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Commonly Confused

Is It 'Attorney Generals' Or 'Attorneys General'?

'Poets laureate'? 'Court-martials'? The curious history of postpositive adjectives in English.

'Poets laureate'? 'Court-martials'? The curious history of postpositive adjectives in English.

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Is It 'Attorney Generals' Or 'Attorneys General'?

 

'Poets laureate'? 'Court-martials'? The curious history of postpositive adjectives in English.

play video how a word gets into the dicionary
How a Word Gets into the Dictionary

 

What our editors are looking for when they enter words in Merriam-Webster.

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'All over sudden' vs. 'All of a sudden'

 

Figuring it out at once

play video lay vs lie
Lay vs. Lie

 

Editor Emily Brewster clarifies the difference.

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There, They're, Their

 

There, there. We'll sort it out.

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Is singular 'they' a better choice?

 

The awkward case of 'his or her'

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The Schwa

 

The most common vowel sound in English causes many spelling problems.

Games & Quizzes

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Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
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People of Interest Quiz Can you tell the "sommeliers" from the "spelunkers"?
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