Hello everyone!

I’m breaking from our series of tricky word pairs to present you with this interesting and incredibly useful article that explains the proper order of adjectives before a noun: “opinion-size-age-shape-colour-origin-material-purpose Noun” (without the hyphens, of course). As the article explains, most English speakers know when a series of adjectives sounds incorrect, but since we’re not taught any rule governing the order of such an adjectival series, we have trouble explaining why it is incorrect. Not so for non-native speakers, who are taught that rule! So please, take a look, and never have to wonder about adjective order again: http://qz.com/773738/how-non-english-speakers-are-taught-this-crazy-english-grammar-rule-you-know-but-youve-never-heard-of/?utm_source=atlfb

Until next time!

Hello everyone!

I’m back to talk about another often-misused word pair, and today’s culprits are particularly close to my heart. You see, I had a wonderful professor in college who used to rant about people using reference when they ought to be using refer, and so I can’t help but think of him and all he taught me about writing every time I encounter the same error.

The crux of the issue with these two words is that refer is the verb form while reference is the noun form, but it’s become quite popular to use reference as a verb. Now, you might be wondering what’s wrong with that, since you would observe if you looked up reference in the Merriam-Webster dictionary that it is listed as a verb as well as a noun. The problem with relying solely on the dictionary to determine appropriate word usage, however, is that the dictionary is designed to reflect popular usage of words–not to present what is actually correct according to the rules of the language. So while the dictionary’s a great tool to determine word meanings and spellings, it’s better to rely on style guides (Chicago Manual of Style, APA, MLA, and many others) to learn the rules about word usage.

Which brings us back to the fact that refer is the verb and reference is the noun. So, She refers to her style guides frequently, not She references her style guides frequently. Similarly, She uses her style guides as references, not She uses her style guides as refers. And it’s even okay to say She makes reference to her style guides frequently (although I’d advise against that since it adds an unnecessary verb)–the key point is to keep reference as a noun and leave the verb work to refer. I promise that it will make your writing stand out!

Until next time!

Hello everyone!

Today we’re going to examine the difference between hearty and hardy, two similar-looking adjectives that sound even more alike! As with last week’s pair, these two are easy to confuse because their meanings are quite similar, but it will give your writing a real edge if you know the best time to use each one. So let’s dive in!

Hearty means strong, in the sense of being enthusiastic or cheerful; for example, She has a hearty appetite. Hardy also means strong, but in the sense of being robust or able to endure hardship; for example, She was hardy enough to survive the freezing winter. While they both have the same basic meaning (strong), their connotations are drastically different, and so it might give your readers pause to see you talking about somebody’s “hardy” endorsement of a candidate or how the “hearty” young man was able to climb Everest.

So how can you remember which word to use when? The answer this time is in the words themselves! Hearty begins with heart, which can remind you of its indication of cheer and enthusiasm, while hardy begins with hard, which can remind you of its indication of stamina. It’s really as simple as that!

Until next time!

Hello all!

Are you ready to conquer another tricky word pair? Today, we’re going to look at flaunt and flout, which can be confusing because they are similar in almost every way: spelling, pronunciation, meaning, and even part of speech. But there are key differences between the two that make it worth knowing when it’s best to use which one.

Flaunt is a verb meaning to show off, and it usually holds the connotation of showing something off in a manner that violates the rules of politeness in order to attract attention. For example, She flaunted her enormous engagement ring in front of her unhappily single cousin. Flout is a verb meaning to openly break or ignore, and it usually refers to a rule or standard of some sort. For example, She flouted the law when she broke into the jewelry store and stole the ring right in front of the security cameras. Both verbs have a sense of flamboyance about them, where the person completing the action is seeking some form of attention, but flaunt has more the sense of bragging about something while flout has more the sense of scornful disregard for a rule.

And now you can stop flouting the rules and instead flaunt your knowledge of the difference between these two words! Until next time!

Hello all!

I’m back with another word pair, and today’s culprits are responsible for tripping up nearly every writer at some point. It tends to be the case that we’re taught both words somewhere along the way–so we know that they mean the same thing but are supposed to be used in different situations–but we somehow never really learn when who is the appropriate choice and when whom is the appropriate choice. We scratch our heads trying to figure it out, and then ultimately give up and either just guess or choose to use who exclusively because it’s the safer choice.

So, how do you know when to use who and when to use whom?

The truth is that there’s actually a trick that makes the choice super simple. We don’t tend to have any problems knowing when to use he/she versus him/her, and who and whom follow the exact same rules. The trick is to simply substitute he/she or him/her into the sentence, which will tell you when to use who (in cases where he/she fits) and when to use whom (in cases where him/her fits). For example, Who/whom was playing music too loud? In this case, it works to say She was playing music too loud, so we know that the proper sentence is Who was playing music too loud? By contrast, in the sentence To who/whom does this CD belong?, we can substitute in him to answer The CD belongs to him. Thus, the proper choice in this case is To whom does this CD belong?

The reason this trick works is because, while they indicate the same idea and are both pronouns, who is the subject of the verb while whom is the object, same as he/she functions as the subject while him/her functions as the object. But if all you remember is the trick (and not why it works), you’ll be in good shape and able to use who and whom with the best of them!

Until next time!

Hello all!

I’m fortunate enough to have just returned from a trip across the pond, to that wonderful place where fries are “chips,” chips are “crisps,” the bathroom is the “loo,” and cars drive down the opposite side of the road. Reading museum brochures, restaurant menus, and street signs reminded me of just how different British and American English can be. Vocabulary differences aside, there are some distinct differences in spelling (color vs. colour, recognize vs. recognise, and center vs. centre) that can throw quite a few people in both nations when we read something written in the other nation’s style.

So how did two countries that share the same language wind up spelling so many words differently, especially when the US was originally populated with Brits? The credit goes largely to one man: Noah Webster, originator of Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, America’s first dictionary. Not only did he want to distinguish American English as a different dialect than British English, but he was also bothered by how many words in British English were spelled differently than they sounded. His dictionary formalized the spellings he preferred, and we in the US have been using them ever since.

So which words are correct? Both, of course–but I suggest using the conventions of whichever country you’re writing for. That will keep your readers from any potential confusion…and you might wind up learning another language in the process, for as George Bernard Shaw said, “The United States and Great Britain are two countries separated by a common language.”

Until next time!

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!