Found 69 articles starting with V:

Vacate vs. Evacuate

Evacuate Evacuate (verb) is a stronger term...

Vaccinate vs Vaccine

Vaccinate vs. VaccineIt’s quite obvious how the confusion between “vaccinate” and “vaccine” occurs, as the first six letters of both words are completely identical. But the explanation is also quite simple and easy to remember. The m...

vacuous - vocabulary

adjective
Empty, without content; lacking in intelligence or ideas; without purpose, idle. Television was not invented to make human beings vacuous, but is an emanation of their vacuity...

vacuum - correct spelling

noun, adjective, and verb
Example: The vacuum of space was a mystery to us. noun...

Vacuum vs. Vacuum Cleaner

Vacuum vs. Vacuum CleanerThose who know the meaning of the phrase “vacuum cleaner”, may naturally assume that “vacuum” is just a shorter version, referring to the same cleaning device. But actually, it’s this meaning, and more. Using...

Valentine vs Valentine's Day

Valentine vs. Valentine’s DayAlthough it’s clear that the latter is the name of a day of celebration, beginners may still be confused by the contexts where these two words are used. And that is because there’s more about them than me...

valley - correct spelling

noun
Example: The soldier sat on the side of the mountain and looked at the valley below....

valuable - correct spelling

adjective and noun (often plural
)Example: He gave us some valuable advice. ...

Valuable vs. Invaluable

At a first sight, “valuable” and “invaluable” seem to be pretty clear regarding their meanings. But in fact, they are some of the most commonly misunderstood words. People tend to use them with the wrong meaning, quite often, due to the confusions th...

vapid - vocabulary

adjective
Having lost sparkling quality and flavor; insipid; flat; dull or tedious. A society in which everyone works is not necessarily a free society and may indeed be a slave society; on the other ha...

variety - correct spelling

noun
Example: The restaurant offered a variety of food....

Vegan vs. Vegetarian

Vegan vs. VegetarianBoth “vegan” and “vegetarian” refer to a diet that consists of products that are not derived from animals. The best clue to remember this is the beginning of the words, which both start with “veg-”, just like ‘veg...

vegetable - correct spelling

noun and adjective
Example: He ate only one vegetable each day. noun
Example: She prefer...

vehement - vocabulary

adjective
Very eager or urgent; zealous, ardent; characterized by rancor or anger; consisting of great exertion or energy. It is very natural for young men to be vehement, acrimonious a...

vein - correct spelling

noun and verb
Example: The nurse finally found a vein for the IV. noun
Example: New houses wi...

Venal vs. Venial

Catholics everywhere are confused: do they commit venal sins or venial sins? And what is a venal/venial sin anyway? Whether they're Catholic or not, many writers are just as confused. Consider...

venal, venial

Venal means “open to corruption or without honor.”Venial means “easily forgiven” or “minor.”Example: The venal officer was guilty of more that just ...

venal, venial - vocabulary

adjective
Venal: willing to sell one’s influence in return for a bribe; associated with bribery. From what we already know, . . . some churchmen had dealings with the ...

venerable - vocabulary

adjective
Meriting or commanding high esteem because of age or high dignity; impressive or interesting because of great age; hallowed or historic. Heaven and earth are grand; father and...

vengeance - correct spelling

noun
Example: The father of the missing child wanted vengeance....

verb

The most important word in the English language is the verb. Without it, we could not write sentences. In fact, if you want to write a one-word sentence, that one word must be a verb.We have four kinds of main verbs: (1) ...

verb "to be"

The verb to be is unique in the English language. It can serve as a main verb (I am a writer) and as a primary auxiliary ver...

Verb "To Be"

To Be or Not To BeThe eBook Developing a Powerful Writing Style thoroughly discusses the problem of overusing the verb to ...

Verb Conjugation

Verb Conjugation in EnglishEvery verb in the English language has two states or dimensions—two realms, if you will. In the infinitive state, the verb reveals only the activity described: to hit or to run. Fr...

Verb Function 1 - Conjugated Verb

The conjugated verb performs the most crucial role in English: It forms the sentence. Without the conjugated verb, we would have no complete grammatical sentences.When conjugated, the verb forms two kinds of clauses. The independent clause ca...

Verb Function 2 - Infinitive Phrase - "To" Phrase

Remember the definition of the infinitive form of a verb: the word you would ordinarily look up in the dictionary. Its bare form is just the word by itself: write. Its periphrastic form consists of the infinitive preceded by the pre...

Verb Function 3 - Present-Participial Phrase (-ing Phrase)

Every verb has a present participle. Just add ‑ing as an ending. If a silent ‑e ends the word, then drop it: write, writing. If a consonant ends the word, you’ll sometimes ha...

Verb Function 4 - Past-Participial Phrase (-ed Phrase)

Every verb has a past participle, which we form by adding ‑ed for regular verbs and some other ending for irregular verbs. For the ‑ed verbs, we sometimes have to double up an ending consonant (occurred) (check the dictiona...

Verb Function 5 - Participial Adjectives

We come to the end of the list of the functions of verbs. One-word participles, either present or past, serve as wonderful participial adjectives. Think about the images these verbal adjectives can paint in your writing: -ing ...

verbal object

Action verbs come in two varieties: transitive verbs and intransitive verbs
. A transitive verb has the intrinsic ability to attach directly to a ...

verbal phrase

We have three verbal phrases in the English language: (1) infinitive phrases, (2) present-participial phrases, and (3) past-participial phra...

Verbs - Definition, Overview, and Lists of Examples

WelcomeBelow you’ll find links to our discussion on the most important word in the English language—verbs. We recommend that you start with the first topic,...

Verbs - What They Do

Shake hands with the most powerful word in the English language: the verb. You learned the basics in our discussion above. Now let’s carefully explore the five functions of verbs, see what they do, and then understand why F. Scott Fitzgerald once sai...

Verbs - Words That Do or Are

In this section, we’ll explore the most important word in the English language: the verb. If you want to develop a powerful writing style, you must learn what verbs do in our language.Why?The most important word in the Englis...

vernacular - vocabulary

adjective
Concerning language, indigenous or native, as opposed to learned or literary; using plain, ordinary language; also pertaining to a style of architecture employing techniques, decorative arts, materials, etc.,...

versatile - correct spelling

adjective
Example: His versatile abilities enabled him to perform many duties....

Vertical, Enumerated Lists

Periods Following NumbersPeriods also show up after the numerals in an enumerated vertical list. Look at this example: His favorite movies included: 1. The Fight Club ...

Very vs. Too vs. Enough

Too The too with the double o implies more than necessary, desirable or r...

vestige - vocabulary

noun
A visible trace, mark, or impression, of something absent, lost, or gone; a surviving evidence of a condition or practice. Most people with whom I talk, men and women even of some originality and genius...

vicarious - vocabulary

adjective
Suffered, done, received, or exercised in place of another, as in vicarious punishment; serving as a substitute; felt or enjoyed through imagination of experience of others, as in a vicarious thr...

vicinity - correct spelling

noun
Not vacinity.Example: He lives in the vicinity of the nation’s capital....

vicious - correct spelling

adjective
Example: This vicious crime outraged the community....

Vicious vs. Viscous

The Government targeted the vicious cycle of poverty. The viscous fluid passing through the pipe entered the ro...

Vicious vs. Viscous

The Government targeted the vicious cycle of poverty. The viscous fluid passing through the pipe entered the room. The words vicious and viscous, though not homophones, have extremely similar spellings and thus are often mistaken for each other by ma...

vicissitude - vocabulary

noun
A change, especially a complete change, of condition or circumstances, as of fortune; successive, alternating, or changing phases or conditions, as in We have been friends through the vicissitudes of 44 years of ma...

view - correct spelling

noun and verb
Example: The couple bought an old house with a spectacular view. noun
Example: ...

vigilant - correct spelling

adjective
Not vigilent.Example: After the burglaries, the homeowners became more vigilant....

village - correct spelling

noun and adjective
Example: They settled in a historic village where they could raise chickens and put up a tree swing for their gra...

villain - correct spelling

noun
Example: The villain crept toward the darkened house....

vindicate - vocabulary

verb
To clear from accusation or suspicion; to provide justification for; to justify through argument; to get revenge. Psychology keeps trying to vindicate human nature. History keeps underm...

vindictive - vocabulary

adjective
Inclined toward revenge, vengeful; showing a revengeful spirit. “That’s why you were so much struck when I mentioned to Zossimov that Porfiry was inquiring for every one who had pledges!” Razu...

violence - correct spelling

noun
Example: The increase in violence in the streets disturbed the voters....

virtue - correct spelling

noun
Example: Patience is a virtue....

virulent - vocabulary

adjective
Intensely poisonous; in medicine, highly infective, as in a virulent disease; also, spitefully hostile. Every two years the American politics industry fills the airwaves with the most...

Virus vs. Bacteria

In the world of biology, the terms "virus" and "bacteria" are often used interchangeably by the general public; however, they refer to two fundamentally different entities with distinct characteristics, structures, and roles in nature. Understand...

visage - vocabulary

noun
The face, countenance, or look of a person; appearance, aspect, as in the bleak visage of February. He was small in stature, with a furrowed visage, which, as yet, could hardly...

visible - correct spelling

adjective
Example: The planet is visible to the naked eye....

vision - correct spelling

noun
Example: He had the vision of an entrepreneur....

visitor - correct spelling

noun
Example: The unexpected visitor wore out his welcome....

vitiate - vocabulary

verb
To impair the quality of, spoil; to debase, corrupt. In law, to make defective, as in to vitiate a claim. We do not draw the moral lessons we might from history. On the contrary, without care i...

vituperation - vocabulary

noun
Censure or violent condemnation; verbal abuse, castigation. And as I grew into manhood, the newspapers rang on every side with disrespect for those in authority. Under the special dispensation of the li...

Vocabulary Usage

By reading a wide variety of authors and various types of writing you can build up your vocabulary and acquire the necessary skill in the proper use of words, phrases and idioms. Consciously or subconsciously, while reading, you develop an ear for...

vociferous - vocabulary

adjective
The quality of making a noisy and vehement outcry. In 2000 Mr. [Norman] Finkelstein, a vehement critic of Israel and the son of Holocaust survivors, published “The Holocaust Industry: Reflecti...

Vodka vs. Whiskey

Introduction Vodka and whiskey are two of the most popular distilled spirits globally. While they may both serve similar functions in social settings and culinary uses, their fundamental differences stem from their ingredients, productio...

voice - correct spelling

noun and verb
Example: After teaching all day, he lost his voice. noun
Example: We want to ...

volition - vocabulary

noun
An act or exercise of will; the act of choosing, willing, or resolving. The good, by affinity, seek the good; the vile, by affinity, the vile. Thus of their own volition, souls proceed ...

volume - correct spelling

noun
Example: He opened the volume dealing with writing style.Example: The volume o...

voracious - vocabulary

adjective
Eating with greediness or in very large quantities; very eager or avid, as in a voracious reader. The fish in neighboring streams and lakes are so voracious, it is sa...

vowel

Letters are either vowels or consonants
. In grade school, you learned that vowels are a, e, i, o, and u, and sometimes y. The word consonant refers to the sound produced by occluding with o...