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If separating words using spaces is also permitted, the total number of known possible meanings rises to 58. [38] Czech has the syllabic consonants [r] and [l], which can stand in for vowels. A well-known example of a sentence that does not contain a vowel is Strč prst skrz krk, meaning "stick your finger through the neck."
Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words (ISBN 0-7679-1043-5) is a book by Bill Bryson, published under several titles since 1984, that catalogues some of the English language's most commonly misused words and phrases in order to demonstrate preferable usage. It helps writers and editors to think about how to make written communication clearer.
When Bad Grammar Happens to Good People: How to Avoid Common Errors in English by Ann Batko; Plain Style by Christopher Lasch; Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage by Merriam-Webster; Usage and Abusage by Eric Partridge; The New Fowler's Modern English Usage by R. W. Burchfield; The King's English by H. W. Fowler and F. G. Fowler
Some lists of common words distinguish between word forms, while others rank all forms of a word as a single lexeme (the form of the word as it would appear in a dictionary). For example, the lexeme be (as in to be) comprises all its conjugations (is, was, am, are, were, etc.), and contractions of those conjugations. [5]
An idiom is a common word or phrase with a figurative, non-literal meaning that is understood culturally and differs from what its composite words' denotations would suggest; i.e. the words together have a meaning that is different from the dictionary definitions of the individual words (although some idioms do retain their literal meanings – see the example "kick the bucket" below).
A Dictionary of Modern English Usage (1926), by Henry Watson Fowler (1858–1933), is a style guide to British English usage, pronunciation, and writing.Covering topics such as plurals and literary technique, distinctions among like words (homonyms and synonyms), and the use of foreign terms, the dictionary became the standard for other style guides to writing in English.
The word preposition is from "Latin praepositionem (nominative praepositio) 'a putting before, a prefixing,' noun of action from past-participle stem of praeponere 'put before'," [7] the basic idea being that it is a word that comes before a noun. Its first known use in English is by John Drury, writing in Middle English on Latin grammar c1434.
For example, A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language categorizes this use of that as an adverb. This analysis is supported by the fact that other pre-head modifiers of adjectives that "intensify" their meaning tend to be adverbs, such as awfully in awfully sorry and too in too bright. [18]: 445–447