Karen Reddick, The Editor’s Blog

Many people think these two words are interchangeable, but they are not.
i.e. means that is, in other words, or more commonly, namely. The Latin term is id est.
e.g. means for example. The Latin term is exempli gratia.
The easiest way to remember this is to use the rule of association: i.e. means in other words, and [...]

Although important in all communication, choosing the correct words are especially important in writing, where ideas and attitudes are expressed without the help of facial expressions, tone of voice, or gestures. You can enhance the power of your writing by following these guidelines:
Use the correct word
Beware of confusing words that sound alike and have related [...]

My editing colleague, Linda Lane of Pen & Sword Publishers, reminded me of a rule I had forgotten. I thought you might need a reminder too.
Quotation marks are omitted when they precede a drop cap at the beginning of an article, story, or chapter.
(Drop caps are a typographic decoration placed at the top of an [...]

Great news! The grammar tips you know and love are now available in an easy to download eBook format.
That’s right, you can purchase the full version of the printed version of Grammar Done Right! Revised and Expanded 2nd Edition with just a click of your mouse.
Don’t wait (or pay) for shipping and handling, you can [...]

Is your writing voice active or passive?
If the performer of the action is the subject of the sentence, the verb is in active voice. If the performer of the action is not named or is not the subject of the sentence, the verb is in passive voice.
Because verbs move our sentences and put people in [...]

My friend and colleague, Andrea Kalli (the incredible social marketing strategist) emailed me the other day and ask: “Is it–use to or used to?”
I used to get this confused myself.
The correct way is to add the “d” on the end–used to.
Like most past tense verbs, you add -d or -ed, so by saying you [...]

One of my faithful readers, Mariam Williams from Kentucky, wrote in: For years, I only heard it, but now I’m seeing “try and” instead of “try to” in many articles in print. For example, I saw the following sentence from a recent article:
“Try and make the career change transition a smooth one.”
Mariam wanted to know [...]

Many compounds may be formed with re-, which means anew, as in rebuild; or back, as in react; or when used as an intensive, as in refine. It all comes down to readability, structure, and often, pronunciation.
In forming compounds, re- is normally joined with its following element without a space or hyphen.
Examples:
reopen
reunify
reposition
refill
If the second element [...]

Let’s play a word choice game!
We all know how important choosing the correct word is when writing. See if you can choose the correct word for the following four sentences.
1. Ask a friend to [loan or lend] you . . .
This is common error. Loan is a noun, lend is a verb.
Correct: Ask a friend [...]

There are two rules for using an apostrophe s ['s] with words that end in s. And, believe it or not, it’s correct to use either rule. But once you choose sides, you should stick with it throughout your writing.
Different style guides show different rules. Some will suggest that you should [...]