In the biggest grammar news since the advent of the Oxford comma, the dictionary dignitaries at Merriam-Webster have declared it acceptable to end a sentence with a preposition. This, of course, has ...

Connect to or connect with? On television or in television? Admit someone to hospital or in hospital? What is the difference between ‘old for his years’ and ‘old in years’? Which is correct: try ...

Whenever I check copies of my undergraduate Engineering students I get confused at their rampant and unsparing use of prepositions in sentences. They are not to blame for using wrong or confusing ...

AN English teacher in Iran, Farhad H., recently sent me e-mail asking this very interesting question about preposition usage: “I often have difficulty when it comes to the difference between the ...

About two years ago, I conducted an informal survey among those whose proficiency in English is fairly good to find out which aspect of English they found difficult to master. Those who took part in ...

TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. About the Archive This is a digitized version of an article from The Times’s print archive, before the start of online ...

When I get emails from native English speakers who have questions about grammar or usage, it makes me feel useful. They’re seeking the same type of information I’ve sought in the past, which means I’m ...

A question from Lucy in Taiwan: Which of the following are correct? 1. What day is your birthday? 2. On what day is your birthday? 3. What day is the Christmas party? Hello Lucy. Thank you for your ...

Languages have evolved over time. The English language, perhaps because of its wide reach and usage, appears to have been the most affected. In a way, this has affected the way different age groups ...