Meticulous: ever-scrupulous about minute details, very careful, accurate. This definition of the word is one that I thought correct, for it comes from the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English ...

The dictionary definition of a participle is; ‘a verb ending in –‘ing’ (present) or –‘ed’, -‘en’, -d, -t, -n, or -ne (past) that functions as an adjective, modifying a noun or pronoun. A participial ...

Oh, dear. It had to happen sooner or later: a direct clash with Chronicle editorial authority over a point of 19th-century prescriptive grammar. My Our esteemed editor, Heidi Landecker, who has saved ...

Last week we talked about participles, which are verbs that work like adjectives. Gerunds are also based on verbs, but they work like nouns. Gerunds have only one form, and it looks exactly like the ...

“Rebel With a Clause” celebrates the improbable cross-country journey of a woman who gently imparts grammar rules to strangers. Ellen Jovin, wearing a “Grammar Is Groovy” T-shirt, is the star of ...

A few weeks ago, I mentioned here a CNN article “about the president making an unannounced stop.” Two readers emailed with the same question. Here’s Bill in Niskayuna, N.Y.: “I was taught that a noun ...

Summer has arrived, and, after last week's taxing immersion in gerunds and participles, it seems appropriate to retire to the deckchair with a glass of syntax and a plate of similes and review the ...

The dictionary definition of a participle is; ‘a verb ending in –‘ing’ (present) or –‘ed’, -‘en’, -d, -t, -n, or -ne (past) that functions as an adjective, modifying a noun or pronoun. A participial ...