by Indu Singh In the first chapter of Dreyer’s English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style, the author poses a challenge to his readers: go a week without writing any of the words out of a list of what he considers pointless adverbs, including very, rather, really, quite, just, so, surely, of course, … Continue reading Book Review: Dreyer’s English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style by Benjamin Dreyer
Category: grammar
Did you know? Editors Toronto offers in-house seminars
Does your organization need help with editing and communication? Editors Toronto offers specialized professional development training through our in-house seminars. Offered year-round, our seminars are taught by in-demand editorial professionals, curated and organized exclusively for your team! Seminar topics offered include Plain Language, Copy Editing, Proofreading, Grammar and Punctuation, and many more. Interested? Contact the … Continue reading Did you know? Editors Toronto offers in-house seminars
Book Review: Making Sense: The Glamorous Story of English Grammar by David Crystal
Crystal against crystallization by James Harbeck (Oxford University Press, 2017) How can we have crystal-clear language spoken by people with a crystal-clear understanding of how it works? For one thing, don’t try to crystallize it—just Crystal-ize. Making Sense: The Glamorous Story of English Grammar, by David Crystal, is for anyone who wants to get Crystal … Continue reading Book Review: Making Sense: The Glamorous Story of English Grammar by David Crystal
Report on ACES 2017 in St. Petersburg, Florida
By Berna Ozunal This year, 591 people travelled to St. Petersburg, Florida, for the annual American Copy Editors Society (ACES) conference held from March 23 to 25 at the Hilton St. Petersburg Bayfront Hotel—the second-highest attendance ever. I went to St. Pete’s for a few reasons this year: I enjoyed last year’s conference in Portland … Continue reading Report on ACES 2017 in St. Petersburg, Florida
Webinar: What’s wrong with this sentence?
Correct usage of language is paramount to effective communication. The education system—from primary through post-secondary—does not offer students the tools needed for communicating effectively, whether verbally or in writing. The webinar is based on a workshop that was originally developed for the Canadian Authors' Association national conference, and has since been presented to numerous groups, … Continue reading Webinar: What’s wrong with this sentence?
Webinar: A linguist’s guide to grammar
What you learned in English class will help you with syntax about as much as what you learned in driving lessons will help you with mechanics—you get by fine until one day you find yourself stopped in the middle of a sentence with smoke coming out from under the hood. In this webinar, we're going … Continue reading Webinar: A linguist’s guide to grammar
Webinar: Good grammar: It’s more than gut feel
Some writers have a good intuitive feel for grammatical correctness—or lack thereof. But professional editors need more than intuition; they need to be able to name the mistakes in order to explain their changes and help writers improve. Learn how to identify, name, and eliminate the most common grammatical gaffes, the ones that embarrass the … Continue reading Webinar: Good grammar: It’s more than gut feel
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