StartsWithy.com, also called “Starts With”, is a free English-language learning website. Our tagline is “Get a Language Confident”, and that is the goal of every page we publish. We help children, parents, teachers and English learners around the world understand words: what they mean, how they work in a sentence, and how to use them with confidence.
The site has been online since May 2022. Today it holds about 30,000 published guides, from short “X in a sentence” usage pages to lists of adjectives, comparisons of confused words, idioms and themed word lists. This page explains who runs the site, how our guides are made, which sources we check, how we use AI, how we fix mistakes, and how the site pays for itself. We think you should know all of this before you decide to trust us.
Our mission
Many people feel unsure when they write or speak English. They may not know if a word is formal or casual. They may mix up two words that look almost the same. They may know a meaning but not how to put the word into a real sentence.
Our mission is simple: explain English clearly, show it in use, and be honest about where our information comes from. We try to answer the question a learner really has, in plain language, without long and confusing grammar terms.
We also believe that learning should feel friendly. That is why our pages use short paragraphs, simple English and clear teaching pictures.
Who StartsWithy is for
We write for four groups of readers. Many pages are useful to more than one group.
English learners (ESL and EFL)
If English is your second or foreign language, our guides give you the meaning of a word, its part of speech and many example sentences. You can see how a word behaves in real use, and you can learn which mistakes other learners often make.
Children and parents
Children enjoy learning when the topic is close to their world. Our kids section covers themes such as Disney, cartoon and anime characters, foods, fruits, colors and sports. Parents can read along with their children and use the example sentences to start a conversation.
Teachers
Teachers can use our word lists, example sentences and comparison tables as a quick reference when they plan a lesson or look for fresh examples. We do not claim that our pages replace a course book or a lesson plan. They are a helpful extra resource.
Anyone who wants clearer English
Writers, students and professionals also use the site to check a word, compare two similar words or find a better adjective.
What you will find on StartsWithy
The site is organized into sections. These are the biggest ones, with approximate numbers of guides.
- Sentences (about 27,800 guides): “X in a sentence” pages that show how a word or phrase is used, with many examples.
- Adjectives (about 1,000 guides): lists of adjectives for people, places, feelings, things and more.
- Confused Words (about 600 guides): comparisons of words that are easy to mix up, such as “absence vs absents”.
- Idioms: common expressions explained in plain English.
- Grammar: parts of speech and punctuation, including nouns, verbs, adverbs, pronouns, prepositions and conjunctions.
- Kids: topics for young learners, including Disney, cartoon and anime characters.
- Word lists: positive words and themed lists such as foods, fruits, colors, sports, cities, body parts and “words that start with” a given letter.
The numbers are approximate because we add and update pages all the time.
How a StartsWithy guide is built
Most guides follow the same pattern, so that you always know where to look. A typical guide includes:
- A plain-language definition and grammar role. We say what the word means and how it works: its part of speech, its register (formal, informal or neutral), and, for verbs, whether it is transitive or intransitive.
- Many example sentences. Examples show the word in different situations, so you can see more than one way to use it.
- Tables that compare senses and usages. When a word has more than one meaning, a table helps you see the differences quickly.
- Common learner errors. We point out mistakes that learners often make, so you can avoid them.
- Related and easily confused words. We link to words that are close in meaning or spelling.
- A short FAQ. We answer the questions readers are most likely to ask next.
- Flat cartoon illustrations. Each picture carries one short teaching label, so the image supports the lesson instead of only decorating the page.
Our editorial standards
Each guide is researched against dictionaries first. We then check the meaning, the grammar notes and the example sentences against those references. When a page makes a factual claim, such as a fact about the human body, a country or a cartoon character, we attribute it to an official or primary source.
The table below shows the main sources we check against and what we use each one for.
| Source | What we use it for |
|---|---|
| Cambridge Dictionary | Meanings, parts of speech and usage notes. This is the source we cite most often. |
| Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries | Definitions and examples written for learners of English. |
| Collins Dictionary | Meanings, senses and word usage. |
| Purdue OWL | Grammar and writing guidance. |
| NIH/NCBI and PubMed, CDC, APA | Anatomy, health and behaviour words. |
| UN population and statistics data | Facts about countries, cities and populations. |
| UNESCO World Heritage, US National Park Service | Facts about landmarks and protected places. |
| W3C and the International Color Consortium | Standard CSS color names and color terms. |
| Official studio sites, such as Disney’s D23 and TV Tokyo | Facts about cartoon and anime characters. |
We use dictionaries to explain language, and we use official sources to support facts. We do not treat a random website as proof.
How we handle tricky words
The easy words are not where care matters most. Here are some real examples of how we handle harder cases.
- Words that look alike. “Disperse” and “disburse” sound similar, but they mean different things. We explain the difference and show each word in its own example sentences.
- Seasons and the calendar. The months of autumn are not the same everywhere, because the hemisphere you live in changes the season. We say this clearly instead of writing as if every reader lives in the same place.
- Color names. CSS color keywords are not the same as paint or palette names. For example, there is no standard CSS color that starts with X. We explain this rather than invent an answer to fill a list.
- Characters and actors. In our kids pages, we separate a cartoon character from the actor who voices that character, so the two are never confused.
- Health and behaviour words. We use respectful, non-diagnostic language. Our pages explain what a word means. They do not label people or tell readers what is wrong with them.
- Offensive slang. When a word has an offensive slang meaning, we flag it as offensive. We do not hide it, because a learner needs to know about it to avoid using it by mistake.
How to get the most from a guide
You do not need to read every guide from top to bottom. Here are a few simple ways to use a page well.
- Start with the definition. Read the short meaning and the grammar role first, so you know what kind of word you are looking at.
- Read the examples aloud. Saying a sentence out loud helps you remember how the word sounds in context. Then try to write one sentence of your own.
- Check the common errors. This part often saves you from the mistakes that other learners make.
- Follow the related links. If two words feel too close, open the confused-words comparison and read both meanings side by side.
- Check the reference when it matters. For an exam, a formal document or an important decision, compare our guide with a dictionary such as Cambridge or Oxford Learner’s. We name our sources so that you can do this easily.
How we use AI, and where humans stay accountable
We believe in being direct about this. AI tools help us with three parts of the work: organizing research, drafting content, and creating the illustrations on the site.
AI is a tool in our process. It is not the final judge of what is correct. Content is checked against the cited reference sources, and it goes through automated quality audits both before and after it is published. Those checks include confirming that each page has one main heading, that images are present and have alt text, that links work, and that the page metadata is in place. After a page goes live, we audit the live page as well.
Most important, a person is responsible. The founder, Robin Martin, is accountable for what is published on StartsWithy. If something on the site is wrong, the responsibility is Robin’s, not a tool’s.
Please also remember what our guides are. They are learning aids for language. They are not medical, legal or professional advice. If a guide mentions a health word, for example, it explains the word in language terms. It is not a substitute for talking to a qualified professional.
Keeping guides accurate, and how to report an error
Language changes, and better information becomes available. We update guides when we find better information. Many older pages have been rewritten and expanded, and hundreds of pages were updated during 2025 and 2026.
We also know that we will sometimes make mistakes. When that happens, we want to hear about it.
- If you find an error, a wrong meaning, a weak example or a broken link, please tell us through our Contact page.
- Please include the page address and a short note about what is wrong. A source, if you have one, helps us check faster.
- We review each report. When we confirm an error, we correct it and update the page.
Reader reports make the site better for everyone, and we are grateful for them.
How the site is funded
StartsWithy is free to read. You do not need an account, and there is no paywall. The site is supported by display advertising.
We want you to be able to tell what is an ad and what is not. Ads are clearly labelled “Advertisement”. Advertisers have no influence on our content. They cannot pay for a page, change a definition or ask us to leave something out.
Privacy
We use Google Analytics, through the Site Kit plugin, to understand how readers use the site and which pages are helpful. You can read exactly how we handle information in our Privacy Policy.
Meet the founder
StartsWithy was founded by Robin Martin, who also runs the site and edits its content. Robin started publishing guides in May 2022, and the first guide went online on 31 May 2022. Since then the site has grown to about 30,000 guides.
We prefer to be plain about this. We do not list degrees or years of teaching experience here, because we want every statement on this page to be something you can check. What you can check is the work itself: the guides, the sources named on them, and the way we respond to corrections. Robin is accountable for all of it.
Contact us
We would like to hear from you. You can use our Contact page to:
- report an error or a broken link;
- suggest a word, a topic or a comparison you would like us to explain;
- ask a question about how the site works.
Thank you for reading, learning and trusting us with your English. Whatever your level, we hope you leave each page a little more language confident than when you arrived.