Hello everyone!

I’m back with another word pair. Today’s confusing duo is wreck and wreak, which are undeniably easy to mix up due to the fact that they are spelled so similarly and mean almost exactly the same thing. Although wreck can also be a noun, both wreck and wreak are verbs indicating destruction. There is a subtle difference between the two in that wreck means to damage while wreak means to cause damage, but they effectively suggest the same outcome.

So, you must be wondering, what is the difference? The difference is that wreck stands on its own, while wreak is immediately followed by a noun (most often havoc). We can say The storm wrecked the ship but not The storm wreaked the ship. If we want to use wreak, we have to say The storm wreaked havoc on the ship. Likewise, it doesn’t work to say The storm wrecked havoc on the ship. The other difference, of course, is in pronunciation: Wreak is pronounced like reek, while wreck is pronounced like rec (as in the first part of recreation).

It’s just one letter, and a very subtle distinction in meaning, but choosing the proper word can make a world of difference in your writing!

Until next time!

Hello all!

It’s that time again! Today’s tricky word pair is then and than. These two have a tendency to trip people up because their spellings are so similar, which winds up leading many writers out there to use one or the other exclusively, regardless of the sentence situation. In fact, my theory is that a whole lot of people don’t realize there actually are two words. But after reading this, you will no longer fall into that category of authors!

Then can be an adverb, a noun, or an adjective depending on how it is used. As an adverb, it presents a sequence of events: She cleaned the counter, then the sink. As a noun, it refers to a period of time: Things were better back then. And as an adjective, it describes the former state of something: The then-leader of the writing group forgot the difference between “then” and “than,” much to everybody’s chagrin. By contrast, than is only ever a conjunction, used to set up a comparison: I like the French restaurant much better than the Italian one.

The real trick to remembering when to use then and when to use than is to simply remember that both words exist. Then, use than when you’re setting up a comparison and use then the rest of the time. And then you’ll find your writing much clearer than before!

Until next time!

Hello all!

I’m back with another tricky word pair. This week’s pair is accept and except, which are often confused because they sound the same, even though they have very different spellings and meanings. In fact, they almost have opposing meanings: Accept is a verb that means to receive, while except is a preposition that means not including or other than (per Merriam-Webster). So, She accepted the flowers he gave her and He remembered everything except his wallet.

So how can you remember which is which when they sound the same? The answer lies in the spelling. Except has an X in it, which we tend to use to indicate that something is not or should not be included. So, the word with the X in it is the one that indicates that something is not included.

I hope this was another helpful hint you can use to improve your writing! Until next time!

Hello all!

I’m back with another tricky word pair. Today’s culprits are disinterested and uninterested. These words can get confusing not because they look or sound the same but because they appear to mean the same thing. We’re used to interpreting the prefixes dis- and un- to both indicate the opposite of the word to which they’re attached. For example, the dis- in disappear causes that word to mean the opposite of appear, and the un- in undo causes that word to mean the opposite of do. So, we would tend to think that both disinterested and uninterested mean “not interested.”

In this case, however, only the un- functions in its usual capacity. Uninterested is the word that actually means “not interested”; disinterested, by contrast, means “impartial” or “objective.” Rather than a complete removal of interest, the dis- in this case indicates simply a removal of preference. Someone can be interested in a sporting event while still being disinterested in its outcome, but that person cannot be both interested and uninterested in that event.

It’s a subtle distinction, but an important one for your writing. You can entirely change the meaning of a sentence by using one word instead of the other. I hope this explanation has helped clarify this word pair for you!

Until next time!

Hello everyone, and Happy New Year!

Earlier this week, I ran across a fascinating article on mental_floss that lists 25 words that are their own opposites. If you’re anything like me, you tend to just use words in the context you need them without thinking much about their other meanings. But one of the best ways to make sure that you clearly convey your meaning to your reader is to use unambiguous words in your writing. So, today, I want to suggest that you check out this article, and use it as a springboard to keep alternate meanings of words in mind as you write this year: http://mentalfloss.com/article/57032/25-words-are-their-own-opposites.

Until next time!

Hello everyone!

I’m back with another confusing word pair. Today’s set falls into the category of errors that are made so commonly that most people don’t even realize they are prone to making those errors! That’s because the English-speaking world has largely started using quote as both noun and verb. We see a lot of both May I quote you? and The following quote from Mark Twain shows why he’s the best author ever. And since that’s become what’s known as “common usage,” it’s actually considered acceptable to use the word quote exclusively, and never quotation.

In more formal writing, however–and just as something that’s good to know so that you can make a conscious choice about what to use in your own writing, whatever level of formality–“correct usage” comes into play. The correct usage is that quote is the verb and quotation is the noun. So, May I quote you? is correct, but The following quote from Mark Twain… is incorrect. Instead, the correct phrase would be The following quotation from Mark Twain shows why he’s the best author ever.

So now you know, and you can decide which way you’d like to use this word pair! I’ll be back next time with more!

Until then!

Hello everyone!

I’m back with another tricky word pair. Today we’re going to unlock the mystery of when to use among and when to use between, two words that have essentially the same function and meaning–which is what makes them so confusing!

We know that both words are prepositions used to indicate something that is in, through, shared, or held in common with something else (or multiple something elses). For example, She couldn’t decide between the two choices and Tom, Dick, and Harry shared the pizza among themselves. But how do you know when to use among and when to use between?

Great news! There is an incredibly simple answer: When there are only two somethings, use between; when there are more than two somethings, use among. So, we say She couldn’t decide between the two choices because there are only two choices, and we say Tom, Dick, and Harry shared the pizza among themselves because there are more than two people sharing. This rule applies no matter the somethings we’re talking about. And how can you remember that? What helps me is that the twe in between looks a lot like the number two, so I use the preposition with the two(e) in it for two somethings and the other one for everything else!

I hope you find this tip helpful, and that no lingering confusion over this word pair comes between you and your writing! Until next time!

Hello all!

It’s time for us to conquer another confusing word pair. This week’s culprit is further and farther. Most everyone is stymied when it comes to figuring out which of these words to use when, probably because their definitions and usage are almost identical. Both are used to indicate distance from something, whether physical or metaphorical, so most of us wind up using them more or less interchangeably. But there’s a simple trick to knowing which one is actually correct in which case!

In cases where you’re talking about a physical distance that can be measured, use farther. In all other cases, use further. So, The store is two miles farther down the road but The setback put him further from his dream than he’d ever been. Even better than this simple rule is the simple way to remember it: “far” indicates a distance (e.g., How far did he run?), so farther goes with physical distances.

And that’s all there is to it! I hope this little trick will help resolve the further vs. farther quandary for you for good.

Until next time!