Tag Archives: verb

Filter Words

Posted on November 6, 2019 by thebettereditor

Filler Words, Sentence Adverbs, and Filter Words Part 3 of 3: Filter words This is the third in a quick series of posts on filler words and filter words, with sentence adverbs wedged in between for good measure. The first … Continue reading →

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Irregular verbs are dying out. But they’ll outlive you!

Posted on July 29, 2019 by thebettereditor

What are regular and irregular verbs? Why do they exist? How do you spot them? How do you use them? When will we be rid of them? A brief, recent discussion online reminded me of some interesting research a few … Continue reading →

Posted in Language | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Zombie Nouns—Undead Words Begging For A Head Shot?

Posted on June 28, 2019 by thebettereditor

As an editing professional I spend a lot of time making writing better, and that usually includes “tightening it up”—a polite way of saying that you cut things. You go after unneeded words and phrases, sentences that are misplaced or … Continue reading →

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Lay, Lie, Laid, Lain…oh boy, here it comes.

Posted on April 9, 2013 by thebettereditor

As readers know (because it’s clear on this site), I welcome requests for topics for this blog. I try to write up the user-requested topics a bit more quickly than items from the list of planned topics I keep for … Continue reading →

Posted in Grammar, Language, Requested, Things you should know, Words | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Exfiltrate has infiltrated the language (If only it would exfiltrate itself)

Posted on June 1, 2012 by thebettereditor

You can infiltrate. But can you exfiltrate? That thought’s been on my mind for a couple of days. I keep hearing the word, and I just don’t like it. As a natural descriptivist, I don’t know if I’ll ever say … Continue reading →

Posted in Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments