Usage Glossary

1. Usage Glossary A list of potentially troublesome words

2. 1. A and An • Of course, use the article “a” when the word that follows begins with a consonant sound…including a sounded h: • Astronauts flew a rocket to the moon. • Have you ever ridden in a helicopter? • Use “an” when the word that follows begins with a vowel sound or an unsounded h: • The museum received an endowment. • I was an heir to a great fortune. • Use “a” before a word that begins with the “yew” sound: • I saw the eucalyptus plant. • We are here to celebrate a union of two people.

3. 2. a lot vs. alot • You should ALWAYS write this expression as two words! • It means “a large amount.” • Some authorities, however, suggest avoiding it altogether in formal English. • Informal: A lot of people attended the final game of the season. • Formal: Many people attended the final game of the season.

4. 3. a while and awhile • A while is made up of an article and a noun. • “In” or “for” often comes before a while, forming a prepositional phrase. • Awhile, a single word, is used only as an adverb. • The musicians paused for a while • The musicians will pause in a while • The musicians paused awhile—in this case we are modifying the verb paused—making awhile an adverb.

5. 4. Accept vs. Except • Accept, a verb, means “to receive” or “to agree to.” • Except may be used as a preposition or as a verb. As a preposition it means “but.” As a verb it means “to leave out.” • Please accept my apologies. • Everyone except Paul can attend the meeting. (preposition) • If you except the planet Earth, you can consider the Solar System uninhabited (unconventional use of a verb)

6. 5. Adapt vs. Adopt • Adapt means “to change something so that it can be used for another purpose” or “to adjust.” • Adopt means “to take something for one’s own.” • It was difficult to adapt the play for a young audience. • Some people think that dinosaurs became extinct because they could not adapt to the changing environment. • The general must adopt a new strategy to win this battle.

7. 6. Advice, advise • Advice, a noun, means “helpful opinion.” • Advise, a verb, means “to give advice” or “to counsel” • Sheri asked her guidance counselor for advice in choosing a college and hoped he would advise her well.

8. 7. Affect vs. Effect • Affect, a verb, means “to cause a change in,” or “to influence.” • Effect may be used as a noun or a verb. As a noun it means “result.” As a verb it means “to bring about” or “accomplish” • This information will certainly (effect, affect) our decision. • What (affect, effect) will this information have on your decision? • What could (effect, affect) such a change in her outlook?

9. 8. Ain’t • Ain’t is unacceptable in formal speaking and writing. • Use ain’t only when quoting somebody’s exact words or when writing dialogue to create a particular effect. • Otherwise use: • I am not; she is not; he is not; and so on.

10. 9. All ready, already • All ready means “completely ready.” • Already, an adverb, means “before” or “by this time.” • The boys were all ready to take the test, but by the time they arrived, the test had already begun.

11. 10. All right vs. alright • ALWAYS write this expression as two words. • Although it is sometimes spelled as one word, alright, most authorities prefer that it be spelled all right. • Is it all right for the baby to have ice cream?

12. Can’t hardly/can’t scarcely • Both of these expressions are considered to be double negatives. • Hardly and scarcely by themselves have a negative meaning. This is why we avoid using with the word or contraction not • Example: • David is so hoarse he can hardly talk. • The knights can scarcely move in their heavy suits of armor.

13. Continual/Continuous • Use continual to refer to an action that occurs repeatedly. • Example: Continual rainstorms make the tropical forests a lush, green place. • Use continuous to describe an action that proceeds with no interruption or to refer to uninterrupted space. • Example: Hector’s research was continuous for ten hours today. • The gray water stretched ahead of him in a continuous expanse.

14. Could of, must of, might of, should of, would of… • The auxiliary verb have, not the preposition of, should follow could, might, must, should, or would… • Example: If he knew he was going to be late, he should have called her.

15. Different from/different than • Note: Different from, in general, is preferred over the expression different than. • Example: Janet is different from her sister.

16. Emigrate/Immigrate • These two words are opposites. • Emigrate means “to leave a country or region.” • Immigrate means “to enter a country; to settle there.” • Use from with emigrate and to or into with immigrate. • Examples: • Between 1867 and 1886, nearly 450,000 persons emigrated from Sweden. • Most Swedes who immigrated to the United States settled in the Midwest.

17. Farther/Further • Use farther to refer to physical distance. • Example: How much farther will we have to drive today? • Use further to refer to time or degree. • Example: We will not discuss this matter further.

18. Fewer/Less • Fewer refers to nouns that can be counted. • Less generally refers to nouns that cannot be counted. • *You should also always use less to refer to figures used as a single amount or quantity. • Examples: • There have been fewer rainy days this month than last. • This piece of fish has fewer calories than that piece of steak. • We’ve had less rain this month than last. [rain cannot be counted] • The storm lasted for less than three hours. [three hours is treated as a single period of time] • My new raincoat cost less than one hundred dollars. [one hundred dollars is treated as a single sum]

19. Hanged/hung • Hanged should be used to mean “to put to death by hanging.” Example: During the 1800s, the convicted murderers were hanged. Hung should be used in all other cases. Example: The doctor hung her diploma on a wall in her office.

20. In, into, in to • Use in to mean “inside” or “within a place.” • The sick man was resting in bed. • Use into to indicate movement from outside to a point within or to indicate something pointing inward. • The doctor arrived and immediately went into the sickroom. • Do not mix in to with the preposition into: • The doctor arrived and went in to the sick man.

21. Irregardless/regardless • The prefix –ir and the suffix –less both have negative meanings, and so they form a double negative when used together. • ALWAYS use regardless. • Please call us when you get home, regardless of the time.

22. Lay/Lie • Lay means “to put” or “to place something.” • It takes a direct object. • Please lay this blanket on the baby’s bed. • Lie means “to recline” or “to be positioned” • It never takes a direct object. • Most afternoons the baby lies quietly in the crib. • Base form: Lay Lie • Present participle: laying lying • Past form: laid lay • Past participle: laid lain • He laid the blanket on the baby’s bed last night. • The baby lay quietly in the crib yesterday afternoon.

23. like/as • Use like, which is a preposition, to introduce a prepositional phrase. • Debra runs like an Olympic track star. • Use as and as if, which are subordinating conjunctions, to introduce subordinate clauses. • Many authorities believe that like should never be used before a clause. • She plans, as I do, to run six miles a day. • Rebecca runs as if her leg is hurt.

24. Precede/Proceed • Use precede to mean “to go or come before.” • A car carrying Secret Service agents preceded the presidents. • Use proceed to mean “to continue” or “to move along.” • The president’s car proceeded slowly up the boulevard.

25. Reason is because….wordiness • This expression is repetitious since because means “for the reason that.” • Use because alone or use the reason is that. • The reason Jan stayed home is that she is not feeling well. • Jan stayed home because she does not feel well.

26. Respectfully/Respectively • Use respectfully to mean “with respect” • The students greeted their professor respectfully. • Use respectively to mean “in the order named.” • Dale and Pete like golf and tennis respectively.

27. Than/Then • Than is a conjunction that is used in comparisons and to show exception. • Nina finds trigonometry more difficult than geometry. • The leader of the hike was none other than Mrs. Shen, Nina’s geometry teacher. • Then is an adverb meaning “at that time,” “soon afterward,” “the time mentioned,” “at another time,” “for that reason,” “in that case,” or “besides.” • We were on vacation then. • Pam set the table, and then the family sat down to dinner. • By then we had already heard the good news. • Ernesto works hard; then he takes time off. • If we find a larger apartment, then we will move. • Bicycling is good exercise, then it is fun.

28. Who/whom • In questions, use “who” for subjects and “whom for direct and indirect objects and for objects of a preposition. • Who won the game? [who is the subject of the verb won] • Whom did you meet this morning? [whom is the direct object of the verb did meet] • When a question includes an interrupting expression, such as “did you say” or “do you think,” try taking out the expression to determine weather to use who or whom. • Who did you say called yesterday? [Ask yourself: who called yesterday? You can determine that who is the subject of the verb called.]

29. Who/whom • Use who and whoever for subjects and predicate nominatives in subordinate clauses (clauses that cannot stand alone as a complete sentence). • The police knew who had done it. [who is the subject of the noun clause who had done it] • We realized who the perpetrator was. [who is the predicate nominative of the noun clause who the perpetrator was] • The detectives will find whoever is guilty. [whoever is the subject of the noun clause whoever is guilty]

30. Who/whom • Use whom and whomever for direct and indirect objects and for objects of a preposition in a subordinate clause. • We wondered whom he had called last night. [whom is the direct object of the verb had called] • She is a person whom I have great respect. [whom is the object of the preposition for] • The new employee will be whomever the employer selects. [whomever is the direct object of the verb selects]

31. Who and whom—Contemporary Usage • It is getting pretty rare to see the word whom in modern-day English. • It tends to sound pretty stuffy…. • To whom am I speaking with? • There are still some phrases where we would use whom: • To whom it may concern. • It has become acceptable to use who instead of whom in contemporary English.

32. Who and Whom—Traditional Usage • There is an easy way to tell whether or not to use who or whom. • To who/whom do I send this to. • Look at the words after who/whom: In this case they are “do I send this to.” • Rephrase those words to include he or him. • Do I send this to he/him. Which one sounds better? • If it is he, we would use who…if it is him, we would use whom. • *Note: It is also not customary to begin a sentence with the word whom. • Whom do I send this to? Instead

33. All together and altogether • All together means “in a group.” • The single word altogether means “completely” or “on the whole” • The decided to leave all together, but it was altogether impossible for them to fit in one car.

34. Allusion and Illusion An allusion is “an indirect reference.” • An illusion is “a false idea or appearance”. • The candidate made a disparaging allusion to his rival’s plan for lowering taxes. • It is an illusion that taxes can be lowered this year.

35. Bad, Badly • Always use bad as an adjective • Bad is used after a linking verb: • Spot was bad. Spot = bad or bad Spot • Badly (ly) in an adverb. Follows an action verb • James played badly.

36. Good, Well • Always use good as an adjective. • Tommy is a good violinist. • Tommy was good today. • Well is an adverb; it tells us how ably someone has done. As an adjective it describes someone as “in good health” • Tommy plays the violin well. • Tommy is not well this week. (not feeling well)

37. Being as, Being that • These are both slang terms people use in everyday conversation. • They mean “because” or “since.” In formal writing, we use because or since. • Because the weather was bad… • Since the weather was bad…

38. Beside, Besides • Beside is a preposition meaning at the side of: • Carl put his keys beside the lamp. • Besides is an adverb meaning “moreover” or “in addition to”: • Besides John, I am inviting the entire class.

39. Anyways, anywheres, towards, • In all of the above examples, get rid of the “s” at the end in formal writing. • Anyway • Toward • anywhere

40. Between, Among • Between and among are prepositions that are used to state a relationship. • Use between to refer to: • Two distinct persons or things Use among to talk about groups or nonspecific nouns or people He was the best among is teamates.