Imagine trying to speak without expressing possibility, permission,or necessity; it would be like painting without colour. That’s were the modal verb step in. These special helping verbs—can, could, ...

Learn how Americans use the verb have in everyday English! This lesson covers have, has, and had with easy explanations, ...

Think of all of the bloggers out there, writing away at this very moment. What are they writing, and how well are they writing it? That’s what the folks at VerbQ want to know. VerbQ is an online start ...

In my last column, I objected to an opinion columnist's use of the word "shambolic," when either "chaotic" or "disorganized" would not chase a reader to the dictionary. In response, a high school ...

The verb is the engine that drives the sentence. In "The tracks made a line in the snow," the engine lacks horsepower. In "The tracks cut a line in the snow," the engine has thrust. To make your ...

Cinda Klickna served as president of the Illinois Education Association. Several years ago, Cinda Klickna had a Korean foreign exchange student in an English class she was teaching in Springfield. The ...

Curt Guenther, director of public relations at the University of Memphis, asks about the use of “recoup” to mean recuperate. A pet column, he reports, recently described a Labrador retriever’s ...

We seem to have forgotten ourselves a little this week, perhaps because John Rentoul is not watching. The phrase “advocate for” has popped up in copy a number of times, which isn’t surprising given ...