Things that Give Writers Fits

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Parts of Speech

Quick. What’s the difference between an adjective and an adverb?

If you had to think a while, never fear, you’re probably like most people. Thanks to a lot of bad English teaching in schools over the years, many of us don’t understand the parts of speech as well as we should.

And, while it’s possible to get through life quite successfully without ever being able to explain the difference between an adjective and an adverb, knowing the difference is about the only way to understand English’s stupid quirks that, when ignored, can ruin a piece of otherwise great writing.

Good, for example, is an adjective. Well is an adverb. So, that’s why we don’t play well games. We play good games well.

If you don’t immediately understand that difference, you really need a parts of speech refresher. Here’s a decent one. And, just like with commas above, a tutor won’t hurt either.

Please don’t fret if you’re suddenly realizing that you don’t know as much as you thought you did about the parts of speech. I just asked a very well educated friend of mine to explain, exactly, what a pronoun does. He was embarrassed to say he wasn’t sure. He shouldn’t have been embarrassed. Lots of people are in his shoes.

But he really needs to understand what a pronoun is before he can expect to move on to the next topic below.