Frequently Asked Questions

Dr. Grammar`s                            Frequently Asked Questions


Located here are answers to questions previously asked of Dr. Grammar that may provide help with your writing skills. Choose one of the following three ways to find your information. 1.  Browse through the lists of questions provided below. Click on the question for which you want to know the      answer, and you will be instantly redirected. 2.  Click here for a complete reference list. 3.  Click here to search for a specific term.
If after reading Dr. Grammar`s response, you still want to learn more, click here and follow the prompts to your question for additional explanations and examples.

A lot or Alot? A or An? Accept or Except? Acronyms and Initialisms? Active or Passive Verbs? Affect or Effect? All Ready or Already? Allusion or Illusion? Among or Amongst? Among or Between? Amount or Number? And or But to begin a sentence? Annotated Bibliography? Apostrophes? As per...? Assume or Presume?
Bad or Badly? Between you and I or Between you and me? Bring and Take?
Can I or May I? Cannot or Can Not? Capitalization? Capitalization in Titles? Capitalization of Titles of Persons? Cite or Site? Colon Use? Commas and Periods Inside Quotation Marks? Commas? Complements? Comprise? Continually or Continuously? Coordinate or Cumulative Adjectives?
Data or Datum? Different From or Different Than? Disinterested or Uninterested? Documenting Online Sources? Done or Finished? Drank or Drunk? Due to or Owing to?
Each is or Each are? earth or Earth? Etymology (Word Origin)? Everybody and Everyone? Everyone/Everybody is/are happy?
Farther or Further? Fewer or Less?
Good or Well?
Have got or Have gotten? Hopefully? Hyphenation?
"I" before "E" except after "C"? (I.e.) or (E.g.)? Idiom? If or Whether? Imply or Infer?
In regard(s) to? Independent vs Dependent Clauses? Intensifiers? really, really tough? Into or In to? Irony, Sarcasm, or Facetiousness? It is I or It is me? It`s her or It`s she? Its or It`s?
Lie or Lay ? Like or Such as? Linking Verbs? Littler and Littlest?
Majority is or are? May or Might? Me, Myself, or I? Mid- or just Mid? Mrs./Ms./Miss?
None is or None are? Numbers: When to spell out and When to write as numbers?
OK or Okay? On or Upon?/ In or Into?
Parallelism? Parenthetical Documentation? Plurals of Abbreviations, Letters, and Numbers? Plurals of Proper Names? Possessive with a Gerund? Preposition at end? Proportional or Proportionate? Punctuation of Dates?
Quotation Marks and Other Punctuation
Reason is because? Regular and Irregular Verbs?
Semicolon use? Set or Sit? Shall or Will? Sic? Single quotation marks? Spacing after concluding marks of punctuation? Split infinitives?
Than I/Than me? That or Which or Who? The faculty is or The faculty are? Then or Than? Thru or Through? To, Too, or Two? Toward(s), Forward(s), Backward(s)? Transitive verb or Intransitive verb? Try and or Try to?
Unique or More unique?
Who or Whom?

 A lot or Alot? A lot should be written as two words. Although a lot is used informally to mean "a large number" or "many," avoid using a lot in formal writing. Example: The crook had many [not a lot of] chances to rob the stranger. A or An? "Use a before a consonant sound; use an before a vowel sound. Before a letter or an acronym or before numerals, choose a or an according to the way the letter or numeral is pronounced: an FDA directive, a U.N. resolution, a $5.00 bill" (Merriam-Webster`s Dictionary of English Usage). Please note: This is the basic rule. For a more thorough presentation of the complexities of using a or an, see the source cited here. Accept or Except? Accept is a verb meaning "to receive" or "to approve." Example: "I accept your offer of the book." Except is a preposition meaning "excluding" or "leaving out." Example: "He liked everything on the plate except the liver." Except can also be a verb meaning "to leave out"