Using the Right Word
Commonly confused words:
Words with very specific meanings:
| Q. | What is the negative form of can - can not or cannot? |
| A. | The negative form of can is cannot, or can't. The phrase can not is very rarely useful and can often sound awkward.
Examples:
- I cannot go to the football this Saturday.
- I can wash the car, or I can not wash the car.
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| Q. | Do I use toward or towards? |
| A. | Use towards. Toward is the American corruption of towards.
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| Q. | Do I use awhile or a while? |
| A. | The word awhile means 'for a while', remembering that should make it easy to figure out which goes where.
For example, you wouldn't say it will take awhile to print, because the phrase it will take for a while to print just doesn't make sense.
Examples:
- This job will take a while to print.
- Please stay awhile.
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| Q. | How do I avoid using he or she as a generic pronoun? |
| A. | Using they or their is acceptable, as is he or she where that doesn't sound awkward.
Try re-writing the sentence to avoid the issue, sometimes making the subject plural can be a simple solution. Don't use constructs such as he/she or s/he.
Examples:
- If a student is late in enrolling, they must pay an additional fee.
- If a student is late in enrolling, he or she must pay an additional fee.
- Any student who is late in enrolling must pay an additional fee.
- Students who are late in enrolling must pay an additional fee.
(See Writing Gender-Neutral Language for more details.)
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Commonly Confused Words
| Q. | What's the difference between affect and effect? |
| A. | In this usage, affect means 'to influence', whereas effect means 'a result'. That is, when you affect (influence) something, you have an effect (result) on it.
Be careful using these words, used incorrectly they can convey a very different meaning to what you may intend.
Examples:
- The new budget will effect savings.
(The new budget will result in savings.)
- The new budget will affect savings.
(The new budget will have an influence on savings, that influence could be good or bad.)
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| Q. | Do I use assure, ensure, or insure? |
| A. | They all have very different meanings. Assure means 'to state positively and with confidence', ensure means to 'make sure', and insure means 'to warrant against an event'.
The words are very different, make sure you don't use them in the wrong place.
Examples:
- I assure you the job will be completed on time.
- He worked hard to ensure the job would be completed on time.
- She needed to insure her new car.
(Yes, there is a technical difference between 'life assurance' and 'contents insurance' - but even the insurance companies very rarely use it any more.)
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| Q. | What's the difference between everyday and every day? |
| A. | Everyday is an adjective (a descriptive word) and means 'not out of the ordinary', while every day means 'a daily occurrence'.
Examples:
- Students getting lost in the library is an everyday occurrence.
- I wash my hair every day.
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| Q. | Do I use can or may? |
| A. | Use can when something is possible, use may when something is permissible.
Examples:
- You can go outside to play.
(You are capable of going outside to play.)
- You may go outside to play.
(You have permission to go outside to play.)
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| Q. | Do I use compare or contrast? |
| A. | Use compare when highlighting similarities, use contrast when highlighting differences. These words aren't interchangeable, so be careful - especially when asking a question or requesting a response.
Examples:
- Compare this apple and this orange.
(How are they similar?)
- Contrast this apple and this orange.
(How are they different?).
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| Q. | Do I use farther or further? |
| A. | This is easy to distinguish, the word farther refers to physical distance, while further applies to metaphorical distance.
Examples:
- I travelled farther down the road.
- I wanted to pursue the topic further.
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| Q. | Do I use imply or infer? |
| A. | Imply means to 'state indirectly, to hint at', whereas infer means 'to draw a conclusion'. The words aren't interchangeable. Try using the definitions in place of the meanings to remember which goes where.
Examples:
- His silence implied (stated indirectly) that he disagreed.
- From his silence, we inferred (drew a conclusion) that he disagreed.
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| Q. | Do I use less or fewer? |
| A. | Use less when you're writing about an amount (i.e. things that are measured in bulk). Use fewer when referring to numbers (i.e. things that can be counted). Use less when dealing with dollar amounts.
An exception is when you are using the word after a number amount, instead of before. In this case, use less.
Examples:
- I earned less money this year than last year.
- He re-wrote the paper to use fewer words.
- The paper should be 500 words or less.
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| Q. | Do I use list or listing? |
| A. | List refers to a list as a whole, listing refers to an individual item in that list.
Examples:
- A telephone book is a list of names and numbers.
- I need to change the details of my listing in the telephone book.
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| Q. | Do I use verbal or oral? |
| A. | Verbal is the more generic term, and means 'related to words', whereas oral in this context means 'using speech'. The distinction is somewhat blurred these days, but if you mean something spoken, use oral.
Example:
- We had an oral contract.
- I gave an oral presentation.
- We have a verbal agreement.
(The agreement could be spoken or written.)
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Words With Very Specific Meanings
| Q. | When can I use the word literally? |
| A. | When it's not a metaphor. Literally means 'in a literal or strict sense'. Something literally true must be exactly true.
For example, the sentence: It was literally raining cats and dogs states that animals were falling from the sky. Something like: It literally blew my mind doesn't bear thinking about.
Try using figuratively or metaphorically instead. If that sounds awkward, try simply leaving literally out of the sentence.
Examples:
- The storm literally filled my gutters with leaves.
- Our eyes were figuratively glued to the television.
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| Q. | When can I use the word unique? |
| A. | You can use the word unique when you're referring to something that is one of a kind. Two of a kind are not unique, and there are no degrees of being unique.
You can't say something is 'somewhat unique' - it's either unique or it isn't. Try using special or unusual instead, if your subject is not truly one of a kind.
Examples:
- The pink chicken is unique.
- These two pink chickens are very unusual.
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| Q. | When can I use the word decimate? |
| A. | When you mean 'reduce by one in ten'. The word decimate doesn't mean destroyed.
If you say: The town was decimated you're saying that one in ten houses were destroyed. If you mean to refer to something a wider scale than 10%, use another word.
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Using Grammar   Using Web and Internet Words
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