You’ll find that quite a few things happen in real-time — or is it “real time”? To hyphen or not to hyphen: that is the question. If you find that you’re uncertain, you aren’t alone. The correct way to spell “real time,” with or without a hyphen, depends on your intended meaning and syntax. If …
Noelle Rebain
Some would say hyphens are going the way of dinosaurs, disappearing in favor of compound words. But they are not extinct just yet, so knowing when to use one and when to skip it is important. The difference between “high-quality” and “high quality” is determined by the location of the noun that the phrase should …
If you’ve recently watched a commercial or two in the US, you’ve likely heard that a promoted product is beneficial for your skin, your health, or perhaps your waning energy levels – but is it beneficial “to,” or is it beneficial “for”? The difference between “beneficial to” and “beneficial for” lies in the preposition that …
We often hear the phrase, “What’s your New Year’s resolution?” While many of us may be excited to see the end of the year, we often don’t think about the subtle difference between “years” and “year’s.” “Years” is the plural form of year, indicating multiple years. We use “year’s,” with an added apostrophe, to indicate …
English spellings can quickly become confusing, especially when certain words can be spelled more than one way. Unfortunately, there are not always grammatical rules that can easily be memorized and applied. The adjective “sweet” refers to something sweet-tasting, but it can also be written as a noun — an affectionate term of endearment spelled “sweetie” …
In nearly every language, we find shortened nicknames for parents, siblings, or other family members. And almost universally, we find that children often refer to their mothers as “mama,” “mamma,” or “momma,” but which one is correct? Mama is the infantile/childish form of mother, while Momma is the colloquial form of mother. There is no …