Category: Word lovers

Word lovers
Dean Koorey

Q&A: Inquire vs Enquire

Each week, we chat about the quirks and anomalies of the English language. This week, an inquiry into enquiring and inquiring… Q: Hi AWC, it’s Valentine’s Day this weekend. Is that apostrophe correct? A: Sure is – the day belongs to St Valentine. The long form is of course “St

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Grammar and Punctuation
Dean Koorey

Q&A: “There’s" vs “there are” – which one?

Each week, we chat about the quirks and anomalies of the English language. This week, there’s more to this one than meets the eye… Q: Hi AWC, this is going to be a long Q&A today, so please get comfortable. A: How do you know it’s going to be so long?

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Word lovers
Dean Koorey

Q&A: Australianisms and their origins

Each week, we chat about the quirks and anomalies of the English language. This week, it’s Australia Day, so we put on our cork hat and decipher some local language… Q: Hi AWC, have you finished your last minute Australia Day gift shopping? I’m hoping the shops will be open till

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Word lovers
Dean Koorey

Q&A: Invoke vs Evoke

Each week, we chat about the quirks and anomalies of the English language. This week, we’re extinguishing any confusion between two similar words… Q: Hi, I have a quick question. A: Well you’ve come to the right place. Q: Seriously? But we usually ramble on. I need this to be answered

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Word lovers
Dean Koorey

Q&A: Adviser vs Advisor

Each week, we chat about the quirks and anomalies of the English language. This week, quiet please, we get advisory… Q: So time for another Q&A huh? A: Yup. Hey, what’s that on your head? Q: Don’t I ask the questions? A: Right, okay. Off you go then. Q: What’s this

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Grammar and Punctuation
Dean Koorey

Q&A: New Year’s vs New Years

Each week, we chat about the quirks and anomalies of the English language. This week, it’s a new year… Q: Happy New Year AWC! A: Thanks, and you too. May 2015 be filled with many more questions and answers. Q: Absolutely! And on the subject of New Year’s – do I

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Our famous Q&As!
Dean Koorey

Q&A: Decking halls, bobtails and yuletide

Each week, we take a look at a common confusions and ambiguities in the English language (that gives us about a century’s worth of material!) – making things easier through the power of friendly conversation. This week, we chat to Carol. Oh wait, no, we chat ABOUT carols… Q: (Carol

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Grammar and Punctuation
Dean Koorey

Q&A: ’Tis the season…

Each week, we take a look at a common confusions and ambiguities in the English language (that gives us about a century’s worth of material!) – making things easier through the power of friendly conversation. This week, we’re getting festive… Q: Season’s Greetings Australian Writers’ Centre! A: Well, you’re in

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Word lovers
Dean Koorey

Q&A: Further vs Farther

Each week, we take a look at a common confusions and ambiguities in the English language (that gives us about a century’s worth of material!) – making things easier through the power of friendly conversation. This week, we go further than ever before…or, wait, is it…    Q: Hello Australian

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Word lovers
Dean Koorey

Q&A: Especially vs Specially

Each week, we take a look at a common confusions and ambiguities in the English language (that gives us about a century’s worth of material!) – making things easier through the power of friendly conversation. This week, a very special/especial edition. And cupcakes… Q: Hello Australian Writers’ Centre, would you

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Our famous Q&As!
Dean Koorey

Q&A: “Bodies corporate” and other post-positive adjectives

Each week, we take a look at a common confusions and ambiguities in the English language (that gives us about a century’s worth of material!) – making things easier through the power of friendly conversation. This week, something common in other languages, but a little rarer in English…   Q:

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Grammar and Punctuation
Dean Koorey

Q&A: The Parenthesis Trap

Each week, we take a look at a common confusions and ambiguities in the English language (that gives us about a century’s worth of material!) – making things easier through the power of friendly conversation. This week, parentheses and brackets…   Q: Hi Australian Writers’ Centre, I have a quick

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Our famous Q&As!
Dean Koorey

Q&A: Practice or practise? Licence or license?

Each week, we take a look at a common confusions and ambiguities in the English language (that gives us about a century’s worth of material!) – making things easier through the power of friendly conversation. This week, does “practise” or “practice” make perfect?   Q: Hi there Australian Writers’ Centre, I have

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Our famous Q&As!
Dean Koorey

Q&A: Fewer or less?

Each week, we take a look at a common confusions and ambiguities in the English language (that gives us about a century’s worth of material!) – making things easier through the power of friendly conversation. This week, useless chatter about whether to use “less”… Q: Hi there. I was at the

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Grammar and Punctuation
Dean Koorey

Q&A: Rule Britannica

This week, we sit down to a lesson in ligatures with our friendly Q & A participants… Q: Hello, do you think I have the Ebola virus?  A: No. Q: Okay, great, just thought I should check. Now I also want to ask about something I struggle with.  A: Your

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Grammar and Punctuation
Dean Koorey

Q&A: 2, 4 ,6, 8! What’s the right way to write numbers?

They sit right there above the letters on the keyboard, but how do we go with using them? This week we examine numbers… Q: Hi there Australian Writers’ Centre, can I ask a question? A: Well, that capital Q in front of everything you say suggests that you can. What’s

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Grammar and Punctuation
Dean Koorey

Q&A: Some people are so possessive

Each week, we take a look at a common confusions and ambiguities in the English language (that gives us about a century’s worth of material!) – making things easier through the power of friendly conversation… Q: Hi there, I have a question about possession. A: What kind of possession? We

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Grammar and Punctuation
Dean Koorey

George Clooney got married and we’re feeling rather possessive…

So, recently on the Q&A segment of our weekly newsletter, we were discussing possessives with proper nouns (names), and one example was compound possessives. When two (or more) people ‘own’ the same thing, and they are named, we only need to indicate possession on the final one: “I was invited

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Our famous Q&As!
Dean Koorey

Q&A: Plan ahead! A conversational chat about tautology.

One of our Australian Writers’ Centre community recently asked us to clarify the use of the term “plan ahead” as being somewhat redundant. This led to more examples of tautology and somehow a party invitation… Q: Hi there AWC. I want to talk to you about the term “Plan Ahead”.

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