Understanding Adjectives

Published on June 17, 2025 by Gina Rancaño, BA

Like verbs and nouns, adjectives are a part of speech. We’ll further explain what adjectives are and provide examples.

Like verbs and nouns, adjectives are a part of speech. Below, we’ll further explain what adjectives are and provide examples.Examples of adjectives: red, pretty, costly, ginormous, high-pitched, cheap, colorful, hairy, sleek, tough, fast, shy, ambitious, small, massive, dazzling

The LanguageTool Grammar Checker can help you use adjectives and other parts of speech correctly in your writing.

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Uppercase “I”

Published on June 17, 2025 by Gina Rancaño, BA

English is unique in that it’s the only language that capitalizes its first-person singular, “I.” This word is derived from the German word ich. Many variations of this word flourished during Middle English, including “ic.” Eventually, the “c” was dropped, leaving “i” by its lonesome.

But why we started capitalizing “I” is a bit of a mystery. Historians and linguists have theorized the following:

A capital “I” denotes the importance of the writer.
A lowercase “I” is difficult to read.

Unless at the beginning of a sentence, me, myself, and mine don’t need to be capitalized, and neither do the rest of the personal pronouns—you, he, she, it, we, they, me, him, her, us, them.

LanguageTool’s Grammar Checker can help ensure your writing is free of capitalization errors.

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Understanding Nouns

Published on June 17, 2025 by Gina Rancaño, BA

Nouns are a part of speech that indicate people, places, things, or ideas. They can be abstract or concrete, in plural or singular forms.

Stacy jumped over the fence and hurt her knee while chasing the family dog, but she did it all in the name of love.

The nouns in this sentence are: Stacy, fence, knee, family, dog, name, and love.

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All About The Silent “L”

Published on June 17, 2025 by Gina Rancaño, BA Revised on July 29, 2025

Silent letters can be unpredictable, and the silent “L” is no different. Below, we’ll go over some instances where you can expect to find a silent “L.”

  • A few examples of words with a silent “L” are:
    • behalf
    • colonel
    • salmon
    • would
    • yolk

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English Is Hard But Can Be Learned Through Tough Thorough Thought, Though

Published on June 17, 2025 by Gina Rancaño, BA

These five words cause a lot of confusion. And with good reason: They all include —ough but have distinct pronunciations.

Correct Use
  • Though /ðoʊ/ has a similar pronunciation to dough and means “in spite of the fact that,” “in spite of the possibility that,” “however,” or “nevertheless.”
  • Thought /θɔːt/ is a noun that means “an individual act or product of thinking,” “a developed intention or plan,” or “something (such as an opinion or belief) in the mind.” The –ought is pronounced like the –ought in fought.
  • Tough /tʌf/ rhymes with rough, and means “difficult to accomplish,” “capable of enduring strain or hardship,” “very hard to influence,” or “characterized by severity or uncompromising determination.”
  • Through /θruː/ can be a preposition, an adverb, or an adjective. It is the homophone of threw because they have identical pronunciations but different meanings.
  • Thorough /ˈθɜːrəʊ/ means “carried through completion,” “marked by full detail,” or “complete in all respects.” The –rough in this word is misleading because it is pronounced like row.

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Sorry for Writing an Apology Letter

Published on June 17, 2025 by Gina Rancaño, BA

Everyone makes mistakes. That’s just a fact of life. Some mistakes hurt people you care about or can cause trouble in a professional setting. A written apology gives you a chance to elaborately express your remorse. It’s perfect for those who have trouble saying what they’re thinking. Below, we’re going to go over five easy steps that’ll help you write the perfect apology letter.

Five Steps To Writing an Effective Apology Letter:

  1. Acknowledge the mistake
  2. Take responsibility
  3. Apologize and express regret
  4. Offer a solution
  5. Assure that the mistake won’t occur again

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When To Use “Persons” or “People”

Published on June 17, 2025 by Gina Rancaño, BA

There’s a time and place for “persons” and “people.” We’ll teach you when each of these words should be used.

  • There was a time when persons was the favored plural form of the word person. But in Modern English, people has become the more common word to use when referring to person in plural.
    • So many people donated gifts to the charity.
  • Use people when referring to a group of individuals from a signal ethnic group or nationality.
    • The American people flock to the voting stands every four years to vote in the presidential elections.
    • The American persons flock to the voting stands every four years to vote in the presidential elections.
  • The use of persons is most often seen in legal writing, and in established expressions like “missing persons.”
  • If you’re in doubt, the safest bet is to always use people when referring to a group of individuals.

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      How to Spell Certain Ukrainian Words and Names in English

      Published on June 17, 2025 by Gina Rancaño, BA

      We’ll explain why certain variances exist —such as “Kyiv” and“Kiev” or “Zelenskyy” and “Zelensky”—and which ones are correct.

      In English, Ukraine should be referred to without “the” preceding it. The correct English spelling of the country’s official name is with a “k,” not a “c.”

      Correct Spelling and Use
      ✅ Ukraine
      ❌ Ucraine
       

      When referring to Ukraine’s capital city, Kyiv is the internationally preferred spelling.

      In 2019, the President of Ukraine stated that the correct English language spelling of his name is Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

      The tragic war in Ukraine has triggered continuous coverage by major news sources from all over the world. This has led to numerous variations of many Ukrainian words—including its capital city, the president’s name, and even the country’s name. We’ll explain why these variances exist and which of them are correct.

      Innocent people are falling victim to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
      Ukraine is the second-largest country by area in Europe after Russia.

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      Lowercase, Uppercase, and… Camel Case?

      Published on June 17, 2025 by Gina Rancaño, BA

      In this article, we cover camel case—its history, what it is, and examples of casing in general.

      Correct Use
      • Camel case is when compound words or phrases are written without spaces or punctuations. Instead, each separate word is indicated by using either lowercase or uppercase (e.g., PlayStation).
      • The formal name of camel case is medial capitals, but it has a few synonyms, like “camel caps,” “InterCaps,” and “Humpback” notation.
      • Although camel case is popular today among many companies, the first use goes back to 1813 in chemical formulas.

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