The use of it's and its seem to get a lot of people confused. I even saw this on a website recently - I swear this is true - 'i'ts very good!' Nope. It's very bad. So this is the easiest way to remember: It's is a contraction of it is. So It's (it is) a nice day. It's (it is) a...
Ok, one more time. Man is singular. If the wardrobe essentials belong to a man it should be a man's wardrobe essentials. Men is the plural of man. If the wardrobe essentials belong to the men it should be men's wardrobe essentials. Men apostrophe S. Like this: men's. Not mens. Mens is not a word....
Birmingham City Council has decided, in their wisdom (ignorance), to drop apostrophes from all their road signs and place names. Councillor Len Gregory said, "I don't see the point of them. If it was to give more clarity to the people of Birmingham it might be something we would look at, but I see no benefits at all." Ok, the point of...
Exclamation marks have only one use: at the end of a sentence to show a strong emotion: That's great! What a stunning view! Help! However, in copywriting and business writing the exclamation mark should be used sparingly, if at all, as it can make your writing sound, well, a bit giddy and breathless. Woo-hoo! Gasp! Of course the multi exclamation mark should never be used....
To finish off the year we're looking at the full stop. Ha ha ha. I hear you chortle. If there's one bit of punctuation I know how to use it's the full stop. Aaaah. That may be the case but do you know when not to use it? Ok, here we go eyes down. Use a full stop: At the end of...
Using the colon correctly will amaze your friends and impress your colleagues. Hey, it may even get you a promotion. The colon has two main uses: 1. It lets you know that what follows is an explanation or an elaboration of what came before You need to know one thing about English cricket: we can't bat to save our lives. I'll tell you...
Not sure when to use a question mark? Confused as to where it should go? Probably not as it's one of the easiest bits of punctuation to get right. But here's a quick recap. Do use a question mark At the end of a sentence with a direct question: 'is kick-off at 7.45pm tonight?' In brackets when you're not sure of a...
So what's the rule with quotation marks aka inverted commas? Single or double? Well, the good news is: there is no rule. Hooray. If you're quoting direct speech, just pick one or the other and be consistent. If you quote within a quote use the inverted commas that you haven't already used. He said "we deserved to win the game although Ferguson told...
