punctuation
Reaching the end of my series on commas, here’s another brief extract from Advanced Writing Skills for Students of English to look at how commas are used with adverbial phrases. This fits into my wider guide to commas that I’ve been adding to on the site;...
by Phil Williams | May 16, 2023 | Definitions, General English, Vocabulary, Words, Writing skills
“For ever after” is a phrase I found curious recently, as it highlights some interesting points about how English works as a flexible, evolving language. The phrase can be written in two different ways, changing the meanings of the words, with no real agreement on the...
by Phil Williams | Feb 9, 2021 | Definitions, Grammar, Vocabulary
It’s been a while since I did a comparisons / common mistakes post, but the difference between “any more” and “anymore” is one that I’ve seen quite a lot lately. In fact, I sometimes stop and think about it myself when writing, because their meanings are closely...
by Phil Williams | Sep 18, 2014 | Reading Exercise, Vocabulary
To put my Friday Twitter vocabulary blasts to more use, here’s a list of adverbs that can build atmosphere in descriptive English. As adverbs describe verbs, adjectives or other adverbs, these atmospheric words can add depth to your descriptions and events. The...
by Phil Williams | Dec 17, 2013 | General English, Grammar, Words
The following two sentences use in general and generally in the same way. So what is the difference between the expressions? In general, I like eating cheese. Generally, I like eating cheese. It is a bit of a trick question, as they essentially have the same meaning,...