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Est. 1828

Grammar & Usage

'Gray' vs. 'Grey': What is the difference?

Spelling isn't all black and white

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

How to pick the right one

Is it 'autumn' or 'fall'?

Why does this season have two different names?
  • Commonly Confused
  • Usage Notes
  • Spelling & Pronunciation
  • Punctuation

Popular

Using Bullet Points ( • )

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

All your favorite pet peeves

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

Be dashing—and do it well

A Guide to Using Semicolons

The Difference Between 'i.e.' and 'e.g.'

For example, the different ways to use them

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

A learned explanation that is not wicked hard

Democracy or Republic: What's the difference?

And which is the United States?

'Lose' or 'loose'?

Keep this somewhere you won't forget it

Commonly Confused

Commonly Confused

  • 'Awhile' vs. 'A While'

    There are rules, but who's listening?
  • Is it 'forty' or 'fourty'?

    This is usage
  • The Difference between 'Race' and 'Ethnicity'

    How they differ and overlap
  • Homophones, Homographs, and Homonyms

    The same, but different
  • See All

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

We promise you're not the only one who has trouble with these words

Usage Notes

See More

Can you end a sentence with a preposition?

Yes, a preposition is something you can end with.

Plural and Possessive Names: A Guide

A guide to plural and possessive names

Is 'data' singular or plural?

Information is power

Singular Nonbinary ‘They’: Is it ‘they are’ or ‘they is’?

Notes on a conjugation

Is singular 'they' a better choice?

The awkward case of 'his or her'
See More

Spelling & Pronunciation

Spelling & Pronunciation

  • 10 Words You See But Don't Hear

    How to pronounce 10 words with unpredictable stress and vowel sounds
  • How to Remember the Spelling of 'Definitely'

    A definitive answer.
  • 'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

    'A historic' night or 'An historic' night?
  • Absent Letters That Are Heard Anyway

    They aren't seen but they are heard
  • See All

The Many Plurals of 'Octopus'

But which is correct?

Punctuation

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

The shifting role of the apostrophe

A Guide to Using Colons

We'll get to semicolons later.

To Use or Not Use the "?" in Requests

"Would you read this, please."

All About Ellipses ...

How to use them … and talk about them

The Serial Comma Explained

Why don't they call it the Merriam-Webster comma?
See More
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