9. How can I figure out if something should be one word or two, like anytime or any time?

You should choose one dictionary as your general guide for all of your writing so your hyphenation is consistent. To find out if something should be one word or two - look it up. Remember that there may be variants and the first form offered will be "preferred," but other variants listed are also acceptable. This is one of the stickier problems that copy editors worry about - whether a two-word phrase is two separate words, hyphenated, or combined to become one word. Concepts may start out as two words (e.g., common sense), become hyphenated as adjectives, and then eventually become one word (commonsense) as the usage becomes more commonplace. Many words and phrases tend to evolve from separation to linkage. The trend in English is for frequently used word combinations to "grow together" from two words to one, sometimes passing through a hyphenated stage. The two-word phrase "data base," for example, is now most commonly written as one word: "database." So, though the best rule is to check your chosen dictionary, there are a few principles that can be helpful. Two or more adjectives before a noun that act as one idea (one-thought adjectives) are connected with a hyphen. Example: He has a devil-may-care attitude. Use a hyphen in expressions where words have become linked by usage to express one idea, e.g., mother-in-law. Do not use a hyphen after an adverb ending with -ly, e.g., carefully planned project. Do not use a hyphen in a compound using a comparative or superlative adjective, e.g., the best laid plans. Do not use a hyphen in chemical terms, e.g., hydrogen peroxide solution. Do not use a hyphen in a modifier using a letter or numeral as the second element, e.g., Type A personality. When written as words, fractions and cardinal numbers consisting of two words are hyphenated, e.g., two-thirds. Hyphenate words prefixed by ex-, self-, or all-, and some words prefixed by cross-. Do not hyphenate words prefixed by non-, un-, in-, dis-, co-, anti-, hyper-, pre-, re-, post-, out-, b-i, counter-, de-, semi-, mis-, mega-, micro-, inter-, over-, and under- (among others) - unless the second element is capitalized. (But some are hyphenated when the second element starts with the letter ending the first element: pre-empt.) Do not hyphenate most verb and preposition combinations, e.g., the verb check out. Use hyphens when needed for clarity, e.g., dirty-picture magazine.












10. What are irregular verbs?

An irregular verb is a verb which does not conform to an expected inflectional pattern, derivation, or word formation. These verbs mostly exist as remnants of historical conjugations. Examples are the forms of the verbs "be," "take," "throw," etc. There are nearly 250 irregular verbs in the English language. Dictionaries are perhaps the most valuable tool one can use in distinguishing between regular and irregular verbs. If only one form of the verb is listed, the verb is regular. Regular verbs' forms are often not listed in dictionaries because they follow a set of rules that are learned for inflections. Regular verbs are those whose past tense and past participles are formed by adding a -d or an -ed to the end of the verb - and this is how they differ from irregular verbs. If the verb is irregular, the dictionary will list the principal parts of the other forms. We memorize their forms, or look them up in a dictionary. There are seven main patterns of irregular verbs: 1) verbs that take a voiceless -t suffix to mark both past tense and past participles and which can replace the final d of the base, e.g., build, built; 2) verbs that take a -t or -d suffix to mark both past tense and past participle with a change in the base vowel, e.g., feel, felt, felt; 3) verbs that take the regular -ed suffix for past tense but -(e)n for past participles, e.g., show, showed, shown; 4) verbs that have no suffix for past tense forms but take the suffix -(e)n for past participles, with a change in the base vowel for one or both, e.g., break, broke, broken or take, took, taken; 5) verbs that have past tense and past participle forms marked only by a change in the base vowel, e.g., come, came, come or win, won, won; 6) verbs that have past tense forms and past participle forms identical to the base form, e.g., cut, cut, cut; and 7) verbs that have one or more completely unmatched forms, e.g., go, went, gone.













11. Can I use the word peoples instead of persons?

People is a singular noun meaning 'a body of persons sharing a culture' as in "As a people, the Anasazi were known for their basket-making." Its plural is peoples as in "the many peoples of South America." When your meaning is 'human beings', then people is plural and there is no corresponding singular form. Some strict grammarians say that people is a collective noun that should not be used as a substitute for persons when referring to a specific number of individuals. They are saying that people is general and persons is specific. This rule would mean you should say "Ten persons were invited to dinner" (not "ten people"). But people has always been used that way and few make the distinction anymore. Some grammarians consider persons to be better for small, specific numbers. The word person has replaced -man as the second element of many occupational compounds such as chairperson, deliveryperson, and spokesperson.













12. Should I use a singular or a plural verb with a collective noun?

A collective noun refers to a whole group as a single entity but also to the members of that group. A collective noun names a group of individuals or things with a singular form. Examples of collective nouns are: faculty, herd, team. There are collective nouns for people, animals, objects, and concepts. The use of a singular or plural verb depends on the context of the sentence. If one is referring to the whole group as a single entity, then the singular verb is best: The school board has called a special session. When a group noun is used with a singular determiner (e.g., a/an, each, every, this, that), singular verbs and pronouns are normal: The team is away this weekend; they have a good chance of winning. There are other contexts where the plural verb is more natural: My family are always fighting among themselves. When the individuals in the collection or group receive the emphasis, the plural verb is acceptable. Generally, however, in American English, collective nouns take singular verbs. In British English, collective nouns are more often treated as plurals that take plural verbs.















13. Can I ever end a sentence with a preposition?

The word preposition (examples: at, in, of, to) is so named because such words normally precede the position of their objects in a prepositional phrase. Some people then took this definition to mean that a preposition always had to come before its object and could never end a sentence. Latin has a rule against ending a sentence with a preposition, but English has no such rule. If a sentence is unusually long, and the ending preposition will be a long distance from its object, then it is best to avoid ending with the preposition. It is sometimes preferable to avoid ending with a preposition, and sometimes it is preferable to end with a preposition. "Where are you from?" is more natural than, "From where are you?" As general practice, one should avoid ending a sentence with a preposition as a matter of style rather than grammar. If the sentence sounds good and clear and ends with a preposition, then go with it. On this subject, a story involving Winston Churchill is often told. When an editor dared to change a sentence of Churchill's that appeared to end inappropriately with a preposition, Churchill responded by writing to the editor, "This is the kind of impertinence up with which I shall not put." His purpose was to illustrate the awkwardness that can result from rigid adherence to the notion that prepositions at the end of sentences are always incorrect.
















14. Can I begin a sentence with a conjunction?

Many have tried to get writers of English to stop using coordinating conjunctions (e.g., and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet) to start sentences. Generally, coordinating conjunctions are used to join words, phrases, and clauses that are balanced as logical equals and are used to coordinate two independent clauses. Because coordinating conjunctions are used to hold together elements within a sentence, some teachers have discouraged their students from starting sentences with coordinating conjunctions. However, their real mission is to help their students learn to avoid sentence fragments like, "And smart, too." It is important to know that when you are writing in informal contexts and decide to start a sentence with a coordinating conjunction, you must be sure that what follows it is an independent clause, capable of standing alone as a sentence. In formal writing, it is best to avoid beginning any sentence with a conjunction.














15. How can I tell if a word is an adjective or an adverb in a sentence?

The only way to tell whether a word is an adjective or adverb is to determine what it modifies. Adjectives describe or modify nouns and pronouns. They specify which one, what quality, or how many. Adverbs describe or modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs (note that two of the three have verb in them, as does adverb - which can be a way for you to remember) as well as whole groups of words. Adverbs specify when, where, how, and to what extent. Adjective-noun combinations are: old city, two pears, generous gift. An example of an adjective-pronoun combination is: sly one; one of a pronoun-adjective is: it was nice. Examples of adverb-verb combinations are: nearly destroyed, quickly forgotten. Adverb-adjective combinations are: very generous, extremely happy. An adverb-adverb combination is: very quickly. Sometimes an adjective is erroneously used for an adverb and vice versa. For example: We take it very serious (the adjective) should be: We take it very seriously (the adverb). An adjective may go just before the noun it modifies (yellow bird) or follow a linking verb (the bird was yellow). Where to put adverbs often perplexes. Typically, an adverb goes just before a verb - but it may also go at the beginning of a sentence or clause; it may also be placed at the end, particularly if it gets the emphasis: The brook is rising rapidly. The placement of the adverb can dramatically affect the meaning of a sentence, making it awkward or ambiguous, so care must be taken to review one's writing. If an auxiliary is helping the verb, then it is fine for the adverb to go between them: We will soon know the election results. But if a verb has more than one auxiliary, things get complicated. The adverb normally goes after either the first or second auxiliary, depending on what it is supposed to modify. If it sounds right, it is likely to be right. An adverb made up of a number of words often follows a verb phrase. If the adverb begins the sentence, it can either modify a clause or the entire sentence. And, as a rule, the adverb should not separate a verb from its object: Keir solved quickly the puzzle. / Keir quickly solved the puzzle.












16. How can I find out which prepositions or particles can follow a verb?

Many verb combinations are easy to understand because you can work out their meanings from those of the individual verbs + prepositions (or verbs + particles). An example is: Put the dish down = Place the dish in a lower position. At other times, the combinations are more difficult to understand. An example is: Cholera broke out in that country. The verb break does not have the meaning it has in phrases like break a window. And out does not mean 'outside in the open'. The combination has to be understood as one unit. When a verb + particle or verb + preposition is a unit of meaning like this, it is a phrasal verb. The absolute best way to find out what prepositions or particles can follow a verb is to buy a dictionary of phrasal verbs. Not only will you find out what works together, but you will have the definitions of these combinations, and examples of usage. The same combination of words may be used in a variety of grammatical structures. One example is ran up in: A girl ran up to him. / The spider ran up the wall. / The soldier ran up a flag. These sentence patterns are all quite different, even though the meanings are related. In a phrasal verb dictionary, you will be presented with the possible structures for each phrasal verb. Another excellent source is a grammar book, like Applied English Grammar (Byrd, Patricia, Beverly Benson, Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt College Publishers, 2001) or Grammar in Context (Elbaum, Sandra, Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle, 2001). There may be some verb + preposition lists online, but you may not be able to ascertain whether such a list is correct or complete. However, a collegiate or unabridged dictionary will also provide guidance about what prepositions work with a verb. For phrasal verbs, many will be defined in separate entries, e.g., "break out." Or a combination like "ran up" will be handled as a run-on to the main entry for "run," usually by defining it and offering an illustrative example which includes the preposition "up," e.g.: to spread or pass quickly from point to point --chills "ran up" her spine. A phrasal verb is also called verb-particle construction, verb phrase, multi-word verb, compound verb, or two- or three-part verb.

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