Monthly Archives: March 2015

Reflections on “reflect” Remember to use “reflect” in the passive or with a reflexive pronoun when you mean “is manifested” or “is shown”: Incorrect: “The mood of the poem reflects in the sombre diction.” Correct: “The mood of the poem … Continue reading →

[comma!] etc. Be sure to add a comma before “etc.” Example 1: “We bought bread, cheese, ham, etc.” Also be sure NOT to italicize “etc.” Example 2: See Example 1. As well, be sure to add a comma AFTER “etc.” … Continue reading →

Conversion. English has always been adept at converting parts of speech – that is, making a noun function as a verb, or having what looks like a verb do the work of an adjective. Though especially noun-verbs can scrape our … Continue reading →

raise vs. rise. Both verbs have to do with growing, but RAISE is transitive (“Raising children is difficult”), while RISE is intransitive (“Prices have risen again.”). Jason Blake and Monika Kavalir