English Grammar and Spelling

Master these 10 most common writing tasks and you're set for life

Expert tips and templates for tackling life's toughest writing assignments: essays, cover letters, thank-you notes, and more.

Refine your writing with this list of transition words

Master the art of the seamless transition with this list of transition words and phrases for essays, plus examples of each type of transition.

Similes, Metaphors, Analogies, Allegories, and Alligators: Learn the Difference

Our helpful guide to similes, metaphors, and more will help you tell the difference between them with simple explanations and famous examples.

A full list of prepositions (no singing required)

Looking for a list of prepositions? Look no further.

A list of adjectives with which you can describe anything

A list of adjectives, including types of adjectives and examples.

A list of verbs with which you can do (or be) anything

A list of verbs, including explanations of how different types of verbs function in a sentence.

A very long list of adverbs, not all of which end in -ly

A list of adverbs, plus definitions and examples of how to use different types of adverbs in a sentence.

Is "irregardless" a word? (Supposably, it is.)

Irregardless. Supposably. Expresso. Are they words?

What rhymes with orange? And 8 other burning language questions

What rhymes with orange? What is the plural of moose? What is the longest word in the world? All of your questions about words, answered by The Free Dictionary.

I before E: 21 spelling rules (and their crazy exceptions!)

Believe it or not, English actually has spelling rules. And exceptions...

The 7 Major Differences between British and American Spelling

Do you know the 7 ways in which Brits and Americans spell things differently?

The 8 reasons your mispelling the 40 most misspelled words

A list of some of the most common misspellings, grouped into the reasons why they're most often misspelled.

The 9 worst pubLic spelling blunders in modern history

Bad spellers can't get any R-S-P-E-C-T.

The Strange Things Americans and Brits Say Differently

The queue for the loo, or the line for the bathroom? Depends where you live.

We ranked the top 27 letters of the alphabet (U won't believe what's #21!)

Finally, the definitive ranking of every letter in the alphabet.

Ze Said/E Said: 5 Candidates for a Gender-Neutral Singular Pronoun

Can we decide on a pronoun to be vague in gender but specific in number?

Homophones, Homonyms, and Homographs: How to tell the difference

These three grammar terms are confusing and easily mixed up. Learn how to tell them apart with easy explanations and examples.

Quotation marks and punctuation: Inside or Outside?

'By the way', the Queen said to Uncle Sam, 'What does it mean when you say, "O say can you see?"'

The top 3 things ruining your sentences

The sentence is one of the most basic building blocks of writing. Don't mess it up.

5 supposed grammar rules to boldly ignore

If you've ever felt overwhelmed by all of the grammar rules in the English language, good news—some are no longer necessary!