Month: May 2011

While an adjective can only modify nouns, pronouns and noun phrases, an adverb modifies verbs, adjectives and other adverbs. According to a study presented at the Annual Meeting for ESL Teachers in 1984, the group identified three distinct error categories that included misplaced words, inappropriate usage and confusion with adjectives and other parts of speech….

  Language Professional Blog Award 2011 is taking place right now. This contest gathered blogs by professional linguists, translators and interpreters to select the best bloggers in this field. We are honored to introduce one of the nominees – Laura Payne and her blog A Walk in WoRds as our special guest. Laura has a…

In writing, sentences are considered to be of “active” or “passive” construction (“voice”) depending on where the emphasis is placed. If the emphasis is placed on the subject, the sentence is considered active, but if emphasis is placed on the object of the action, the sentence is passive. Wikipedia’s passive voice definition states, “The passive…

Indefinite and definite articles, such as “a”, “an” and “the”, describe and modify nouns. Articles and niggling little words known as determiners and quantifiers convey general and specific information. Articles tell the reader what you’re talking about and how much there is. Adults and advanced ESL students can run into many challenging situations where abstract…