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Recent issues

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August 2010:

Do school subjects like "art" need an initial capital?
The capitalisation of metric units is confusing
How do I become a better writer?

July 2010:

I'm living in the future, and I like it.
Does "great-grandson" need a hyphen?
Does "rep's" need the apostrophe?
How can I search a web site with no "search" button?

June 2010:

"Personal" versus "personnel"
More on the active and passive voices
More on capital letters
Do I need capital letters in these examples?

May 2010:

Do compass directions need a capital letter?
When do we use capital letters? (It's more complex than you think.)
Can we mix the active and passive voices?
"Strategise" versus "strategize"

April 2010:

More on starting a letter with "Dear"
"Reign" versus "reins"
A tip for making your writing simpler

March 2010:

Question marks and polite requests
When is "and also" acceptable?
Is starting a letter with "Dear John" old fashioned?

February 2010:

Should "Dear John" be followed by a comma?
Are you "cleverer" or "more clever" than me?
Young people today don't speak no good at all!

December 2009:

"Sounds like" or "sounds as if"?
Disoriented or disorientated?
"Different from", "different to" or "different than"?

November 2009:

Ten years of newsletters
Are "accomplishment" and "achievement" different?
Do I use a question mark with a polite request?
"In the same vein" or "in the same vain"?

October 2009:

Do we use a comma with "and"?
When do we say "how many" instead of "how much"?
What's the passive voice, and why should I care?

September 2009:

Does "email" need a hyphen?
Should I use "will be" or "would be"?
Does "focused" have one "s" or two?

August 2009:

One word or two? Is there a general rule?
"Online" or "on-line"?
Do job titles need a capital letter?

July 2009:

"Mine and Joe's car"?
"Having said that" and "Having said this"
When do we capitalise "state" and "federal"?