WHEN we were children and just beginning to learn English grammar, many of us were taken aback by the strange failure of some ...

Lie and lay. They’re the grammar stickler’s equivalent of a secret handshake. Use these words just so and you’re signaling to like-minded language lovers: I’m in, a member of the club, part of the ...

We mustn’t suppose, however, that causative verbs are meant only for intransitive verbs. They work as well with transitive ones: “The mother made her child take the medicine.” “The movie director had ...