Grammar Girl: For Writers and Language Lovers.

Yes, you can start a sentence with "because." Here's how to do it.What are helping verbs (also called auxiliary verbs), and why do people in some regions say things such as "might could" and "might should"?English writers didn't always use a dot over the letter "i." We'll talk about when and why they started. Visit the website: http://bit.ly/1phbhWH Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Insults, swear words, and world-building for young adults: In an interview with James Dashner, I got the inside scoop on the language of "The Maze Runner." Read the transcript: http://bit.ly/1poctaV Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I can tell you which pronouns to use, but it takes a linguist to explain WHY people get confused. Here, Gretchen McCulloch reveals the fascinating reason that people struggle with sentences such as "Billy and me went to the store." Read the transcript: http://bit.ly/1vrTG2g Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this podcast, you get a Quick and Dirty Tip about where to put periods and commas relative to quotation marks, an excerpt from Ammon Shea's book "Bad English," and a tidbit about a 1921 poem called "Alphabet of Errors." Read the transcript: http://bit.ly/1v0iNsF Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's podcast, Grammar Girl discusses the plural of money, how to use "egregious," and talks with Ellen Hendriksen from The Savvy Psychologist podcast about the findings from an experiment done by German researchers in Germany who studied people’s brains while they were actively writing. Read the transcript: http://bit.ly/1AUhYp5 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How do you use the conjunction "nor" and why is it so special it deserves a podcast of its own? Neil Whitman explains. Visit the website to read the full transcript: http://bit.ly/1oOCyOR Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why the Associated Press accidentally made people think another Malaysian airplane had crashed, and what it tells us about language. Visit the website to read the full transcript: http://bit.ly/1rs4BXJ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When the Normans took over England in 1066, they brought their food and their language. We talk about seven interesting French words that made it into English, and guest Clever Cookstr shares some of her favorite related recipes. Read the full transcript: http://bit.ly/1octDLT Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

During a short but delightful trip to England, I saw the Rosetta Stone, the White Tower at the Tower of London, ancient alphabet tiles and wax seals, a stained glass window honoring William Caxton, and many more wonders. Hear about them all. Read the transcript on the website: http://bit.ly/1o02vuz Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why Weird Al's Word Crimes Video Made Me Want to Quit. Visit the website to watch the video and comment: http://bit.ly/1qArtIJ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

FANBOYS are a myth and there's something weird about "for," "yet," and "so." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"TL;DR" means "too long; didn't read," but the semicolon is usually associated with long or complex sentences. What is it doing in this abbreviation? Note: This piece originally appeared as a Grammar Girl blog post January 22, 2014 and was rereleased as an audio podcast on July 3, 2014. Visit the website to read the full transcript and leave a comment: http://bit.ly/1g1PtiA Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why sentences like this are funny: A woman gives birth in the UK every 48 seconds. She must be exhausted. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why do people say "a-whole-nother"?It's the same reason we say "an apron" instead if "a napron." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

While researching why people say "a-whole-nother," Syelle Graves discovered that even knowing what to call the phrase gets complicated (and interesting). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Using Stick Figures to Understand First, Second, and Third Person Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The authors of "The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation" help us understand parallel structure. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How to Kick Your Annoying Preposition Habit Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Commas are like people on the subway: You think you know them, but they're awfully complex. This week, we'll dig deeper and get to know some of their jobs: separating items in a series (the Oxford comma), delineating appositives, and surrounding nonrestrictive phrases. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sometimes companies leave apostrophes out of their names when it seems as if the name would need an apostrophe. Why do they do it, and is it wrong? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In honor of Shakespeare's 450th birthday, we'll look at Shakespeare's words, phrases, insults, and false friends. I bet you don't know them all. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Neal Whitman addresses some annoying phrases you hear in stores and restaurants, such as "Can I help who's next?" and "Did you want cream in your coffee?" Find out why people say such things. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Addictive Versus Addicting Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's tricky to pick apart the grammar of a sentence such as "Just because you’re correct doesn’t mean you’re not annoying." Guest writer Neal Whitman explains why such sentences work and what they really mean. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Some words have strong forms, weak forms, and even weaker forms. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gretchen McCulloch from the All Things Linguistic explains why Canadians don't say "aboot" and why most Americans think they do. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Language is changing but that doesn't mean you have to go with the flow. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is Cash Money a Regional Expression? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why it’s hard to talk about substituting one thing for another without confusing people. Guest Writer: Neal Whitman Sponsor: AudiblePodcast.com/GG Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today, we’re going to talk about two cases in which English has two words that mean the same thing and whether one choice is better than the other. Preventative and preventive, and orient and orientate. Sponsor: Grammar Girl’s Peeve Wars. Visits FundAnything.com/peevewars to learn more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Hoax Behind Little Bunny Foo Foo Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Great tales of English word evolution: From pantaloons to pants, caravan to van, and much more. Guest Writer: Bonnie Trenga Sponsor: http://FundAnything.com/peevewars Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When you read about a character, in some ways your brain acts as though it thinks you ARE the character. It's amazing. Grammar Girl and the Savvy Psychologist explain how. Subscribe to the Savvy Psychologist's show at iTunes. Get the card game Peeve Wars at http://FundAnything.com/peevewars Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How Literature Changes Your Brain for the Better. If you liked this podcast, check out our new show, The Savvy Psychologist. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Units Of Measure: Feet, Ft., Lb., Degrees, and Percents Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why can we say "the Jefferson Airplane" but not "the Led Zeppelin"? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A new study uncovered things that successful novels have in common. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What could this week’s topic be? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Do I Hate Your Singing or You Singing? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How to mix quotation marks with other punctuation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Did Kanye West Coin the Term "Hashtag Rap"? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why we sing "fra la la" instead of "fa spla spla" Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why do we call people redheads instead of orangeheads? Guest writer Gretchen McCulloch has the amazing answer. Grammar Pop Winterfest is a new wintery edition of the original Grammar Pop iOS game. It has new winter art and all new sentences, and it's on sale for only 99 cents until December 15. Get it today! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What Is a Gerund? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A fun romp through some quirky words you may see when you're playing Scrabble.Remember to check out my new game, Grammar Pop, for your iPhone or iPad. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Avoid one of the biggest passive voice mistakes! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Your subconscious controls how you speak. We show why you already know how to make imaginary words such as "wugs" and "blicks" plural.Try the new iPad and iPhone grammar game, Grammar Pop. It's in the App Store. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Don't make the mistake of treating your style sheet like a style guide.The new grammar game, Grammar Pop, is now available for the iPhone. Look for it in the App Store and try it today! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What's up with sentences such as I didn't do my homework because Skyrim?Try Grammar Girl's new iPad and iPhone game: Grammar Pop. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Night Vale: Where even “not” isn’t what it seems. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.