UWF WRITING LAB RULES OF THUMB FOR DICTION

1. UWF WRITING LAB RULES OF THUMB FOR DICTION “Things We Say Wrong” http://www.neatorama.com/2010/09/17/things-we-say-wrong/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Neatorama+%28Neatorama%29

2. UWF WRITING LAB RULES OF THUMB FOR DICTION from Grammar Shots by Mamie Webb Hixon PowerPoint Created by April Turner Revised by Mamie Webb Hixon June 1, 2010

3. anan aan a a a a anan anan aa ana an a a a aan an a an a a n b o c p d q e r f s g t h u I v j w k x l y m z “May I have (a, an) , please.”

4. READ THESE STATEMENTS ALOUD • Which one is correct? • a UPS guy • an UPS guy

5. BOTH ARE CORRECT.It’s not the initial letter of a word that determines whether to use “a” or “an” preceding it; it’s the initial sound. • a UPS guy • a U-P-S guy • Use “a” before an initial consonant sound. • an UPS guy • An “ups” guy • Use “an” before an initial vowel sound.

6. DICTION • A—used before words and letters with an initial consonant sound • Ex: a CEO, a master’s degree, a historical event, a European tour, a university, a URL address • AN—used before words and letters with an initial vowel sound • Ex: an SGA officer, an MBA, an honorable man, an electronic device, an undecided voter • ALOT—incorrect spelling for A LOT

7. Real-World Grammar • Krystal Burger Marquee, 1980: EAT ALOT FOR A LITTLE

8. Real-world Grammar • Sign in local business: Sorry, we no longer Except checks

9. A • ACCEPT—verb: to take • Ex: I graciously accept your invitation. • EXCEPT—verb: to omit; preposition: but • Ex: Mothers of small children are excepted from jury duty. • Ex: Everyone was excused except Joe.

10. ? • Is this sign  correct, or should it read NO CHECKS Excepted

11. ADVICE—noun • Ex: Most good advice falls on deaf ears. • Thank you for your helpful advice. • ADVISE—verb • Ex: The protestors were advised to submit a list of their grievances. • On the advice of legal counsel, I am dropping the charges.

12. AFFECT—verb: to influence or to alter • Ex: The noise affects my concentration. • EFFECT—noun: result or consequence; verb: to bring about • Ex: His speech had a positive effect on me. • Ex: The President has effected a new tax law.

13. ALRIGHT—incorrect spelling for ALL RIGHT • ALMOST—adverb meaning “nearly” • Ex: We sold almost all the tickets. • MOST—adjective or pronoun; usually precedes “of” • Ex: We sold most of the tickets.

14. You be the Judge. What do you think? • A man dies, and his will divides his estate equally between his brother and three sisters. Did he or his lawyer use the wrong word “between,” when he and the lawyer really meant the estate should be divided equally among all four siblings?  

15. The judge ruled that the brother got half and that the three sisters should divide the other half because of the "rightness" or legality of the word “between.”

16. AMONG—used for relationships involving MORE THAN TWO people or things • Ex: There is a silent closeness among the family members. • BETWEEN—used for relationships involving ONLY TWO people or things • Ex: Lois and Hattie had only fifty cents between them. • EXCEPTION: Air Force One landed somewhere between Atmore, Brewton, and Pensacola. • EXCEPTION: Use transitions between paragraphs in a multi-paragraph essay.

18. AMOUNT—used with singular (mass) nouns • Ex: amount of work, amount of credit • NUMBER—used with plural (countable) nouns • Ex: a number of classes, a number of mistakes

19. COMMERCIAL JINGLE FROM THE 1960s: Winston TASTES GOOD like a cigarette should

20. AS, AS IF, AS THOUGH—used before clauses • Ex: It looks as if (not like) it’s going to rain. • Ex: He acts as though (not like) he has Alzheimer’s disease or some other form of dementia. • LIKE—preposition used to introduce a phrase, not a clause • Ex: His features are unique like a fingerprint. • Ex: It looks like rain.

21. B • BESUREAND—misused for BE SURE TO • TRYAND—misused for TRY TO • COULDOF—misused for COULD HAVE • SHOULDOF—misused for SHOULD HAVE • MIGHTOF—misused for MIGHT HAVE • WOULDOF—misused for WOULD HAVE

22. C CAPITAL - capital letters capital punishment the capital of Florida CAPITOL – a CAPITOL - inside the state capitol Florida

23. D • DIFFERENTTHAN—used only when a clause follows • Ex: The old plantation is different than it used to be. • DIFFERENTFROM—used always except when a clause follows • Ex: His hairdo is different from yours.

24. DUETO—used to introduce ADJECTIVE phrases; means “caused by” • Ex: His mistakes were due to carelessness. • BECAUSEOF—used to introduce ADVERB phrases; means “as a result of” • Ex: He was dismissed because of his dishonesty.

25. DUE TO THE FACTTHAT—misused and wordy for BECAUSE • ENTHUSE/ENTHUSED—colloquialisms for ENTHUSIASTIC

26. F • FARTHER—used to refer to distance: “far” ther • FURTHER—used to refer to depth: “furthermore”

27. Real-world Grammar • Our gasoline helps your car go farther between fill-ups. • Customers will receive further details about the company’s services.

28. Further means “to a greater extent” or “more.” • As the human species travels further into the uncharted world of digital, nano, robotic and other technologies as yet undiscovered, it seems obvious that the young people who will live and work with these undeveloped marvels must receive exceptional educations in order to function efficiently in these brave new worlds. • The child fell further and further behind with each year that passes, finally dropping out in despair.

29. FEWER—used with countable nouns • Ex: fewer cigarettes, fewer people • LESS—used with mass nouns or general amounts • Ex: less time, less money

30. LESS THAN—used before a plural noun that denotes a measure of time, amount, or distance: less than three weeks, less than sixty years old, less than 400 dollars • EXAMPLE: Less than two weeks after the inauguration, the news network’s ratings began to soar.

31. ? • Is this use of “less” correct?

32. H and I • HOPEFULLY—used as an adverb meaning “in a HOPEFUL MANNER,” not as a sentence modifier • Ex: The children waited hopefully for the packages to arrive. • INCORRECT: Hopefully, the team will win. • IRREGARDLESS—misused for REGARDLESS

33. IN REGARDS TO—nonstandard for “in regard to”WITH REGARDS TO—nonstandard for “with regard to” INCORRECT: “You have reached The Daily Planet, where ‘if you miss the news, you miss a lot.’ If you’re calling in regards to billing or home deliveries, press 1.” If you’re calling . . . .

34. ISWHEN/ISWHERE—should NOT be used to introduce an explanation or a definition • Ex: Plagiarism occurs when (not is when) a writer presents the thoughts and ideas of another author as his own. • Plagiarism is copying or stealing someone else’s writing and presenting it as your own • KINDOF/SORTOF—correctly used preceding NOUNS, NOT ADJECTIVES • Ex: I enjoy reading this kind of magazine. • INCORRECT: The movie was kind of boring. • CORRECT: The movie was rather boring.

35. L • LEAD ANDLED—Lead (pronounced “leed”) means “to go first.” Its principal parts are lead, leads, led (rhymes with red), and (have) led. • Ex: Priests lead lives of celibacy. • Ex: The man led a life of celibacy before he became a priest. LEAD – the graphite at the end of a pencil • The homonym for led is a noun. • Ex: The lead in this pencil is broken.

36. LEND—verb: to allow the use of (lend, lends, lending, lent, [have] lent) • Ex: The credit union lends (not loans) money to members only. • Ex: I lent (not loaned) my book to her last week. • LOAN—noun: something lent for temporary use • Ex: I need to establish credit so that I can be eligible for a loan.

37. Real-world Grammar From a Downtown Crowd ad, June 2010: PHYSICIANS WEIGHT LOSS CENTERS You can loose up to 30 pounds.

38. LOSE—verb: (lose, loses, losing, lost, has lost); to misplace, to not win You can lose up to thirty pounds with this diet program. LOOSE—adjective: not securely fastened If you don’t lose weight, you’ll have to wear your loose pair of jeans.

39. LIE—verb: to rest (LYING, LAY, [have] LAIN • Ex: I lie on the couch every day. • Ex: I lay on the couch for hours yesterday. • Ex: The sweater is still lying on the couch. • LAY—verb: to put (LAYING, LAID, [have] LAID) • Ex: Where did he lay my brush? • Ex: I must have laid it down somewhere yesterday. • Ex: I’m always laying things down and forgetting where I laid them.

40. The ________ expelled the (1)student for three ________ (2)reasons. 1 – principal, principle 2 – principal, principal 3 – principle, principle 4 – principle, principal 2 – principal, principal

41. P • PRINCIPAL—noun: chief official; adjective: foremost, major • PRINCIPLE—noun: axiom, rule • Ex: Her principal reasons for resigning were her principles of right and wrong. • Her principal source of income is her technical editing job. • Dr. King fought for the principle of nonviolence. • In my Business Communications class, we are studying the principles of writing.

42. R • REASON IS BECAUSE/REASON WASBECAUSE—misused for REASON IS THAT/REASON WAS THAT • Ex: The reason he was promoted is that (not because) he worked exceptionally hard. • The reason he was fired is that (not because) he is incompetent.

43. RISE—verb: to go up (RISING, ROSE, [have] RISEN) • Ex: She must rise early in the morning to get to work on time. • RAISE—verb: to push up (RAISING, RAISED, [have] RAISED) • Ex: The landlord must raise the rent to cover an increase in taxes.

44. S • SIT—verb: to be seated (SITTING, SAT, [have] SAT) • Ex: Good students usually sit on the front row. • SET—verb: to put, to place (SETTING, SET, [have] SET) • Ex: Please set the paperwork on my desk. • Ex: Try to set a positive example for young people to follow.

45. T THAN – a conjunction for comparisons taller than I am THEN – an adverb and conjunction of time Press 1; then press the pound key.

46. THAN—conjunction • Ex: Amy is a better tennis player than I. • THEN—adverb of time (often misused for THAN) • Ex: The cashier rang up our sale; then he gave us our change.

47. They’re going there with their friends. You can get there from here.On their own termsThey’re special people.

48. U USETO/SUPPOSE TO—incorrect spellings for USED TO and SUPPOSED TO Things my grandmother use to say Things my grandmother used to say What you’re suppose to know What you’re supposed to know

49. LET’S PRACTICE!!! • I took the adviseof my counselor and dropped the class. • ADVICE • A employee with a MBA earns more than an internist. • AN employee, AN MBA • Alot of students come to college with no clear notion of what they want to do. • A LOT • Medical schools except fewer than half the students who apply. • ACCEPT

50. At noon, we runners were already to start. When I reached the halfway mark, my body did not feel alright. • ALL READY; ALLRIGHT • Most all the Republicans stood all together to give their support to the proposed amendment. • ALMOST all • Among the two girls, Madison ran faster. • BETWEEN • The amount of people in the hall was extraordinary. • NUMBER