Dashes

A dash is a little horizontal line that floats in the middle of a line of text (not at the bottom: that’s an underscore). It’s longer than a hyphen and is commonly used to indicate a range or a pause. Dashes are used to separate groups of words, not to separate parts of words like a hyphen does. There are three forms of dashes: em, en, and the double hyphen.

The most common types of dashes are the en dash (–) and the em dash (—). A good way to remember the difference between these two dashes is to visualize the en dash as the length of the letter N and the em dash as the length of the letter M. These dashes not only differ in length; they also serve different functions within a sentence.

Em Dashes

Em dashes save the day when other punctuation would be awkward. For instance, em dashes can replace parentheses at the end of a sentence or when multiple commas appear in a parenthetical phrase.

After a split second of hesitation, the second baseman leaped for the ball (or, rather, limped for it).

After a split second of hesitation, the second baseman leaped for the ball—or, rather, limped for it.

Colons enable a writer to introduce a clause that amplifies whatever came before the colon. They are more formal than dashes. However, em dashes are more emphatic than colons. When you want to generate strong emotion in your writing or create a more casual tone, use em dashes. Compare these sentences:

He is afraid of two things: spiders and senior prom.

He is afraid of two things—spiders and senior prom.

Writers and transcriptionists replace unknown, censored, or intentionally omitted letters with em dashes. In these cases, em dashes appear in pairs or threesomes.

A former employee of the accused company, ———, offered a statement off the record.

“H—— are all the same. They cause trouble wherever they go.”

Carved into the dresser drawer was a faded inscription: “Made for Kristina, by your de——ted sailor.”

 

En Dashes

Recall that en dashes are slightly shorter in length than em dashes. En dashes may look similar to em dashes, but they function in a much different way.

Using the En Dash to Indicate Spans of Time or Ranges of Numbers

The en dash is often used to indicate spans of time or ranges of numbers. In this context, the dash should be interpreted as meaning either “to” or “through.” Consider the examples below:

The teacher assigned pages 101–181 for tonight’s reading material.

The scheduled window for the cable installation is 1:00–3:00pm.

The 2015–2016 fiscal year was the most profitable year for the new business.

Using the En Dash to Denote a Connection

The en dash may also be used to indicate a connection between two words. Use an en dash when you need to connect terms that are already hyphenated or when you are using a two-word phrase as a modifier. When the dash is used in this way, it creates a compound adjective. See the following examples:

The pro-choice–pro-life argument is always a heated one.

The Nobel Prize–winning author will be reading from her book at the library tonight.

Irregular Plural Nouns—Learn Patterns to Help You Remember the Tricky Ones

Irregular plural nouns are nouns that do not become plural by adding -s or -es, as most nouns in the English language do. You’re probably familiar with many of these already. For example, the plural form of man is men, not mans. The plural form of woman is women, not womans. There are hundreds of irregular plural nouns, and in truth, you must memorize them through reading and speaking. There are, however, some common patterns to look out for.

The Most Common Irregular Plurals

Nouns ending in -f and -fe

To make a plural of a word ending in -f, change the f to a v and add es. Similarly, if a word ends in -fe, change the f to a v and add an s. The result for both types is a plural that ends in -ves. This spelling arose because of the difficulty of pronouncing f and s together in English (an attempt to do this will produce a v sound).

Singular (-f, -fe)	Plural (-ves)
knive	knives
life	lives
wife	wives
calf	calves
leaf	leaves

Exceptions: roofs and proofs (among others).

Nouns Ending in -o

Plurals of words ending in -o are usually made by adding -es.

Singular (-o)	Plural (-oes)
potato	potatoes
tomato	tomatoes
hero	heroes
torpedo	torpedoes
veto	vetoes

But of course, there are exceptions. (Aren’t there always?) Some words ending in -o that are borrowed from other languages take only an s to make a plural, such as pianos, cantos, photos, and zeros. Cello, which is an abbreviation of the Italian word violoncello, can be written the traditional way, celli, or the commonly accepted anglicized way, cellos.

Nouns That Change Vowels

Many English words become plural by changing their vowels, such as oo to ee or an to en.

Singular	Plural (vowel change)
foot	feet
tooth	teeth
goose	geese
man	men
woman	women

Fun fact: The eighteenth-century American dictionary reformer Noah Webster preferred spellings that were closer to their most common pronunciations. Thus, he advocated for the return of the Old English plural wimmen. Wouldn’t that have been convenient?

Irregular Nouns That Change Substantially

For a variety of historical reasons, some words change in spelling substantially when made plural.

Singular	Plural
louse	lice
mouse	mice
die	dice
ox	oxen
child	children
person	people*
penny	pence (in British usage)

Irregular Nouns That Do Not Change At All When Made Plural

Some English nouns are identical in both the singular and the plural forms. Many of these are names for animals.

Singular/ Plural (no change)

sheep

fish

deer

moose

swine

buffalo

shrimp

trout

I have seen several deer when walking in the woods near here.

How many shrimp did you catch?

Aircraft, watercraft, hovercraft, and spacecraft are all the same whether singular or plural.

NASA has made several different types of spacecraft in their fifty-nine-year history.

Plurals of Latin and Greek Words

There are certain words we use on a regular basis, especially in mathematical and scientific contexts, that are borrowed from Latin or Greek. Many of these words retain their Latin or Greek plurals in math and science settings. Some of them also have anglicized plural forms that have come into common use.

Nouns Ending in -us

To make a word ending in -us plural, change -us to -i. Many plurals of words ending in -us have anglicized versions, formed by simply adding -es. The latter method sounds more natural in informal settings. If there is an anglicized version that is well accepted, this will be noted in the dictionary entry for the word you are using.

Singular (-us)	Plural (-i)
focus	foci (also focuses)
radius	radii (also radiuses)
fungus	fungi
nucleus	nuclei
cactus	cacti
alumnus	alumni*
octopus	octopi (or octopuses)
hippopotamus	hippopotami (or hippopotamuses)

With the double i, radii (pronounced RAY-dee-i) sounds unwieldy, but if you are a mathematician, you probably use it every day. If you are a zoologist, you might say, “Hey, did you see those hippopotami?” but it would sound silly on a casual visit to the zoo. Many people resist the spelling octopuses, but it is perfectly acceptable. In fact, if you put a fine point on it, since octopus is of Greek origin rather than from Latin, theoretically the spelling should be octopodes, not octopi.

Irregular Formation of Nouns Ending in -is

Nouns with an -is ending can be made plural by changing -is to -es. Some people have a hard time remembering that the plural of crisis is crises and the plural of axis is axes, but crisises and axises are incorrect.

Singular (-is)	Plural (-es)
axis	axes (this is also the plural of ax and axe)
analysis	analyses
crisis	crises
thesis	theses

Irregular Formation of Nouns Ending in -on

These Greek words change their -on ending to -a.

Singular (-on)	Plural (-a)
phenomenon	phenomena
criterion	criteria

Irregular Formation of Nouns Ending in -um

Words ending in -um shed their -um and replace it with -a to form a plural. The plurals of some of these words are far better known than their singular counterparts.

Singular (-um)	Plural (-a)
datum	data
memorandum	memoranda
bacterium	bacteria
stratum	strata
curriculum	curricula (also curriculums)

Irregular Formation of Nouns Ending in -ix

Nouns ending in -ix are changed to -ices in formal settings, but sometimes -xes is perfectly acceptable.

Singular (-ix)	Plural (-ces, -xes)
index	indices (or indexes)
appendix	appendices (or appendixes, in a medical context)
vortex	vortices (or vortexes)

These rules for irregular plural nouns must simply be memorized, although it is helpful to understand the patterns first in order to master them. We also have information on the Grammarly blog about patterns for regular nouns.

5 Best Writers’ Retreats of All Time

Some like it hot. Others like it cold, or cluttered, or colorful. As you can imagine, authors, poets, and playwrights find inspiration in a variety of writing environments. With Log Cabin Day coming up on June 28, the Grammarly team began thinking about the best — and most interesting — places to write.

Are you curious about where your favorite author penned his or her bestseller?

Henry David Thoreau: Walden Pond

Seeking an escape from modern life, Henry David Thoreau found the perfect spot adjacent to picturesque Walden Pond. There, he built a minimal shack for under $30 and kept it simple with just chairs, a desk, a bed, and a table. Happily, this shack served as more than a refuge — it became an inspiration to Thoreau. He lived here for two years while he pondered and wrote his best-known book, Walden. An experiment in self-sufficiency, simple living, and independence, Thoreau’s Walden continues to inspire readers today.

George Bernard Shaw: “London”

George Bernard Shaw built a unique writing structure on his own property, hidden in the garden. He gave it the code name “London” so that when callers inquired after his whereabouts they could be honestly informed that the playwright had gone to London. Perhaps the most interesting feature of the hut is its ability to rotate to catch the best possible sunlight. Since Shaw preferred to write under constant sunlight, London was the ideal location.

Virginia Woolf: Garden Shed

Anyone who has read Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own knows exactly how the author felt about having a private retreat to put her words to paper. In the garden of the house she shared with her husband, Woolf had a small shed of her own where she wrote some of her best-known novels. While she didn’t pen A Room of One’s Own here, it is where she wrote Mrs. Dalloway and The Waves, among others. Even better, her home was a magnet for other writers in the Bloomsbury Group, including T.S. Eliot and E.M. Forster.

Roald Dahl: Gypsy Hut

Like Woolf, Roald Dahl also worked from a garden shed to write some of his best novels. His was custom built and known as the “gypsy hut.” He worked hard to keep the space to himself, going so far as to ban his own children from entering. Those who caught a peek inside reported that the hut looked more like a laboratory than a library, which is perhaps fitting for such an inventive writer. Dahl worked religiously in the hut, penning much-loved novels like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, and James and the Giant Peach.

Dylan Thomas: Boathouse

While some writers keep their spaces impeccably tidy, Dylan Thomas plastered his writing area with words, lists, rhymes, and pieces by fellow writers like Walt Whitman and W.H. Auden. Before Thomas used this area as a writing space, it had spent a previous life as a cliffside boathouse. Thomas saw this space as his workshop and treated it as such, pinning inspiration, photographs, and works in progress to the walls. Today, there’s no doubt this was an inspiring space — the writer penned his famous Under Milk Wood here before departing Wales for New York, never to return.

In lieu of a private office or library, the writers above decided to try something different to help inspire their work. From custom-built huts to garden shacks to repurposed boathouses, each author took the initiative to create a unique space meant to stop writer’s block in its tracks. As a result, these writer’s retreats inspired some of the most-loved works of literature.

Where (or what) is your ideal writer’s retreat?

13 Common Distractions at Work and How to Fight Them

Whether you work in a busy office or a busy home, there’s plenty to distract you. Besides preventing you from getting things done, distractions can negatively impact your work relationships. For example, careless errors and forgotten appointments can damage your reputation in the eyes of your clients and colleagues. Don’t let it happen to you! Let’s identify strategies to fight thirteen common work distractions.

Technology

Cell Phones

If distractions were diseases, your cell phone would be the plague-spreading host organism. Besides phone calls, you might receive text messages and notifications. You might be tempted to play games or check social media. However, let’s face facts. Unless your cell phone is essential to your job, nothing is stopping you from putting it on silent and tucking it out of sight during work hours. In an emergency, your loved ones can reach you on the landline. If you need your cell phone to work, limit yourself to the functions and apps that directly relate to your job.

Social Media and Games

Some people find it easier to resist temptation if they permit themselves to check social media or play games during their lunch break. You will have a guilt-free pleasure to look forward to and an extra incentive to keep your nose to the grindstone. If your willpower doesn’t cut it, block your most irresistible diversions on your web browser. You can install monitoring programs on your mobile devices, too. Mobile Spy logs what you do with your phone, allowing you to see how much time you spend (or waste) on nonessential activities.

Emails

Answering emails quickly is a plus in the business world. However, every email doesn’t have the same priority. Delete or archive emails that don’t need a reply (e.g. spam, newsletters, receipts). Send an immediate response to urgent requests and major clients. Star or mark as unread lower-priority and non-work-related emails. A recent feature of Outlook called Focused Inbox might make organizing your email simpler for you. The Focused Inbox divides your inbox into two category tabs, displaying only important messages in your Focused tab. Email sorted into the Other tab is out of sight until you are ready to deal with it. Of course, you can move emails from one box to another, and the program prioritizes emails from frequent contacts.

People

Workmates

How do you discourage interruptions while preserving friendly relations with colleagues? One woman was so distraught that she wrote to Lifehacker.com for advice: “Whether I’m in the middle of a task or . . . trying to talk on the phone . . . , these folks keep coming up to socialize. I like them . . . so I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, but how can I make them stop bothering me?” Lifehacker responded with some great ideas.

Wearing noise-canceling headphones serves a dual purpose. Even if you aren’t listening to music, which could itself be distracting, you appear unapproachable and busy to your coworkers. They probably won’t disturb you unless they have good reason. If someone is so bold as to talk to you while you have them on, don’t take them off. Tilt them away from your ears to give a brief reply before replacing them. If you pair your answer with a smile before looking away, they should get the hint that the conversation is over without being offended. The second benefit is that they do drown out background noise! If your company doesn’t allow them, you may accomplish the same illusion with your phone headset.

Family and Friends

Lifehacker.com offered three tips to “Not-so-chatty Cathy” that might indirectly discourage your family and friends from disturbing your work time. (1) Make them do something for you. If your partner calls multiple times to chat, ask them to do something for you. “I’m so glad you called back, I forgot to take that load of clothes out of the dryer! Can you do it for me so my shirts don’t get so wrinkled?” With any luck, your partner will rush off to your rescue and you’ll be free to continue your project. (2) Don’t make it worth their while. If they regularly call you at work, they might be bored and looking to be entertained by your sarcastic wit. Instead of providing amusement, be a conversational dud. Lackluster replies might prompt them to ask if anything’s wrong. That’s your opportunity! Explain that nothing’s wrong, but you’re too busy to talk right now. Ask if you can call them back at a more convenient time, and make sure you follow through on your promise. If that becomes the norm, you should be able to break their habit of calling during work hours.

Clients

Getting rid of interruptions from customers is tricky. Offend them or make them feel unvalued, and you’ve lost your bread and butter. The best way to handle it is to make the clients feel that you are busy managing their needs. You might say something along these lines: “Hi Greg. I was just researching the data I need for your project, but I can set it aside if you need me now. Otherwise, can you call and leave a message for me on my voicemail letting me know what I can do for you?” He might decide he’d rather you finish up what you’re doing. You might also delegate some small client requests to your assistant. “Oh, yes! Barbara is ready to take care of that for you right now!”

You

Is it fair to blame all of the distractions on other people? You probably do your fair share of procrastination for various reasons

Daydreaming and Worrying

What can you do to keep your mental focus? When a concern or question pops up, make a note of it so you can take care of it later without letting it preoccupy your mind. Dehydration can sap your energy and concentration, too. Keep a water bottle near your desk and take sips throughout the day to stay hydrated.

Sleepiness

The culprit could be your lunch box. Foods high in fat and sugar can make you drowsy! Almonds, salmon, and kale reportedly boost energy. Set a bedtime for yourself and ban electronic devices an hour before that time to get a good night’s sleep.

Your Work Space

Noise What if it’s not the people but your work environment that distracts you? You won’t get much work done if you are always getting up to adjust the thermostat or yelling across the cubicle wall for your neighbor to turn his music down. In these instances, preventive measures are in order. Wear your noise-canceling earphones to drown out your cubicle-mate’s tunes. You might also find a quiet corner away from your desk, such as an empty meeting room. If all else fails, bring a white noise machine, a device designed to mask unpleasant noise with soothing or pleasing sounds. And if a coworker asks what it is or why you have it, your explanation might prompt them to think twice the next time they talk on the phone or play music in the cubicles around you.

Temperature Dress for work in layers that can be removed or added so that you maintain a comfortable temperature. If it’s allowed, buy a personal space heater for your office. Most heaters double as fans, so you can stay cool in the summertime too.

Whether you work remotely or in a bustling office, distractions abound. Fortunately, you can avoid, reduce, or even eliminate most distractions. Don’t let anything interrupt your mission to apply these tips!

Congradulations or Congratulations—Which Is Right?

• Congratulations is correct.
• Congradulations is a common misspelling.

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When something important and meaningful happens to someone, it’s nice to acknowledge it. But before we do, we need to double-check our spelling.

Congradulations vs. Congratulations—Which Is Correct?

There’s just one way to spell it, and that’s congratulations, with a T. This word came into English from Latin, where it was formed by combining the prefix com-, meaning “with,” to the root gratulari, meaning “give thanks” or “show joy.”

Congradulations, with a D, or congraduation, for that matter, is plain wrong:

No need for congradulations just yet—Paul still has some tough exams to pass before he graduates.

I think that congratulations are in order.

Jenny got promoted yesterday; we should text her congradulations.

Congratulations, you won a free weekend at the spa!

I sent a congradulations card, but I think I made a spelling mistake.

When we give congratulations, we are taking part in someone else’s happiness.

Example

Congratulations go out to Carter, as well as the faculty who helped him along, and best wishes for continued academic successes in the future.

Bozeman Daily Chronicle

Former India cricketers Anil Kumble and Mohammad Kaif extended their wishes and congratulations to Yuvraj Singh on his upcoming wedding with model-actress Hazel Keech.

The Indian Express

There’s nothing wrong with making a spelling mistake here and there, as long as you notice it and correct it in time. And there are plenty of chances to make mistakes, so make sure you brush up on the spelling of other commonly misspelled words, like “occurred,” “separate,” and “forty.”

Grammarly Scholarship Rules

Scholarship prompts:

• How are reading and writing interconnected?
• How has reading improved the way you write?

Who is eligible to participate? Participants in Grammarly’s scholarship contest must be residents of the United States (excluding Puerto Rico). In addition, each participant must either be:

• Currently attending an accredited college or university, and enrolled in a two year, undergraduate, graduate, or professional degree program
• Planning to attend an accredited college or university, and to be enrolled in such a program within one year after the scholarship is awarded

Grammarly will award the scholarship directly to the accredited institution.

Detailed instructions about what an entrant must submit, where, and how. Entrants must submit a concise, grammatically accurate 5-10 paragraph essay in response to the writing prompts provided by Grammarly (listed in the “Scholarship prompts” section above). The essay must be between 500 and 1,000 words.

All entries must be submitted prior to February 24, 2014 at 12:00 p.m. PT by emailing scholarship@grammarly.com.

Please submit only one entry per person.

The start and end (date and time) of the competition. Deadline for receipt of entries. Grammarly’s scholarship competition will begin on January 23, 2014 at 12:00 p.m. PT. Entries will be accepted through February 24, 2014 at 12:00 p.m. PT.

The available prizes. One grand prize winner will receive a $1,000 scholarship to be awarded directly to the accredited institution that the student attends.

List the criteria by which the winner will be selected and how the winner will be notified. The grand prize winner will be notified by email by March 24, 2014.

No purchase is necessary.  Essays will be reviewed by the Grammarly team, who will be judging the entries based on:

• Essay format (typical five-paragraph essay with thesis and supporting ideas)
• Length (between 500 and 1,000 words)
• Creativity of responses
• Introduction of unique ideas or arguments

Winners will be chosen at the sole discretion of the Grammarly team.

The number of entries permitted for each entrant. One

Any restrictions on eligibility or the award of prizes. Submitting an essay for consideration to Grammarly’s scholarship contest constitutes permission for Grammarly to use your name, your entire essay or excerpts from your essay, and other information relating to your participation publicly.

How and when a list of winners may be obtained. The winner will be announced on March 24, 2014, or by submitting a request by email to scholarship@grammarly.com.

The corporate name and physical address of the sponsor.

Grammarly, Inc. 548 Market Street #35410 San Francisco, CA 94104