Many students know the difficulty of writing an essay with the necessary dates to mark important events. Is it “a year” or “an year?” Which article comes before the word “year,” and when is it appropriate to use a different article? In the word “year,” the “y” is used as a consonant, so “a” would …
Academics
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 …
The plural and possessive noun forms are both crucial components in the English language. As such, it’s essential to know how to distinguish between a plural and a possessive so that you can communicate effectively, as illustrated in the difference between “universities” vs. “university’s.” When considering the two forms, “universities” or “university’s, “universities,” is in …
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 …
Even English native speakers are sometimes uncertain of the real meaning and nuances of words, especially if they often hear and see the terms misused. Two such confusing words, which are even listed as synonyms in thesauruses though they convey different nuances, are “humble” and “modest.” The difference between “modest” and “humble” is that “modest” …