Grammar Basics: What Is Subject-Verb Agreement?

In English, subject-verb agreement is important. What this means is that the characteristics of the subject should be reflected in the verb. For example, if a subject is a singular, the verb form must also be singular.

She see you.

She sees you.

Likewise, if a subject is plural, the verb must also be plural.

We sees you.

We see you.

Unlike in other languages that require that subject and verb agree in both number and gender, English verbs are not conjugated for gender and so require only that they match in number.

To learn more about grammar and to help us celebrate National Grammar Day this March, visit our new resource page.

What Are Proper Nouns, and How Do I Use Them?

A proper noun is a specific (i.e., not generic) name for a particular person, place, or thing. Proper nouns are always capitalized in English, no matter where they fall in a sentence. Because they endow nouns with a specific name, they are also sometimes called proper names.

Every noun can be classified as either common or proper. A common noun is the generic name for one item in a class or group.

palace

girl

book

A proper noun, on the other hand, names a noun precisely.

Buckingham Palace

Cynthia

War and Peace

The distinction between common and proper nouns is usually quite easy to make, but it can occasionally be more difficult to intuit. When we speak, it makes no difference whether a noun is proper or common because it does not impact syntax. When we write, however, we need to know which nouns are proper because we need to know where to place capital letters.

You Too Can Prevent Capital Abuse

Capitalization overuse is the most prevalent type of spelling error there is. Psychologically, it is difficult to resist using capitals to emphasize what we think is important in a sentence. Marketing professionals capitalize liberally to Grab Your Attention And Sell You Things, but this is a bad habit you should avoid in your writing.

Carefully capitalizing only proper nouns will enhance the readability of your writing—after all, your readers have spent years of their lives being educated in English conventions. Extra capital letters seem like “speed bumps” on their course through your paragraphs.

Here are a few examples of common and proper nouns that are often capitalized incorrectly.

Mom or mom? Nouns Indicating a Family Relationship

The nouns we use to talk about our families cause a lot of trouble. The rule of thumb is, when you use a word like mom, dad, or aunt, capitalize it only if the word is being used exactly as you would a name, as if you were addressing the person directly. If the word is not being used as a name, it is not capitalized—although that has nothing to do with the word’s importance.

Please ask Mom if she would like steak for dinner.

Is your mom coming over for dinner?

Even if the speaker of the last sentence is acquainted with your mom and is thinking of that mom specifically, mom is not being used as a proper name, so it is not capitalized.

Adam asked his Uncle if he could stay for dinner.

Adam asked his uncle if he could stay for dinner.

Are Directions Capitalized?

The directions of the compass are not capitalized unless they are used as part of the proper name of a region.

The trail continued west all the way to the coastline.

What time is it on the West Coast?

Capitalizing Seasons

Because we capitalize the days of the week and the months of the year, people sometimes capitalize the seasons spring, summer, fall (or autumn), and winter by extension. However, they should only be capitalized when they are used as a part of a proper name.

Will you be visiting New York in the Spring?

Will you be visiting New York in the spring?

I am thinking of attending the Spring Social this year.

Jobs and Other Titles

It is just plain hard to resist capitalizing job titles, but once again, unless they are used in the act of naming someone, do not capitalize them.

Please allow me to introduce you to our managing director, Bob Smith.

Today Julie had an interview with Managing Director Bob Smith.

No matter how important you deem the job a person does, resist the urge to capitalize his or her title if it does not name him or her.

The next time I visit Rome, I’m going to drop in on the pope.

I can’t wait to meet Pope Francis when I am in Rome.

Should Brand Names Be Capitalized?

When brand names come into common use to describe a whole class of items, it is easy to forget to capitalize them. Brand names, however, are proper names.

He asked his mother to hand him a tissue.

Could you pass me the Kleenex?

Should Eponyms Be Capitalized?

That said, some nouns that are named for a person or region—eponyms—become so commonly used that it is no longer considered necessary to capitalize them. The sandwich, for example, was named for John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich.

The professor always packed a sandwich for office hours.

There are many more instances when you may have to decide whether a noun is common or proper to determine whether it is capitalized. (You may wish to read our articles on countries, nationalities, and languages or periods and events, for example.) When in doubt, do what all the best writers do: look it up.

8 Things You Should Really Delete from Your LinkedIn Profile

There’s a lot you can do to make your LinkedIn profile shine. You list your greatest achievements. You make connections. You take the time to write a great LinkedIn summary.

But for everything you do to make your profile stand out from the crowd, there are a lot of mistakes to avoid on LinkedIn, too. Whether you’re looking for a job or just giving your LinkedIn profile its monthly polish, here are eight problems to avoid.

1 Lies

We all know that lying is bad, and lying on a resume can be especially dangerous.

It goes without saying that you should delete any fudged details. And fudging them accidentally is no excuse. Even if you mixed up your dates of employment or wrote “associate” instead of “assistant” because you hadn’t had your coffee yet that day, not being honest and not being detail-oriented are both red flags for LinkedIn recruiters. Take what Angela Ritter, a recruiter at Grammarly, has to say:

“I pay attention to detail in candidate LinkedIn profiles. I double check that the job title in their intro matches the job they are currently in, that they took the time to outline what they’re doing in their role (at least slightly), etc.”

There you have it: no lies and no mistakes.

2 Posts better suited for Facebook

Vacations. Parties. The world’s most adorable dogs. No matter how perfect those pups are, LinkedIn is not the place. As a rule, pictures and posts related to your personal rather than professional life should be reserved for Facebook, Instagram, and other more socially oriented social media platforms.

If you’re looking for a job, you might want to be careful what you post on those platforms, too. Take a look at social media mistakes to avoid while you’re job-hunting.

3 That high school babysitting job

In general, skip professional experiences from a long time ago or that aren’t relevant to your current career.

However, if a long-ago or seemingly unrelated job helped you develop skills that you want to showcase at your new job or specifically highlight in your interview, you might think about how to spin it, rather than just pressing delete. According to Nicole Williams, Linkedin’s Connection Director:

“You never know—maybe you were trained as a salesperson at The Gap in high school, and the hiring manager looking at your profile went through the same program and wants you for the skills she knows you learned.”

4 The wrong photo Was your photo taken ten years ago? Are you making a goofy face? Is your S.O. in the photo with you? Or—social media gods forbid—are you not in the picture at all, and it shows your dog, cat, baby, iguana, or nothing at all?

Williams shares an analogy:

“It’s a lot like when you’re selling a house. If there’s no photo, it’s like ‘there must be something wrong with this property.’”

No picture is bad, but selfies and vacation photos are also better left to more social social media. Your best bet is to pick a picture in which you’re smiling and looking at least somewhat professional.

5 Company secrets

You want to show off that you brought in millions of dollars of revenue for your company last year. But your company might not want that number floating on the web. Keep specific numbers off public sites—save them for your resume or in-person interviews.

6 Unexciting accomplishments

It’s the quality-over-quantity argument. You may be really proud of that award you won in high school, but unless that was still relatively recent or you have a specific reason for showing it off, it’s smart to remove stale achievements.

As with professional experiences that are irrelevant to your current career, accomplishments that don’t demonstrate appropriate qualifications for your future job end up looking like filler rather than highlighting how great you are.

7 Overused words

Creative. Effective. Problem-solver. Yawn. Some words are used so much they don’t seem to mean anything at all.

Pick your words wisely. Other words show up a lot but will give you a boost: leader, strategic, solution, and innovative are LinkedIn standouts, according to a Grammarly study of language on LinkedIn. Ritter says:

“These kinds of terms help recruiters easily search and find qualified candidates on LinkedIn. Having common business language on your profile is important, but you have to be prepared to talk about your expertise with those terms. ”

8 Bad style

Yes, there’s a style for LinkedIn. It involves consistency, conciseness, and knowing the right words to use. Read up on writing mistakes to avoid in your LinkedIn profile, and grab some extra tips for updating your LinkedIn profile like a pro.

Being smart about what you delete and what you include can help you make an impression, make yourself look good, and make LinkedIn your ally.

Check out Grammarly’s LinkedIn data study for more pro tips.

9 Skills You Need to Master Before You Become a Manager

There’s no doubt that being a manager has its perks — increased prestige, recognition from upper management, and a higher paycheck among them. But as with anything worth aspiring to, it’s not all fun and games. As a manager, there are plenty of times you’ll find yourself in tough spots. Maybe you need to let someone know they’re no longer a good fit for their role or smooth things over with an upset client.

Because of that, it’s important that you don’t simply jump into a management role without having prepared for it first. If you want to do it right, there are a number of skill sets that you should build up first. So before you throw your hat in the ring for a manager position, make sure that you’ve got these nine traits down pat.

1. An Understanding of Budget and Financials

Even if you don’t work in a particularly quantitative field, understanding budget and finance is critical if you want to climb up the corporate ladder. The higher you go, the more people expect you to prove the impact that you and your team are making.

“Managers must always know what the numbers mean: how they were derived and what they may or may not hide,” says Roy Cohen, career coach and author of The Wall Street Professional’s Survival Guide. “As a manager, you cannot blame others for mistakes if you are clueless about the process by which they are reported. It is viewed as lazy and irresponsible. Even if you overlook a flaw at least you can explain why the oversight occurred.”

Suffering from numbers-phobia? Don’t worry — you can easily brush up your skills if you take a course in accounting, budgeting, or spreadsheet analysis, Cohen says.

2. Delegation

Control freaks, you’ll want to pay especially close attention to this one. As a manager, you’re tasked with not only your own projects but also overseeing others. With that added level of responsibility, you often simply won’t have the time to single-handedly take on everything that needs to get done. And when that moment comes, you need to know how to hand it off.

“An important part of getting things done as a manager comes through delegation,” says career coach Angela Copeland. “You have to learn to let go and rely on your team. And, most of all, you’ve got to trust them. The happiest employees are those who feel they have a supportive boss who trusts them to get the job done.”

3. Prioritization

On a similar note, the limited bandwidth and resources you’ll have as a manager will also make identifying the most mission-critical projects and tasks essential.

“As a new manager, you will inevitably be asked to take on more than you and your team have the time or budget to do,” Copeland says. “The ability to prioritize initiatives will propel your management career forward. It will allow you to set reasonable expectations for your manager, and will help shield your employees from burnout.”

4. Basic Technology

If you don’t already know your way around a spreadsheet or PowerPoint, it’s high time that you start figuring it out.

“The ability to prepare spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations and other documents is a lifesaver for executives who cannot always rely on administrative support; particularly for those who are road warriors or who work for leanly staffed companies,” Cohen says. “The same [goes] for a basic understanding of tech troubleshooting. When you are dependent on those who are junior to you to rescue you from a crisis, you lose your power and authority.”

5. Communication

Strong communication skills are always a boon in the workplace, but if you’re leading a team, they go from a plus to a must. You’ll likely find yourself having to provide constructive feedback, navigate crises, and possibly even let people go — all of which require a delicate hand.

“Hard conversations are important as they cause growth and change. But, change is also painful, so these conversations are not easy. To be an effective manager, you have to be prepared for the hard conversations,” Copeland says.

6. Emotional Intelligence

One of the traits that will help you hold these difficult conversations? Emotional intelligence.

“A huge part of developing and retaining successful employees boils down to emotional intelligence,” Copeland continues. “Having empathy and an understanding of others will help you to motivate your employees to get on board with your vision. This is also a critical skill when it comes to selling your ideas to higher level executives.”

7. Project Management

Being a manager means you can no longer shrug off the missteps of others on your team, brushing it off as not your fault since you took care of the individual items you were assigned. As a more senior employee, you’ll be expected to see things through from start to finish — no ifs, ands, or buts.

“Project management represents virtually every aspect of your role as a manager,” Cohen says. “No matter what your role and responsibilities as a manager [are], you will need to know how to motivate and inspire high performing teams to work together collaboratively and with a shared commitment.”

Don’t worry if you aren’t a certified professional project manager, though, says Cohen. “You just need to understand the process and to appreciate that members of your team each bring different work styles and motivators to their job. It may be enough to read a book on effective project management and leadership. Perhaps identify a senior mentor to help you stay on track,” he suggests.

8. In-the-Trenches Experience

However, just because you’re spearheading a project doesn’t mean you won’t be expected to get your hands dirty with day-to-day execution, either.

“Be willing to roll up your sleeves. When your team knows that you can perform in the job in a pinch, they are less likely to cut corners and you are better able to establish both your authority and credibility quickly,” Cohen says. “Work alongside them on occasion as a reminder that you know your stuff.”

9. Backbone

Being a manager often requires you to make tough decisions and stand up for what you believe in.

“Being a manager will push your boundaries of right and wrong. Before becoming a manager, you need to develop a strong sense of your personal values and the courage to stick up for them,” Copeland says. “You should be comfortable standing up for what’s right, even when it’s not comfortable. Your employer and future employees will thank you.”

It’s important to develop empathy, but still know “the difference between BS and the truth,” adds Cohen. “Good managers are fair and reasonable. But they are not milquetoast. They have learned how to be assertive while identifying and addressing their own weaknesses.”

A version of this post originally appeared on Glassdoor’s blog.

Fantastic Lists and How to Use Them

If you want to get more done, lists are potent tools that can make you a productivity wizard. Our grimoire will reveal the most fantastic lists and teach you how to wield their power.

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Goal Lists

Goal lists are for plotting your long game strategy. What do you want to accomplish in the next six months, year, five years? Odds are, you already have some things in mind. Put them in writing! Research shows that those with clear written goals achieve about 50% more of them than those without.

Goals can seem nebulous until we actually commit to them—the things we hope to do “someday” don’t happen unless we put a plan into action. First, look at the big picture. What do you want to achieve? Put it in writing. For instance, if you’ve been telling yourself that you want to write your memoir, write down that goal. Now, break that goal down into actionable steps. The first steps might be something like: “Prepare an outline” or “Write 500 words per day.” You can then add those action items to your . . .

To-Do Lists

As lists go, it doesn’t get any more classic than the time-honored to-do list. These lists focus on short-term (usually daily) goals. Unfortunately, we sometimes feel compelled to use them less like a productivity tool and more like a massive backlog. Backlogs are more likely to stress us out by putting the focus on everything that’s unfinished. Prioritizing is the key to creating to-do list that will help keep us sane rather than overwhelmed.

Experts suggest you keep your to-do lists simple and focused. Try to limit them to no more than three main items per day, and consider breaking those items down into smaller sub-tasks. (Save the big, overarching tasks for your goal list.) If you have a zillion things you want to accomplish and you feel the urge to write a massive list, go ahead and get it out of your system, but then dive back in and select the most important tasks to focus on right now, the ones that will help you make the most immediate progress toward your goal. Pro tip: Write your to-do list the at the end of the day so you can tackle it fresh in the morning.

Idea Lists

Have you ever found yourself thinking, I had a great idea for that project once . . . if I could only remember what it was! We all do it—inspiration can be fleeting. Keeping an idea list can help you log those ideas and shape the best of them into reality.

Technology makes keeping a record of your ideas much simpler. Most of us are within reach of our smartphones or other mobile devices at any given time, so make use of apps to help you capture those moments of inspiration. You could use a note-taking app to jot down your ideas, or try a cloud-based solution such as Evernote or Dropbox to keep things handy no matter what device you’re using. Refer to your idea lists when you’re running short on creativity or motivation.

Helpful Tools and Resources Lists

You’ve got a big writing project to wrap up. You swear you saw an ad somewhere for a useful writing app that could help you proofread. What was that thing called again? (Um . . . Grammarly, perhaps?) Your brain is bombarded with a ton of input every day. Don’t count on it to retrieve information you saw in passing—keep a list.

Perhaps not surprisingly, there are useful tools available to help you save lists of useful tools and online resources. Bookmarking apps like Pocket help you file things away to reference later. (Or you could kick it old school and just use your browser’s native bookmarking function.) When you come across a tool or resource you think you might have a use for, bookmark it and categorize it so you’ll be able to track it down quickly when you need it.

Book Reading Lists

Avid readers already know the benefits of losing themselves in a good book, but science bears it out—reading reduces stress. In fact, it can lower stress levels by 68%, which makes it superior to more traditional methods like listening to music or making a cup of tea. Since reading is so good for you, why not keep a list of books you’d like to explore?

Goodreads will help you create shelves where you can store your “Want to Read” finds, and it works cooperatively with Kindle and Nook if e-reading happens to be your thing. If you prefer a more streamlined system, you could create a spreadsheet and add the titles and authors of books you find intriguing. For a low-tech approach, keep a handwritten list. You could even write it on a sheet of paper, fold it in half, and use it as a bookmark so it’s handy when you’re ready for your next reading adventure.

Done Lists

We always seem to have tons of things we want to accomplish at any given time. People remember unfinished or interrupted tasks better than those they’ve completed. It’s great to have projects and goals, but they can become overwhelming when we focus solely on what we haven’t accomplished without looking back to acknowledge what we have. That’s where the ego-boosting done list comes in.

At the end of a busy week, sit down and make a list of some of your major accomplishments. You may not have finished everything you set out to do, but remembering what you did will help you keep a positive focus and stay motivated. You can use your weekly done lists to create a self-affirming month-end and year-end list, too. You’ve done stuff! Pat yourself on the back.

It’s vs. Its: How Should You Use Them?

When you’re in a hurry, you might write “it’s” when you really mean “its,” or the other way around. You need to be aware of this mistake and know when to use which.

It’s is a contraction of “it is” or “it has.” Its is a possessive determiner we use to say that something belongs to or refers to something.

It’s and its are among the most commonly confused words. They are pronounced the same, there’s a very small difference in how they’re written, and it’s also easy to mistake the contraction in it’s for a possessive. But the rules are very clear—it’s is the same type of contraction as “where’s” or “there’s,” and its is a possessive just like “my” or “your.”

Examples

He doesn’t think its a good idea to spend all his money on video games.

He doesn’t think it’s a good idea to spend all his money on video games.

Its been a year since the last time they met.

It’s been a year since the last time they met.

The computer looked as though it’s power supply had failed.

The computer looked as though its power supply had failed.

A car is no good without it’s wheels.

A car is no good without its wheels.

7 Smart Ways to Handle Negativity on Social Media

You’ve just poured your heart into your latest blog post. You got real! You got vulnerable!

…And now a total stranger is publicly ridiculing you.

Life on the Internet can be stressful. As you express your experiences and opinions, you are bound to run into the naysayers, the haters, and the outright trolls.

Dealing with these characters may not be fun, but they don’t have to ruin your day. Here are seven smart ways to handle negativity on social media and come out on top.

1Don’t Feed the Trolls

The simplest and most direct way to destroy trolls’ power? Ignore their hateful comments and refuse to engage with their negativity.

Trolls feed on attention. Your frustration and anger are their goal. When you indignantly reply to an ugly comment, you’re giving them exactly what they want.

Your anger at injustice and desire to prove your point will tempt you to argue with them, but remember: trolls aren’t interested in productive dialogue. They will twist your words, accuse you, and make non-factual statements—they will not concede.

It doesn’t matter how intelligently you present your point, the argument will only devolve further, resulting in a colossal waste of time and emotional energy. But when you deprive a troll of attention, they’ll soon slink away to sow discord somewhere else.

2Champion a Supportive Community

Say you’re reading a friend’s blog (or Facebook post or Twitter feed…) and you see that someone has left a nasty comment.

Instead of engaging directly with the troll (giving them the power and attention they want), respond with a positive comment for your friend. Let your friend know how much you enjoyed their post and that you appreciate her sharing it.

Your support will mean a lot to your friend and will encourage others to speak up, unleashing an avalanche of positive support to drown out the negativity.

Whenever possible, do your part to foster a supportive online community where people feel safe to have real dialogue, listen, ask questions, and express their points respectfully.

3Provide the Facts

Trolls frequently spout misinformation, propping up their arguments with factually inaccurate assertions. This can confuse other readers and make a troll’s argument sound credible to those who don’t know the truth.

If you see a troll making inaccurate statements, on your own social media post or someone else’s, share some primary sources that refute their arguments and back up the facts.

You are doing this to educate other readers, so don’t respond to the troll directly (shouting matches will ensue). Instead, leave a comment such as “Hey folks, there seems to be some confusion around [issue].” Then calmly state the facts and your sources.

4Respond With Humor or Kindness

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Trolls only have as much power as you allow them to have. You can disarm their attack by showing them just how little you take their hateful words seriously.

Respond to them with a witty retort or thank them for their comment.

Well, the fumes from the DVDs might be toxic and I’ve still got your money, so by all means borrow my lighter. pic.twitter.com/kVoi8VGEoK

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) January 31, 2017

Just remember, keep things clever and focus on deflecting their words—don’t sink to their level of ugliness or engage in personal attacks.

5Report Harassment

If someone is making you uncomfortable or even threatening you on social media, don’t hesitate to report them. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other major sites all allow you to file complaints about abusive behavior. Many platforms also have a “block” or “ignore” feature you can use to stop receiving the bully’s harassment.

If you personally moderate an online community, such as a Facebook group or message board, consider creating a “rules of conduct” post. If someone behaves inappropriately, you’ll have a clear justification for booting them and defense against any claims that they’re being singled out.

6Repair the Relationship

Sometimes the people who argue with us on the Internet aren’t vicious strangers—they’re friends and family. If you and your uncle are duking it out on a Facebook thread, maybe take a moment to pause and consider how much you value the relationship.

If this is a person you don’t agree with, but you still want to have an amicable relationship with, consider sending them a private message or ask if they’re open to a phone call to work things out.

In the public theater of the Internet, it can be difficult to admit “I was wrong” or “You really hurt me.” Continuing the conversation via private channels can help facilitate a peaceful solution.

7Practice Self-Care

Dealing with negativity can be exhausting and discouraging, so remember to take care of yourself. If a rude comment really got to you, call a trusted friend to vent and get perspective.

Remember, no matter how “personal” a comment may seem—such as someone on Instagram criticizing your weight—those hateful words are coming from their insecurities and baggage. You don’t have to let their issues ruin your day.

Be secure in your value, focus on the positives, and let the negatives fade into the background.