Mastering adjectives and adverbs is crucial for vivid and engaging writing. Many students struggle with this concept, leading to awkward prose and undermining their credibility. Adjectives describe ...

So how do we produce readable and clean scientific writing? One of the good elements of style is to avoid adverbs and adjectives (Zinsser 2006). Adjectives and adverbs sprinkle paper with unnecessary ...

Remember voting for senior class superlatives? One female and one male student would be named “Best Dressed” or “Most Likely to Succeed” or “Best School Spirit.” Only one student from each gender ...

You probably noticed this place is called Mount Scary. Well, that’s not because of the mountain. Allow me to explain. Y’see, she’s not just a yeti… she’s a scary yeti. Scary is an adjective. An ...

To crime novelist Elmore Leonard, their use is "a mortal sin." Graham Greene said they were "beastly." They have been called "the lazy tool of a weak mind." Drugs? Pornography? Vodka shots? None of ...

Good questions have been piling up in my inbox lately. Ed in Albany, N.Y., had a question about a recent column in which I mentioned people “who just won’t stop using the word ‘over’ wrong.” Here’s Ed ...

I couldn’t agree more with the meaning of that slogan. But what about its grammar? Purists would argue that people don’t drive “drunk”; rather, they say, people “drive drunkenly” or they “drive in a ...

Have you ever wondered why some writing feels vivid and engaging while other texts seem flat and lifeless? The secret often lies in the strategic use of descriptive words, specifically, knowing when ...