Some errors in word usage and
grammar just
seem to occur more often than others. Of all
the essays I have graded, the following word
pairs and combinations are the biggest
troublemakers. I'll try
to clear up the confusion in plain language
[clarity should be your goal, too, in all your
writing projects].
LAY/LIE
People have confused lay ("to put, place; prepare") and lie ("to recline; be situated") for centuries. They will probably continue to do so. Lay has been used to mean "lie" since the 1300s. Why? First, there are two lay s. One is the base form of the verb lay, and the other is the past tense of lie. Second, lay was once used with a reflexive pronoun to mean "lie" and survives in the familiar line from the child's prayer Now I lay me down to sleep. It is not a long leap from lay me down to lay down. Third, lay down, as in She lay down on the sofa sounds the same as laid down, as in She laid down the law to the kids.
1. Here's how to keep them straight. Lay is a transitive verb—it takes an object. Lay and its principal parts (laid, laid, laying) are correctly used in the following examples: She lays down her pen and stands up. He laid (not lay) the newspaper on the table. The table was laid for four. Lie is an intransitive verb and cannot take an object. Lie and its principal parts (lay, lain, lying) are correctly used in the following examples: She often lies (not lays) down after lunch. When I lay (not laid) down, I fell asleep. The rubbish had lain (not laid) there a week. I was lying (not laying) in bed when he called.
2. There are a few exceptions to these rules. The phrasal verb lay for and the nautical use of lay, as in lay at anchor, though intransitive, are standard.
3. It's probably a good idea to keep the two verbs distinct in formal writing, since people will be looking for evidence of your education in your work. If you're submitting something for publication, the copy editor will almost certainly fix your lay s and lie s for you. But bear in mind that lay is often an expressive way to say "lie" and has a charmed existence in certain uses. Don't most dog owners at one time or another say Lay down! to their dogs? How many golfers play it as it lays? How many employers exhort their workers with Let's not lay down on the job? What if Bob Dylan, in a fit of zeal for correctness, had written " Lie, Lady, Lie/Lie across my big brass bed?" Somehow it's hard to imagine the lady sticking around.
AFFECT/EFFECT
There are four distinct words here. When
"affect" is accented on the final syllable
(a-FECT), it is a verb meaning "have an
influence on": "The million-dollar donation
from the industrialist did not affect my vote
against the Clean Air Act." A much rarer
meaning is indicated when the word is accented
on the first syllable (AFF-ect), meaning
"emotion." In this case the word is used mostly
by psychiatrists and social scientists-- people
who normally know how to spell it. The real
problem arises when people confuse the first
spelling with the second: "effect." This too
can be two different words. The more common one
is a noun: "When I listen to 'California Dreamin',"
the effect it has on me is a nostalgic and sentimental mood" When you affect a situation, you have
an effect on it. The less common is a verb
meaning "to create": "I'm trying to effect a
change in the way we purchase webtv's." No
wonder people are confused. Hey, nobody ever
said English was logical: just memorize it and
get on with your life.
ANYTIME and ANY TIME
Though it is often erroneously compressed into
a single word by analogy with "anywhere" and
similar words, "any time" is always properly a
two-word phrase.
ALTOGETHER/ALL TOGETHER
"Altogether" is an adverb meaning "completely,"
"entirely." For example: "When he first saw the
examination questions, he was altogether
baffled." "All together," in contrast, is an
adjective phrase meaning "in a group." For
example: "The wedding guests were gathered all
together in the garden."
AMBIGUOUS/AMBIVALENT
Even though the prefix "ambi-" means "both,"
"ambiguous" has come to mean "unclear,"
"undefined," while "ambivalent" means "torn
between two opposing feelings or views." If
your attitude cannot be defined into two
polarized alternatives, then you're ambiguous,
not ambivalent.
ANXIOUS/EAGER
Most people use "anxious" interchangeably with
"eager," but its original meaning had to do
with worrying, being full of anxiety. Perfectly
correct phrases like "anxious to please"
obscure the nervous tension implicit in this
word and lead people to say less correct things
like "I'm anxious for Christmas morning to come
so I can open my presents." Traditionalists
frown on anxiety-free anxiousness. Say instead
you are eager for or looking forward to a happy
event. "MOE is eager to see lots of hits on the
counter, but doesn't lose any zzzzz's over it,
so he's not anxious about such a minor matter."
ADVERSE/AVERSE
The word "adverse" turns up most frequently in
the phrase "adverse circumstances," meaning
difficult circumstances, circumstances which
act as an adversary; but people often confuse
this word with "averse," a much rarer word,
meaning having a strong feeling against, or
aversion toward.
ASPECT/RESPECT
When used to refer to different elements of or
perspectives on a thing or idea these words are
closely related, but not interchangeable. It's
"in all respects," not "in all aspects."
Similarly, one can say "in some respects" but
not "in some aspects." One says "in this
respect," not "in this aspect. " One looks at
all "aspects" of an issue, not at all
"respects." "HTML is very useful, but it's only
one ASPECT of publishing a good web site. In
many RESPECTS, MOE thinks it's a good idea to
learn Javascript, PERL, CGI and other web
languages, too."
ASSURE/ENSURE/INSURE
To "assure" a person of something is to make
him or her confident of it. According to
Associated Press style, to "ensure" that
something happens is to make certain that it
does, and to "insure" is to issue an insurance
policy. Other authorities, however, consider
"ensure" and "insure" interchangeable. To
please conservatives, make the distinction.
However, it is worth noting that in older usage
these spellings were not clearly distinguished.
European "life assurance" companies take the
position that all policy-holders are mortal and
someone will definitely collect, thus assuring
heirs of some income. American companies tend
to go with "insurance" for coverage of life as
well as of fire, theft, etc.
CRITERIA/CRITERION
There are several words with Latin or Greek
roots whose plural forms ending in A are
constantly mistaken for singular ones. See, for
instance, data and media. You can have one
criterion or many criteria. Don't confuse
them.
EMINENT/IMMINENT/IMMANENT
By far the most common of these words is
"eminent," meaning "prominent, famous."
"Imminent," in phrases like "facing imminent
disaster," means "threatening." It comes from
Latin minere, meaning "to project or overhang."
Think of a mine threatening to cave in. The
rarest of the three is "immanent," used by
philosophers to mean "inherent" and by
theologians to mean "present throughout the
universe" when referring to God. It comes from
Latin manere, "remain." Think of God creating
man in his own image.
DISINTERESTED/UNINTERESTED
A bored person is uninterested. Do not confuse
this word with the much rarer disinterested,
which means "objective, neutral".
CLICHÉ/CLICHÉD
One often hears young people say "That movie
was so cliché!" "Cliché" is a noun, meaning an
overfamiliar phrase or image. A work containing
clichés is clichéd.
DOUBLE NEGATIVES
It is not true, as some assert, that double
negatives are always wrong; but the pattern in
formal speech and writing is that two negatives
equal a mild positive: "he is a not untalented
guitarist" means he has some talent. In
informal speech, however, double negatives are
intended as negatives: "he ain't got no talent"
means he is a lousy musician. People are rarely
confused about the meaning of either pattern,
but you do need to take your audience into
account when deciding which pattern to follow.
One of the funniest uses of the literary double
negative is Douglas Adams' description of a
machine dispensing "a substance almost but not
entirely unlike tea." Bottom line - stick to
one negative per sentence if you want to be
clear.
EPIGRAM/EPIGRAPH/
EPITAPH/EPITHET
An epigram is a pithy saying, usually humorous.
Mark Twain was responsible for many striking,
mostly cynical epigrams, such as "Always do
right. That will gratify some of the people,
and astonish the rest." Unfortunately, he was
also responsible for an even more famous one
that has been confusing people ever since:
"Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which
he never shows to anybody." It's true that the
moon keeps one side away from the earth,
but--if you don't count the faint glow
reflected from the earth--it is not any darker
than the side that faces us. In fact, over
time, the side facing us is darkened slightly
more often because it is occasionally eclipsed
by the shadow of the earth.
An epigraph is a brief quotation used to
introduce a piece of writing or the inscription
on a statue or building. example from
Shakespeare:
Glendower:
I can call spirits from the vasty deep.
Hotspur:
Why, so can I, or so can any man;
But will they come when you do call for
them?
Shakespeare: Henry IV, Part 1
An epitaph is the inscription on a tombstone or
some other tribute to a dead person. One MOE
has always liked involves a bit of dark humor:
"I told you I was sick." This sign in the
window of a funeral parlor is also noir but
does not qualify as an epithet: "Remains to be
seen."
In literature, an epithet is a term which
replaces or is added to the name of a person,
like "clear-eyed Athena," in which "clear-eyed"
is the epithet. You are more likely to
encounter the term in its negative sense, as a
term of insult or abuse: "the shoplifter hurled
epithets at the guard who had arrested her."
GIBE/JIBE/JIVE
"Gibe" is a now rare term meaning "to tease."
"Jibe" means "to agree," but is usually used
negatively, as in "the alibis of the two crooks
didn't jibe." The latter word is often confused
with "jive," which derives from slang which
originally meant to treat in a jazzy manner
("Jivin' the Blues Away") but also came to be
associated with deception ("Don't give me any
of that jive").
EMIGRATE/IMMIGRATE
To "emigrate" is to leave a country. The E at
the beginning of the word is related to the E
in other words having to do with going out,
such as "exit." "Immigrate," in contrast, looks
as if it might have something to do with going
in, and indeed it does: it means to move into a
new country. The same distinction applies to
"emigration" and "immigration." Note the double
M in the second form. A migrant is someone who
continually moves about.
ITS/IT'S
This is right up there with the most misused
pairs. MOE has seen the glaring confusion
everywhere - newspaper articles [where even
editors miss the error], restaurant menus,
magazines, television, the web, and, of course,
students' essays.
First let's all join in hearty curse of the
grammarians who inserted the wretched
apostrophe into possessives in the first place.
It was all a mistake. Our ancestors used to
write "Johns hat" meaning "the hat of John"
without the slightest ambiguity. However, some
time in the Renaissance certain scholars
decided that the simple "s" of possession must
have been formed out of a contraction of the
more "proper" "John his hat." Since in English
we mark contractions with an apostrophe, they
did so, and we were stuck with the stupid
"John's hat." Their error can be a handy
reminder though: if you're not sure whether a
noun ending in "s" should be followed by an
apostrophe, ask yourself whether you could
plausibly substitute "his" or "hers" for the
"s." Get this straight once and for all: when
the "s" is added to a word simply to make it a
plural, no apostrophe is used.
Why can't we all agree to do away with the
wretched apostrophe? Because its two
uses--contraction and possession--have people
so thoroughly confused that they are always
putting in apostrophes where they don't belong,
in simple plurals ("cucumber's for sale") and
family names when they are referred to
collectively ("the Smith's"). People often
misspell my last name as "Brian's." It is not
uncommon to see the S wrongly apostrophized
even in verbs, as in the mistaken "He
complain's a lot."
The exception to the general rule that one
should use an apostrophe to indicate possession
is in possessive pronouns. Some of them are not
a problem. "Mine" has no misleading "s" at the
end to invite an apostrophe. And few people are
tempted to write "hi's," though the equally
erroneous "her's" is fairly common, as are
"our's" and "their's"--all wrong, wrong, wrong.
The problem with avoiding "it's" as a
possessive is that this spelling is perfectly
correct as a contraction meaning "it is." Just
remember two points and you'll never make this
mistake again. (1) "It's" always means "it is"
or "it has" and nothing else. (2) Try changing
the "its" in your sentence to "his" and if it
doesn't make sense, then go with "it's."
PICARESQUE/PICTURESQUE
"Picaresque" is a technical literary term you
are unlikely to have a use for. It labels a
sort of literature involving a picaro
(Spanish), a lovable rogue who roams the land
having colorful adventures. A landscape that
looks as lovely as a picture is picturesque.
CARAT/CARET/CARROT/KARAT
"Carrots" are those crunchy orange vegetables
Bugs Bunny is so fond of, but this spelling
gets misused for the less familiar words which
are pronounced the same but have very different
meanings. Precious stones like diamonds are
weighed in carats. The same word is used to
express the proportion of pure gold in an
alloy, though in this usage it is sometimes
spelled "karat" (hence the abbreviation "20K
gold"). A caret is a proofreader's mark showing
where something needs to be inserted, shaped
like a tiny pitched roof. It looks rather like
a French circumflex, but is usually distinct
from it on modern computer keyboards. Carets
are extensively used in computer programming.
Just remember, if you can't eat it, it's not a
carrot.
COLONS/SEMICOLONS
Colons have a host of uses, but they mostly
have in common that the colon acts to connect
what precedes it with what follows. Think of
the two dots of a colon as if they were
stretched out to form an equal sign, so that
you get cases like this: "he provided all the
ingredients: sugar, flour, butter, and
vanilla." Or - "MOES BOOMER site covers a lot
of history: drive-ins, soda fountains, penny
arcades, rock music, the disco era, and much
more." There are a few exceptions to this
pattern, however. One unusual use of colons is
in between the chapter and verses of a Biblical
citation, for instance, "Matthew 6:5." In
bibliographic citation a colon separates the
city from the publisher: "New York: New
Directions, 1979." It also separates minutes
from hours in times of day when given in
figures: "8:35."
It is incorrect to substitute a semicolon in
any of these cases. Think of the semicolon as
erecting a little barrier with that dug-in
comma under the dot; semicolons always imply
separation rather than connection. "Mike 38 of
Portland announced a roll call; it was ,
however, unofficial, creating mayhem and
amusement." A sentence made up of two distinct
parts whose separation needs to be emphasized
may do so with a semicolon: "Mary moved to
Seattle; she was sick of getting sunburned in
Los Angeles." When a compound sentence contains
commas within one or more of its clauses, you
have to escalate to a semicolon to separate the
clauses themselves: "It was a mild, deliciously
warm spring day; and Mary decided to walk to
the fair." The other main use of semicolons is
to separate one series of items from another--a
series within a series, if you will: "The
issues discussed by the board of directors were
many: the loud, acrimonious complaints of the
stockholders; the abrupt, devastating departure
of the director; and the startling, humiliating
discovery that he had absconded with half the
company's assets." Any time the phrases which
make up a series contain commas, for whatever
reason, they need to be separated by
semicolons.
Many people are so terrified of making the
wrong choice that they try to avoid colons and
semicolons altogether, but I'm afraid this just
can't be done. Formal writing requires their
use, and it's necessary to learn the correct
patterns.
40 PROBLEM WORDS AND PHRASES
1. And also - This is often
redundant.
2. And/or - Outside of the
legal world, most of the time this construction
is used, it is neither
necessary nor logical. Try using
one word or the other.
3. As to whether - The single
word whether will suffice.
4. Basically, essentially,
totally - These words seldom add anything
useful to a sentence. Try
the sentence without them and,
almost always, you will see the sentence
improve.
5. Being that/being as - These
words are a non-standard substitute for
because. [Being that]
Because I was the youngest child, I
always wore hand-me-downs.
6. Considered to be - Eliminate
the to be and, unless it's important who's
doing the considering,
try to eliminate the entire
phrase.
7. Due to the fact that - Using
this phrase is a sure sign that your sentence
is in trouble. Did you
mean because? Due to is acceptable
after a linking verb (The team's failure was
due to
illness among the stars.);
otherwise, avoid it.
8. Each and every - One or the
other, but not both.
9. Equally as - Something can
be equally important or as important as, but
not equally as
important.
10. Etc. - This word often
suggests a kind of laziness. It might be better
to provide one more
example to suggest that you could
have written more, but chose not to.
11. He/she is a convention
created to avoid gender bias in writing, but it
doesn't work very well
and it becomes downright obtrusive
if it appears often. Use he or she or pluralize
(where
appropriate) so you can avoid the
problem of the gender-specific pronoun
altogether.
12. Firstly, secondly, thirdly,
etc. Number things with first, second, third,
etc. and not with these
adverbial forms.
13. Got - Many writers regard
"got" as an ugly word, and they have a point.
If you can avoid it in
writing, do so. I have [got to]
must begin studying right away. I
have [got] two pairs of sneakers.
14. Had ought/hadn't ought.
Eliminate the auxiliary had. You hadn't
ought not to pester your
sister that way. Ugh, hillbilly
language.
15. Interesting - One of the
least interesting words in English, the word
you use to describe an
ugly baby. If you show us why
something is interesting, you're doing your
job.
16. In terms of See if you can
eliminate this phrase. It's usually wordy,
redundant, or simply not needed.
17. Irregardless - No one word
will get you in trouble with the boss faster
than this one.
18. Kind of or sort of. These
are OK in informal situations, but in formal
academic prose,
substitute somewhat, rather or
slightly. We were [kind of] rather
pleased with the results.
19. Literally - This word might
be confused with literarily, a seldom used
adverb relating to
authors or scholars and their
various professions. Usually, though, if you
say it's "literally a
jungle out there," you probably
mean figuratively, but you're probably better
off without either
word.
20. Lots/ lots of - In academic
prose, avoid these colloquialisms when you can
use many or much. Remember, when you do use
these words, that lots of something countable
are plural.
Remember, too, that a lot of
requires three words: "He spent a lot of money"
(not alot of).
21. Just - Use only when you
need it, as in just the right amount.
22. Nature - See if you can get
rid of this word. Movies of a violent nature
are probably just violent
movies. Avoid wordiness and awkward
phrasing wherever possible.
23. Necessitate - It's hard to
imagine a situation that would necessitate the
use of this word.
24. Of - Don't write would
of, should of, could of when you mean would
have, should have, could
have.
25. On account of - Use
because instead.
26. Only - Look out for
placement. Don't write "He only kicked that
ball ten yards" when you mean
"He kicked that ball only ten
yards." It's called a misplaced modifier and
has kept MOE'S red pencils down to the nub for
years:-)
27. Orientate - The new students
become oriented, not orientated. The
same thing applies to
administrate -- we
administer a project.
28. Per - Use according
to instead. We did it per your
instructions? Naah. (This word is used
frequently in legal language and in
technical specifications, where it seems to be
necessary
and acceptable.)
29. Plus - Don't use this word
as a conjunction. Use and instead.
30. Point in time - Redundant:
forget it! At this time or at this
point or now will do the job.
31. Previous as in "our previous
discussion." Use earlier or nothing at
all.
32. So as to - Usually, a simple
to will do.
33. Suppose to, use to. The hard
"d" sound in supposed to and used to disappears
in
pronunciation, but it shouldn't
disappear in spelling. "We used to do that" or
"We were
supposed to do it this way."
34. The reason why is because.
Deja vu all over again! Redundant, awkward, and
incorrect.
35. Thru - This nonstandard
spelling of through should not be used in
academic prose. Same goes for nite. Use
night.
36. 'Til - Don't use this word
instead of until or till, even in bad
poetry.
37. Try and - Don't try and do
something. Try to do something.
38. Thusly - Use thus or
therefore instead.
39. Utilize - Don't use this
word where use would suffice. (Same goes for
utilization.)
40. Very, really, quite (and
other intensifiers) - Like basically,
these words seldom add
anything useful. Try the sentence
without them and see if it improves.
COMIC RELIEF: 31 Oddities
1. Verbs HAS to agree with their subjects.
2. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
3. And don't start a sentence with a conjunction.
4. It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.
5. Avoid cliches like the plague. (They're old hat)
6. Also, always avoid annoying alliteration.
7. Be more or less specific.
8. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are (usually)
unnecessary.
9. Also too, never, ever use repetitive
redundancies.
10. No sentence fragments.
11. Contractions aren't necessary and shouldn't be used.
12. Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.
13. Do not be redundant; do not use more words than
necessary; it's highly superfluous.
14. One should NEVER generalize.
15. Comparisons are as bad as cliches.
16. Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.
17. One-word sentences? Eliminate.
18. Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.
19. The passive voice is to be ignored.
20. Eliminate commas, that are, not necessary.
Parenthetical words however should be enclosed in commas.
21. Never use a big word when a diminutive one would
suffice.
22. Use words correctly, irregardless of how others use them.
23. Understatement is always the absolute best way to put forth
earth-shaking ideas.
24. Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said,
"I hate quotations. Tell me what you know."
25. If you've heard it once, you've heard it a thousand times: Resist hyperbole; not one writer in a million can use it correctly.
26. Puns are for children, not groan readers.
27. Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.
28. Even IF a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed.
29. Who needs rhetorical questions?
30. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.
And lastly___
31. Proofread carefully to see if you any words out.