English Words

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What is a Consonant? – Definition & Examples

As a Speech Sound

A consonant is such a speech sound or a letter that is not a vowel. It means that in English alphabets, other than vowels, all the other letters are consonants.

Check out the below lists of vowels and consonants.

  • Vowels: A, E, I, O, U.
  • Consonants: B, C, D, F, G, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z.

Note: Sometimes, Y does not act as a consonant.

About Syllables

A syllable is known as a unit of pronunciation which is formed with the combination of vowels and consonants. See the examples below,

1. Remove

In the above word, there are two syllables. ‘Re’ (in which ‘r’ is a consonant and ‘e’ is a vowel) and ‘move’ (in which ‘m’ and ‘v’ are consonants whereas, ‘o’ and ‘e’ are vowels.)

2. Please

In the above word, there is only one syllable having three consonants (‘p’, ‘l’, and‘s’) and two vowels (‘e’ and ‘a’).

Consonant as an Adjective

Consonant is also used as an adjective within a sentence which is synonymous with agreeable, in agreement, or consistent. See the example sentence below,

  • Nothing is more consonant with Nature than that she puts into operation in the smallest detail that which she intends as a whole. (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)

Conclusion

As a grammatical term, consonants are speech sounds. Other than vowels, rests of the letters are all consonants, for instance, b, d, p, q, z, etc. Vowels and consonants, when paired together, make up syllables.

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Difference between Donut and Doughnut

Writers, especially the beginners, may think English as a difficult language. The reason behind it is that English has many confusing words in its vocabulary. You may come across such words that have two different spellings or sometimes, you may get confused of between two variants of English language, American English and British English. You have to be careful in spellings. It happens that a word has two different spellings; one is followed by American writers while the other one is preferred by British writers.

Today’s case is about these two variants of English language. I am going to compare donut vs. doughnut. Check out the preference of the spelling within two different regions.

Donut vs. Doughnut – What is the Difference, Definition & Meaning?

Is it donut or doughnut?

Donut and doughnut are two different spellings of the same word. First, see the definition below,

Definition: Donut or doughnut is a sweetened-fried cake that you always get in the shape of a ring.

People are coming across two different spellings of this ring shaped fried cake. The fact behind it is that ‘doughnut’ is the official spelling which is recognized by the dictionaries whereas; the other spelling ‘donut’ is the shortened term which is said to be an American term.

History of the spelling ‘Donut’:

In 1950, the spelling ‘donut’ has grown up when the famous America’s baked good chains Dunkin’ Donuts was first founded. After that period, this shortened term was successfully adopted by most of the people. However, donut is successfully adopted only in America, not outside of this region.

Famous quotes for Dunkin’ Donuts

  • Much of my youth was spent in the parking lot or inside a Dunkin’ Donuts. (Eli Roth)
  • I was sacked from Dunkin’ Donuts for squirting the donuts jelly all over the customers. (Madonna Ciccone)

Dictionary Accepted Spelling

Though, donut is the shortened term of doughnut and there is no wrong to use this term; but you have to be careful in professional publications.

Both in America and Great Britain, doughnut is the most preferable spelling to be used in writing. You can check in any writing style guide, ‘doughnut’ is said to be the correct spelling which is recognized by the dictionaries as well.

Apart from the professional writing, you can use ‘donut’ in advertisements.

Take my advice! If you are outside of America, do not use the shortened term ‘donut’ anywhere because this spelling is totally an American term.

Conclusion

Doughnut and donut are two different spellings of the same word. Donut is the shortened term. The spelling ‘doughnut’ is the original term which is widely accepted spelling to be used in professional writing. The spelling ‘donut’ is an Americanized term and can be used in advertisements, mainly in the United States only.

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What is a Conjunction? – Definition & Examples

For me, a conjunction is a connector because it is that part of speech that connects words, clauses, phrases, or sentences.

See an example below,

  • I think, Sarah is going to bring laptop and books.

In the above example, ‘and’ is the conjunction that is used to join the words ‘laptop’ and ‘books.’

Now, I want to tell you more about conjunctions. There are three different types of conjunctions. Each type has the same function i.e. connects words, clauses, phrases, or sentences.

Let us discuss each of these types one by one.

1. Coordinating Conjunctions:

There are seven coordinating conjunctions that are used to join words, phrases, and independent clauses. They are for, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so.

There is a very famous acronym to remember the list of coordinating conjunctions. The acronym is ‘FANBOYS.’ See below,

F > for
A > and
N > nor
B > but
O > or
Y > yet
S > so

Example sentences

  • You may go to a school or a library to get the book.
  • I was not ready to go out but I managed to get ready in five minutes.

In the above sentences, the clauses that are joined by coordinating conjunctions (‘or’ and ‘but’) are brief and carry equal weight. That is why; you do not need to put a comma.

However, when the clauses that are joined by a coordinating conjunction are long, then you can use a comma just before the conjunction. For example,

  • I wanted to do something, so I decided to go out and join the party.

Note: Coordinating conjunctions are placed in between the clauses or words that are linked together.

2. Subordinating Conjunctions

A subordinating conjunction is the type of conjunctions that connects a dependent clause to an independent clause. In this, a dependent clause starts with a subordinating conjunction.

Below is the list of a few subordinating conjunctions.

  • Even though
  • Since
  • When
  • After
  • Although
  • Whether
  • Although
  • Why
  • Rather than
  • If

Example sentences

  • If I take the extra classes, I’ll get more information about our project.

In the above example sentence, the dependent clause, ‘if I take the extra classes,’ is the beginning clause. This is the reason for placing a comma after the dependent clause. However, if the whole sentence starts with an independent clause, there is no need to place a comma. See the example below,

  • I’ll get more information about our project if I take the extra classes.

3. Correlative Conjunctions

For me, correlative conjunctions can be known as paired conjunctions, for instance, either… or, neither… nor, both… and, etc.

They have the same usage as coordinating conjunctions. It means that they are used to join clauses that are of equal weight.

Example sentences

  • I am not only a good photographer but also a professional teacher.
  • Both ‘discreet’ and ‘discrete’ are known as homophones.

Conclusion

Hence, the use of a conjunction is very much obvious. It helps a writer to make interesting as well as complex sentences. It is such part of a speech that connects words, clauses, or phrases.

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Difference between Unorganized and Disorganized

Don’t make mistakes! If you are an English writer, be aware that there are many confusing words in English vocabulary. For instance, there are words that sound interchangeable but have different meanings. Unorganized vs. disorganized is such a case that many people are unaware of the differences between them. In this post, I will discuss both of these words with their definitions and I will also use the terms ‘unorganized’ and ‘disorganized’ in example sentences.

Unorganized vs. Disorganized – What is the Difference, Definition & Meaning?

Is it unorganized or disorganized?

‘Un’ in unorganized and ‘dis’ in disorganized are both negative prefixes. Many people think that both of these words are interchangeable but they are quite different in terms of meaning. Let me define these terms one by one. Read their definitions carefully to mark the differences between them.

Unorganized

Unorganized is used as an adjective within a sentence. It is synonymous with messy.

Unorganized is used to describe such thing which is not organized or lacks a specific order from the beginning.

See the example sentences below;

  1. The industry is much interested to hire a few unorganized workers.
  2. Public sentiment is not observed. The wealthy and powerful gain a ready hearing, but the plodding, suffering, unorganized complaining multitude are spurned and derided. (James B. Weaver)

Disorganized

Disorganized is also used as an adjective within a sentence. It is used to describe such thing which has been demolished or which has been badly controlled.

Disorganized is synonymous with badly organized or badly controlled.

See the example sentences below;

  1. This is because of the non-serious attitude of employers that we are, now, facing a disorganized meeting.
  2. I don’t know about you, but I practice a disorganized religion. I belong to an unholy disorder. We call ourselves Our Lady of Perpetual Astonishment. (Kurt Vonnegut)

What is the Difference?

It has been clear from the above definitions that if something is disorganized, it means that it was properly organized before. However, if something is unorganized, it means that it was a mess from its beginning.

Conclusion

Do not be confused!

Though, both ‘disorganized’ and ‘unorganized’ are adjectives but they are not interchangeable. Disorganized is something which was organized before and, now, it is badly organized. Unorganized, on the other hand, is something which is a mess from its beginning.

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What is Conjugation? – Definition & Examples

What is conjugation? Let me first tell you that a conjugation is an arrangement of the changing of verb forms in accordance with a person, tense, number, gender, or aspect. It means that verbs do change its form to express a grammatically correct idea.

Let us check out how verb form changes to show a different gender, person, number, tense, or aspect.

Person

There are different persons in English, such as,

1. First person:

  • Singular > I
  • Plural > We

2. Second person:

  • Singular > You
  • Plural > You

3. Third person:

  • Singular > He, She, It
  • Plural > They

Let us see how the verb ‘to be’ conjugate for each of the above person.

1. First person:

  • Singular > I am
  • Plural > We are

2. Second person:

  • Singular > You are
  • Plural > You are

3. Third person:

  • Singular > He is, She is, It is
  • Plural > They are

Tense + Aspect

Conjugation for ‘tenses’ are very obvious in sentences; they help in expressing the time or duration of a particular action. For instance, whether the action took place in the present, past, or future tense. However, the ‘aspect‘ tells the degree at which the action is completed (i.e. continuous, perfect, or progressive.)

Check out the conjugation in the examples below:

Verb used: ‘to like’

1. Simple Present > He, She, It (likes) + I, We, You, They (like)

  • Present Continuous > I (am liking) + He, She, It (is liking) + We, You, They (are liking)
  • Present Perfect > I, We, You, They (have liked) + He, She, It (has liked)
  • Present Perfect Continuous > I, We, You, They (have been liking) + He, She, It (has been liking)

2. Simple Past > He, She, It, I, We, You, They (liked)

  • Past Continuous > He, She, It (was liking) + I, We, You, They (were liking)
  • Past Perfect > He, She, It, I, We, You, They (had liked)
  • Past Perfect Continuous > He, She, It, I, We, You, They (had been liked)

3. Simple Future > I, We, You, They, He, She, It (will like)

  • Future Continuous > I, We, You, They, He, She, It (will be liking)
  • Future Perfect > I, We, You, They, He, She, It (will have liked)
  • Future Perfect Continuous > I, We, You, They, He, She, It (will have been liking)

Number

For ‘number’, the verb is conjugated according to the number of the subject i.e. whether the subject is singular or plural. For example, ‘he, she, it’ are singular subjects. So, conjugated verbs need an –s at the end to express the singular subject, like;

  • He writes.
  • She writes.
  • It writes.

In the same way, plural subjects ‘you, they, we’ do not need an –s.

  • You write
  • They write
  • We write

Gender

There is no such influence of conjugation on gender.

  • She writes.
  • He writes.

Conclusion

Conjugation is such a changing process in which a verb form changes according to the person, number, tense, or aspect. Conjugation should be properly understood to make writing grammatically correct and error-free.