The five patterns illustrated below provide the basis for all other sentence structures: that is, other kinds of sentences are transformations of these basic patterns. Though the above sentences are ...

If you’re looking for the Connections answer for Sunday, August 24, 2025, read on—I’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Along the way, I’ll ...

IN last week's column we discussed the resumptive modifier. We saw that by using a key word in the main clause as the subject or theme of the relative phrases that come after it, we can eliminate ...

IN the past six columns on crafting more readable sentences, we have focused on ways to make our English clearer, more concise, and more forceful. We have seen how reference words, adjective phrases, ...

An adjective is a word that modifies or describes a noun or pronoun. Adjectives can be used to describe the qualities of someone or something independently or in comparison to something else.

For comparisons that are negative or downward, ‘less’ and ‘least’ are used before the positive form of the modifier. To make your writing clear and concise, be careful to avoid using two modifiers ...