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From the many rules for subject/verb agreement, we are picking the most difficult one to discuss. First, the groundwork: When the subject is singular, the verb is singular; when the subject is plu...

The answer to several questions about some words that are said is "It depends on how far you take the verbatim issue." What do I do if they say the word slash? Put the slash mark or the word? It d...

There is no rule that the dash must be inside or outside the quotes. Either way works. ...He was always saying, "You have to be here on -- " he was always preaching to us about everything. In thi...

When we talk about commas, we are talking about several hundred individual rules. It it helpful to remember that commas are used in just two ways: to separate and to set off. The comma that separa...

All percentages are in figures with the word percent, not the symbol. If there is a suffix added, it is added to the word percent. ...He spent 22 percent more. ...They saved 4 percent by paying ca...

I am BACK!! I hope your holidays were glorious. Mine were lovely even though I was really down and out sick with a throat "thing." I think that, after almost three weeks, I am finally getting bett...

So often we are told that, when "used" is past tense, to be sure to include the "d" on "used" with the word "to" after. ...He used to go with her. ...She was used to really good treatment. The re...

Whether it is into or in to depends upon the meaning and part of speech of the word work. If work means the action of doing the job and is therefore a verbal, it is two words, in to. If work is a p...

When a person finishes a sentence and then decides to add "clarification" in the form of an appositive that renames the subject, the only correct punctuation is a dash. ...We didn't have the exper...