The word “enervate” is a verb that means to cause (someone) to feel drained of energy or vitality. It can also mean “to ...

Last night, Joe dreamt of Mary. Or would it be better to say that he dreamed of her? More important: How can you know for sure? Past participles confuse a lot of people. Take it from someone whose ...

When a student writes "I am frustrating with that class," we recognize it as an error, but the error is not one that makes the writing unintelligible. The message ...

I want to follow up on the topic of language evolution that I took up in my previous newsletter about how the word “satisfying” has taken on a new meaning among many of today’s kids. The bigger theme ...

The dictionary is gaslighting me. I know I sound crazy, but that’s just proof of gaslighting, right? Let me explain. For years I’ve been telling people that they never have to agonize over whether to ...

Watch out! Some past participles are irregular. For example, He hecho mis deberes - I have done my homework. As you go around telling people what you’ve done, remember to keep the following rule in ...

Use the preterite tense to talk about what has already happened or actions that have been completed. It is often used with specific time frames, eg yesterday, last year. Irregular verbs in the ...

A RECENT ARTICLE in The Economist on Germany’s coalition talks was given the headline “Green-lit”. Elsewhere, though, we have reported that ventures were “greenlighted”. Another new verb is subject to ...

There are two main classes of verbs in English: strong and weak. 'Strong' is a historical terms that refers to the of verbs in which the past tense is marked by a change in the base vowel and the ...

Verbs are the action words in English, and they are the heart of every sentence. Understanding how to use different verb forms correctly is essential for clear, powerful, and accurate communication, ...