A compound sentence contains at least two independent clauses linked together (usually by a coordinating conjunction or semicolon).
I went to the gym, and then I had some ice cream.
Continue reading: A Guide to Compound Sentences (With Examples)
Contractions are shortened versions of words or phrases formed by omitting certain letters. In writing, an apostrophe indicates the omission. Examples of contractions are:
Continue reading: Contractions: What They Are and How To Form Them
The typical phrasing is “I have never.” This follows the standard English word order of subject + auxiliary verb + adverb + main verb.
Sometimes, when you’re learning English, proper word order can be a challenge. For example, when it comes to I have never or I never have, do you know which is the preferred phrase?
Native English speakers prefer I have never.
To understand why, we have to briefly review the basic word order English uses: ‘subject + verb + object’ (SVO).
SVO, which is quite rigidly followed in English, is a type of sentence structure in which the subject is first, followed by the verb, and then the object.
When it comes to the phrases I have never or I never have, ‘auxiliary + adverb’ + verb is the canonical word order.
However, you should know that ‘adverb + auxiliary + verb’ is a stylistic choice used to emphasize or call attention to the meaning of the adverb.
Consider the following examples:
It’s not to say that I never have is incorrect, it’s just not the standard word order. It’s only used to accentuate the adverb.
LanguageTool’s Grammar Checker can help ensure your sentences are structured correctly.
“I never have met a man so ignorant…” is acceptable, but not standard.
Continue reading: Is It I Have Never or I Never Have?
The verb “let” is always followed by a bare infinitive, not a full infinitive. For example, the sentence “I let her try some of the food” is correct, while “I let her to try some of the food” ia incorrect.
Continue reading: A Grammar Lesson on “Let”
The correct phrase is “in regard to”—without the “-s.” While “in regards to” might appear in casual speech, it’s considered nonstandard. For a more concise alternative, you can simply use “regarding.” The LanguageTool Grammar Checker can help ensure you’re using phrases like in regard to correctly.
Continue reading: Is It “In Regard To” or “In Regards To”?
A suffix is a letter or a group of letters that are added to the end of a word. It can change its meaning or grammatical properties. For example, the suffix “-al” can change nouns into adjectives, and “-s” can change nouns from singular to plural.
To thoroughly understand what suffixes are, you must first be familiar with affixes.
Consider these the alchemists of the spelling and vocabulary world. Affixes are basically “word parts” (morphemes) that are added to the base of a word and have the power to completely alter its meaning or word form.
The two major types of affixes in English are prefixes and suffixes. This blog post will focus on suffixes and tell you what they are, go over the different types, and provide examples.
A suffix is a type of affix that is found at the end of a word. A suffix can be just one letter or a group of letters.
In the examples above, “-ful,” “-less,” and “-s” are suffixes. All of these suffixes serve a different purpose and uniquely change the word. Here are some more examples of suffixes and their meanings:
This is just a brief list of English suffixes. There are many of them, and each adds to words in different ways. There are different categories of suffixes, though, which we’ll explore below. LanguageTool’s Grammar Checker can also help ensure you’re using suffixes correctly.
In English, there are two different types of suffixes: inflectional suffixes and derivational suffixes.
Inflectional suffixes are suffixes that change the grammatical properties of a word, including function, tense, mood, aspect, and more. They do not, however, change the word’s basic meaning or part of speech.
| Suffix | Change Made | Example |
| “-ed” | Changes a verb to past tense | Walk vs. Walked |
| “-en” | Changes a verb to past participle (irregular) | Take vs. (had) Taken |
| “-er” | Creates a comparative degree in adjectives and adverbs | Slow vs. Slower |
| “-ing” | Changes a verb to past participle and gerund | Dance vs. Dancing |
| “-(e)s” | Changes noun from singular to plural | Cat vs. Cats |
| “-est” | Creates a superlative degree in adjectives and adverbs | Slow vs. Slowest |
| “-(e)s” | Changes a verb to its third-person present | Make vs. Makes |
Derivational suffixes, on the other hand, can create a new word with a different meaning and part of speech. For example, adding “-ly” to “slow” changes it from an adjective to an adverb.
There are two types of derivational suffixes: class-changing derivation and class-maintaining derivation. Those that are class-maintaining create a new word but maintain the part of speech. Here are examples of derivational suffixes and what category they fall under:
| Suffix | Changes Made | Example |
| “-able/-ible” | Verbs → Adjectives | Tolerate vs. Tolerable |
| “-ant” | Verbs → Nouns | Ignore vs. Ignorant |
| “-ess” | Word remains a noun | Actor vs. Actress |
| “-hood” | Word remains a noun | Neighbor vs. Neighborhood |
| “-ity” | Adjectives → Nouns | Absurd vs. Absurdity |
| “-like” | Nouns → Adjectives | Child vs. Childlike |
| “-ness” | Adjectives → Nouns | Dark vs. Darkness |
| -tion/-ion/-ation | Verbs → Nouns | Imagine vs. Imagination |
Keep in mind that roots of a word can have more than one suffix. For instance, the word playfulness has the suffixes “-ful” and “-ness.”
Please be aware that you can’t just add a suffix to any word. Using suffixes correctly requires a thorough comprehension of their rules and guidelines.
For example, when you’re adding a suffix that starts with a vowel to a word that ends in a final silent “-e,” the final “-e” should be dropped.
Or, when adding a suffix to a word that ends in a consonant plus “y,” change the “y” to an “i” in most cases.
These are just two of the many rules behind using suffixes. Luckily, LanguageTool can ensure proper spelling and use of suffixes. This advanced writing assistant goes beyond checking for errors and also analyzes your text thoroughly to make stylistic recommendations and enhance your writing completely.
It supports more than 30 languages!
Continue reading: Suffixes: What Are They?
An ellipsis is a punctuation mark that comprises three periods. In formal writing, it shows that an omission has been made in a quote.
In creative writing, it can create certain effects. There’s no universal rule on how to format an ellipsis; it’s up to the writer or the publication they work for.
Continue reading: What Is an Ellipsis?
Could have is the correct spelling of this phrase. It often gets misspelled as could of because of how the contracted version of could have (could’ve) sounds when pronounced aloud.
Continue reading: Is It “Could Of” or “Could Have”?
“You and I” and “You and Me” are both grammatically correct, but they are often misused. A simple trick to differentiate between them is to replace the phrase with “we” or “us” to see which fits.
Both children and second-language learners improve their English by listening to music. The lyrics of pop songs represent casual everyday speech and may therefore reflect new linguistic tendencies within the language. Let’s see how this grammatical question (the distinction of you and I vs. you and me) is treated in modern pop songs.
In order to see what’s changed, we have to understand the traditional way of differentiating these two phrase according to the grammar books. One thing is certain: You and I is not the same thing as you and me (similar case as who and whom).
The convention says that you and I serves as a subject, and functions much like the pronoun we. On the other hand, you come across the phrase you and me as an object, just like the pronoun us. Usually, the English language requires the subject-verb-object construction. That’s why you’ll most likely find you and I at the beginning of the sentence, and you and me towards the end.
Our new neighbors like you and I.
Grammatically speaking, this would be the same as to say:
| Subject Pronoun | Object Pronoun | |
|---|---|---|
| Pronouns that Change | I, he, she, we, they | Me, him, her, us, them |
| Pronouns that Don’t Change | you (singular & plural), it | you (singular & plural), it |
Your father and I go shopping.
You can come to me and my wife.
Recently, English speakers have tended to disregard the differentiation, and use you and me in all cases. So, they would say:
Please note that the usage of the pronouns you, I, and me on their own is unchanged. Only the joint phrase you and me steps out of line.
You and me, we belong together…
Since not adhering to the traditional distinction has been a tendency for a while already, there is a counter-tendency of people who want to sound more educated or intelligent. They consider the form you and I to be the only correct one and use it more and more often. This resulted in an inflationary usage of the phrase (called hypercorrection) and in the reduced usage of its counterpart:
This tendency can also be observed in music. The following chorus lines normally would say you and me.
Yeah something about baby you and I …
Unfortunately, you and me wouldn’t rhyme with guy.
One last remark on the distinction between “I” and me: Sometimes, the reflexive pronoun myself can be found in the subject position—depending on the language style. However, using myself instead of “I” is grammatically incorrect.
Using myself instead of me isn’t grammatically correct, either. Some people, however, tend to disregard this rule:
The final example makes a threefold distinction. Obviously, the line is an allusion to not being lonely, although being alone.
Solo ride until I die…
LanguageTool strongly promotes the grammatical distinction between you and I vs. you and me. However, when using the writing assistant, it’ll only remind you of the traditional convention. You certainly always have the choice to stick to the modern tendency of generalizing you and me. Or, you can prefer to stick to the posh trend to only use you and I. The future will show how long this grammatical distinction will be able to last, but that’s just between you and us—or you and we, respectively.
Continue reading: A Grammatical Secret between You and I
The past tense of drink is drank. Remember: the past tense is used to describe an action that occurred in the past and is now finished.
Continue reading: Is It Drank or Drunk?