May 2003 Archives

We do not, of course, use punctuation in speech, so contractions and possessives do not cause any problems in speech. Writing is a different matter. Both native speakers and ESL speakers often have problems with things like apostrophe placement. Apostrophes are not used (except for misuse) in possessive pronouns. Thus, with their, theirs, his, her, hers, your, yours and its no apostrophe should ever be used. Ever.

There are three words ending with 'gry'.

1. hungry
2. angry

What is the third one? Is it there? And if yes, what is it?

Are the global languages a good or a bad thing? Languages are dying out faster than endangered species- is this a price worth paying for increased international communication?

One of the most frequent errors made by native speakers is with the apostrophe. Apostrophes are either put in words where they are not needed, or omitted when they should be used. Is the use of the apostrophe so complicated?

There has been much discussion about the use of the word whom, and whether anyone still uses it, so I thought I'd see what our visitors thought about the subject. Little did I realise that I was about to open a large can of worms.