Commonplaces: Grammar & Writing

Let's Play Jeopardy!  Review the previous lesson on Forming Plurals.  I will give the answer and you give the question!  Here we GO! 1. To form the plural of most English words that end in –x, you add this ending.     What is _____________?   2.  To form the plural of most English words that end in a consonant plus –y, you must make this change before adding this ending.     What is _________? 3.  To form the plural of most English words that end in –f or –fe, you must make this change before adding this ending.      What is _____________? Forming Prefixes and Suffixes 1. Words that end in –x don’t change when a suffix is added to them:   fax = faxing, hoax = hoaxed, mix = mixer 2. Words that end in –c don’t change when a suffix is added to them if the letter before the c is a, o, u, or a consonant:  talc = talcum, maniac = maniacal 3. Words that end in –c usually add k when a suffix is added to...

Just like choosing the wrong colors to paint a picture of this eye catching cat, the most damaging mistakes a writer can make are probably misspelling or misusing words. Just a few of these errors will make a reader lose confidence in what you’re trying to say. Here are the basic rules of English spelling and the most commonly misused words.  Spelling It Out You might remember this spelling rule from your younger years in school: I before e,  Except after c,  Or when sounded as a,  As in neighbor or weigh. That’s certainly a helpful rule—most of the time. It works for words such as beige, ceiling, conceive, feign, field, inveigh, obeisance, priest, receive, shield, sleigh, and weight. But take a look at all these words: ancient, being, caffeine, either, feisty, foreign, height, leisure, protein, reimburse, science, seize, society, sovereign, species, sufficient, and weird. There are an awful lot of exceptions, aren’t there? Here are some rules that ...