by Pernickety Kate | Jan 10, 2022 | Proofreading, Spelling, Words
The most commonly mixed-up words in English, explained (part 1) … Accept / Except These words sound very much alike but they mean different things. Accept is an action word (verb) broadly meaning to take something in. Other AC words meaning to take something on board... 
by Pernickety Kate | Jan 26, 2018 | Punctuation, Spelling, Words
Some words behave weirdly – and not just the fancy ones that few people understand. Here’s a collection of the first few that sprang to mind (as seen originally on my Facebook page). Weird Word of the Week #1: COMPLIMENT (and related words). Weird... 
by Pernickety Kate | Jan 5, 2018 | Proofreading, Punctuation, Spelling
Plenty of people take chances with their business writing. They write it and publish it without too much thought because they just want to get the job done. But what about you? Would you be prepared to have a professional proofreading check? Your answer could be a... 
by Pernickety Kate | Nov 15, 2017 | Proofreading, Punctuation, Spelling
It’s a proofreader’s job to know the how the nitty-gritty bits of language work. But no-one’s perfect, and some words can cause more head-scratching than others. Compounds, for example. A compound word is made up of other words (usually two) that exist in their own... 
by Pernickety Kate | Sep 21, 2017 | Proofreading, Spelling, Words
Right here and now I need to make it clear that this post is not getting at people who struggle with spelling. If that’s you, please don’t stop reading. As I’ve written in a previous blog, we all have different skills. Let’s put this into perspective: yes,... 