Grammarama

#308027

February 15, 2007 at 1:07pm

An ellipsis is a set of three periods written together (…), and the plural is ellipses. A single one of those periods that comprises an ellipsis is called an ellipsis point or ellipsis mark. If you are quoting someone, then you may use ellipses to indicate omitted words, as long as the statement still retains its original spirit and meaning. Ellipses are also used to indicate hesitation or unfinished thoughts. Whenever I use ellipses, it is almost always in the latter context. In m... [Read more]

#306909

April 7, 2007 at 2:03am

What are nominative and objective pronouns? Well, it all has to do with the difference between words like I and me or who and whom . It is common to use the incorrect case in informal conversation, so having characters in a story of yours who don’t always use perfect English won’t hurt it; in fact, the dialogue will seem more authentic. If you are writing a formal paper or third-person omniscient narration for a story and the speaker is clearly “y... [Read more]

#408975

February 15, 2007 at 1:06pm

Participles are verbs that also act as adjectives. Present participles are formed by adding –ing to the end of a verb; past participles are formed as though they are preceded by “have” – the perfect tense. A participial phrase consists of a participle and any related words, and it can be found at the beginning, middle, or end of a sentence. Depending on the placement of the phrase and the noun it modifies, you may need to add a comma. If a participial phrase comes ... [Read more]

#370386

February 15, 2007 at 2:52pm

Personal titles can refer to someone’s position in a family, such as mother, father, brother, or sister; or to someone’s professional position, such as professor, secretary of state, or doctor. When are these terms capitalized, and when are they not? First of all, they should be capitalized if they preface the person’s actual name, such as with Uncle Bob, President Reagan, and Cousin It. Secondly, they should be capitalized if they are being used in place of that person... [Read more]

#490601

February 25, 2007 at 8:52pm

Relative clauses are a special type of dependent clause. For more information on clauses, see . Relative clauses supply more information about a noun without creating a whole new sentence to convey that information. They begin with relative pronouns like who , which , whose , whom , and that or the relative adverbs when , where , and why . The most important thing we need to figure out when it comes to a relative clause is whether it’s essenti... [Read more]

#512005

June 16, 2007 at 5:39pm

Does the conjugation of the red verb in the following sentence seem strange to you given that the subject is “I”? I wouldn’t do that if I were you. This is what is called the subjunctive mood . It’s used when talking about hypothetical situations or events that the speaker wants to happen or imagines happening but aren’t certain to occur. The above example represents a very conspicuous appearance of the subjunctive , but you may sometimes spe... [Read more]