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Usage Guide

Choosing the right word can be hard. In fact, some of the most common mistakes in the language happen when a writer uses accept instead of except or eek instead of eke. So here’s an alphabetical list of some of the most troublesome words and how to use them perfectly.

accept, except The verb except means to exclude something. He likes everyone who works there except his boss. Be careful not to confuse it with its homophone, accept, which means to take, receive, endure, or believe something. He accepted the reality of his situation. Accepting can be used as an adjective to describe tolerance. He is an accepting person.

acronym Dictionaries are split on whether acronym can mean an initialism like FBI or CIA. All agree that it refers to terms like NAFTA and radar, which are pronounced as words. But they disagree on whether a term customarily pronounced as individual letters, eff bee eye, can rightly be called an acronym.

adieu, ado Without further ado and much ado both use ado, not adieu. Ado means fuss. Adieu means good-bye, derived from a dieu (“to God” in French). You bid someone adieu.

adrenalin, adrenaline According to the two dictionaries most used in publishing, the form without the e is a trade name for epinephrine and should begin with a capital A. The preferred spelling for the hormone that increases heart rate is adrenaline.

adverse, averse Adverse is often misused in contexts like He’s not adverse to having a little fun or She’s a risk-adverse person. Both these sentences, however, call for averse. Adverse means unfavorable, such as stormy weather conditions. Averse means opposed to or disinclined to.

advise, advice The verb advise ends in a z sound, like rise, and means to give a recommendation about something that should be done. The noun that means a suggestion or shared insight rhymes with rice and is advice.

affect, effect Be careful choosing between affect and effect. Affect is almost always a verb: Caffeine doesn’t affect me. Effect is almost always a noun: The medication has some awful side effects. However, there is also a verb spelled effect that means to bring about. This is the spelling you want in the expression to effect change or to effect positive change. You never affect change, as that would have the nonsensical meaning of to change change. Finally, there is also a noun spelled affect that means an outward show of emotion or state of mind—a term that sometimes comes up in psychology when describing a patient’s affect. There is also a noun form of effect, meaning items or belongings, most often heard in the term the prisoner’s personal effects.

aggravate, irritate It’s okay to use these words as synonyms sometimes. The idea that aggravate can only mean to intensify a problem, as in Playing sports aggravates his bursitis, isn’t true. Aggravate can also mean irritate, as in The way he interrupts me is so aggravating.

aisle, isle A grocery store lane is an aisle. An island is an isle.

all intents and purposes This is considered the correct expression, not all intensive purposes.

all ready, already Do not use all ready in place of already, which means before a certain time or soon. Only when you’re talking about multiple things that are ready, use the two-word form: the musicians are all ready to begin playing.

all right, alright Editors and publishers prefer the two-word form, all right. Alright is recognized by some dictionaries.

all together, altogether The adverb altogether means wholly, completely, in full, or entirely. He’s altogether mad. That’s another thing altogether. The only time to use all together is when you’re describing multiple things as being with each other. The cheerleaders, hipsters, and outcasts were all together on this point.

all told There’s a popular myth that the expression all told is properly written all tolled. That’s not true. The correct term is roughly equivalent to “once everything is said and done.” It has nothing to do with tallying or collecting.

allude, elude To allude is to hint at something. What, exactly, are you alluding to? The word that means to evade something or someone is elude. They managed to elude the police for three weeks.

allusion, illusion An allusion is an implied or indirect reference to something. The author made many allusions to the Second World War. An illusion is a magic trick, a deception of the eye, or a misapprehension.

a lot This should always be two words. Never use alot.

alter, altar Alter is a verb meaning to change. It’s the root of the noun alterations. The place where people get married and where sacrifices are made is an altar.

among, between There’s a common belief that between is for relationships between two things and among is for more than two. Not true. Use these words however they come naturally to you.

anxious, eager Anxious has a negative connotation. Eager has a positive connotation. But anxious can be used to mean eager when those subtleties are not important to the writer.

any more, anymore The one-word anymore is an adverb, so it can’t modify a noun. I don’t want any more carrots requires the two-word form because carrots is a noun, and an adverb like anymore can’t modify a noun. Customarily, anymore is used to modify verbs, as in I don’t exercise anymore. But as we saw in chapter 2, noun phrases can function adverbially. So it’s not incorrect to say I don’t work out any more.

a while, awhile For awhile is a grammatical error. Awhile is an adverb and adverbs can’t be the objects of prepositions like for. However, both awhile and a while can function adverbially in a sentence like I hope you’ll stay awhile/a while. This is because, as we saw in chapter 8, it’s not just adverbs that can function adverbially. Noun phrases like a while can, too. So the only time you can make an error in choosing between a while and awhile is after a preposition like for or in.

bad, badly The grammatically correct form is I feel bad because feel is a copular (linking) verb and copular verbs take adjectives as their complements. I feel badly is acceptable as an idiom, but it’s a mistake to opt for this form on the assumption that it’s more proper. It’s not. For more on copular verbs, see chapter 6, this page.

bald-faced In traditional usage, a lie is bald-faced, and text in bold letters is bold-faced. However, bold-faced to mean bald-faced has gained some acceptance as an idiom. Dictionaries now recognize bold-faced as an alternative to the more widely accepted bald-faced. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate, which most publishers follow, contains an entry for the adjective bald-faced, complete with hyphen. That means that you can hyphenate it in any context, regardless of whether it precedes the noun it modifies, a bald-faced lie, or comes after it, that lie was bald-faced.

bare, bear Use bare only to mean exposed or uncovered. The truth laid bare. Bare of clothes. If someone can’t endure or carry something, that means he can’t bear it.

bated breath The correct expression uses bated, not baited: it’s derived from abate. They listened with bated breath.

because, since Editors avoid using since for because in any context in which it can cause ambiguity or even momentary ambiguity. Since you graduated from Harvard, you know a lot of well-connected people. In this example, does since mean “because”? A cause-and-effect relationship between the clauses? Or does it refer to a time element, meaning “in the time following”? Probably the first one. But you can help your reader sidestep the question by using since only for temporal references.

beg the question This term is rooted in the study of logic and refers to any of several fallacious forms of reasoning. Traditionally, it’s been construed as an error when used to mean “raise the question.” That usage is now acceptable, but it’s not recommended if you’re concerned about what sticklers will think.

between you and me The grammatically correct expression uses the object pronoun me and not the subject pronoun I. This is because between is a preposition and prepositions take objects (me, him, us, etc.) as their complements. Between you and I is acceptable idiomatically, but it’s an error to choose it on the assumption it’s more proper than between you and me.

bizarre, bazaar Bizarre is an adjective meaning strange. It should not be confused with the noun meaning an outdoor marketplace, which is a bazaar.

brake, break Don’t confuse brake, meaning stop, with break, which means an interruption or splitting. We took a coffee break. They break with tradition. They’re going to break up. And don’t confuse it with the form of break that means an unfortunate or fortuitous incident: Tough break, kid. Those are the breaks. She finally got her big break.

breath, breathe Spell-checker can let you down on this one: breathe is a verb and breath is a noun. The noun is used in contexts like He took a breath and She’s a breath of fresh air. It’s easy to accidentally use breath when you mean breathe, which is a verb that rhymes with seethe. I can’t breathe.

bring, take It’s not true that bring and take can never mean the same thing. And the idea that bring is only for motion toward the speaker (Bring me those cookies) and take is only for motion away from the speaker (Take those cookies to work tomorrow) is useless when the speaker is moving along with the item in question (I will take/bring these pretzels to the office with me). In that case, either word is correct. Use these words in whatever way seems natural.

broach, brooch The preferred spelling for a piece of jewelry pinned to clothing is brooch. Use broach as a verb to mean to open up or approach, as when you broach a delicate subject.

burglarize, rob In journalism and law, these words have distinct meanings and are not interchangeable. In those realms, burglary happens out of plain sight, often with a burglar sneaking into a building undetected. Robbery, conversely, means a face-to-face confrontation. In the broader English language, however, there’s no such line in the sand. If someone sneaks into your house and steals your TV, you can say either that you were burglarized or that you were robbed.

cache, cachet Cache rhymes with stash and has a very similar meaning: either placing something in a hidden or secure place or the stuff that’s hidden there (a cache of weapons, files cached on your hard drive). Cachet has two syllables, with a silent t, and means having some quality that conveys prestige.

canvas, canvass When cops or political volunteers go door to door, you say that they canvass the neighborhood. With just one s, canvas is a fabric.

chord, cord The expression strike a chord, meaning to hit home or resonate with someone, is a reference to a musical chord. The expression cut the cord is a reference to the umbilical cord.

cite, sight, site To cite usually means to quote someone or to give them a citation, be that a parking ticket or a medal of honor. He cited the works of Shakespeare as an example. She was cited for parking at a broken meter. The corporal received a citation for bravery. Sight means vision or something seen. He temporarily lost his sight. The Napali Coast is a sight to behold. A site is a location, as in The killer returned to the site of the crime.

click, clique A tightly knit group of people is a clique, not a click.

clothes, cloths If you want to refer to a person’s clothes, spell-check probably won’t correct you if you accidentally type cloths, which means not clothing but different types of fabric.

coarse, course Something rough in texture is coarse. A course is a class, one dish in a meal, a direction of travel, a golf course, and so on.

complement, compliment, complimentary, complementary A compliment is a flattering remark. They paid us a nice compliment on our home. A complement is something that goes well with or completes something else. This wine is the perfect complement to the meal. Complimentary can mean making a flattering remark or that something is free, such as a complimentary drink. Complementary means going well together in a way that makes something complete, as in complementary furnishings.

compose, comprise If you think of comprise as meaning to contain and compose as meaning to make up, you can easily follow the leading style guides’ rules for these terms. In reality, both words are more flexible than that and their definitions more complicated. For one thing, they overlap: dictionaries allow comprise to be used as a synonym of compose. But if you want to observe a distinction between these words, note that the dictionary defines comprise as meaning to include or to be made up of. Now notice that the relevant definition of compose is to make up. In other words, compose means essentially the opposite of comprise. Note, too, that to be made up of is a passive form of to make up. So the whole comprises the parts. The parts compose the whole. But compose is usually used in the passive. Instead of saying the parts compose the whole, we usually say, the whole is composed of the parts. Meanwhile, the style rules essentially forbid using comprise in the passive: any time you write comprised of, you’re probably violating the style rule, though not the dictionary definition.

corps, corpse Without an e at the end, corps is pronounced like core and refers to a body of people, usually a military body, like the Marine Corps. A dead body is a corpse, with an e at the end and the letters p and s enunciated.

could care less In language, popular usage plus time equals correctness. As a result, could care less is now defended by many experts who argue it has become a standard idiom. However, the illogic of its verbatim meaning causes a lot of people to frown upon this usage. The idea is that the original expression, I couldn’t care less, means the speaker has so little interest in the subject that it would be impossible to have any less. Without the negation, it means it would in fact be possible to care less than you do. So you care some. That’s not what people usually mean when they say could care less. Be sure to include the negation n’t or not anytime you care what your listener thinks.

could of This is an error. The contraction could’ve, which means “could have,” is often pronounced as though it contains the word of. But it’s always a mistake to write of in this term.

council, consul, counsel A council is a group that assembles or the assembly itself. The city council voted on the housing development. The leaders held a council to discuss strategy. A consul is a government official appointed to live in a foreign country. It’s the root of consulate. Counsel is a verb meaning to give advice or a noun meaning the advice itself. She needs someone to counsel her on her retirement plan. If you get injured in a car accident, consider seeking counsel.

councilor, councillor, counselor The nouns councilor and councillor are often erroneously used in place of counselor. A councilor is a member of a council. Councillor is a variant spelling. The noun counselor is more common and means someone who gives advice, such as a school counselor, a lawyer, or a therapist.

cue, queue A cue is a signal or prompt, as in That’s my cue to leave. It’s also a pool cue, as in billiards. A queue is a line, as in There was a long queue of cars, or sequence of things held in a storage place, like a queue of computer files waiting to be read.

decimate The original use of this word, to kill one in ten soldiers to punish the lot, is now archaic. It’s acceptable to use decimate to mean to destroy a large portion of. It’s considered bad form, though, to use it to mean to completely destroy or eradicate.

defuse, diffuse Diffuse is an adjective meaning spread out, not concentrated in one area. It can also describe communication that is wordy and poorly organized. To talk about removing tension or volatility from a situation, use defuse, a reference to removing a fuse from a bomb.

descent, dissent Related to the verb descend, a descent is the process of going downward (The mountain pass has a steep descent) or a reference to lineage (He’s of Scottish descent). Don’t confuse this with dissent, which means disagreement.

desert, dessert Dessert, with two s’s, means sweets served after a meal. An arid landmass like the Sahara takes just one s (desert).

different from, different than Traditionally, prepositions like from introduce noun phrases (different from him) and conjunctions like than introduce whole clauses (different than he is). But applied to different from/than, this distinction is not a rule. The terms are interchangeable to the extent that the result is natural sounding and logical.

disburse, disperse To disperse means to spread out or break up. You disperse a crowd. To disburse means to distribute money, as in disbursing funds.

discreet, discrete Discreet means concealed, unnoticeable, or prudent. A couple having an affair tries to be discreet. Discrete means separate and distinct. The executive branch and the judiciary are discrete entities.

disinterested, uninterested The idea that you can’t use disinterested to mean not interested is archaic. Grammar prescriptivists used to say that disinterested meant only impartial, like The matter should be decided by a disinterested jury. That’s less true today than it was at the height of prescriptivism. Disinterested can be used as a synonym of uninterested.

done, finished There’s no truth to the old belief that you can’t use done to mean finished, as at the end of a meal: I’m done. One of the meanings of done, per leading dictionaries, is finished.

donut, doughnut Both forms are acceptable, but dictionaries seem to prefer doughnut. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate, which is a backup reference of the Chicago Manual of Style, calls donut the less common spelling. Webster’s New World College Dictionary, which is the backup reference for the Associated Press Stylebook, calls donut the “informal” spelling.

doorjamb The frame around a door is a doorjamb. The two-word form, door jamb, is also allowed, though not preferred.

double negative Though there’s no rule in English that says one form of negation cancels out the other, the double negative, as in I don’t have no money, is considered informal and colloquial.

dreamed, dreamt Both spellings are correct as both the simple past tense (I dreamed of Paris, I dreamt of Paris) and the past participle (I have dreamed of Paris, I have dreamt of Paris). However, because American publishers usually opt for the first form listed in American English dictionaries, dreamed is more popular in American writing as both the past tense and the past participle.

drink, drank, drunk, drunken The simple past tense is drank (He drank two glasses of water). The preferred past participle is drunk (Over the last hour he has drunk two glasses of water) but drank is also acceptable as a past participle (Over the last hour he has drank two glasses of water). Drunk is also an adjective (He was very drunk), as is drunken (a drunken sailor).

dyeing, dying Changing the color of a fabric is dyeing. Ceasing to live is dying.

eek, eke When you’re talking about scraping out a living, using resources sparingly, or otherwise barely getting by, the correct verb is eke. The farmers could barely eke out a living. Conversely, eek is an exclamation of shock or disgust.

elicit, illicit Illicit is an adjective meaning illegal or, sometimes, immoral: illicit activity. Elicit is a verb meaning to evoke or get: The editorial elicited a number of angry letters to the editor.

enormity In publishing, it’s considered bad form to use enormity to refer to size. Most editors prefer to limit it to its traditional sense meaning great evil or wickedness. Scholars were shocked by the enormity of the war crimes committed. But it can also be used to mean great size or great importance, as in The enormity of the situation.

envelop, envelope The verb meaning to enclose or surround something does not end with an e. An envelope is a piece of stationery.

every day, everyday The one-word form is always an adjective and often comes right before a noun. The store offers everyday values. Gunshots around here are an everyday occurrence. The two-word form works as a noun (Every day above ground is a good day) or a noun phrase functioning adverbially (She visits him every day).

exercise, exorcise To get rid of demons, literal or figurative, is to exorcise them. To expend physical energy or to act on a right or privilege is to exercise: He exercises daily. She will exercise her right to a trial by jury.

fair, fare Use fair only for lightness, beauty, or justice: fair-haired, my fair lady, a fair punishment. A taxi driver picks up a fare, who pays a fare. The type of food served at a restaurant is its fare.

farther, further Publishing likes to keep these words distinct. According to common publishers’ guidelines, only farther can refer to physical distances (He went three miles farther than he ever had before), while further is used for things other than physical distance (He went further in his attempts to succeed than he ever had before). In everyday use, however, these words do have overlapping definitions.

faze, phase The verb meaning unaffected or unimpressed is spelled faze. Her words didn’t faze him. She was unfazed. Don’t accidentally use phase in these contexts. It means a stage or point in a process.

firstly, secondly, etc. These terms are permissible as sentence adverbs. The same sentences can also be modified with first, second, and so on. Firstly, we will prepare our work area. First, we will prepare our work area. The one without the -ly is considered better form by most people with an opinion on the matter.

flaunt, flout When people openly defy or disrespect authority, they flout it. Don’t use flaunt in this sense. Instead, use flaunt to mean to show off, as in He flaunts his wealth.

flounder, founder A sinking ship or a business going under doesn’t flounder, it founders. Think of flounder as to flop around, as a fish does on the deck of a boat. Think of founder as to sink.

forbear, forebear Forbear is a verb meaning to hold yourself back. I’ll forbear from making any snap decisions. A forebear is an ancestor.

forego, forgo The word forego seems to be used wrong more often than it’s used right. To do without something is to forgo it, not forego. She decided to forgo alcohol over the holidays. The spelling with the e is rare and means to come before or precede. The rumors will forego his arrival.

foreword, forward Be careful not to use forward to describe an opening passage in a book, which is a foreword. Forward has a number of meanings, including the direction you move when you proceed toward whatever is ahead of you. But the one with the word word in it means only the part of the book that offers some introductory thoughts or information. Our plans continue to move forward. My favorite author wrote the foreword.

forth, fourth Forth means onward or forward. Fourth comes after third. So to go forth means to go forward; to go fourth means to go after three others have already done so.

good, well Answering “I’m good” when someone asks about your health is acceptable according to dictionary definitions of good, which include “free from injury or disease.” See chapter 19, this page, for more on well as both an adjective and an adverb.

gorilla, guerilla Guerilla warfare is never spelled like the animal, which is a gorilla.

grisly, grizzly A grizzly is a bear. A murder is grisly.

guarantee, guaranty Guaranty is the preferred spelling for a legally binding agreement to cover a debt or loss. Guarantee is the preferred spelling of the verb, I guarantee you’ll be happy, and the noun meaning a general promise or assurance, I gave him my guarantee.

hanged, hung The past tense and the past participle of hang can be either hung or hanged, with a seeming preference for the former. He hung the picture on the wall. He hanged the picture on the wall. He has hung the picture on the wall. He has hanged the picture on the wall. This applies equally to the sense of the word meaning execution.

healthy, healthful It’s not true that only healthful can mean promoting good health. You can describe carrots as a healthy snack or a healthful snack. Both are correct.

here’s Before a plural noun, especially one that’s preceded by adjective phrases, like a lot, here’s is acceptable even though it’s a contraction of here with the singular verb is. Here’s some tools you’ll find helpful. Here’s a lot of tools you’ll find helpful. Note that the non-contracted form doesn’t work that way: Here is some tools. Here is a lot of tools. That’s because the contracted form, over time, has gained acceptance as an idiomatic alternative to here are.

historic, historical Historic usually means momentous or of great significance in history. Historical usually means pertaining to history, like the historical record. However, their definitions overlap. So this distinction need not be observed as a strict rule.

hoard, horde Hoard is a verb meaning to collect and hold on to something. He hoards gold. Don’t confuse it with horde, which is a large group of people, especially nomadic people.

hoarse, horse If a person’s throat is raspy or he loses his voice, he’s hoarse, not horse.

holidays, apostrophes in Holidays like Veterans Day and Mother’s Day and Presidents’ Day are inconsistent in their use of apostrophes. Some treat the first word as genitive, that is, possessive: Mother’s Day. Others treat it as attributive—essentially, an adjective: Veterans Day. Presidents’ Day is particularly troublesome because major editing styles and dictionaries disagree on how to write it. Book editing leans toward the plural possessive Presidents’ Day. But the Associated Press Stylebook instructs news editors to omit the apostrophe: Presidents Day. Just check a dictionary when you want to know if it’s Mothers Day, Mothers’ Day, or Mother’s Day (spoiler: it’s that last one).

home in The original expression is to home in on something, not to hone in on it. It’s reminiscent of a homing pigeon. Conversely, the verb hone means to sharpen or polish, as in honing a sword or honing your skills. However, the similarity between these words and popularity of the usage to hone in have rendered this form somewhat acceptable.

hopefully It’s a common misconception that hopefully can’t be used as a sentence adverb, as in Hopefully, we’ll get some rain. The myth argues that the adverb means only “in a hopeful manner” and can’t mean “I hope that” or “it is hoped that.” Not true. The main job of hopefully is as a sentence adverb (disjunct adverbial) expressing hope that something stated in the sentence will happen.

I Use of subject pronouns in compound noun phrases like John and I is discussed in detail in chapter 16, this page. In brief, it’s a common mistake to assume that I is always correct in a coordinate noun phrase like John and I. When the noun phrase is the subject, then the subject pronoun I is correct: John and I wanted to thank you. But when the noun phrase is an object, the object pronoun me is correct. They thanked John and me. When in doubt, check by dropping the first part of the compound subject, leaving just the pronoun. I wanted to thank you, not Me wanted to thank you. They thanked me, not They thanked I.

impact Acceptable as a noun or a verb.

imply, infer To imply means to indirectly suggest. To infer means to draw a conclusion.

irregardless Yes, it’s a real word. But every dictionary that says so also cautions against using it, calling it “substandard” or “variant” or “associated with being uneducated.” Opt for regardless instead.

it’s, its The one with the apostrophe is never possessive. It’s a contraction of it is or it has. It’s raining. It’s been nice talking to you. The one without the apostrophe is the possessive form. The dog wagged its tail.

ladder, latter The one that means later and that is often paired up with the word former is spelled with t’s. The one with d’s is something you climb. I’d prefer the former but I’ll take the latter. His latter-day work was excellent.

lay, lie Lay is something you do to something else. Lie is something you do to yourself. More precisely, lay is a transitive verb, which means it takes a direct object, whereas lie is intransitive, which means it does not take a direct object. So you lay a book on a table, but you lie down to rest. The past tense forms cause the most confusion. For lay, both the past tense and the past participle (the one that goes with a form of have) are laid. Today I lay the book on the table. Yesterday I laid the book on the table. In the past I have laid the book on the table. For lie, the simple past tense is lay and the past participle is lain. Today I lie down. Yesterday I lay down. In the past I have lain down. Note the unfortunate coincidence that the past tense of lie just happens to be identical to the other word, lay. So use the examples above as a guide and remember that in the present tense, lay takes a direct object. In the past tense, it does not.

lead, led It’s a very common mistake to use lead as the past tense of a verb, but the real past tense form does not have an a in it. We led the horse to water. This probably happens because the element lead rhymes with led, making it easy to confuse the two.

let’s, lets The first is a contraction of let us. It’s used as an invitation or a suggestion to do something: Let’s go out. Lets is the verb to let conjugated in the third person singular: He really lets his hair down on weekends.

lighted, lit Both lighted and lit are acceptable as the past tense and past participle of the verb light, though there seems to be a slight preference in publishing for lit in both instances. He lit a candle. He lighted a candle. They had lit up the night. They had lighted up the night.

lightening, lightning Lightening means to make lighter. Electrical activity associated with a storm has no e. Peroxide is used for lightening hair. The tree was struck by lightning.

like, such as It’s a myth that like can’t be used to mean “such as”: They offer activities like kayaking and surfing.

literally Careful writers use this word to mean “in a literal sense or manner.” Denise literally kicked the bucket, then, would mean that Denise’s foot struck a pail. Controversially, dictionaries also allow literally to be used as an intensifier of statements not intended in a literal sense. The town was brought literally to its knees. Prepare to be laughed at if you opt for this usage.

loose, lose It’s a very common error to use loose in place of lose. The one with two o’s is an adjective that rhymes with goose and means the opposite of tight. The verb lose, which rhymes with fuse, means to misplace or be stripped of something. Loose morals caused him to lose their respect.

medal, metal, meddle, mettle A medal is a token of recognition, often a pin that’s worn as part of a uniform. Metal is a category of substances that includes iron, lead, and copper. The verb meaning to stick your nose in someone else’s business is meddle. The word mettle comes up most often in the expression to test one’s mettle, meaning fortitude or strength.

media Though traditionally a plural of medium, the concept of the media as a singular has gained a place in the language. It’s acceptable to say The media is reporting on the legislation or The media are reporting on the legislation.

mete out When you issue a punishment, you mete it out. You don’t meet it out.

miner, minor A minor is a person younger than eighteen. A miner works in a mine.

more importantly Contrary to popular myth, more importantly can be used as a sentence adverb meaning “it is more important that.” However, more important is less likely to draw criticism.

myriad This word is both an adjective and a noun. You can say They discussed myriad issues or you can say They discussed a myriad of issues.

myself Using the reflexive myself as an object pronoun, as in Talk with John or myself, is considered by some to be poor form. To adhere to these standards, avoid myself in any context in which me is grammatical: Talk with John or me. For more on proper use of myself and other reflexive pronouns, see chapter 5, this page.

nauseated, nauseous Old-school sticklers used to insist that nauseous means nausea-inducing. There was great fun to be had with the example I’m nauseous, which according to them meant that you make others sick. But regardless of whether this was true in the mid-twentieth century, it’s certainly not true today. If you’re feeling ill, both I’m nauseous and I’m nauseated are accurate ways to say so.

naval, navel A navel is a belly button or a type of orange. The adjective naval refers to the navy or other maritime activity.

none This pronoun is most often treated as a singular meaning “not one” and paired with a singular verb: Of all the dogs at the park, none is as cute as Lexie. But it can also be plural, meaning “not many.” None are as cute as Lexie.

one of the only Acceptable to mean “one of the few,” as in, She’s one of the only people who know Jerry is leaving.

only The placement of only is surprisingly flexible. You can say I only have eyes for you, I have eyes only for you, I have eyes for only you, or I have eyes for you only. They all mean the same thing. The position of only, then, is flexible as long as the meaning is clear.

ordinance, ordnance You explode ordnance, which has no i in it. The spelling containing an i is not an explosive but a statute or rule.

over, more than Over can be used to mean “more than,” including for ages and numbers. He was over eighteen. She makes over a million dollars a year.

palate, palette, pallet A sense of taste or the roof of the mouth is spelled palate. It is commonly misspelled as palette, which is a color scheme or an artist’s board dabbed with paint, or sometimes as pallet, which is a square wooden platform used for stacking and moving merchandise.

passed, past Past means a time gone by. Passed is usually a verb: The car passed the house three times.

peace, piece You hold your peace, but you speak your piece.

peak, peek, pique A peak is a pinnacle. A peek is a look. His career peaked after he peeked into the boss’s office. Pique is a verb meaning to stimulate and most often comes up in the expression to pique one’s curiosity.

pedal, peddle, petal Pedal means to use the foot controls of a bicycle, piano, or sewing machine. It can also be a noun meaning the lever you put your foot on (Put the pedal to the metal). Peddle means to sell. A petal is a part of a flower.

plane, plain A plane is an aircraft, a level surface, a level of existence, or a tool used to even out a surface. Don’t misuse it for plain, which is unadorned, unattractive, or a large flat landmass, as in the Great Plains.

pole, poll A pole is a long, narrow rod like a fishing pole or a telephone pole. A poll is a survey of people’s opinions.

pour, pore When you carefully study something, you don’t pour over it, you pore over it. Small openings on the skin are pores. Pour is the act of making liquid flow, as from a bottle.

precede, proceed To precede is to go before. George Washington’s presidency preceded John Adams’s. To proceed is to begin to do something. The crowd proceeded to cheer. Proceed can also be a noun meaning revenue, but that’s usually in the plural: The proceeds will benefit cancer research.

principal, principle A principle is a concept or moral value. He objected on principle. What’s the first principle of customer service? Principal means something is the first or leading example. His principal virtue is kindness. The noun principal usually refers to the head of a school.

raise, raze If you level a field or burn down a town, you raze it. To raze means to demolish and should not be confused with raise, which means to elevate.

rational, rationale Rational is an adjective meaning logical thinking. Its last syllable rhymes with pull. Rationale is a noun meaning the thought process or reason through which you arrive at some conclusion or action. Its last syllable rhymes with pal.

reason is because Considered by some as inferior to the reason is that. Longtime and widespread use has rendered this expression idiomatic and acceptable.

regards In the term in regards to, the plural regards is considered substandard. Consider instead the singular: in regard to. However, as regards takes the plural form.

reign, rein To reign is to rule like a king or queen. It’s also a noun: Elizabeth’s reign lasted seventy years. This is the word in the expression to reign supreme, meaning to rule over all others. The noun and verb rein refers to the reins of a horse. To rein in spending or to rein in your anger means to get it under control the way a horse’s reins allow you to control the ride.

role, roll The actor landed the leading role, not roll. The one with two l’s is a verb meaning to turn over or a noun meaning a type of bread. You get cast in a role, you play an important role, or you know your role.

should of This is an error. The contraction should’ve, which shortens should have, is often pronounced as though it contains the word of. But it’s always a mistake to write of in this term.

sleight of hand A magician’s trick or a con artist’s maneuver is written sleight of hand, not slight.

sneak peek Be careful not to use peak in this expression. A first glance, an insider’s premiere, an early showing—these are all sneak peeks, not peaks.

sneaked, snuck Sneaked and snuck are acceptable as both the past tense and the past participle of sneak, with dictionaries seeming to show a slight preference for sneaked in both uses. Yesterday I sneaked out. Yesterday I snuck out. In the past I have sneaked out. In the past I have snuck out.

stationary, stationery Paper products are stationery, with an e. The spelling with an a means not moving, like a stationary bicycle.

statue, statute A legal statute has three t’s in it. With just two t’s, you get statue, which is a sculpture or other three-dimensional representation.

straight, strait A narrow body of water is a strait, not a straight.

swam, swum The past tense of swim is swam. The past participle is swum. Yesterday they swam in the pool. In the past they have swum in the pool.

tense shift Accidentally using mismatched tenses in the same sentence is called a tense shift. When it rains, Carla liked to take a nap. Our second clause is in the past tense and our first is in the present, and the thoughts they express don’t make sense this way. Fix these by determining whether the action is past, present, or future, and whether they’re ongoing or complete. Then make sure the actions are expressed in a way that make logical sense. Either, When it rains, Carla likes to take a nap, or if in the past, When it rained, Carla liked to take a nap.

than, then Comparisons use than. You’re taller than your sister. The president talked longer than the senator. Something is better than nothing. The word then is about time or a result. I’ll see you then. If you don’t take precautions, then you’ll have no one else to blame.

that, which The two major editing style guides, the Chicago Manual of Style and the Associated Press Stylebook, do not allow which for restrictive clauses, as in The car which I was driving is red. The English language, however, does. If you’re interested in following the style rule, avoid which for restrictive clauses (also sometimes called essential clauses or defining clauses). Chapter 5, this page, contains a complete discussion on the difference between restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses.

their, there, they’re These terms are all too easy to confuse when you’re not being careful. Their is possessive (They bought their first house). There is a place (Put it over there). They’re is a contraction of they and are (They’re happy).

there’s Before a plural noun, especially one that’s preceded by adjective phrases, like a lot, there’s is acceptable even though it’s a contraction of there with the singular verb is. There’s some people here to see you. There’s a lot of people here to see you. Note that the non-contracted form doesn’t work that way: There is some people. There is a lot of people. That’s because the contracted form, over time, has gained acceptance as an idiomatic alternative to there are.

they, their, them Singular they, as in Everyone here knows they are welcome back any time, is controversial, but getting less so all the time. Traditionally, they is considered a plural pronoun, as are its forms their and them. If these pronouns were exclusively plural, it would be wrong to use them to refer to a singular antecedent like everyone. (To confirm that everyone is singular, note that it works with the singular verb in Everyone is but sounds wrong with the plural verb: everyone are. But the absence of a gender-neutral third person singular pronoun in English has slowly morphed they and its cousins into a gender-neutral alternative. Use of they, their, and them to refer to singular subjects of unknown gender is now accepted by most publishers and academics, especially when it would be too cumbersome to use he or she, his or her, and him and her instead.)

’til, till, until Using ’til sends a clear signal that your writing wasn’t professionally edited. It’s not that ’til is wrong, exactly. The English language allows you to drop letters and replace them with apostrophes in a wide variety of situations. So shortening until into ’til is not a grammar error. It’s just that professional publishers overwhelmingly prefer till, which is actually an older word than until. Yes, a till is also a place where cash is kept, as in He was dipping into the till. But it’s also a synonym of until.

too…of The preposition of is usually erroneous in uses like I’m too big of a movie fan and He’s too smart of a kid. These forms should drop the of: I’m too big a movie fan. He’s too smart a kid. However, with the word much, the preposition of is often the correct choice. He didn’t make too much of a fuss about it.

try and An informal but acceptable alternative to try to. Try and get it right this time.

unclear antecedent Whenever a sentence leaves the reader unclear on which person or thing a pronoun refers to, that’s an unclear antecedent. As Elizabeth and Renee chatted, she continued to glance at her cell phone. Who was looking at her phone? Elizabeth or Renee? We don’t know, so the pronouns she and her have unclear antecedents. The easiest fix is to replace unclear pronouns with nouns, though this can get repetitive. As Elizabeth and Renee chatted, Elizabeth continued to look at her own cell phone. Sometimes it’s best to just recast the sentence.

under, less than Mirroring the belief that over can’t mean “more than,” many people think under can’t mean “less than.” But in fact, this use is correct in the technical sense and proper in the practical sense. Avoid this usage of under to mean less than only in contexts in which it might be ambiguous.

vain, vane, vein Someone who is vain is overly concerned with his or her appearance. Vain can also mean futile or worthless, as in a vain attempt at an apology. Don’t confuse it with vein, which is a blood vessel or channel of gold or some other substance. Don’t confuse it with vane, which seldom comes up other than in reference to a weather vane.

vice, vise Something gets squeezed in a vise, not a vice. A vise is a tool that holds things in place with screws. Vice means either moral depravity or weakness, or it can mean a substitute or secondary thing, as in vice president or vice principal.

waist, waste The narrow point of a human torso is a waist. She has a tiny waist. Waste is garbage or letting something valuable go unused.

waive, wave You don’t wave your rights, you waive them. A wave is a hand gesture or the motion of water. To waive is to relinquish.

waiver, waver A waiver is a document you sign to relinquish your rights. To waver is to hesitate or lose your resolve.

was, were In hypotheticals, suppositions, wishes, or any situation contrary to fact, the subjunctive were is often preferred. I wish he were here. However, there’s no rule requiring the subjunctive in these situations. So I wish he was here is also grammatical. For more, see chapter 6, this page.

weather, whether Be careful not to mix up weather, meaning temperature, precipitation, and so on, with its homophone whether, a conjunction meaning “if it is true that.”

whom, whomever, who, whoever This issue is discussed at length in chapter 16, this page. In brief, whom and whomever are objects of a clause, while who and whoever are subjects of a clause. When the pronoun is in a position where it appears to be both an object and a subject, as in They will hire whoever has the most experience, the subject form prevails because the second clause needs a subject. That whole second clause, not just the pronoun, is the object of the verb hire.

who’s, whose The contraction who’s always means either who is or who has. Who’s coming to the store with me? Who’s been wearing my sweater? The possessive form is whose. Whose idea was it to go to the store? Whose sweater is this?

your, you’re People who know the difference between these terms can still get them wrong if they’re not careful. Your is possessive (Know your rights). You’re is a contraction of you are (You’re the greatest).