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A participle, the -ing or -ed form of the verb that is being used as an adjective, that comes right after the word it modifies is punctuated based on "essential/nonessential." If the participle is ...

Just a little grammar this morning. ...dedicated and supported by his parents... :-( This construction just does not work. Parents is the object of the preposition by. But the construction assume...

We continue with this dilemma, sometimes stretching to "look good." Here is a sentence from an article about the golf tournament over the weekend: ...The fact that so many cheered was confirmation...

Happy, Happy Mothers' Day to all of you out there who have been blessed to have this role in life -- and I think the apostrophe should be AFTER the s since it is the day to celebrate all mothers. W...

...a five-year-old was... ...knew the 12-year-olds who... The word old/olds is part of the hyphenated compound noun when the word year is singular. The word old/olds is a combining form, and the c...

When a combination is recognized as a unit already -- that is, it is a compound noun that is separate words -- there is no need for a hyphen when it is used as an adjective. ...substance abuse... ...

As I was listening to the news a couple of days ago, the newscaster said, "The several million dollar homes in that area are...." It is clear that it has to be "...the several-million-dollar homes...

The grammar course begins this weekend. I hope you will be joining me. This is a great time to brush up -- or maybe learn some things that are brand new to you -- on the basics of English grammar. ...

Remember that the words that represent directions -- north, south, east, west -- in any form are capitalized when they represent a recognized geographical area. This presumes that you might have to...