How Do I Know If I’ve Used Due to Correctly?
"Due to," meaning “attributable to,” modifies noun phrases, not verb clauses. Read More
Posts Authored by Barney Latimer
As senior editor of MLA publications, Barney Latimer has copyedited PMLA articles for more than ten years. He holds an MA in English from New York University. He has taught high school and college classes in writing and literary analysis, as well as seminars in poetry writing at several nonprofit organizations that serve New Yorkers with mental illness.
Accent Marks in Microsoft Word
There are two basic ways of generating accent marks for text in foreign languages Read More
Inanimate Nouns and Possession
Opinions vary on which inanimate nouns can be made possessive by adding ’s Read More
Versus or Against?
Writers often misuse the term versus Read More
Commas: Essential and Nonessential Elements
The little comma wields a lot of power . . . Read More
This Can Be Confusing
Chances are, you've begun many sentences with This Read More
It is . . . that; or, How Not to Edit Jane Austen
The formula it is . . . that is common in academic writing Read More
Former and Latter
There are many stylistic sins worse than using former and latter Read More
Liberate Those Verbs!
Some phrases in English lengthen a sentence while adding nothing to its meaning . . . Read More