Author: Awais Farooq
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Correlative conjunctions
Correlative conjunctions are pairs of conjunctions that work together. Some examples are either/or, neither/nor, and not only/but also. Not only am I finished studying for English, but I’m also finished writing my history essay. I am finished with both my English essay and my history essay.
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Coordinating conjunctions
Coordinating conjunctions allow you to join words, phrases, and clauses of equal grammatical rank in a sentence. The most common coordinating conjunctions are for, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so; you can remember them by using the mnemonic device FANBOYS. I’d like pizza or a salad for lunch. We needed a place to concentrate, so we packed up…
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How do conjunctions work?
Conjunctions are words that link other words, phrases, or clauses together. I like cooking and eating, but I don’t like washing dishes afterward. Sophie is clearly exhausted, yet she insists on dancing till dawn. Conjunctions allow you to form complex, elegant sentences and avoid the choppiness of multiple short sentences. Make sure that the phrases joined by conjunctions are parallel (share the same structure). I work quickly…
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Unnecessary prepositions
One of the most common preposition mistakes is adding an unnecessary at to the end of a question. Where is your brother at? Although this is common in some English dialects, it’s considered nonstandard in writing. You can fix the problem by simply deleting the at. Where is your brother? On the bright side, if you’re not sure which preposition…
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Ending a sentence with a preposition
The old claim that it’s wrong to end a sentence with a preposition has been debunked. It’s not true now and it never was true. Writers who insist that a preposition can’t end a sentence often end up with stilted and unnatural-sounding sentences: There’s no one else to hide behind. (Correct and natural) There’s no one else behind whom to hide. (Correct…
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Preposition examples
Unfortunately, there’s no reliable formula for determining which preposition to use with a particular combination of words. The best way to learn which prepositions go with which words is to read as much high-quality writing as you can and pay attention to which combinations sound right. Here are a few examples of the most common prepositions used…
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Types of prepositions
Prepositions indicate direction, time, location, and spatial relationships, as well as other abstract types of relationships. Direction: Look to the left and you’ll see our destination. Time: We’ve been working since this morning. Location: We saw a movie at the theater. Space: The dog hid under the table.
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What is a preposition?
“Vampires! Zombies! Werewolves!” “Where?!” “Behind you!” Thank goodness for prepositions. Imagine not knowing where the danger lay . . . Prepositions tell us where or when something is in relation to something else. When monsters are approaching, it’s good to have these special words to tell us where those monsters are. Are they behind us or in front…
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When to avoid adverbs
Ernest Hemingway is often held up as an example of a great writer who detested adverbs and advised other writers to avoid them. In reality, it’s impossible and unnecessary to avoid adverbs altogether. Sometimes we need them, and all writers (even Hemingway) use them occasionally. The trick is to avoid superfluous adverbs. When your verb or adjective…
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Placement of adverbs
In general, adverbs should be placed as close as possible to the words they are intended to modify. Putting the adverb in the wrong spot can produce an awkward sentence at best and completely change the meaning at worst. Consider the difference in meaning between the following two sentences: I almost dropped all the papers I was…