Were you wondering what the "1/2" meant in today's subject line, or was it obvious to you? We're back to quizzing you this week, and it's part one of two on was vs. were. The couple _______ married for 50 years before they renewed their vows. was were Thank you to everyone who shared editing challenges with us. We're using them to inspire our quiz questions. You can share yours here. And don't forget: If you want to join our beta-testing program to get a sneak peek of the new product we're...
11 days ago • 2 min read
Spoiler alert: There were no wrong answers to last week's quiz, but there's still a writing lesson to be had. We asked, "When you go back to work on Monday, how will you write time?" Technically, we were simply inquiring about what you would write. But there were still answer choices that contained incorrect options. Here's how you responded: It's a tie between 9 a.m. EST and 9 a.m. EDT. While there is definitely more than one way to write time, our style guide advises using "9 a.m." Most of...
18 days ago • 2 min read
Ready to lose an hour of sleep this weekend? It's that time of year: Daylight saving time begins on Sunday, which means clocks will spring forward while you're (hopefully) sleeping on Saturday night. When you go back to work on Monday, how will you write time? The meeting is at _______. 9AM EST 9AM EDT 9 a.m. EST 9 a.m. EDT 9:00 a.m. EST 9:00 a.m. EDT (ICYMI: We want to hear about an editing challenge you faced recently. It might become a quiz question! Share it here.) Last week we did a...
25 days ago • 2 min read
Understanding the concept of subjects and objects in your writing can help you avoid a few common mistakes, including knowing when to use who and when to use whom. Of course, it also applies to last week's quiz on first-person pronouns. Most of you got this one right, but we see this mistake a lot. That's why we included it in our grammar guide, where we have a "Quick tips" page for each rule we cover. Our tip for I vs. me is to take out the other items in a list, like the one you see above....
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Were you someone's valentine or Valentine last week? Here's how you answered last week's quiz: Even though the holiday is capitalized, you can lowercase references to your sweetheart. That doesn't mean you need to minimize your affection, though 💗 Capitalization is one of those tricky subjects where the rules aren't always cut-and-dried. In fact, the celebration with your valentine might have overlapped with another holiday that prompts Stylebot subscribers to ask about capitalization. When...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Reign and rein are tricky homophones. There's only a one-letter difference between them, and both words relate to control. So let's see how you did on last week's quiz, where you needed to figure out which version to use in the expression free rein. Most of you got it right, but this one was fairly close. While we're at it, we'll also let you know that the expressions are take the reins and hold the reins. Learn more, including the origins of each word, in our full lesson here. We're mixing...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Discrete means separate or distinct, so it's a little ironic that it doesn't have an origin that's separate from its homophone, discreet. Both words come from the Latin word "discretus." (Check out our full lesson on these commonly confused words here.) But the words have discrete meanings today. It appears most of you knew that going into last week's quiz 🙌 We also heard from you loud and clear that you like this quiz series but want harder questions. (If you didn't get a chance to share...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
It can be particularly tricky to get your word choice right when two homophones evolved from the same word. Such is the case with discreet and discrete. Can you use them correctly? To keep the surprise party a secret, they had to be _________ about their plans. Discreet Discrete And before we get to the results of last week's quiz, we want to know: Have you enjoyed Stylebot's newsletter quiz series? Yes, more like this please! I like it, but the questions are too easy I like it, but the...
2 months ago • 1 min read
If you found out you didn't ace last week's commonly confused words quiz, would you be unfazed or unphased? A mistake like that doesn't ________ me. Faze Phase You might have been racking your brain to remember whether it's nerve-racking or nerve-wracking, and a vast majority of you chose the latter. And while rack and wrack each have various meanings and are sometimes used interchangeably, usage manuals are pretty clear: Use "nerve-racking," not "nerve-wracking." Why? It has to do with one...
2 months ago • 1 min read