How do you tell the difference between "compliment" and "complement", "desert" and "dessert"? We'll show you!
Compound-complex sentences are compound sentences with dependent or subordinate clauses added to them. Paige and Rosie explain how to spot and use them.
These prepositions are called compound prepositions, or multisyllabic prepositions. Like most prepositions, they have both literal and figurative meanings. David explains.
A concrete noun refers to a physical object in the real world, such as a dog, a ball, or an ice cream cone. An abstract noun refers to an idea or concept that does not exist in the real world and cannot be touched, like freedom, sadness, or permission.
Coordinating conjunctions connect parts of sentences to each other. David explains how.
Correlative conjunctions work in pairs to connect parts of sentences. David teaches you how they do it!
A modifying word or phrase “dangles” when it doesn’t apply to the word it’s supposed to modify. Learn how to spot and fix this problem!
Dashes are like little actors—they can behave like colons, pairs of commas, or parentheses. Learn how to use them in this video!
A' and 'an' are the indefinite articles of English; 'the' is the definite article. David explains what that means!
An independent clause is a sentence that has a subject and a verb and requires no extra information to understand. Dependent clauses, which start with subordinating conjunctions such as "while," "that," or "unless," give background information but cannot stand on their own as sentences.
An explanation of how and when to use the ellipsis.
Sometimes we use reflexive pronouns like "myself" and "ourselves" for emphasis in a sentence, like, "If you won't help me, then I'll do it myself!" KA's Grammar Fellow, David, explains this usage.
An exclamation is a sentence that expresses great emotion! David and Paige covered declarative, interrogative, and imperative sentences; now they tackle a fourth type of sentence that ends in an exclamation mark. Find out more!
Learn how to form and use comparative and superlative modifiers.
Steel, telephones, elevators! Kim and David discuss the technological innovations that made the Gilded Age possible.
There's this idea in grammar called grammatical person that helps describe who's being talked about in a sentence. David, KA's Grammar Fellow, explains.
Learn to tell when to use "hear" instead of "here" and vice versa; you'll learn how to do the same with "accept" and "except".
We've established that verbs can show actions and link ideas together. Now, let's talk about how some verbs can be used to help other verbs.
How do historians analyze sources from the past? KA's historian Kim Kutz Elliott and grammarian David Rheinstrom continue their conversation about how to interpret Roosevelt's First Inaugural Address.
What's the difference between a primary source and a secondary source? KA's historian Kim Kutz Elliott and grammarian David Rheinstrom discuss reading sources by examining Franklin Delano Roosevelt's First Inaugural Address.