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Showing posts from October 10, 2015

5 Truly Mythical Grammar Rules

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Unicorns, trolls, fairies . . . Mythical beasts capture the imagination of both children and adults. And no wonder, for they possess magical powers and uncanny abilities. However, these creatures don’t really exist. Some grammar rules also have become the stuff of legends. They are figments of the imagination, just as fire-breathing dragons are. Today, let’s separate myth from reality. Here are five widespread, but totally incorrect, grammar rules. Myth: Nouns can’t modify other nouns. Dog  is a noun.  Police  is a noun. A  police dog is a dog used by the police. Using a noun modifier usually indicates that one noun is part of something else. The dog described earlier is part of the police force.  Myth: The only way to make a plural is to add “s.” One adds -es to nouns ending in -ch, -sh, -x, -z, or -s sounds to make them plural. The plural forms of other nouns, sometimes called mutated plurals, have different spellings than the singular form. For instance, “child” becomes “children” a