All together (adverb) means “together in a single group.” For example: The waiter asked if we were all together. Altogether (adverb) means “completely” or “in total “. For example: She wrote less and less often, and eventually she stopped altogether. To be in the altogether is an old-fashioned term for being naked!
All ready means “completely ready”. For example: “Are you all ready for the test?” Already is an adverb that means before the present time or earlier than the time expected. For example: “I asked him to come to the cinema but he’d already seen the film.” Or “Are you buying Christmas cards already? It’s only [...]
Alone, can be used as an adjective or adverb. Either use means without other people or on your own. For example: “He likes living alone.” “I think we’re alone now.” = There are just the two of us here. Lonely is an adjective which means you are unhappy because you are not with other people. [...]
All right has multiple meanings. It can mean ok, acceptable, unhurt. The single word spelling alright has never been accepted as standard. However in a search on Google you’ll get around 68,700,000 hits for alright and 163,000,000 for “all right”. So, it might become a respected alternative spelling. Personally I have no problem with it, [...]
There are four groups of words which some speakers and writers have difficulty with. In each case it has to do with the agreements of plurals or plural-looking words with the verbs or other words they go with. Plural-looking Nouns. Some nouns that end in -s look like they are plural, but they really are [...]
Possessive forms. A possessive form of a noun signifies that the noun owns something: A musician’s talent. A woman’s ambition. Possessive forms call for a properly placed apostrophe. The placement is different for singular and plural nouns. For this reason, you must know the correct singular and possessive nouns before you can make them possessive. [...]
Nouns ending in “y” To form the plural of nouns ending in “y”, drop the “y” and add “ies.” Family becomes families. Story becomes stories. Baby becomes babies. Irregular plural forms There are several other irregularities in the plural forms of English nouns. Here are examples: Man becomes men. Woman becomes women. Fungus becomes fungi. [...]
This is the First of a Three Part Study on the correct use of plural and possessive forms. This may seem like a minor issue but among educated persons, however, incorrect forms, especially misuses of apostrophes, stand out like red flags. Let us start by understanding some rules for forming the plural and possessive forms [...]
