How can you begin to improve upon the rough first draft of a letter or a report that obviously needs additional work? My August column offered one answer: review and apply four rhetorical forms that ...

In “American English Rhetoric,” Robert G. Bander defines verbal as “a word that is built from a verb but is not used as a verb. Instead, it is used as an adjective, adverb or noun. There are three ...

Here’s something I bet you never knew was controversial: “I appreciate you taking the time to meet with me.” Yes, language sticklers might have a problem with that, even though you need an advanced ...

There are not very many adjectives formed from verb participles, Tutul, that can be used in both -ed and -ing forms. You can often get a sense of what works and what doesn't by transforming the ...

I’m a little fussy about past participles. Unjustifiably fussy. It may have to do with the fact that I married someone from small-town Massachusetts, where everything is “I have ate this” and “I ...