I’ve found Word’s Format painter a handy tool for many years – a quick Ctrl-Shift-C and Ctrl-Shift-V to copy and paste a style from one place to another (repeatedly) has been a quick and handy solution. Last year I discovered the shortcuts no longer worked in the same way, and I’ve been meaning to sit … More Changing Word’s Format Painter shortcut
Kia ora! With Māori Language Week this week, a few people have been asking me how to type a vowel with a macron, especially outside of Word. I’ve talked about using macrons before, and as a commenter correctly pointed out, there is another way of putting a macron on a vowel, by loading and using … More More macrons – loading and using the Māori keyboard
Who’s and whose actually follow the same rule as it’s and its. Who’s is always short for who is; whose shows ownership. Two former workmates taught me a good way to remember this – have you heard of Who’s Who? It’s a British publication that gives basic information about a number of well-known people (you … More Who’s and whose
Much and many can be confusing – it’s all about countable and uncountable (or measurable) nouns. You can count raindrops (if you’re fast!), so you use “many” when referring to them. But you can’t count water. You can measure it, by the cup, or the litre, so in this case you use “much”.
Lots of people struggle with its and it’s – here’s a way to help remember. It’s great to visit Kāpiti and its beaches. There’s more on this in my post Using apostrophes.
Some lovely feedback from a happy client – “I cannot thank you enough for all your help, advice, and being so accommodating! Thank you again, and have a great day.” Editors don’t have to be scary. Is there something I can help you with?
Confused about when to use less or fewer? There’s a rule in English that we treat countable nouns and uncountable nouns differently. This comes into play for fewer and less. If we’re talking about countable nouns – things you can count – we use fewer: If we’re talking about uncountable nouns – things that you … More Less and fewer
Owners of busy businesses often feel they don’t have time to have an editor look at their branding and marketing material – but think of the time and money wasted if you discover a spelling mistake (or even an incorrect phone number) after everything’s printed! Even the most beautiful branding and business cards are going … More Do you make time to have your marketing material edited…?
Have you noticed there are two ways of saying “the”? A friend asked me about this recently, and why we say it differently at different times. We usually say “thuh”, but if the next word starts with a vowel sound, we say “thee”. Thuh pancakes, thee avocado, thee empty glass, thuh computer… This is one … More How do you say “the” (and why)?
Struggling to remember the difference between stationary and stationery? What tricks do you use? #stationary #stationery #EmRuleEditing
Em Rule 