Grammar

Definition and Examples of Interjections in English

An interjection also called an exclamation, is a word, phrase, or sound used to express an emotion such as surprise, excitement, happiness, or anger. Put another way, an interjection is a short utterance that generally expresses emotion and can stand alone.

Though interjections are one of the conventional parts of speech, they are unrelated to any other component of a sentence. Interjections are common in spoken English, but they also exist in written English. English’s most commonly used interjections include hey, oops, ouch, gee, oh, ah, ooh, eh, ugh, aw, yo, wow, brr, sh, and yippee. In writing, an interjection is followed by an exclamation point, but it can also be followed by a comma if it is a portion of a sentence. Knowing the various kinds of interjections and how to punctuate them will help you use them correctly.

What Is a Prepositional Verb?

prepositional verb is an idiomatic phrase that blends a verb and a preposition to make up a new verb with a distinctive meaning. Some illustrations of prepositional verbs are care for, long for, apply for, approve of, add to, resort to, result in, count on, and deal with.

Examples

Verbs with Prepositions: TO

  • Adapt to
  • Add to
  • Agree to
  • Apologize to
  • Belong to
  • Consent to
  • Devote to
  • Happen to
  • Lead to
  • Listen to
  • Object to
  • React to
  • Refer to
  • Reply to
  • Speak to
  • Talk to
  • Turn to

Verbs + Prepositions: FOR

  • Admire for
  • Apologize for
  • Apply for
  • Ask for
  • Blame for
  • Care for
  • Excuse for
  • Head for
  • Long for
  • Pay for
  • Pray for
  • Prepare for
  • Scold for
  • Search for
  • Vote for
  • Wait for
  • Wish for
  • Work for

Verbs + Prepositions: FROM

  • Abstain from
  • Borrow from
  • Escape from
  • Graduate from
  • Hide from
  • Infer from
  • Prevent from
  • Prohibit from
  • Protect from
  • Recover from
  • Rescue from
  • Resign from
  • Retire from
  • Save from
  • Separate from
  • Stem from
  • Suffer from

Verbs with Prepositions: ON

  • Agree on
  • Base on
  • Be on
  • Blame on
  • Comment on
  • Concentrate on
  • Congratulate on
  • Count on
  • Depend on
  • Elaborate on
  • Impose on
  • Insist on
  • Play on
  • Pride on
  • Rely on
  • Work on

Verb Preposition Collocations: AT

  • Aim at
  • Arrive at
  • Glance at
  • Guess at
  • Hint at
  • Laugh at
  • Look at
  • Marvel at
  • Peer at
  • Point at
  • Smile at
  • Stare at
  • Wink at

Verb + Preposition: ABOUT

  • Argue about
  • Ask about
  • Be about
  • Boast about
  • Care about
  • Concern about
  • Decide about
  • Dream about
  • Forget about
  • Know about
  • Laugh about
  • Protest about
  • Think about
  • Worry about

Verbs + Prepositions: WITH

  • Acquaint with
  • Agree with
  • Associate with
  • Charge with
  • Clutter with
  • Coincide with
  • Collide with
  • Compare with
  • Comply with
  • Confront with
  • Confuse with
  • Cover with
  • Cram with
  • Deal with
  • Discuss with
  • Help with
  • Tamper with
  • Trust with

Verbs with Prepositions: IN

  • Absorb in
  • Arrive in
  • Be engrossed in
  • Believe in
  • Confide in
  • Implicate in
  • Involve in
  • Participate in
  • Result in
  • Specialize in
  • Succeed in
  • Trust in

Definition and Examples of a Predicate

In English grammar, a predicate is one of the two main parts of a sentence. It is generally defined as a word group that comes after the subject to complete the meaning of the ​sentence. The predicate is the part of the sentence that contains the verb. The predicate tells what happened to the subject or its state. In the case of verbs that aren’t actions, those that describe states of being are called stative verbs.

Examples of a Predicate

Easy Examples of Predicates

In each instance below, the predicate is shaded.

  • Elvis lives.
  • Adam lives in Bangor.
  • The telegram contained exciting news.
  • The girls in our office are experienced teachers.

More Examples of Predicates

In the center of every predicate is a verb. In each instance, the verb and predicate are in bolded letters.

  • True friends appearless moved than counterfeit. (Greek philosopher Homer)
  • Words empty as the wind arebest left unsaid. (Homer)
  • People can come up withstatistics to prove anything. Forty percent of all people know that. (Homer Simpson)
  • With $10,000, we would bemillionaires! We could buy all kinds of useful things like … love. (Homer)

48 Inspiring, and Witty Quotes to Use in Your Email Signatures

Inspiring Quotes

These quotes from Maya Angelou to Confucius to Mark Twain were handpicked to help the seeker in all of us—to keep us bounding forward even during the most challenging days.

Maya Angelou

“We may encounter many defeats, but we must not be defeated.”

Walter Bagehot

“The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.”

Simone de Beauvoir

“Change your life today. Don’t gamble on the future, act now, without delay.”

Josh Billings

“To bring up a child in the way he should go, travel that way yourself once in a while.”

Confucius

“The more man meditates upon good thoughts, the better will be his world and the world at large.”

William Hazlitt

“The more we do, the more we can do.”

Gary Player

“The harder you work, the luckier you get.”

Jim Rohn

“Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.”

Eleanor Roosevelt

“With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.”

Charles R. Swindoll

“Life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you react to it.”

Rabindranath Tagore

“You can’t cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water.”

Mark Twain

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”

Wise Quotes

An email signature can be a place to share a nugget of wisdom, something that expresses your personal values or outlook on life. If you work in education, you might choose a quote about teaching or learning. If you’re a writer or a painter, you might choose a quote about the power of art.

Bill Clinton

“There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America.”

Paul Ehrlich

“To err is human, but to really foul things up you need a computer.”

Euripides

“Friends show their love in times of trouble, not in happiness.”

Robert Frost

“In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life. It goes on.”

Gandhi

“There are limits to self-indulgence, none to self-restraint.”

Khalil Gibran

“The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind.”

Omar Khayyam

“Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life.”

Thomas La Mance

“Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans.”

Jawaharlal Nehru

“Life is like a game of cards. The hand that is dealt you represents determinism; the way you play it is free will.”

General George S. Patton Jr.

“Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.”

Pablo Picasso

“The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.”

Josiah Royce

“Thinking is like loving and dying. Each of us must do it for himself.”

Rumi

“Let the beauty of what you love be what you do.”

Bertrand Russell

“No one gossips about other people’s secret virtues.”

George Sand

“There is only one happiness in this life, to love and be loved.”

William Shakespeare

“A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.”

Robert S. Surtees

“It is better to be killed than frightened to death.”

Oscar Wilde

“Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead.”

William Butler Yeats

“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”

Witty Quotes

Email signatures don’t have to be serious. If you’re known for being lighthearted and making people laugh, you might be happier using a funny email signature, such as a quote from a comedian. A snappy one-liner or a clever zinger can leave the person on the other end with a smile—just be sure you know your audience well.

Fred Allen

“I don’t want to own anything that won’t fit into my coffin.”

Woody Allen

“I am thankful for laughter, except when milk comes out of my nose.”

Louis Hector Berlioz

“Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately, it kills all its pupils.”

Red Buttons

“Never raise your hands to your kids. It leaves your groin unprotected.”

George Carlin

“The day after tomorrow is the third day of the rest of your life.”

Lawrence Ferlinghetti

“If you’re too open-minded, your brains will fall out.”

Carrie Fisher

“Instant gratification takes too long.”

Benjamin Franklin

“Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, and half-shut afterward.”

Fran Lebowitz

“You’re only as good as your last haircut.”

P.J. O’Rourke

“Cleanliness becomes more important when godliness is unlikely.”

Charles M. Schulz

“I never made a mistake in my life. I thought I did once, but I was wrong.”

George Bernard Shaw

“Youth is wasted on the young.”

Lily Tomlin

“Man invented language to satisfy his deep need to complain.”

Mark Twain

“Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company.”

“Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.”

Mae West

“I generally avoid temptation unless I can’t resist it.”

Steven Wright

“If at first you don’t succeed, then skydiving definitely isn’t for you.”

The Top 14 Figures of Speech

A figure of speech is a rhetorical device that accomplishes a unique effect by utilizing words distinctively. Although there are hundreds of figures of speech, here we’ll focus on 14 top examples.

Alliteration Examples

  • Shsells seashells.

Anaphora Examples

  • I came, I saw, I conquered.”

Assonance Examples

  • A – “For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels named Lenore.” – “The Raven,” Edgar Allan Poe

Euphemism Examples

  • A little thin on top

Hyperbole Examples

  • I’ve told you to stop a thousand times.

Irony Examples

  • “How nice!” she said when I told her I had to work all weekend.

Metaphor Examples

  • heart of stone

Onomatopoeia Examples

  • whoosh

Oxymoron Examples

  • peace force

Personification Examples

  • The flowers nodded.

Simile Examples

  • as slippery as an eel

Synecdoche Examples

  • wheels can represent a car

Understatement Examples

  • It’s just a scratch. (referring to a large dent)

Idiomatic Figures of Speech

  • I’m as mad as a wet hen! (I’m extremely angry.)

Ellipsis: Definition and Examples in Grammar

An ellipsis is commonly known as the omission of one or more words, which must be provided by the listener or reader for the sentence to be comprehended. It is the name of the punctuation mark (“…”) used to demonstrate the position of missing words in a direct quote. This mark can indicate a long pause or a speech trailing off.

Types of Ellipsis

Situational Ellipsis

Situational ellipsis is utilized in speaking and so is more informal in nature.

Textual Ellipsis

Textual ellipsis occurs in speaking and writing and is related to certain grammar rules, with the absence of words in predictable sentence positions.

Ellipsis Examples in Sentences

  • The man went out and washed his clothes. (“the man” has been deleted to avoid tautology)
  • Sorry for the inconveniences. (The subject “I am” has been deleted and it is used for the sake of convenience)
  • You can fool all the people some of the time…but you cannot fool all the people all of the time. (‘You can fool some of the people all of the time’ has been deleted)
  • Deliver us from evil…forever and ever, Amen. (‘For thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory’ is omitted).
  • Twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are…like a diamond in the sky. (‘up above the world so high’ has been omitted)

50 Greek and Latin Root Words

A root is a word or part of a word from which other words grow, typically through the addition of prefixes and suffixes. By understanding root words, you can decipher strange words, expand your vocabulary, and become a better English speaker.

Greek Root Words

The table below defines and demonstrates common Greek roots words.

Root Meaning Examples
anti against antibacterial, antidote, antithesis
ast(er) star asteroid, astronomy, astronaut
auto self automatic, automate, autobiograph
biblio book bibliography, bibliophile
bio life biography, biology, biodegradable
chrome color monochromatic, phytochrome
chrono time chronic, synchronize, chronicle
dyna power dynasty, dynamic, dynamite
geo earth geography, geology, geometry
gno to know agnostic, acknowledge
graph write autograph, graphic, demographic
hydr water dehydrate, hydrant, hydropower
kinesis movement kinetic, photokinesis
log thought logic, apologize, analogy
logos word, study astrology, biology, theologian
narc sleep narcotic, narcolepsy
path feel empathy, pathetic, apathy
phil love philosophy, bibliophile, philanthropy
phon sound microphone, phonograph, telephone
photo light photograph, photocopy, photon
schem plan scheme, schematic
syn together, with synthetic, photosynthesis
tele far telescope, telepathy, television
tropos turning heliotrope, tropical

Latin Root Words

The table below defines and illustrates 25 of the most common Latin roots.

Root Meaning Examples
ab to move away abstract, abstain, aversion
acer, acri bitter acrid, acrimony, exacerbate
aqu water aquarium, aquatic, aqualung
audi hear audible, audience, auditorium
bene good benefit, benign, benefactor
brev short abbreviate, brief
circ round circus, circulate
dict say dictate, edict, dictionary
doc teach document, docile, doctrinal
duc lead, make deduce, produce, educate
fund bottom founder, foundation, funding
gen to birth gene, generate, generous
hab to have ability, exhibit, inhabit
jur law jury, justice, justify
lev to lift levitate, elevate, leverage
luc, lum light lucid, illuminate, translucent
manu hand manual, manicure, manipulate
mis, mit send missile, transmit, permit
omni all omnivorous, omnipotent, omniscent
pac peace pacify, pacific, pacifist
port carry export, import, important
quit silent, restive tranquil, requiem, acquit
scrib, script to write script, proscribe, describe
sens to feel sensitive, sentient, resent
terr earth terrain, territory, extraterrestrial
tim to fear timid, timorous
vac empty vacuum, vacate, evacuate
vid, vis to see video, vivid, invisible