The semicolon has to be one of the most misunderstood punctuation marks out there. Contrary to what that Lonely Island song says, it’s not a colon. And it’s not quite a comma, either, though it can occasionally stand in for one if you’ve already got too many commas at the party, so to speak. But what is the right use for the semicolon, then? If you’ve never quite figured that out, don’t fear: We’re here to help. Two Sentences in One Perhaps the most common use of a semicolon is Read more [...]

Sometimes, it can be hard to know which is the right word to use in a given situation. It’s almost like certain words in the English language were created solely to confuse us! We’ve taken a look at a few of these situations before, but we’re always coming across new ones. Here, then, we’ll make another attempt at clearing up the confusion with some often-mixed-up words. Hopefully, these tricky spelling traps won’t catch you! Capital/Capitol If you’ve raised money to start a Read more [...]

The English language is full of spelling pitfalls. We’ve looked at some vowel traps before, words that can be confusing to spell because they’re only one vowel different than another word with a different meaning. Here, we’ll take a look at some more words that are easy to mix up, either because their spellings are similar or because they sound similar when spoken aloud. Discreet/Discrete If you are discreet, you are trying not to be noticed, being tactful or modest or unobtrusive. Something Read more [...]