Insights Posts

Category: grammar uncovered

Multiple Nouns in a Phrase

Sometimes “going with whatever sounds right” doesn’t work with multiple nouns in a noun phrase. We might need to think about parallelism or grouping in order to word the sentence correctly.

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How We Use ‘Like’

The word ‘like’ is used frequently in casual speech, especially by younger Americans. Beyond the traditional definitions, there are 4 different ways the modern ‘like’ can be applied.

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Why ‘Will’ is a Modal

When we think of ‘will’ on its own, we probably only think of its designation of the future. But then why is it considered a modal verb? Maybe there’s more to the word than we realize.

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Tricky Object Pronouns

Should we always say “you and I” instead of “you and me”? What’s the difference between ‘who’ and ‘whom’? It helps to pay attention to where these pronouns fit into a sentence and their relationship to the main verb.

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The 3 Types of Modal Verbs

As a teacher, it helps to be aware of the three categories of modals because they allow for different uses of the same word, dictate how multiple modals can be combined in a verb string, and determine whether defective forms can/should be used.

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‘They’ as Singular

‘They’ is acceptable as the 3rd-person singular pronoun for nouns of an unknown or undefined gender. Here’s how we can use them and what happens to their verbs.

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