The Oxford comma. “Ask” instead of “aks.” There, their, and they’re. The legitimacy of “ain’t” and “y’all.” These are familiar, if sometimes contentious, issues in the usage of the English language.

Throughout the history of the language, what has been considered ‘bad’ speech often becomes ‘proper.’ You just have to give ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Is living in a language-rich world enough to teach a child grammatical language? kate_sept2004/E+ via Getty Images Unlike the ...

Ellen Jovin is not the grammar police. She's more like a grammar guru, a gentle, nonjudgmental guide who knows English isn't etched into a linguistic stone, rigid and unchangeable. Instead, she knows ...

Unlike the carefully scripted dialogue found in most books and movies, the language of everyday interaction tends to be messy and incomplete, full of false starts, interruptions, and people talking ...

Editor’s Note: This article previously appeared in a different format as part of The Atlantic’s Notes section, retired in 2021. That’s the charge leveled by one reader, J., who responds to my grammar ...

The English language has a lot of weird spelling, grammar, and pronunciation rules. Words that sound and are spelled the same can have two different or even opposite meanings. Tricks like "I before E ...

IS AMERICA RUINING English or giving it new life? Most of this old transatlantic debate concerns words. Is elevator an improvement on lift? Why say transportation when transport will do? Sometimes it ...