It is spooky to not spell Halloween words correctly
ghost, not gost (silent h)
witch, not which
pumpkin, not pumkin
skeleton, not skelton
cemetery, not cemetary
frightening, not frightning
jack o’ lantern with the apostrophe replacing the letter f
tombstone, not toombstone
werewolf, not wherewolf
I will borrow your car if you will lend it to me
borrow means to take something temporarily with the intention of returning it
I will borrow his lawn mower since mine is broken.
I can borrow money for the car from the bank.
lend means to give something temporarily with the intention of getting it back
I will lend you my lawn mower since yours is broken.
The bank can lend me money for the car.
There is only one contraction here
there is means something exists in a particular place
there are means some things exist in a particular place
is there? and are there? are the question forms
only there is can be a contracted: there’s
Please pass me that glass cup. Thanks.
I know when to use the words glass and cup in reference to a drinking container but had never realized that part of the definition concerned whether it was opaque or translucent. You learn something new all the time.
a cup is a concave vessel for drinking from, usually made of opaque material
She poured the coffee into the cup.
The lemonade filled the paper cup to the brim.
Styrofoam cups insulate you hand from the hot chocolate.
a glass is a vessel from which one drinks, especially one made of glass, plastic, or similar translucent or semi-translucent material.
You are usually served a glass of ice water in a restaurant.
He watched the chocolate syrup swirl as it was stirred into the milk in the glass.
A murder of crows flew over the kangaroo mob
Here are some collective nouns for groups of animals:
alligator congregation
cheetah coalition
cougar schoolyard
eagle convocation
goose gaggle
lark exaltation
owl parliament
Explanation in behalf of those wondering.
Is it in behalf of or on behalf of?
The Merriam-Webster online dictionary has the following:
A body of opinion favors in with the “interest, benefit” sense of behalf and on with the “support, defense” sense. This distinction has been observed by some writers but overall has never had a sound basis in actual usage. In current British use, on behalf (of) has replaced in behalf (of); both are still used in American English, but the distinction is frequently not observed.
in behalf of means for the benefit of
The letter was written in behalf of a colleague
The money was collected in behalf of hurricane victims.
on behalf of means as the agent of
The lawyer acted on behalf of her client.
The producer accepted the award on behalf of the cast.
It’s such a long story. Please cut to the chase.
Cut to the chase means get to the point or the exciting part. It comes from movies with a chase scene preceded by less interesting material.
The crisp air reminds me that it is fall
I was wondering if the names of the seasons should be capitalized.
The names of seasons are not usually capitalized.
I love autumn leaf colors.
Today is the winter solstice.
In the springtime the crocus are the first flowers to appear.
They would be capitalized when personified.
Then Spring—with her warm showers—arrived.
Old Man Winter
They would be capitalized in a title.
All City Elementary Autumn Open House
Subject verb agreement with scripture references
John 3:16 is a single verse. Does it need a single verb?
John 3:16-17 are multiple verses. Do they need a plural verb?
I treat the reference as if there is an implied the verse of or the verses in.
If the sentence concerns a single verse I use a single verb.
The verse of Genesis 1:3 describes the creation of light.
Genesis 1:3 describes the creation of light.
If the sentence concerns more than one verse I use a plural verb.
The verses in Genesis 1:3-20 describe the first five days of creation.
Genesis 1:3-20 describe the first five days of creation.
Three-word prepositions
This list was found at wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_prepositions.
as far as
as well as
by means of
in accordance with
in addition to
in case of
in front of
in lieu of
in place of
in point of
in spite of
on account of
on behalf of
on top of
with regard to
with respect to