Gemma Wright

The English language can be frustrating, as it has many rules with exceptions. For example, you’ve likely heard the phrase, “drop the -e and add -ing”. It’s catchy, it rhymes, and—for the most part—it’s true. But what about when it’s not? You may end up looking for errors where there are none, i.e., is it … Read more

“Et al” is the correct spelling and is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase et alia meaning “and others”. Whilst you can use et al’s in certain situations, it cannot be pluralized by adding “-s” since it is already a plural noun. Et al is relatively common in formal writing but you may see it … Read more

Technically speaking, both “translate to” and “translate into” are grammatically correct. However, you’re far more likely to hear a native speaker use “translate into” than “translate to”. This largely comes down to the nature of the verb and the prepositions but, at the end of the day, you can use both. English prepositions are words … Read more

Most of us have heard of the phrase “quality of life”, it’s commonly used in medical or legal terminology and increasingly in daily life when attempting to measure general happiness and wellbeing. When it comes to phrasal nouns, though, it can sometimes be difficult knowing how to pluralize them. Is it “qualities of life” or … Read more

Prepositions can be one of the hardest grammar points to wrap your head around, but a preposition is simply a word that indicates when or where something is, such as; under, over, after, before, in, on, out, etc. Sounds fairly straightforward, right? True. However, prepositions are often overly specific to certain verbs or can be omitted entirely. For instance, … Read more