In today’s post, I look at some specific grammatical constructions and how hyphens are used in them.

Recently I’ve gotten a little obsessed with compounds words and the hyphen, that little punctuation mark that can cause so much confusion. My interest in this started when I was looking into the spelling of the word “healthcare.” Oops! I mean “health care”… or “health-care”?

Typing two blank spaces at the end of every sentence is one such habit. Lots of people still do it because it used to be a rule, and that’s how they were taught. And they, in turn, pass the “rule” along to the next generation of writers. But for most kinds of writing, the two-space habit is, in fact, no longer the rule.

Writing a research paper is like following a recipe. You take certain “ingredients,” follow the right steps, and end up with a finished product. Skip important steps or ingredients, and your finished product will suffer, as will your grade.

OK, because I make a living fixing people’s grammar, I’m obviously going to say that good grammar is super-duper important. But give me a moment anyway, if you please, because I’m going to explain why and when.

More advice, explanations, and examples about those pesky commas errors and how to avoid them.

But being fluent in a language doesn’t just mean memorizing a list of idioms (hundreds of which will come up on a quick Google search). You have to know how and when to use them.

Bad writing is everywhere, and it’s often not a lack of knowledge about the mechanics of writing that causes problems, but a flawed writing process. So, if you want to blow some mids (er, minds) with your writing, follow these tips to improve your writing habits.

Editors and writers find some words particularly challenging, changing them over and over again to make language more precise.

While it’s true that A work is usually superior to the work of other students in the class, that’s not really the point. But A work isn’t just superior to B work; it’s superior to the assignment.

Look up “paraphrase,” “summary,” and “précis” in the dictionary, and you’re going to find a lot of overlapping ideas, but the uses of these terms (especially in academic writing) have quite well-defined boundaries.

A few key grammatical and spelling differences between US and UK English to remember when writing in one dialect or the other. You’ll want to keep these differences in mind and make sure your editor knows about them as well.

Sentences can have a lot of other things, like objects and indirect objects and dependent phrases, and so on. But when talking about run-ons, the important things are subjects and verbs.

If you have been subjected to a genuine injustice that needs to be corrected, such as illegal, unethical, or reckless action by the company, then you deserve to be heard.

In general, the active voice is much clearer, more concise, and direct: all qualities of effective writing. Use the passive voice only if you need to.

It’s pretty easy to avoid second person in formal writing, so the main source of confusion comes from whether to use first or third person.

Clichés serve many purposes. Unfortunately, they’re all bad.

Here are some subtle ways we can add to our meaning by emphasizing words, expressions, and phrases and suggestions for how to use them most effectively.

People are right to be confused because what tense you should use varies widely depending on your writing style and your purpose.

Don’t try to memorize some list of clichés. There are thousands of them. But also don’t worry that every single phrase you write has to be completely original.