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Racking up grammar points
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Here at Stylebot, we've been racking our brains to figure out how to help more people with their writing and editing needs. And a few weeks ago, we asked you what topic you'd like to learn more about. Most people who responded said they'd like advice on how to avoid common writing mistakes. So today, we're excited to share our first e-book on that very topic. It walks you through four common writing mistakes and the grammar rules you need to know to fix them. Think of it as a condensed version of this newsletter, with printable tip sheets you can use for easy reference. And it's free! Check it out and let us know what you think.
We've also shared with you our commonly confused words quiz, and if you've taken it, chances are you missed the question about racked vs. wracked. Fewer than half the people who have taken quiz have gotten that question right, so as a bonus, today we're reminding you to drop the "w" in phrases such as nerve-racking and rack my brain. You can learn more about rack and wrack in our earlier deep dive here. Thank you to everyone who voted in our previous poll about the writing topics you're most interested in. If you missed it, now is your chance to share your opinion with us.
❤ Team Stylebot
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Stylebot
Hone your writing skills and never use "hone in" again. Get writing tips, have fun with words and learn something new in a one-minute read each week by signing up for Stylebot’s newsletter.
There wasn't a full moon on Halloween, but you might have glimpsed one earlier this week. Either way, you don't capitalize "moon," or "sun," for that matter. That was the first of the errors in last week's quiz. Here's the sentence again: "The full Moon was the perfect compliment to their night of trick or treating." So how many did you spot? For most of you, it was three, the same number we counted. The other two were "compliment," which should be complement, and "trick or treating," which...
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Well, we failed to wreak havoc with last week's quiz 🙃 Despite the fact that the phrase is sometimes written as "wreck havoc," 80% of you got the right answer. "Wreck havoc" is an understandable mistake, because both "wreck" and "havoc" mean "destruction." But, using that logic with the verb "wreck," which means "to damage," "wreck havoc" means to damage destruction. "Wreak," meanwhile, means "to bring about," hence "wreak havoc." You didn't need the bonus points, but some of you replied to...