Laura’s Lessons

Here’s a common question scientific writers ask themselves: “Is it i.e. or e.g.?” I’ve thought that same thing countless times. These two Latin abbreviations pop up all over the place, and they stand for exempli gratia (e.g.) and id est (i.e.). For those of you who aren’t fluent in dead languages (I’m right there with read more…

A topic that often stumps people is how to choose the correct word between two (or more) similar choices. One of these common swaps is “affect” and “effect.” You’re not alone—I used to frequently interchange these terms until I came across a great mnemonic: RAVEN. It’s all over the internet, but Grammar Girl Mignon Fogarty read more…

Last month I explained the joys of a semicolon, so what better next topic than the colon (grammatical, not anatomical)? A colon introduces a thing or a series of things that describe whatever comes before the colon. In most style guides, colons come at the end of a complete sentence; we commonly see colons after read more…

Ah, the semicolon. Part comma, part colon, 100% confusing. Do you remember how to use them, and do you even need to? In many cases, semicolons are a personal preference—a way to link sentences together without using a conjunction like “and,” “or,” or “but.” They can also help clarify long lists of items that might read more…

Ever since I started working as a copy editor, I’ve come across certain issues more often than others. One of the more common ones is swapping “that” and “which.” What makes this fun (depending on your definition) is that the rules are different between American and British English. Here, I’m focusing on American English. To read more…

If you were to list out the job titles that you’d expect to see working at Rosh Review, I’m guessing Copy Editor wouldn’t be at the top of your list (or anywhere on it, for that matter). Surprise! Rosh Review has a team of editors who ensure that the content our users learn from is read more…