COMMON USAGE PROBLEMS

COMMON USAGE PROBLEMS

This list identifies words and constructions that sometimes require attention in writing projects. Some of the entries are pairs of words that are quite different in meaning yet similar enough in spelling to be confused (e.g. principal, principle). Some are nonstandard usages (e.g. alright) and informal constructions (e.g. being as=because) that are not acceptable in formal writing.

accept, except To accept is "To agree to something or to receive something willingly." To except is "to exclude or omit." As a preposition, except means "but" or "excluding."

advice, advise You advise someone. What you give that person is advice.

affect, effect Affect is a verb meaning either "to influence" or "to pretend." Effect as a verb means "to accomplish or to produce as a result." As a noun, effect means "result."

a lot This little expression causes a lot of trouble. It is two words, not one. The misspelling "alot" is nonstandard. The verb to partition is to "allot."

all right The misspelling "alright" is nonstandard usage. The two words are separate.

allusion, illusion Allusion is a reference to something literary or historical with which the reader is presumably familiar. An illusion is a false, misleading, or overly optimistic idea.

already, all ready Already is an adverb meaning "even now" or "previously." All ready is an adjective phrase meaning "completely prepared." (We are already late. We are all ready for the tournament.)

alter, altar Alter means change ("My instructor wants me to alter the format of my paper") and an altar is a religious object ("I was married at the altar of my church").

altogether, all together Altogether means "entirely" or "on the whole." All together means that all parts of a group are considered together. (This news story is altogether false. [entirely] A tug of war is won by a team pulling all together.)

among, between Between expresses the joining or separation of two people or things. Among refers to a group of three or more.

Nonstandard: We shared the pie between the three of us.

Standard: We shared the pie among the three of us.

anxious, eager Anxious should not be used in college writing to mean "eager," as in "Gretel is anxious to see her gift." Eager is the preferred word in this context.

awful, awfully The real objection to awful is that it is worked to death. Instead of being reserved for situations in which it means "awe inspiring," it is used excessively as a utility word. Use both awful and awfully sparingly.

bad, badly The ordinary uses of bad as an adjective cause no difficulty. As a predicate adjective ("An hour after dinner, I began to feel bad.), it is sometimes confused with the adverb badly. After the verbs look, feel, and seem, the adjective is preferred. Say: "It looks bad for our side," "I feel bad about the quarrel," "Our predicament seemed bad this morning." But do not use bad when an adverb is required, as in "He played badly," "a badly torn suit."

being as, because The use of being as for "because" or "since" in such sentences as "Being as I am an American, I believe in democracy" is nonstandard. Say "Because I am an American, I believe in democracy."

between you and I Both pronouns are objects of the preposition between and so should be in the objective case: "Between you and me."

beside, besides Beside means "at the side of." Besides means "in addition to." (Secret Service agents stand beside the President. There are other motives besides greed.)

can't hardly A confusion between cannot and can hardly. The construction is unacceptable in formal writing. Sue cannot, can't or can hardly.

capital, capitol Capitol is the spelling used for the government building ("We could see the capitol from our hotel building"), while capital is the correct spelling for all other uses ("What is the capital of Colorado?").

choose, chose Choose is a present tense verb ("Choose your partners"), while chose is a past tense verb ("The girls chose two seniors").

cite, site, sight Cite means to indicate ("You must cite all sources used in your paper"). A site is a place ("Independence is the site of Harry Truman's home"). A sight is a vision ("You're a sight for sore eyes!").

coarse, course Coarse is an adjective meaning rough or crude ("He uses coarse language"), while course is a noun meaning a path of action ("The course in speech helped my diction").

complement, compliment Complement means to make whole or complete or that which makes whole or complete ("The complement, or full crew, is 600 people). Compliment means respect, affection, or esteem ("Convey my compliments to the captain").

consul, council, councilor, counsel, counselor Consul is a diplomat to a foreign country. Council refers to a group to discuss and take action on official matters ("Student Council"); a councilor is a member of such a group. Counsel is advice or to advise. A counselor ("your guidance counselor") is an adviser.

des' ert, desert', dessert A desert (pronounced des' ert) is a dry region. To desert (pronounced desert') is to leave. The dessert is the last part a meal ("We ate chocolate cake for dessert).

different from, different than Although both different from and different than are common American usages, the preferred idiom is different from.

emigrant, immigrant An emigrant is a person who moves out of a country; an immigrant is one who moves into a country. Thus, refugees from Central America and elsewhere who settle in the United States are emigrants from their native countries and immigrants here. A similar distinction holds for the verbs emigrate and immigrate.

fewer, less Fewer is used to describe things that can be counted. Less refers to quantity or degree. (Patrick has fewer headaches than he used to have. There has been less rain this year than last year. This dishwasher will give you less trouble than that one.)

formally, formerly Formally means in a formal or standardized manner ("for weddings one should dress formally"). Formerly means previously ("The high ridges of the Blue Ridge Mountains were formerly the bed of an ancient sea").

further, farther; furthest, farthest Generally, in good usage, farther is used for comparisons of distance and further for anything else. (Robin's punt went farther than Jenny's. [distance] Pablo has advanced further in his study of English. [extent])

good, well Good is an adjective. Do not use it to modify a verb. Well is an adverb except in three uses: (1) when used to mean "healthy," (2) when used to mean "neatly groomed" or "attractively dressed," and (3) when used to mean "satisfactory."

had of, off of The use of is both unnecessary and undesirable.

Nonstandard: If you had of played, we would have won.

Standard: If you had played, we would have won.

Nonstandard: The box fell off of the shelf.

Standard: The box fell off the shelf.

hopefully Opinion is divided about the acceptability of attaching this adverb loosely to a sentence and using it to mean "I hope": "Hopefully, the plane will arrive on schedule." This usage is gaining acceptance, but there is still strong objection to it. In college writing the safe decision is to avoid it.

imply, infer Imply means to suggest something. Infer means to derive a certain meaning from a remark or an action.

in, into In means "inside something." Into tells of motion from the outside to the inside of something.

Nonstandard: Carl dove in the water.

Standard: Carl dove into the water.

Nonstandard: I drove the car in the garage.

Standard: I drove the car into the garage.

inside of, outside of Inside of and outside of generally should not be used as compound prepositions. In place of the compound prepositions in "The display is inside of the auditorium" and "The pickets were waiting outside of the gate," write "Inside the auditorium" and "outside the gate." Inside of is acceptable in most formal writing when it means "in less than": "I'll be there inside of an hour." The more formal term is within.

Both inside of and outside of are appropriate when inside or outside is a noun followed by an of phrase: "The inside of the house is attractive"; "He painted the outside of his boat dark green."

irregardless A nonstandard variant of regardless. Do not use it.

lead, led, lead Lead (pronounced leed) means to go first ("You lead because you know the way"). Led is the past tense of lead ("He led us five miles out of the way"). Lead is a heavy metal; also the graphite in a pencil ("The books are as heavy as lead").

lie, lay Lie means to recline. Lay means to put or place something.

like, as, as if While the use of like as a conjunction is common in speaking, its use as a conjunction is not fully established in writing. Like is better used as a preposition.

Not accepted: I feel like Susan Anderson does about consumers' rights.

Better: I feel as Susan Anderson does about consumers' rights.

Not accepted: Ralph looked like he had seen a ghost.

Better: Ralph looked as if he had seen a ghost.

loose, lose Loose means to be free, not close together ("He has two loose front teeth"). To lose means to suffer loss ("Do not lose your tickets").

moral, morale Moral means good ("We admire a moral person"); it is also a lesson on conduct ("The moral of the story. . . "). Morale is a mental condition, spirit ("The team's morale was low?").

most, almost Almost is an adverb meaning "nearly." Most is an adjective meaning "the greater part."

Nonstandard: Most everyone attended the game.

Standard: Almost everyone attended the game.

of When could have, might have, must have, and similar phrases are spoken, they usually come out as contractions: Could've, might've, must've and so on. Because the contracted form 've sounds like of, some people mistakenly write could of, might of, must of.

Nonstandard: That plant must of been over watered.

Standard: That plant must have been over watered.

past, passed Past is a noun, adjective or preposition ("Adele read the minutes of the past meeting" "The dog walked past the cat"). Passed is a verb, the past tense of pass ("We passed the papers to the front").

personal, personnel Personal means "of a person": "a personal opinion," "a personal matter." Personnel refers to the people in an organization, especially employees: "Administrative personnel will not be affected."

piece, peace Piece is a portion of a larger object ("a piece of pie") and peace means tranquility ("peace and quiet").

principal, principle The basic meaning of principal is "chief" or "most important." It is used in this sense both as a noun and as an adjective: "The principal of a school, " "the principal point." It is also used to refer to a capital sum of money, as contrasted with interest on the money: "He can live on the interest without touching the principal." Principle is used only as a noun and means "rule," "law," or "controlling idea": "the principle of 'one man, one vote'"; "Cheating is against my principles."

proceed, precede To proceed is to "go forward"; to precede means "to go ahead of"; "The blockers preceded the runner as the football team proceeded toward the goal line."

rain, rein, reign Rain means precipitation ("The rain fell gently on the flowers"). Rein means a harness strap ("The horse's reins") or control ("The reins of government"). To reign means to rule or a period of rule ("Queen Elizabeth reigns over England").

refer back A confusion between look back and refer. This usage is objected to in formal writing on the ground that since the re- of refer means "back," refer back is redundant. Refer back is acceptable when it means "refer again" ("The bill was referred back to the committee"); otherwise, use refer ("Let me refer you to page 17").

respectfully, respectively Respectfully means with respect or full of respect ("The reporters listed respectfully to the senator's request"). Respectively means each in the order given ("Nick, Margo, and Ted are nineteen, seventeen, and fifteen, respectively").

so (conj.) The use of "so" as a connective ("The salesperson refused to exchange the merchandise; so we went to the manager") is thoroughly respectable, but its overuse in formal writing is objectionable. There are other good transitional connectives -- accordingly, for that reason, on that account, therefore -- that could be used to relieve the monotony of a series of so's. Occasional use of subordination ("When the salesperson refused to exchange the merchandise, we went to the manager") also brings variety to the style.

stationery, stationary Stationery is writing paper ("Perfumed stationery is in bad taste"), while stationary means in a fixed position ("The desk is stationary").

than, then Than is a conjunction used in comparison; then is an adverb indicating time. Do not confuse the two: "I would rather write in the morning than in the afternoon. My thinking seems to be clearer then."

that, which, who That refers to persons or things, which refers to things, and who refers to persons. That introduces a restrictive clause; which usually introduces a nonrestrictive clause: "John argued that he was not prepared to take the exam. The exam, which had been scheduled for some time, could not be changed." "Anyone who was not ready should have to take the test anyway."

there, their, they're Although these words are pronounced alike, they have different meanings. There indicates place: "Look at that dog over there." Their indicates possession: "I am sure it is their dog." They're is a contraction for "they are": "They're probably not home."

unique The formal meaning of unique is "sole" or "only" or "being the only one of its kind": "Adam was unique in being the only man who never had a mother." The use of "unique" to mean "rare" or "unusual" ("Americans watched their television sets anxiously as astronauts in the early moon landings had the unique experience of walking on the moon") has long been popular, but some people still object to this usage. The use of "unique" to mean merely "uncommon" ("a unique sweater") is generally frowned upon. Unique should not be modified by adverbs that express degree; very, more, most, rather.

whether, weather Use whether as in the phrase "whether or not" and use weather when referring to atmospheric or climatic conditions.

who, whom Who is the nominative case ("He is the one who will be elected"), while whom is the objective case ("He is the one whom you have been seeking").

who's, whose Who's is a contraction of who is or who has ("Who's there?"), while whose is the possessive of who ("Whose book is that?").

whole, hole Whole means entire ("He ate the whole pie"), while a hole is an empty hollow ("My dog dug a hole in my yard").

write, right, rite Write means to scrawl, to pen, to put thoughts into readable format ("I need to write a letter to my grandmother"). Right means correct ("Your answer is right"). A rite is a ceremony ("The priest read the dying man his last rites") .

you, one The use of you as an indefinite pronoun instead of the formal one is characteristic of an informal style. If you adopt you in an informal paper, be sure that this impersonal use will be recognized by your readers; otherwise, they are likely to interpret a general statement as a personal remark addressed specifically to them. Generally avoid shifting from one to you within a sentence.

your, you're Your is the possessive of you ("Where is your book?") and you're is a contraction of you are ("You're enrolled in French II, aren't you?").