|
|
|
| accept / except--Simply put, "accept" is a verb, and "except" is a preposition. To "accept" something is to take it in or to approve of it: "I accept your proposal." "Except" indicates that something is to be left out: "Everyone except Bill went on the trip." In the case of a pronoun following "except," it always takes the objective case: "All of us, except her, went to the carnival." affect / effect--Again, "affect" is a verb. It means to change something to influence it: "Smoking may seriously affect your health." "I don't want to affect your decision by giving my opinion." The word "effect," 95% of the time, is a noun: "Smoking may have a bad effect on your health." "He took the poison with no obvious ill effect." The only time that "effect" is a verb is when it means "to cause to happen" or "to bring about" as in: "Congress hopes to effect major change with this legislation." This is a slightly unusual use of the word, but not uncommon; be prepared for it. (P.S--If you're in psychiatry or psychology, you may see "affect" used as a noun; it means the outward display of personality. If a person never smiles, raises his voice, uses facial expressions or gestures, he is said to have a "flat affect." You probably will never run into this use of the word in normal daily living.) allot / a lot--To "allot" something is to parcel it out and to distribute it; it clearly has two "l's." You might say, "We will allot two pencils per student for this test." "Alot," however, does not exist. To say that you have a great deal of something requires two words. One would not say, "I read abook." so also one would not say, "I have read alot of books." It's always, "I have read a lot of books." amount / number as / like between you and me / I--"Between" is a preposition, which means that it is always followed by an object (a pronoun in the objective case). "Between you and me" is actually correct. The problem with "Between you and I" is a phenomenon called hypercorrection. People assume that "I" takes precedence over "me" in proper usage, and then they put it in where it doesn't belong. So it's "between you and me," "between me and him," etc. This time sounding dumb is actually right!! different from / than--When we say that something is "different from" something else, we are separating the one thing from the other thing and making a distinction. When we incorrectly say it is "different than," we are comparing two unlike things as to degree, assuming that they have at least something in common when they do not. We may say a mouse is smaller than an elephant because we assume that the common ground is size. We cannot say a mouse is different than an elephant because "different" implies no common ground for comparison; it implies that the mouse is entirely separate from the elephant in all respects. Always write "different from." effect / affect (see affect / effect) except / accept (see accept / except) few / less--"Few" or "fewer" refers to things that can be counted individually. "Less" refers to that which can be measured by quantity rather than units. A couple of examples should suffice: 1) "Because there are fewer people in the audience, there is less audience feedback." 2) "Since the beginning of this party, I notice fewer potato chips in the dish and less eggnog in the bowl." Notice, you can count the people and the potato chips 1, 2, 3, etc., so there are more or fewer of them. You cannot count feedback or eggnog, though. There's just less or more of it. In fact, there's a good hint: If you can apply "them" to the quantity, use "few." If you can only say "it," use "less." good / well--"Good" is an adjective which modifies a noun. When you correctly say, "This tastes good" or "I feel good," you are modifying "this" or "I." You are not referring to the manner of tasting or feeling. Conversely, "well" is an adverb and does refer to the manner in which a thing is done. "You write well" or "She sews well" both refer to the manner of writing or sewing. The problem arises, again, from hypercorrection. In an effort to be "more correct," people ask, "Are you feeling well today?" This is wrong because it implies you've been going around feeling things, and you might be pretty good at it. The correct question is, "Are you feeling good today?" Here is one of those rare instances where the choice that sounds wrong is actually right. his / her--We unfortunately do not have a third person neutral singular indicative personal pronoun in English. We're stuck with the singular "his" or "her," or we make the incorrect choice of "their" for the singular. This is seen in the incorrect sentence, "Every student was instructed to bring their book." It is wrong to use "their," and it is grammatically awkward to constantly use "his or her." The best compromise is to either eliminate the problem by rewriting the sentence ("The students were instructed to bring their books"), or by switching occasionally (not in the same paragraph), between the feminine and the masculine ("Every student was instructed to bring her book"). hopefully--"Hopefully" is an adverb meaning "to do in a hopeful manner." It always modifies the verb associated with it. It is incorrect, though common, to say, "Hopefully it will snow." This literally means that it will snow in a hopeful manner, that the snow hopes it hits the ground and gets deep. Correct is to say, "I hope it will snow." its / it's--Though almost all possessives are formed with the apostrophe, this is one case where it is not true. The possessive of "it" is simply "its." Only when you are forming the contraction of "it is" do you write "it's." lead / led--The confusion between these two arises from the fact that "lead" has two pronunciations. When it is a verb meaning to go before, it is pronounced "leed," but when it is a soft gray metal it is pronounced "led." Please remember that "lead" can only be used in two cases: 1) "This paint has lead in it and is therefore toxic." 2) "I will lead by example, not by force." "Led" is ALWAYS the past tense of "lead" and is to be used whenever that is needed. less / few (see few / less) lie / lay--Now this one is tough. Here's why. "Lie" is a verb which can mean two things: recline or tell a falsehood. When it involves a falsehood, there's no problem; you just write "He's lying about it" or "He lied about it." End of story. The trick comes in when it means recline. Here you write "I lie on the couch." "I am lying on the couch." (So far so good!) or "Yesterday I lay on the couch." This, of course, is the problem. "Lay" is both the past tense of "lie" and a completely different verb! But wait, it gets better! The past participle of "lie" is "lain." "Since he's been off work, Oscar has lain about the house all day watching Springer." "Lay" means to place or to put. "Lay the table with silverware" or "Lay an egg." The past tense of "lay" is "laid." "Henrietta laid an egg today." So let's lay it all out for you with several example sentences: 1) Don't lie about the house all day watching TV. 2) Yesterday I lay in bed all day with a head cold. 3) I have lain about the house for weeks now, unable to shake this terrible flu bug. 4) Lay the baby down for it's nap, will you? 5) Cynthia laid the table for supper over an hour ago. 6) Have you laid the baby down yet? Here's hoping this helped! I know it's a pain, but it's one we must live with. like / as (see as / like) myself--"Myself" is a reflexive pronoun. That means it can be used in only two instances: 1) "I hurt myself" turns the action back upon oneself (reflecting it.) 2) "I did it myself" intensifies the meaning of "I did it," clearly indicating that the action was done alone. You may never use it as a subject: "Bill, Al, and myself went camping." Here you must say "Bill, Al, and I went camping." "I" of course, is a subject. Curiously, I have seen this error perpetrated more by "educated" speakers than by "uneducated" ones. Go figure. number / amount (see amount / number) reason is . . . because--This is one of the most widespread mistakes made by speakers--everywhere from people in the mall to senators in Congress. To put both these phrases in the same sentence is redundant; they mean the same. It is incorrect to say "The reason I didn't attend your party is because I was ill." It is correct to say either "The reason I didn't come to your party is that I was ill" or "I didn't come to your party because I was ill." PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't make this error! their / there / they're--This is the great-granddaddy of all errors, the one they started teaching in third grade. Let's get it right, shall we? 1) Their is possessive plural: That is their house. 2) There specifies a location: Their house is over there. 3) They're is a contraction of "they are": They're standing over there by their house. Folks, this isn't rocket science. If you get it wrong, you're just lazy, not intellectually challenged. then / than--"Then" refers to a time. "Bobby punched me and then I punched Bobby." "Than" refers to comparison. "Bobby punched me much harder than I punched him." well / good (see good / well) who / whom--"Who" always used as the subject of a sentence. "Who is calling me?" "Whom" is the object, "To whom did you speak?" The easy way to remember or figure it out is to mentally replace "who" with "he" and "whom" with "him." If it works, it's fine; if not, change it. woman / women--I don't know where this idiotic mistake got started, but I can't tell you how many times I've seen it. "Woman" is singular--"A WOMAN." "Women" is plural--"THREE WOMEN." One would never write, "She married a men"; one should therefore never write, "He saw a pretty women walking down the street." GET IT RIGHT, FOLKS!
|