BETTERENGLISHUSAGEBetter English Usage is an introduction to modern English usage usingmemorableexamplesofcommonerrorsandmisconceptionsaswellasexamplesofgoodusage.ErrorscanbemadeevenbyfluentEnglishspeakers.Learnhowtoavoidthemwiththissimpleguidewritteninafriendly,accessiblestyle.

Gainabetterunderstandingofhow theEnglish languageworksaswediscusshow usage changes and evolves over time. This guide explains why certainmistakesmight bemade,with the thinking that an understanding of the issuemightenablereaderstorememberthecorrectusagemoreeasily.Wetalkabouttherulesofgrammar,butalsoaboutwhenitisacceptable,andevennecessary,tobreakthoserules.

ThisisanengagingandaccessiblevolumetoimproveyourunderstandingoftheintricaciesofEnglishusage.Itincludes:

•ContemporaryEnglishusage•Wordsandphrasesthatareeasilyconfused•CommonerrorsinEnglish•ThechangingfaceofEnglish

CONTENTS

1THECHANGINGFACEOFENGLISH

HISTORICALCHANGESINVOCABULARY

CHANGESOFMEANING

Wordswhosemeaninghaschanged

MOREVOCABULARYCHANGES

Slowbutsure

OTHERSIGNSOFCHANGE

Changesinaccompanyingverbs

TheAmericanInfluence

Stilltwoseparatelanguages

CHANGESINGRAMMAR

Splitinfinitive

Sentencesendinginapreposition

Otherusagechanges

DESEXINGGRAMMAR

Gettingridofsexism

INFORMALITY

Omittedpunctuation

Contractedforms

Greetings

Slangandcolloquialisms

THEDECLINEOFDICTIONARIES

2PUNCTUATINGPROPERLY

PUNCTUATIONTHENANDNOW

COMMONERRORSINPUNCTUATION

Apostrophe

Brackets

Capitalletter

Colon

Semi-colon

Comma

Dash

Exclamationmark

Fullstop

Hyphen

Paragraph

Questionmark

Quotationmarks

3IRREGULARPLURALNOUNS

4PROBLEMATICPREPOSITIONS

PREPOSITIONS

Whatfollowswhat?

5PHRASALVERBS

PHRASALORSINGLEVERB?

FIGURATIVEORLITERALMEANING?

POSITIONOFTHEOBJECT

COMPLEXPHRASALVERBS

Phrasalverbsinaction

6DISPOSINGOFDISCRIMINATION

DESEXINGTHELANGUAGE

Feministadditionstothelanguage

Removing–man

Ismankindnomore?

Person

–Ess

–Ette

Lady/woman/female

Femaleasanoun

Girl

Partnersorwhat?

POLITICALCORRECTNESS

Removingoffensiveterms

Thecolourofyourskin

AGEISM

7VEXINGVERBS

WHATISAVERB?

REGULARVERBS

Spellingrulesforregularverbs

IRREGULARVERBS

Rulesforirregularverbs

ASPECTSOFVERBSLIKELYTOCAUSEPROBLEMS

Participlesandparticipialphrases

–ingformofverbs

Verbagreement

Mood

Voice

Tense

Modalverbs

THEANTI-VERBBRIGADE

SOMEIRREGULARVERBS

8CONFUSIONUPONCONFUSION

HOMOPHONES

RP

Homophoneexamples

HOMOGRAPHS

Homographexamples

HOMONYMS

Homonymexamples

ORONYMS

AMISCELLANYOFMISTAKES

Similarbutdissimilar

VARIABLEVERBS

PERSONALANDFAMILIALCONFUSION

PERENNIALPOSERS

Whichword?

9PUTTINGITINWRITING

1

THECHANGINGFACEOFENGLISH

We havewitnessed themost amazing number of changes in society in recentdecades.Manyofthemhavetakenplacesorapidlythatsomeofuscanscarcelykeepupwiththespeedofchange.

The most obvious speedy changes have taken place in technology buttechnologicalchangeshaveaffectedmanyotherwalksoflife,indeedmostwalksof life. They have affected everything from medicine to transport toentertainmenttocommunications.Languageisnotimmunefromthesechanges.Attheveryleast,ithashadtoaccommodatenamesforthemanynewthingsandprocessesthatthetechnologicalchangeshaveledto.

HISTORICALCHANGESINVOCABULARY

Languageisnostrangertochange.Infactitreflectseverythingthathappensinlife.If it isout there, theremustbeawordfor it.Anobviousexampleofhowevents in a particular country affect language is the effect that the variousinvadersofwhatarenowtheBritishIsleshadontheEnglishlanguage.

Forexample, theVikingsmaybebest remembered for theirplunderingandpillaging but they left behind a useful linguistic heritage. Thanks to themwehavewordssuchaslaw,skill,egg,knife,skateandmanymore.

TheNormaninvasion,mastermindedbyWilliamtheConquerorin1066,gave

rise to evenmorewords entering theEnglish language.This French influencegaveusjustice,money,actionandvillage,tonamebutafew.

English explorers and traders also contributed to the growth of theEnglishlanguage by bringing back words from the various places they visited. Forexample, the language acquired umbrella, granite and bandit from Italian,bungalow,cot,shampooandchintz fromHindiandcigar,corkandnegro fromSpanish.Thislastwordwastocausemuchcontroversyinlatertimesandcametoberegardedasveryoffensive.

TheRenaissanceof the16thand17thcenturies,with its revivalofclassicalscholarshipandarenewedinterestinLatinandGreek,hadagreateffectontheEnglish language.During this timemanyLatin andGreekwords underwent aprocess of naturalization and ended up in English. A few examples includecrisis,vital,locate,credible,exclaimandapparatus.ThiswasaverybusytimefortheEnglishlanguage.

Over the centuries there have been many sources that have provided newwords for the English language. From Japanese, English has acquired judo,tsunami,karaokeandsushi, fromChinese, tea,ketchup andkowtow, and fromYiddish,spiel,kosherandchutzpah.FromRussian,English acquiredczar/tsar,glasnost,icon,perestroikaandvodkaandAustraliasupplieditwithboomerang,budgerigarandkangaroo. It seems that theEnglish language is likeamagpie,foreverpickingupnewshinyitemstoaddtoitsalreadyrichstore.

CHANGESOFMEANING

Thechanges in theEnglish languagearebynomeans restricted tovocabularyadditions.ChangesalsooccuroncethewordsarepartoftheEnglishlanguage.Sometimes the changes involve meaning. A classic historical example ofmeaningchangerelatestothewordsilly.Nowitmeans‘foolish,lackingsenseorjudgement’,butthismeaningonlyevolvedgradually.Thewordsillyisderived

fromOldEnglishgesaelig,meaning‘happy’.ThisbecamefirstseelyinMiddleEnglishandthensilly.Astheformofthewordchanged,sodiditsmeaning.Itwentfrommeaning‘happy’tomeaning‘blessedorpious’.

The change in the meaning of silly continued. From ‘pious’ the meaningbecame‘innocent’,then‘harmless’andthen‘tobepitied’.Thisbecame‘feeble’and then ‘feeble in the mind’. From this it was an easy step to the modernmeaning of theword. This is, of course, an example of a change that is bothextremeandhistorical.

WORDSWHOSEMEANINGHASCHANGEDTherehavebeenmanymorechanges inmeaning throughout thecenturiesandtheyarestilloccurring.Afewofthemarelistedbelow.

decimateTheverbdecimateliterallymeanstokillordestroyoneintenofasetofpeople.ItisderivedfromaLatinwordmeaning‘tokilloneintenofaunitofsoldierswho took part in a mutiny’. The practice was doubtless intended to act as awarningtotheothernineunits.

Nowadays there is not much call for a word meaning ‘to kill one in tenpeople’andthewordhasmovedon.Itcametomean‘tokillalargeproportionof’,asin:

Thediseasedecimatedtherabbitpopulationoftheisland.Onetenthisnotahugeproportionofawholeandsopossiblytherewasamix-upsomewherebetweenonetenthbeingkilledandonetenthsurviving.

Thewordmovedonevenfurtherandcametomean‘toinflictagreatdealofdamageonsomethingortodestroyalargenumberorpartof’,asin:

Theeventattractedalotofadversepublicitytotheareaanddecimatedthetouristindustry.

Therewasagreatdealofoppositiontothechangesinmeaningofdecimate.It

seemsthatpeopledidnotwanttoletgoofitsconnectionwithten.Itisadvisablenottomentionaspecificamountwhenyouareusingtheword.

hopefullyChangesinthelanguagearefrequentlymetwithgreatopposition,atleastuntilpeoplegetusedtothem,oruntiltheloudestoftheobjectorsarenolongerwithus.Theopposition to the introductionofhopefullywasparticularly forceful. Iamtalking,ofcourse,abouthopefullyinthesenseof‘itistobehopedthat’,as

Hopefully,we’llgetthereintimefordinner.ratherthan‘withhope’,as

Wewaitedhopefullyfortheirarrivaluntilitbecameclearthattheywerenotcoming.

Evennowpeoplestillgrumbleaboutit,althoughhopefully in its latersenseisnow regarded as quite acceptable, except, perhaps, in the most formal ofcontexts.Theargumentsagainsttheacceptanceofhopefully initsmorerecentmeaning were not really convincing. Much was made of the possibility ofambiguity occurring, especiallywhen the adverb is placed immediately beforetheverb,asin:

Theywillhopefullywaitforusalthoughwe’regoingtobeabitlate.

However,thehopefullyinthesentenceaboveismuchmorelikelytomean‘itisto be hoped that’ and, if there are genuine possibilities of ambiguity, you canchangeitspositiontothebeginningofthesentence.

disinterested/uninterestedUntil very recently disinterested (see 1) meant the same as ‘impartial’ or‘unbiased’. Itwasoftenconfusedwithuninterested,meaning ‘nothavinganyinterestinsomething’,andnowithascometosharethismeaning.Thishasbeena gradual change and many young people are not aware that the distinction

betweenthemeaningsofthetwowordseverexisted.Thischangehasnotbeenuniversallywelcomedbyanymeans.Manypeople,

especiallyolderpeople,stillprotestaboutitandclaimthatchangeslikethisarespoilingwhattheySeeasthepurityoftheEnglishlanguage.Thisisoftennowreferredtoas‘adumbingdown’ofthelanguage.Infactthisparticularexampleof a language change is actually a reversion to the previous state of affairs.According to historical dictionaries from the 17th centurydisinterested couldmeanthesameasuninterested.

aggravate/irritateAggravate is anotherwordwith a long-establishedmeaning that has acquiredanothermeaning.Thisstillarousesprotestfrompeoplewhoconsiderthemselveslanguage purists and guardians of the language. They consider that the onlypropermeaningofaggravateis‘tomakeworse’,asin:

Hisheadachewasaggravatedbytheloudmusicplayingnextdoor.

Thismeaning is admittedly the older, having come into being in the late 16thcentury.However,themeaning‘toirritateorannoy’,as

Thosechildrenhavebeenaggravatingtheneighboursalldaywiththeirnoisygames.

isnot farbehind in termsofage. It firstmadeanappearance in theearly17thcentury.Itisthismeaningthatsoirritates–wehadbetternotsayaggravates–someusers,oftenolderusers.

gayMany people, older or not, disliked the widespread introduction of the‘homosexual’meaningoftheEnglishadjectivegay.Thewordhadbeenusedinthismeaninginaverylimitedwaysincethe1930s,butitdidnotreachawideraudienceuntilthelate1960s.Nowithasbecomesuchanestablishedmeaningof

gayintheEnglish-speakingworldthatithasvirtuallyedgedouttheoriginaluseof‘merryorlight-hearted’.

Whenthe‘homosexual’meaningfirstcameintowidespreadusequitealotofpeople mourned the passing of gay’s original happy meaning. However, theword homosexual wasmore in need of its services than thewordmerry was.Homosexualityisstillacontroversialsubjectinmanypartsoftheworldwhereitis forbidden and punishable by law but the English languagemoves with thetimes and people are happy to use this adjective which has the advantage ofbeingneutralandnonjudgemental.

Whiletherearequiteafewsynonymsforgayinitsoriginalsense,therearenotverymanyforthe‘homosexual’meaning.Wordssuchasbentandqueerareintendedtobeoffensive.Notethattheabstractnounfromgayinitshomosexualsense isgayness,while the abstract noun fromgay in itsmerry, light-heartedsenseisgaiety.

queerThementionofqueer raises an interesting aspect of language and, indeed, aninteresting aspect of people. Queer had the original meaning of ‘odd orimproper’.Thephraseonqueerstreetmeantinfinancialdifficulties.

In the early 20th century queer came to be used as an informal, usuallyderogatory, term for homosexual but it is now used by some gay people todescribethemselves.Theyarereclaimingandapplyingtothemselvesawordthattheircriticsintendedtobeinsulting.

sexySexywasoriginallyan informalwordmeaning ‘causing,or intended tocause,desire’,asin:

Sheboughtasexynewdress.Itthenwentontoacquireanadditionalmeaningthatisnotrelatedtosex.This

meaning is ‘interesting, attractive or exciting’, often because of being new orfashionable,asin:

Weareabouttolaunchasexynewrangeofkitchenequipment.

They’replanningtopulldowntheoldbuildingandbuildwhattheycallasexynewstate-of-the-artofficeblock.

MOREVOCABULARYCHANGES

The above are some of the best-known changes in meaning. However, otherwords have been affected also.Changes like the ones that follow tend to takeplaceverygraduallyandittakessometimebeforepeoplebecomeawarethatachangeistakingplace.

SLOWBUTSUREhistoric/historicalIt looksasthoughachangeisaffectingthesetwoadjectiveswhicharederivedfrom the word history. The adjectives are historic and historical, andtraditionallytheyhavedifferentmeanings.

Strictly speaking, historic refers to an event that is important enough ormemorableenoughtoberecordedinhistory,asin:

TheBattleofWaterloowasahistoricvictoryfortheBritish.Itisnowoftenusedexaggeratedlyofanevent,oftenasportingevent,thatisnotnearlyasimportantasthatdescriptionsuggests,asin:

ThecupfinalendedinahistoricvictoryfortheSpanishteam.According to traditionalusage,historical simply refers to something that tookplaceinthepastormeans‘basedonthestudyofhistory’,asin:

Mostofthecountry’shistoricalrecordsareheldinthenationalarchive.

Probablybecausethesewordssoundsoalikeandaresofrequentlyconfusedthedistinctionbetweenthemisbeginningtodisappear.Thisisboundtoarousesomeprotest.Changealwaysdoes.

fortuitous/fortunateSigns of change are particularly likely to go unspotted for a while where thewordaffectedisnotverycommonlyused.Fortuitousissuchaword.Originally,and in line with its derivation, fortuitous meant ‘happening by chance’ or‘accidental’,asin:

Shebumpedintoheroldfriendinacompletelyfortuitousmeeting.Theyhadn’tseeneachothersincetheywereatschooltogether.

Because thewords sound quite similar, fortuitous began to become confusedwithfortunate,asin:

Meetingherfather’soldfriendwasfortuitousforherbecauseheofferedherajobinhiscompany.

Andintimefortuitousbegantobeusedtodescribeaneventthatwasnotonlyaccidentalbutalsolucky.

nauseousNauseousisanotherwordthatappearstobeundergoingachange,butitisnotexactlyawordineverydayuseandthechangemaynotyetbeveryobvious.Theadjective nauseous in British English traditionally means ‘nauseating’ or‘causingnausea’.

Inotherwords,itisaformalwayofsayingsomethingmakesyoufeelsickorwanttovomit,asin:

Therewasanauseoussmellofrottenmeatcomingfromthefridge.InAmericanEnglishnauseousmeans‘nauseated’or‘feelingsick’or‘abouttovomit’,asin:

Goingonaboattripalwaysmakesmefeelnauseous,evenwhen

theseaiscalm.TheBritishEnglishequivalentofAmericanEnglishnauseousisnauseated,butusersofBritishEnglishhavebeguntoadopttheAmericanusage,asin:

Shesaysthatshefeltnauseousformostofherpregnancy.

OTHERSIGNSOFCHANGE

There have been other signs of change. For example, the distinction betweenimply and infer is fading fast. Because many people do not understand thedistinctionbetweenfewerandless(itshouldbefewerbottlesbutlesswine)thisdistinctionisalsofading,especiallyininformalcontexts.Thereisaconsiderableamountofprotestabout this.Perhaps thegreatestprotestofall isaimedat thefadingdistinctionbetweenallrightandalright.FormoreinformationonthesewordsgotoChapter8.

CHANGESINACCOMPANYINGVERBSTheexamplesthatfollowshowachangeofaccompanyingverbnotachangeofmeaning.

dataDataisthepluralformoftheworddatumbutthesingularformdatumisrarelyusednow.Asapluralnoun,datawasformerlyalwaysusedwithapluralverb,asin:

Thedatareleasedbythebankwerecarefullystudiedbyfinancialjournalists.

Inmodernusagedataisoftenaccompaniedbyasingularverb,asin:

Thedataonwhichtheresearchwasbasedhasbeenfoundtobeinaccurate.

Formerlydatawasusedmainlyinascientificortechnicalcontext,butitisnow

frequently used with reference to computer information, and so is in moregeneraluse.DataistheregularpluralformofthesingularLatinnoundatumbut,sinceLatinisnolongertaughtinmanyBritishschools,thisfactisnotnowverywellknown.Manypeoplesimplydidnotknowwhydatashouldbeconsideredpluralandsoitssingularformdatumisfadingfromuse.

mediaMediaisthepluralformofmediumwhenthisreferstoameansoftransmittinginformation,asin:

Televisioniscertainlyausefuleducationalmediumforchildren.

Themostpopularformsofnewsmediawerefoundtoberadioandtelevision.

Thewordmediaisfrequentlyfoundintheexpressionthemedia,whichisusedto refer to the means of mass communication, i.e. newspapers, radio andtelevision.Theuseofmediaasasingularnounisdislikedbysomepeople,butthisuseisbecomingincreasinglycommon,asin:

Themediaisoftenblamedformakingyoungpeoplebody-conscious.

Manypeoplenowdonotknowthatmedia isthepluralformoftheLatinwordmedium,andSeenoreasonwhyitshouldnotbeusedinthesingular.

THEAMERICANINFLUENCEManypeoplewhofeelthattheEnglishlanguagehasbeendumbeddownblamethisonAmerica.SomesaythattheAmericansaretoblameforthemanyslangwordsandcolloquialismsthatwenowhave.Admittedly,wedotendtoborrowalot ofwords fromAmerican English, and the globalization of communicationhasincreasedthistrend.Americaisaproductiveandinventivecountryandthisproductivity and inventiveness have been extended to its language. To someextentBritishEnglishhasbeenaffectedbythis.

programme/programThereisnodoubtthatAmericanEnglishishavinganeffectonBritishEnglishusage.Forexample,westillstickwiththeBritishEnglishspellingprogrammewhenwewant to refer to something that isonTV,or towhat isonoffer in aconcert or at the theatre. However, British English follows American Englishwhenitcomestotheinternationalworldofcomputersandoptsforprograminthatcontext.

disc/diskAsimilarthinghappenedtotheworddisc.Whenthiswasappliedtocomputersin British English it becamedisk, as inhard disk, in line with the Americanspelling.OthermeaningsretainedthediscspellinginBritishEnglish,butthatisbeginning tochangeaspeoplegetconfused.Thecomputerdisk is theonewearemostlikelytocomeacrossinthecourseofourdailyroutineandsowehavebecome used to this spelling. We now tend to use it outside the world ofcomputers.Forexample,itisbecomingquiteusualforpeopletowrite:

Ihaveaslippeddisk.Seedisc/diskunderPerennialposersinChapter8.

anymore/anymore,etcExpressions such as any more, any place and any time seem to be in theprocessofchangeinBritishEnglish,andthisisobviouslyaresultofAmericaninfluence.

InAmericanEnglishtheyareoftenspeltasoneword,forexampleanymore,butthetraditionalspellinginBritishEnglishhasalwaysseparatedthemintotwowords,asanymore.

Nowadays, however, they frequently appear as one word even in BritishEnglish, so anymore, etc.Everyday/every day is beginning to go along thesameroutebutitisnotquitethereityet.

alternate/alternativeThere are several other words which are showing signs of being affected byAmericanEnglish.Forexample, theBritsarebeginningtousealternate in itsAmericansenseof‘offeringachoiceorasecondpossibility’,asin:

Weneedtocomeupwithanalternatevenueincasetheonewereallywantisnotavailable.

Traditionally in British English this should be alternative. Seealternate/alternativeinPerennialposersinChapter8.

STILLTWOSEPARATELANGUAGESIt isnotatall surprising thatBritishEnglishhasbeen influencedbyAmericanEnglish. America has a powerful influence on the world generally and manyforeignstudentsnowlearnAmericanEnglishratherthanBritishEnglish.Whatissurprisingisthatthetwolanguageshaveremainedquitefarapartdespitetheglobalizationofcommunication.

Britain still has pavements while America has sidewalks. Britain still hasbonnets andboots in carswhileAmerica hashoods and trunks. InBritain avestissomethingyouwearunderashirtorothertop(knownasanundershirtinAmerica)whileinAmericaitiswornoverashirtandunderajacket(mostlyknownasawaistcoat inBritain).Anappy isstillanappy, rarelyadiaper,achemistmight be apharmacy but not adrugstore, and amotorway has notbecome an expressway – and not just because the term is hardly appropriategiventheincidenceoftraffichold-upsinBritain.Evenrelativelynewinventionshavegone theirdifferent linguisticways,soBritishEnglishhasmobileswhileAmericanEnglishhascellphones(orcells).

However,thingsarebeginningtopickuppaceandmoreandmoreAmericanEnglishwordsarefindingtheirwaytoBritishshores.Frenchfrieshavemadeitacross the Atlantic to Britain, and the British lift is sometimes known by itsAmericanname,elevator.TheBritish lorry isnowquiteoftencalleda truck,anaerialisfrequentlycalledanantennaandfilmsarebecomingmovies.

Increasinglythistrendisfastbecomingatwo-wayprocessandBritishwordsarealsocrossingtheAtlanticwithmoreandmoreBritishismsbeingspottedinAmerican English. The writer Ben Yagoda, whose blog can be found atbritishisms.wordpress.com,iscollectingexamplesofthem.Theglobalizationofourmedia and socialmedia seems to be having an impact:Britishwords likeginger,snog, trendy,afters, trainers, fortnight,peckish are appearingmoreandmoreregularlyinAmericantexts.

Anythingcouldhappenin thefuture.But themajordifferencesbetweenthetwolanguageshavelastedalongtime.

CHANGESINGRAMMAR

In termsof vocabulary, theEnglish languagehas certainlynot stood still.Thesameistrueinotherareasofthelanguage,althoughthechangesmaynotbesonumerous.Oneoftheseareasisgrammar.

In the latter part of the 19th century much emphasis was placed on theimportanceoftherulesofgrammarandpunctuation.InBritishschoolsalotoftimewasspentontryingtogettheserulesintotheheadsofpupils.Itwasveryeasytogetthingswrong,especiallybecausesomeoftheserulesweredifficulttounderstand. However, around the middle of the 1960s, the educationalestablishmentstartedtofeelthattheseruleswerelessimportant.

Thoseinchargeofthecurriculumdecidedthattoomuchattentionwasbeingpaid to the rules of grammar and punctuation and that these were being toorigidlyapplied.This,theyclaimed,wasstiflingthecreativityofyoungwriters.Ifthe emphasis on grammar and punctuationwas greatly reduced, then full reincould then be given to the imagination of budding writers. Who knew whatliterary gemsmight emergewhen the imaginationwas unfettered byworryingabout grammar or punctuation? We could become a nation of prize-winningwriters.

Theniteventuallybecameclearthatcreativity,unlessexceptionallyinspired,wasnotenough.Grammarhasbeenvariouslydescribedasthebuildingblocksoflanguage and the cement that binds words together. It gives structure tosentencesandwithoutittheytendtofallapart.Sometimesitmightseemtoyouthatwehavetoomanylawsinoursociety,buttrylivingwithoutthemandyoumightwellsoonwantthemback.Thisiswhathappenedtogrammarandintimepeopledidwantitback.

Thiswasagoodideainprinciplebutitwasnotsoeasytoachieve.Grammarwassomethingthatpupilshadtoworkreallyhardat.Tobringitbackwasgoingtobedifficult.

Thetroublewasthat,bythetimeitwasrealizedthataknowledgeofgrammarhad played a valuable role inwriting, therewere a greatmany people aroundwho knew little about it. Teachers who were faced with teaching it had notthemselvesbeentaughtittoanygreatextent.

When eventually the importanceof grammarwasonce again recognized, itreturnedina lessrestrictiveform.Someof theoldrulesandconventionswereforgottenorsetaside,orbecamemorerelaxed.Obviously,thisledtochangesinperceptionaboutwhatwasgrammaticallyacceptableandwhatwasnot.

SPLITINFINITIVEOneofthesechangesinvolvedthesplitinfinitive.Now,dependingonyourage,youmaynothaveencounteredtheexpression,oryoumayhaveencountereditbut not knownwhat itwas orwhy it could be a problem.Whole generationshavebeenbroughtupwithouthavingthefactsaboutthesplitinfinitivedrummedinto them, whereas previous generations had been told that it was one of themostimportantrulesofgrammar.

Therearestillquiteafewdie-hardsofanolderschoolofthoughtwhoregardit almost as a grammatical sin to split an infinitive. The battle still rages,althoughmanynowhavenoideaofwhatitisallabout.

A split infinitive occurs when the infinitive or base form of a verb has an

adverb or adverbial phrase put between theword to and the relevant verb. Amuchquotedexampleistoboldlygo,fromtheintroductiontotheTVseriesStarTrek. If you are determined to avoid splitting the infinitive you have to sayboldlytogoortogoboldly.

TheproblemwithavoidingsplittinginfinitivesisthatyoucanendupwithapieceofwrittenEnglishthatsoundsunnatural,stiltedorwithameaningthatisaltered.

Forexample,thesentence

Hewenthometoquietlythinkabouthisoptions.meansthemanisthinkingaboutthingsinareflective,contemplativeway.Ifwerewritethesentenceas

Hequietlywenthometothinkabouthisoptions.wearetalkingaboutthequietmannerinwhichhetravelledhome.Ifwerewritethissentenceas

Hewenthometothinkquietlyabouthisoptions.it readsbetter than the lastone,butwhatwas sohard tounderstandabout thefirstusage?It’shardtocomeupwithasensiblereasonwhyanyusageshouldbeforbiddenifitisclearandunderstandable.

It takes a long time for grammar changes to work their way through thesystem,butIthinkwecansafelysaythattheruleagainstthesplitinfinitivehashaditsday.

SENTENCESENDINGINAPREPOSITIONAnothergrammaticalrulethatusedtoberigidlyadheredtowasthatsentencesmustnotendinprepositions.Atonepointthiswassucharigidrulethatithasbeensaidthattheonlythingsomepeopleknewaboutprepositionswasthattheyshouldnotbeputattheendofsentences.TheruleharksbacktoLatin,becauseaLatin sentence cannot end in a preposition. However, this did not mean thatEnglishhadtofollowsuit.

This rule isnowregularlybrokenand in factnowadaysmostpeopledonotSeemuch point in it.As is the casewith avoiding the splitting of infinitives,avoidingputtingaprepositionattheendofasentenceorclausecaneasilyleadtowrittenlanguagesoundingunnaturalandstilted,asin:

Thisisthekindofbullyingbehaviourupwithwhichtheschoolshouldnotput.

As for spoken English, it is difficult to imagine someone trying to get theirtongueroundsuchamouthful.

Admittedly,thisisquiteanextremeexampleanditisaparaphraseofWinstonChurchill’s alleged reaction to people who insisted on going to extraordinarylengthstoavoidendingasentencewithapreposition:

ThisisthesortofEnglishupwithwhichIwillnotput.Themostacceptableandsensiblethingtodowithregardtoprepositionsistoputthemwheretheysoundmostnatural.Youmightsayorwrite:

Whatoneartharethechildrenupto?

There’s nothing you can do to prevent it, so it’s just not worthfrettingabout.

Sometimesthebestplacetoplaceaprepositiondependsonwhetherthecontextisformalorinformal.Inordinaryinformalcontextsyouwouldwriteorsay:

Whichhoteldidyoustayin?Inaformalwrittencontextyoumightchoosetowrite:

Inwhathoteldidyoustay?Thereisa lotmoreto learnaboutprepositions thanworryingaboutwhether toendasentencewiththem.FormoreinformationaboutthemseeChapter4.

OTHERUSAGECHANGES

who/whomAnotherexampleofmodernusagedeviatingfromapreviousstrictgrammaticalrulingconcernswhomandwho.According to the rulesofgrammar,whom isusedastheobjectofaverborpreposition,andwhoisusedasthesubject.

Inmodernusage,however,whoisincreasinglybeingusedinsteadofwhomexceptinveryformalcontexts,asin:

Whodidhegivehisoldcarto?Seealsowhom/whoinPerennialposersinChapter8.

will/shallHereisanotherpairofwordsinwhichagrammaticalchangehasoccurred.Theyaretheverbswillandshall,whichareusedtoformthefuture tense.Formerlytheverbshallwasalwaysusedwith Iandwe, andwillwas alwaysusedwithyou,he/she/itandthey.Therewasanexceptiontothis.WillwasusedwithIandwe,andshallwasusedwiththeotherpersonalpronounswhenafirmintentionwasbeingexpressed,asin:

‘Youshallgototheball,’saidthefairygodmothertoCinderella.In modern usagewill is now commonly used in most relevant contexts. Seeunderwill/shallinPerennialposersinChapter8.

‘llWillandshallnowoftenappearinthecontractedform’ll,asin:

I’llgowithyou.

They’llgettheinformationtomorrow.

Theonly thing that isnewabout this is that thiscontractedformwasformerlyfoundonlyinspokenEnglish,orinveryinformalwrittenEnglish.Nowadays,inaccordance with the new spirit of informality that has spread through the

language, thiscontractedformisusedinsomemoreformalcontexts.Itshouldstillbeavoidedinthemostformalcontexts.

can/mayTheuseofcanandmayhasalsobeenpartofamajorchange.Formerly therewasacleardistinctionbetweentheuseofcan(meaning‘beableto’)andmay(meaning ‘be allowed to’). Nowadays can has taken over frommay in thismeaningandmayisonlyusedinformalcontexts.Thus,peoplecommonlysay

CanIhavealookatthat?insteadof

MayIhavealookatthat?This is one of those changes in grammar that occurred becausemany peoplesimplydidnotunderstandthedifference.Manypeopleopposedthechangebutcould not, in the end, prevent it. See under can/may in Perennial posers inChapter8.

tryto/tryandAs time has gone on, try and is one of those expressions that has gainedacceptability and at least a degree of respectability. Formerly language puristslookeddowntheirnosesatitandregardeditasamistakefortryto.Now,forthemostpartthetwoexpressionsarewidelyconsideredtobeinterchangeable,withmanypeoplepreferringtryandexcept,perhaps,inthemostformalcontexts.Seealsotryto/tryandinPerennialposersinChapter8.

AndandButItisnolongerconsideredanerrortostartasentencewithAndorBut.This isquitearecentchangeandonethathasprobablyarisenbecausepeoplestartedtoaskwhynot.However,donotoverdoit.StartingasentencewithAndorButisbest kept for those occasions when you want to draw particular attention to

something or to emphasize something.Awhole string of sentences starting inthis way is going to sound very tedious and suggest a lack of talent orimaginationinthewriter.

hanged/hungThe distinction between these parts of the verb to hang is fading quite fast.Manypeoplewouldnowsay

Hewasthelastcriminalinthecountrytobehung.insteadof

Hewasthelastcriminalinthecountrytobehanged.althoughitisthelatterversionthatiscorrectintraditionalgrammar.

Traditionallyhungshouldbeusedinsuchcontextsas:

Theyhungtheircoatsonthewashinglinetodry.Seehanged/hungunderVariableverbsinChapter8.

DESEXINGGRAMMAR

Themovementtogetridofsexisminvocabularywasfar-reachingandithadaveryimportanteffectongrammar.SeeDesexingthelanguageinChapter6.

Ruleshadtobebrokenandthisarousedalotofopposition.Sowhatweretheproblems?Somearediscussedinthesectionbelow.

GETTINGRIDOFSEXISM

eachandeveryOneoftheproblemsconcernedwordssuchaseachandevery.Itwasoneoftheestablished rules of grammar that each, used either as an adjective (or as a

determiner as it is now known) or a pronoun, should be accompanied by asingularverb,asin:

Eachstudentwillbegivenalockerkeybeforetheswimminglesson.

It’sdifficulttomakeachoicebecauseeachseemsequallysuitable.

The same was true of the adjective or determiner every. It, too, had to beaccompaniedbyasingularverb,asin:

Everyworkeristobegivenashareofthecompanyprofits.Sofarsogood.Thetroublewasthateachandeverywerealwaysaccompaniedbyapersonalpronouninthesingular,wherethiswasrelevant.Andthistakesusbacktosexismagain.Inthedayswhenpeoplesawnothingwronginassumingthateveryonewasmale,unlessitwasmadeabsolutelyclearthatthiswasnotthecase,sentencessuchas

Eachstudentwasgivenhisownlockerkeybeforetheswimminglesson.

and

Everyworkerwasgivenhisshareofthecompanyprofits.werethenorm.Allthathaschanged,andyoucannowwrite

Eachstudentwasgiventheirownlockerkey.and

Everyworkerwasgiventheirshareofthecompanyprofits.Seehisandtheirandhimandthembelow.

everyone/everybody/nooneThe samewas true of the pronouns everyone,everybody andno one. If youwereactinginaccordancewith thecorrectrulesofgrammaryouhadtosayorwrite:

Studentsmustmaketheirownwaytothestationonthemorningofthetripandeveryonehastobringhisownlunch.

Nowyoucanwrite,withoutcommittingagrammaticalsin:

everyonehastobringtheirownlunch.Seehisandtheir(see1)andhimandthem(see1)below.

hisandtheir(see1,2)Notsolongagotherewasadistinctmalebiasingrammar.Itwasassumedthateveryonewasmale, unless itwas known that thiswas definitely not the case.Wordssuchasstudentandworkerwere, therefore,accompaniedbyhis,whererelevant.Theuseofhisindicatedthepersoninvolvedwasmale,butwhyshoulda student or a worker, or anyone else for thatmatter, be assumed to bemaleunlesstherewasclearproofofthis?

Various ways round the problem of getting rid of sexism while retaininggrammaticalaccuracyweretriedout.Peopletrieddroppinghisinfavourofhisorherorhis/her,butfoundthisawkwardandclumsy,asin:

Eachstudentwasgivenhisorherlockerkeybeforetheswimminglesson.

Everyworkerwasgivenhis/hershareofthecompanyprofits.

Ofcourse,youcansometimesavoidbothsexismandgrammaticalinaccuracyofthiskindbyputtingsuchsentencesintheplural,asin:

Allofthestudentsweregiventheirlockerkeybeforetheswimminglesson.

Alltheworkersweregiventheirshareofthecompanyprofits.

However,thisisnotalwayspossibleandeventuallywhatwaspreviouslysaidtobecompletelyunacceptablebecameaccepted.Thewordhisinsuchcasescameto be replaced by their, although this use was ungrammatical. What waspreviouslyaseriousgrammaticalerrorbegan toappear in referencebooksand

schooltextbooks.Sentencessuchasthefollowingbecameacceptable:

Everyworkerwasgiventheirshareofthecompanyprofits.Whowouldhavethought it?Grammarhadlostout toanti-sexismin language.Of course, this didnot happenovernight orwithout a fight, and there are stillmany people whowould never dream of going against grammar rules in thisway.

heandhim(see1,2)Therewasasimilarproblemconcerningtheuseofthewordhe.Beforepeoplebegantoprotestagainstsexisminlanguageitwascommontousethemasculinepersonalpronounhetorefertoanounwherethegenderwasnotknown,asin:

Ifastudentisacceptedforthecoursehewillreceiveanapplicationforminthepost.

It was also common to use the masculine personal pronoun him whereappropriate,asin:

Ifwefindthatanathletehastakendrugswewilldisqualifyhim.

Theuseofheandhim in suchcontextsbecameunacceptable to thosewhowereintentonstampingoutsexisminlanguage.Theuseofheorsheandhimorherorhe/sheandhim/herprovedtooclumsyformanypeople’stastesand,onceagain,anungrammaticalusewontheday.

Theyisoftennowusedtoreplacehewhereappropriate,asin:

Ifapassengermissesaconnectingflighttheywillbecompensated.Whilethemisoftenusedtoreplacehimwhereappropriate,asin:

Shouldanapplicantbeunsuccessfulwewillletthemknowimmediately.

got/gotten

British English is beginning to be influenced by gotten, the American pastparticipleoftheverbgot.Gotten isoftenusedinAmericanEnglish insteadofhave got, which is still standard use in British English. See got/gotten inChapter8.

INFORMALITY

AgeneralairofincreasedinformalityhascomeovertheEnglishlanguage.ThisprobablybeganaftertheendoftheSecondWorldWarandwastogatherspeed,admittedlygradually,asthedecadesrolledby.Aftertheendofthewarsocietychangedandmoreattentionwaspaidtotheordinaryperson,ratherthanjusttomembersoftheupperclassesanduppermiddleclasses.Thischangetoagreaterinformalityspeededupinthe1960s.

Radiobecameverypopular and soon local radio stationsbegan todevelop.ThepresentersoftheprogrammesissuedbytheseoftenusedlanguageinamuchlessformalwaythantheaverageBBCnewsreaderwhospokewithveryupper-classaccents.

Programmes such as phone-ins also gave ordinary people the chance to beheard.Listenersheardpeopleusingthelanguagethattheythemselvesusedandin their own familiar accents. Sometimes what they were saying wasungrammaticalandsometimesitwasslang,butpeoplewereusingitwhentheywere speaking in public. The language of the broadcast was no longer thepreserveoftheeducatedupperandmiddleclasses.Itwasforeveryone.

Thisairofinformalitybecameevenmoremarkedwhenthecomputerbegantomake its mark on our lives, and evenmoremarked again when electronicformsof communicationbecame thenorm.Theuseof emails and, to an evengreaterextent,theuseoftexting,broughtagreaterinformalitytocommunicationandthisincludedpunctuationandgrammaraswellasvocabulary.

Beforeallthisandrelativelyrecently,ordinarypeopleusedtocomposetheirwritten communications mainly by hand. They would send written letters to

familyandfriendsevenaftertelephonesbecamecommonlyused.Thiswastrueevenofratherformalletterssuchaslettersofcomplaint.

Business letters in firms were typed, usually by someone specificallyemployed to do that. Notmany ordinary people typed. However, typing on acomputerkeyboardwithalargescreeninfrontofyouismucheasierthantypingonatraditionaltypewriter.Soonmanypeopleweretryingtheirhandatitand,intime, sendingemails asa routinewayofcommunicatingwithpeople,whetherthiscommunicationwasformalorinformal.

Communicationbyemailhashadanimportanteffectontheuseoflanguageinvariousways.Ithasmadesomepeoplemorecarelessaboutspelling,grammarandpunctuation.Theyrelyonspell-andgrammar-checkersontheircomputerstoalertthemtoanyerrors.Buttheseshouldcomewithawarning.Forexample,spell-checkers will indicate that you have written ‘thier’ instead of ‘their’because‘thier’isamisspelling,however,theywillnotalertyoutothefactthatyouhavewritten‘their’insteadof‘there’becausebothareactualwords,thoughtheymeandifferentthings.Youstillhavetoknowhowtospellandusegrammar.

Emails have also increased the informality of all aspects of writing.Technological advances seem to have increased the speed at which we livegenerally. We need to do everything very quickly just to keep up with ourschedules.

Thereseemstobeapressure togetemailswrittenasquicklyaspossible intheexpectationthatyouwillsomehowgetarapidreply.Theprocessofinstantmessaginghasonlyincreasedthisfeeling,andthisneedforspeedhasresultedinanincreaseofinformality,andsometimescarelessness.

OMITTEDPUNCTUATIONThuswriters of emails have a tendency to avoid things thatmightmake theirtask longer.So theymissoutcommaswhenactually theyshouldbe there,andomit full stopswhen theydefinitely shouldbe there.On theotherhand,manysendersofemailsareparticularlyfondofthedash,whichmanyofthemoveruse.

FormoreinformationonpunctuationseePunctuatingProperlyinChapter2.

CONTRACTEDFORMSPeopletendtousecontractedformseveninrelativelyformalemails.SowefindamuchhigheroccurrenceofwordssuchasI’ll,he’ll,you’ll,work’ll,John’llandMary’llthanwasformerlythecase.Likewise,wefindthecontractedformsdon’t, didn’t, won’t, haven’t, hadn’t, could’ve and should’ve used withincreasingfrequency.Notonlythat,buttheapostropheisoftenomitted.Thisispartlybecausepeopleareintoomuchofahurrytostopandinsertit,andpartlybecausetheyhavenoideawhereitshouldbeinserted.Seecouldofandshouldof.

GREETINGSWhenpeoplefirstbegantowriteemailstherewasafeelingofuneaseabouthowtostartanemailandhowtofinishitoff.Thereseemednopoint inputtingthepostal addressat the top since thiswasnot really relevant.Anything requiringthatkindofinformationwouldbesentbywhatbecameknownas‘snailmail’.

Therewasnotsuchaproblemifyouknewthepersonwellandwereonfirst-name terms with them. You would continue to writeDear John, etc, at thebeginningandwouldsignoffwithwhatever informalgreetingyouwerein thehabitofusingifyouwrotethemanoteorletter.

However,thiswastochangealso.Thingsweretogetmoreinformal.PeoplestartedtowriteHiJohninsteadofDearJohn,etc.Ifthisseemedtooinformal,they took to writing simply John. Alternatively, they could omit a greetingaltogetherandsimplybegintheemail.Thispracticebecameparticularlypopularifaseriesofcommunicationswasexchangedinthesameday.

PeoplestillwriteDearMrSmith/MsJones,etc,astheopeninggreetingofamore formal letter,but it isbynomeansuncommonfor such letters simply tobeginwiththeperson’sname,asinMrSmith/MsJones.

Theclosinggreetingsof formal lettershavebeen subject togreater change.

FormallettersoftenusedtoendwithYoursfaithfully.Thiswasquiteacuriousthing,asthereseemsnoreasonforpeopletoswearfidelitytopeopletheyeitherdidnotknowordidnotknowwell.ThealternativetothiswasYourssincerely,althoughthereseemsnoneedtopledgeyoursincerityeither.NowadaysYoursfaithfully is fading fast in all but themost formal letters and, to some extent,Yourssincerelyistakingover,althoughitisstillfairlyformal.

If youwant to do awaywith suggestions of fidelity and sincerity and stillremain fairly formal, you can opt for a greeting such as Regards or Kindregards.SomepeopleprefertooptforBestwishesortoreducethisjusttoBestandAllBest.

IfyouwanttochoosesomethingmuchmoreinformalIamsurethatyouwillhave some ideas of your own. If you run out of inspiration there is alwaysCheers!

SLANGANDCOLLOQUIALISMSThere are many contexts, apart from emails, relating to the Internet whereinformalityhasbecomecommon.On social-networking sites andblogspeopleareverylikelytouseinformalpunctuationandgrammarandvocabulary.Theyare also likely to use colloquial or slang vocabulary. Strictly speaking, thedistinction between colloquial or informal English and slang is that slang isslightly further along the path of informality than colloquial and informalEnglish.However,thisdistinctionissometimesdifficulttodiscernandtherecanbeadegreeofconfusionaboutthewholething.Atanyrate,youwillfindpeoplewritingagreatdealofnon-formalEnglish in emails andon social-networkingsites,etc,whetheritiscolloquialorslang.

Manypeopleseemtothinkthatslangisa‘heretoday,gonetomorrow’kindoflanguage.But thereareagreatmanyslangwordsthathavehadaverylongshelf-life indeed.Take skint for example. It is still aliveandkicking, and stillmeans‘havinghardlyanymoney’,anditgoesbackto1925.Mindyou,therearealwaysagreatmanypeoplewhoareskint– theyarealwayswithus.Perhaps

thathassomethingtodowiththesurvivaloftheword!Whatisunusualisthatsuchwordsasskintarebeingusedmuchmorefreely

than they ever were before. The same is true of words such as pissed-off,meaning ‘irritated’ or ‘annoyed’, which has probably been around since theSecondWorldWar.Pantsisaslangtermofdisapprovalwhichcameintobeingaround1995,muchtothedelightofadolescents,youngandold.

Howslangwordsariseisinteresting.ThereisoftenageneralassumptionthattheyhaveallcomefromAmerica,butthisisnotalwaysthecase.Someofthemhavequiteunusualorigins.Takemingingorminginforexample.Thiswordhasrecently enjoyed a great deal of popularity, much featured on the Internet.However,itisfarfromnew.Mingin is an old Scots word and is derived from the Scots verb ming,

meaning‘togiveoffsuchastrongandunpleasantsmellthatitmakesyouwantto hold your nose’.Mingin in Scots means having a very unpleasant smell.Aroundthemid1980sitbegantobeusedbysomeScottishschoolchildrenasageneral term of disapproval, nothing to do with bad smells. For example, ‘Aminginteacher’wasjustateacherthatwasconsideredtobenogood.

Much later mingin or minging became widely used as a slang termthroughouttheUK,particularlyamongtheyoung.Ithastakenonawiderangeof meanings such as ‘disgusting’, ‘unpleasant’, ‘unattractive’ or ‘of poorquality’.Youcanuse itofanyoneoranything thatyoudislike. Ifyouwant toinsultapersonevenfurtheryoucancallthem‘aminginminger’.

THEDECLINEOFDICTIONARIES

Slang words which have demonstrated a significant degree of longevity havelongbeenadmittedtothepagesofdictionaries.Mindyou,alotofpeoplemightnothaverealizedthat.Fewerpeoplenowlookuplargedeskdictionariesorotherreferencebooks.Iftheywanttocheckthattheyhaveusedthecorrectwordina

pieceofwriting,theyaremorelikelytoGoogleitorlookituponanelectronicdictionary. Often they trust to luck, or possibly their memory, and neither ofthesemaybeveryreliable.Wordsthatareeasilyconfusedareevenmorelikelytobeconfusedand,inthiscultureofspeedandinformality,thereisalotofroomforambiguity.

This is sadnews fordictionaries. In the earlypart of the20th century theywere regarded as an undisputed authority on language. Many families wouldhave one, and usually only one, and this would often be referred to as ‘thedictionary’.Peoplewouldonlychangetheirdictionarywhenitlostitscoverandfellapart.Neweditionswereproducedatafarslowerrate than theyare todayandofcoursetherewasnoInternettoreferto.

Often several decades elapsed before a new edition of a dictionary waspublished and, during that time, no new additions and changeswere recordedwhere the averagepersoncould access them.Therewas ageneral feeling thatlanguagewassetinstoneandhadtoremainthatway.

Inthelate1970spublishersbegantoissueneweditionsoftheirdictionariesatmuch shorter intervals and many more publishers began to get involved indictionary publishing. Therewas somuch competition in thismarket that theearly1980sbroughtaphenomenoncalledthe‘dictionarywar’.

This increase in dictionary publishing was partly owing to the fact thatcomputerization made it much easier to produce new dictionaries or neweditionsofdictionaries.Thismeantthatdictionariescouldreactquitespeedilytothechangesthatweretakingplaceinthelanguage.

The press got involved and helped to popularize dictionaries and indeedbegantohavesomeinfluenceonthem.Journalistswerereallymostlyinterestedinratherquirkywordsthattheythoughtwouldappealtotheirreadership,ratherthaninthemanynewtechnicalwordsthatwerecomingintothelanguage.Ithasto be admitted that dictionary publishers made the most of this situation andsome of them played to the gallery, or rather to themedia. They deliberatelyincludedfrivolouswordsandexpressionswhichatother timeswouldnothave

stood a chance of being included in a formal dictionary. So it was thatexpressionssuchasyummymummyfoundtheirwayintodictionaries.

This made the task of the traditional lexicographer (a compiler ofdictionaries)more difficult. Finding enough space to include themanywordsthatwere crying out to be allowed entry to the dictionarywas a long-runningproblem.Takingawordoutwasnotreallyanoption,becausewhoknewwhenitmightpopupagainafteraperiodofdisuse?

The online dictionary changed things. Lack of space was no longer theproblemthatitoncewasintheprinteddictionary,andlexicographershadmoreleewayin theirchoiceofwhat to include.Theycouldindulgethemselvesabitmoreanddemonstratethegrowinginformalityofthelanguage.Moreandmorebuzzwords, such as flunami meaning ‘a sharp increase in the number of flucasesoccurring’andbasedontsunami,wereconsideredsuitablecandidatesforonlinedictionaries.Intheolddays,when‘thedictionary’wasstillBible-likeinitsauthority,words like thatwouldneverevenhavebeenconsideredforentry.Butwouldtheyeverhavebeeninventedinthefirstplace?

2

PUNCTUATINGPROPERLY

PUNCTUATIONTHENANDNOW

In the latter part of the 19th century much emphasis was placed on theimportanceofpunctuation. InUKschoolsa lotof timewasspenton trying toeducatepupilsonthemanyrulesofpunctuation.Itwasveryeasytogetthingswrong.However,aroundthemiddleofthe1960s,punctuationfelloutoffavourwith theeducational establishment.The same thinghappened togrammar.SeeChapter1,TheChangingFaceofEnglish.

Thoseinchargeoftheschoolcurriculumdecidedthattoomuchattentionwasbeing paid to the rules of punctuation and that these were being too rigidlyapplied.This, they claimed,was stifling the creativity of youngwriters. If theemphasisonwhereandifyouputafullstop,comma,etc,wasgreatlyreduced,thenfullreincouldbegiventotheimaginationofbuddingwriters.Theycouldjust let their story flow– a bit like a streamof consciousness novel although,hopefully,notsolongorsocomplex.

Itwascertainlyagoodideatoreducethenumberofrulesandgetridofmuchoftherigidityassociatedwithsuchrules,buttherewasadownside.Pupilswereleftnotknowingthebasicsofpunctuation.

Why did thismatter, andwhat use is punctuation? Punctuation helpsmakesenseoflanguageandgivesitstructure.Itbreaksupwhatmightbearambling,fairlymeaninglesspieceofwritingandmakesitintoameaningfulunit.

Iteventuallybecameclear thatcreativity,unlessexceptionally inspired,was

not enough. It was acknowledged that some structure was necessary andpunctuationwasbroughtinfromthecold,althoughtheruleswerenevertobesoextensiveorsorigidlyenforcedasbefore.

The rules became even more relaxed when electronic forms ofcommunication became the norm. The use of emails and, to an even greaterextent, the use of texting brought a greater informality to communication andthisincludedpunctuationaswellasvocabularyandgrammar.Thisrelaxedformof punctuation is much easier to get right but there are still some potentialpitfalls.Thesehave tobeavoided,at leastwhenyouarewritingsomekindofformalcommunicationsuchasanessayorabusinessletter.SeeChapter1.

COMMONERRORSINPUNCTUATION

APOSTROPHE

THEAPOSTROPHESHOWINGPOSSESSIONTheapostrophe(writtenas’)has’twomainuses:toindicatepossession,i.e.thatsomething belongs to someone; and to show that there are missing letters orspacesinacontractedword,asincan’t,haven’tandisn’t.

When indicatingpossession, an s is added after the apostrophe for singularwordsandforpluralsthatdon’talreadyendinan–s.Forexample,agirl’sbike,a person’s right, John’s car, the company’s premises, the children’s school,women’srights.Ifapluralwordendsinan–s,theapostrophefollowsthesandnoextrasisadded,asinstudents’dictionary,employees’contracts.

Ifaperson’snameendsinans,xorzsoundorthesilentFrenchsinwordslikeDescartes, then theacceptedmodernusage toshowpossession is,mostofthetime,toadd’sasinDescartes’sMeditations,Charles’swife,Camus’snovel,Francis’s birthday. It is slightly old fashioned to use the apostrophe alone.

However in biblical or classical texts itmight seemmore appropriate as in inJesus’name,Herodotus’works.Usethesoundoftheendofthewordasaguidetoo. If adding ’s makes the pronunciation of longer words harder then it’sacceptabletojustuseanapostropheasinWilliams’latestsinglesvictory.Followaconsistentstylewithinthetext.

Itwouldbe foolish toclaim thatuseof theapostrophe iseasy,and it is thecauseofagreatmanypunctuationerrors.Whatcomplicates the issue is that itinvolvesknowingquitea lotabout the formationofplurals inEnglish, itselfadifficultsubjectbecauseofthenumberofpluralsthatareirregularlyformed.SeeChapter3whichprovidesinformationonirregularpluralnouns.

Commonerrorswhentheapostropheindicatespossession• Inserting an apostrophe when there is no suggestion that possession is

involved, and no contracted forms are involved. This is a particularlycommonerrorandthereareexamplesofitallovertheplace,particularlyinshopwindows,informaladvertisementsandmenus.Forexample,youmightSee the following on a sign outside a fruit and vegetable sign: fresh localleek’s,newpotatoes’forsaleortrythesejuicytomatoes’.Thevegetablesdonotownanythingand theapostrophesarecompletely

wrong.Theyshouldbeomitted.• Inserting an apostrophe where none should be when this relates to such

expressionsassportscoachandgamesteacher.Again,thereisnosuggestionofpossessionbeinginvolvedandtowritesports’coachorsport’scoachandgames’teacherorgame’steacheriswrong.

• Putting the apostrophe in the wrong place in plural and singular words.Someonemaywronglywritetheboys’favouritehobbywhenonlyoneboyisinvolved (it should be the boy’s favourite hobby), or the worker’s livingquarters when several workers are involved (so it should be theworkers’livingquarters).The above error is all themore commonwith regard to irregular plural

forms that do not end in the letter s. Instead of writing correctlywomen’sathletics and children’s literature some people wrongly write womens’athleticsandchildrens’literature.SeeChapter3whichprovidesinformationonirregularpluralnouns(see1).

• Puttinganapostropheon suchpersonalpossessivepronounsashers, its ortheirs.Theyshowpossessionandtheymayendinsbut theynevercontainanapostrophe.

Donotwrite:Thesebooksaretheirs’.

orThesebooksaretheir’s.

Thecorrectformis:Thesebooksaretheirs.

• Using it’s instead of its to indicate possession. This is one of the mostcommonerrorsinvolvinganapostrophe.Itsshouldnotcontainanapostropheinsuchsentencesas:

Thedoghaslostits(notit’s)ball.

Thecinemahadputits(notit’s)pricesup,sotheyfoundthattheydidnothaveenoughmoneywiththemforpopcorntoo.

Thewordit’sisonlyusedasacontractedformofitis,asin:

It’sunusualtofindaverystylishcarthatiseconomicaltodrivetoo.

SeealsoTheapostropheincontractedformsbelow.•Usingyou’reinsteadofyourtoindicatepossession.Thisisaverycommon

error.You’reshouldnotbeusedinsuchsentencesas:

Doesthatansweryour(notyou’re)question?

You’re is a contracted form of you are and should only be used in suchsentencesas:

I’msureyou’re(notyour)wrong.

SeealsoTheapostropheincontractedforms(see1)below.• Omitting the apostrophe for the sake of appearance when one should be

inserted. It isquitecommonforpeople involved inadvertisingordesign towanttoomittheapostropheinawordonabookcover,etc,becausetheyfeel

thatitlookscleanerandlessclutteredwithoutit.Donottrydoingthisinanapplicationforajob!

THEAPOSTROPHEINCONTRACTEDFORMS(see1)Theapostropheisalsousedtoshowtheomissionoflettersincontractedforms,asincan’tforcannot,isn’tforisnot,haven’tforhavenotandyou’llforyouwill.

Commonerrorswhentheapostropheisusedincontractedforms• Omitting the apostrophe where there should be one. Punctuation may be

becoming more informal and relaxed and you may not bother withapostrophesifyouaredashingoffatexttoafriend,butyoumustputtheminifyouarewritingaformalletter.Theuseoftheapostropheinthiscontextisone thatmaywell fade over the years, but, for themoment, it is still verymuchalive.

•Omittingtheapostropheinit’s,thecontractedformofitis,asin:

It’s(notits)notmyfaultthatDad’scargotdamaged.

Thisuseshouldnotbeconfusedwiththeuseofitstoshowpossessionwhenthereshouldbenoapostrophe,asin:

Thehamsterissleepinginitscage.

Seeit’sandits/it’s.•Omittingtheapostropheinyou’re,thecontractedformofyouare,asin:

You’re(notyour)goingtogetintotroubleifyou’relateagain.

Thisuseshouldnotbeconfusedwiththeuseofyourtoshowpossessionasin:

Itwasyourfaultthatwewerelate.

SeeTheapostropheshowingpossession.•Usinganapostrophewhenindicatingtheendofadecade.Sinceit’ssimplya

plural,youshouldwrite1990s,not1990’s.

BRACKETSBrackets, especially round brackets, occur in pairs and are used to encloseinformation that is additional toamain statement.Theycanoftenbe removedwithoutalteringthebasicmeaningofthestatement,asin:

Thestudentwasveryrich(richerthananyonehisagehadanyrighttobe)andthatalonemadehimverypopularwithmanyofhisfellowstudents.

Commonerrorsinvolvingbrackets•Forgettingtoinsertthesecondoneofapairofbrackets.•Overusingbrackets.Avoiddoingthis.Toomanyofthemreallyinterruptthe

flowofwhatyouarewriting.Taketimetoreorganizewhatyouwanttosayrather than relying on a lot of brackets to add extra information as you goalong.

CAPITALLETTERThe capital letter has suffered a decline because of the rise in electroniccommunication. If you are sending someone an email or using your mobilephonetotextthemitismucheasierandquickertotypelower-caselettersthancapitalletters.SoitisthatalotofelectroniccommunicationsgoontheirmerrywaywiththefirstpersonsingularpronounbeingspeltiratherthanI.Alsoyouwillfindpeople’snamesspeltwithaninitiallower-caseletterinsteadofacapitalletter,asinpeterandmary,andnamesofplacesspeltinasimilarfashion,asinromeinsteadofRomeandtowerbridgeinsteadofTowerBridge.

Donotbetoocheeredupbythisnews.Youarenotoffthehook.Wearenotwitnessingthegeneralcollapseofthecapitalletter.Itisstillverymuchaliveinmoreformalcontexts,whetherthesetaketheformofelectroniccommunicationorsnailmail.

TIPSREGARDINGCAPITALLETTERS• Donotforgettoputacapitalletterastheinitialletterofthefirstwordina

sentence,questionorexclamation,asin:

Touristsonlygothereinthesummer.

Didyoubuyticketsfortheconcert?

Don’tdothat!• Donot forget toputacapital letteras the initial letterofanameorproper

noun,asin:

Hisyoungerbrother’scalledMichael.

StockholmisthecapitalofSweden.

WhendidtheIceAgebegin?

HisbirthdayisinOctober.

WhatdateisEasterSundaythisyear?

ShehasconvertedtoBuddhism.•Althoughthemonthsoftheyearandthedaysoftheweekarespeltwithan

initial capital letter, the seasonsof theyear areusually speltwith an initiallower-caseletter,asin:

It’stoohotforusthereinthesummer.

Hisfavouriteseasonoftheyearisspring.

Itwasacoldandwetautumnday.

Somepeopleprefertouseaninitialcapitalletterinthiscontextanditisnotactuallywrongtodoso.

• Nounsandadjectiveswhich refer tonationalitiesorethnicgroupsare speltwithaninitialcapitalletter,asin:

ShespeaksSpanishfluently.

ItwasaconferenceofFrencheconomists.

However, there is an exception to this. Where an adjective referring to anationalityisnotusedliterally, it isusuallyspeltwithalower-caseletter,asin:

Thebrusselssproutswereovercooked.

Shewalkedthroughthefrenchwindowsintothegarden.

Dogs breeds such as alsatian and chihuahua don’t have to have initialcapitals.

•Thenamesoflanguagesarespeltwithaninitialcapitalletter,asin:

ShehasgonetoLondontostudyEnglish.

Butotheracademicsubjectsarespeltwithaninitiallower-caseletter,asin:

Heisstudyingpsychology.• Although the pronoun I is always spelt with a capital letter, the other

pronounsarespeltwithalower-caseletter,asinyou,he,she,they,etc,unlesstheyarethefirstwordinasentence.

•Donotforgettoputacapitalletterastheinitialletterofatradename,asin:

HehasjustboughtaToyota.

IneedtobuyarollofSellotapetowrapmyChristmaspresents.

WeusedtoplayScrabbleintheevenings.•Donotusecapitalletterssimplytoemphasizeaword,asin:

TheirnewhouseisHUGE.

COLONDonot avoid the colon. Stop thinking of the colon as something difficult andacademic. Using the colon in formal contexts will save you from using thealready overused dash.Use it, for examplewhen you are introducing a list ofsomekind,asin:

Youwillneedthefollowingingredients:eggs,milk,flour,sugar,cocoapowderandvanillaessence.

ACOMMONERRORINVOLVINGTHECOLON

•Donotconfusethecolonwiththesemi-colon.Thecolonisusedtoseparatetwopartsofasentencewhenthefirstpartleadsontothesecondpart,asin:

Thisareahasbeensignificantlyupgradedduringthelastfewyears:propertypriceshavesoared.

SEMI-COLONDo not avoid the semi-colon. Stop thinking of it as something difficult andacademic,althoughitisratheraformalpunctuationmark.

COMMONERRORSINVOLVINGTHESEMI-COLON•Donotconfusethesemi-colonwiththecolon.Thesemi-colonisusedtojoin

clauses that are not joined by a conjunction. The clauses could each besentencesintheirownright.Ithastheforceofastrongcommaoradash.Thesemi-colonisoftenausefulsubstituteforadash.

•Thesemi-colonisusedtoseparatetheitemsinalonglistoraseriesofthings.Donotconfuseitwiththecolon.

Functioninglikeaparticularlystrongcomma,thesemi-colonisoftenusedinmorecomplicatedliststomakethemeasiertounderstand,asin:

WhileweareinEdinburghweplantovisitEdinburghCastle;theCanongatearea,includingthePalaceofHolyroodhouse,HolyroodParkandtheScottishParliament;theshops,ofcourse,ifwehaveanymoneyleftfromallthesightseeing;theNationalGalleryofScotlandandtheNationalPortraitGallery.

COMMAPunctuation is generally much more informal than it once was and the rulesrelatingtotheuseofcommasarenotasrigidastheyoncewere.Thisisagoodthing as the comma has long been a source of confusion to many users ofEnglish.

COMMONERRORSINVOLVINGTHECOMMAINLISTS

• Be awareof the following.Commasareoftenused to separate thevariousitemsin lists.Formerlyitwasconsideredwrongtoputacommabefore theandwhichfollowsthesecond-lastiteminalist,asin:

Iboughtbread,butter,cheese,grapesandwine.

Nowadaysit isbecomingincreasinglycommoninBritishEnglish,andevenmorecommoninAmericanEnglish,toinsertacommainthatposition,asin:

Iboughtbread,butter,cheese,grapes,andwine.

Thiscommaisknownas‘theOxfordcomma’or‘theserialcomma’.Atthisstage, whether you use it or not is entirely up to you. However, there areoccasionswhenyoushoulduseittoavoidambiguity.Confusionmayariseifthelastiteminalistofitemsitselfcontainsthewordandusedinitsownrightaspartofthesentence,asin:

Forthechildrentherewasachoiceofpizza,chickennuggets,macaronicheeseandfishandchips.

Forthesakeofclarityitisaswelltoputacommaafterthewordcheese,asin:

Forthechildrentherewasachoiceofpizza,chickennuggets,macaronicheese,andfishandchips.

Someexamplesarelikelytobefoundevenmoreambiguous,asin:

WehadafilmmarathonandwatchedTheHobbit,Spider-Man,AvatarandHarryPotterandtheDeathlyHallows.

ToavoidambiguityputacommaafterAvatar,asinAvatar,andHarryPotterandtheDeathlyHallows.

Ifyouaredealingwithanexceptionallylonglistofitemsorwithalistinwhich the itemseachconsistofseveralwords,youshouldconsiderusingasemi-coloninsteadofacomma.

• Itwas formerly absolutely standard practice to separatewith a comma theindividualadjectivesinalistofadjectivesplacedbeforeanoun,asin:

Sheworealong,black,low-necked,eveningdress.

Itwasconsideredwrongnottodoso.Thatisnolongerthecaseandalthough

itisarelativelynewbrokenruleitisonethatisspreadingfast.Whetheryouchoose to insert a comma between each of the adjectives in a list is yourdecision.Beaware,however, that thepracticeofnot insertingcommasmaybecomestandardpracticebeforetoolong.

A word of warning if you decide to go on separating adjectives withcommas: do not insert a comma before the adjective which comesimmediately before the relevant noun when this adjective has anexceptionally close relationship with the noun and, indeed, may help todefineit,asshowninthefollowingexample:

Weboughtsomelarge,glossy,redpepperstostufffordinner.

Donotwrite:

Weboughtsomelarge,glossy,red,pepperstostufffordinner.

Evenifyoudecidetoinsertcommasbetweentheotheradjectives,asabove,donotseparatepeppersfromred.Thewordsbelongtogether.

COMMON ERRORS INVOLVING THE COMMA ANDCLAUSES•Wherewhatisknownas‘anon-definingrelativeclause’dividesthepartsofa

main clause, this clause is placed within commas. For example, in thesentence

BuenosAires,whosenamemeans‘fairwinds’,isthecapitalofArgentina.

theclausewhosenamemeans‘fairwinds’isanon-definingrelativeclause;itdoesn’t identify the city, it just gives abitmore information, so it couldbetaken out without altering the essential meaning of the sentence. It is acommonerrornottoinsertthesecommas,asin:

BuenosAireswhosenamemeans‘fairwinds’isthecapitalofArgentina.

When the relative clause is an integral part of the sentence and not just anextrapieceofinformation,itiscalled‘adefiningrelativeclause’andthereisnoneedforcommas,asin:

Therestaurantthatyoumentionedhasclosednow.

The clause that you mentioned identifies the restaurant, so is essential tounderstandingthesentence.

• Alwaysremember to includebothcommasofapairofcommas.Thiserrorwhich relates to commas and non-defining relative clauses involves usingonlytheinitialcommatoseparateoff theclauseandforgettingtoinsert theclosingone.Itiswrongtoinsertonlyonecomma,asin:

BuenosAires,whosenamemeans‘fairwinds’isthecapitalofArgentina.

•Donotuseacommatoseparateamainclausefromasubordinateclause,asin:

Shewasleaving,ashearrived.

This iswrong.Evenwhen the subordinate clause isplacedbefore themainclauseyoudonotusuallyneedacommatoseparatethem(althoughitisnotwrongtouseone),asin:

Ifitrainswe’llhavethepartyindoors.

However,ifthesubordinateclauseisquitelongyoushoulduseacommatoseparatethedifferentactionsforthesakeofclarity,asin:

Whenwehadcleanedthewindows,hooveredthecarpets,polishedthefurnitureandfilledsomevaseswithflowers,theroomwasreadyfortheparty.

•Wherethereisanyriskofconfusionyoushouldinsertacommabetweenthesubordinate clause and the main clause, especially when the subordinateclauseendswithaverbandthefollowingmainclausebeginswithanoun,asin:

Ifyoudonotreturn,thebookswillbeputbackontheshelves.

Whenthestudentsfinishedpainting,theirpicturesweredisplayedonthewalls.

•Itiswrongtoinsertacommabetweenamainclauseandasubordinateclausebeginningwiththat,asin:

Isuspected,thatshewasdishonest.• Wheremain clauses are joined by and, are quite long and have different

subjects, it isagood idea to insertacommabefore theand for thesakeofclarity,asin:

TheOlympicstadiumhasacapacityof80,000andhousesanine-laneathletictrack,anditwillcontinuetobeusedasasportsvenueforyearstocome.

Whenmainclausesarejoinedbybutusersmaychooseeithertouseacommaornottomarkoffthemainclause,butacommaishelpfulwhenbothclausesarequitelong.

COMMON ERRORS INVOLVING COMMAS WITH ADVERBS ORADVERBIALPHRASES• It was formerly standard practice to use a comma to separate adverbs or

adverbialphrasesatthebeginningofasentence,suchashowever,ofcourse,inthemeantime,forexample,fromtherestofthesentence,asin:

It’sbeenapleasantevening.However,it’slateandImustgohomenow.

Nowadays,thecommainthissituationisconsideredoptional,butyoushouldinsertacommaaftertheadverboradverbialphraseifthereisanypossibilityofconfusion,asin:

Normally,intelligentadultswillappreciatetheadvantagesofthesavingsscheme.

•Itisalsoagoodideatoinsertacommaiftheadverbialphraseisverylong,asin:

Afteragreatdealofcarefulconsideration,Iagreed.

COMMON ERRORS INVOLVING COMMAS IN THE ROLE OFBRACKETS•Apairofcommasisoftenusedtoseparateoffapieceofinformationthatis

notcentraltothemeaningofasentence,butisadditionaltoitinthewaythatbracketedinformationis.Thelengthofsuchpiecesofadditionalinformation

can vary from very short to quite long. Do not forget to enclose suchinformationincommasinsuchsituations,asin:

MarkTaylor,theclubtreasurer,hasaskedmetoaddressthemeetinginhisplaceashehasbeenunexpectedlycalledaway.

Itisquiteclear,asyouhaveprobablyallrealized,thatthemarketisnotlikelytoimproveinthenearfuture.

Donotforgettoincludeapairofcommasinsuchsituations.Onewillnotbeenough.

COMMON ERRORS INVOLVING COMMAS IN VARIOUS OTHERSITUATIONS• Donot forget to insertacommabetween the lastword inapieceofdirect

speechandtheclosingquotationmarkandbeforethewordsayetc,asin:

‘You’relate,’shesaidaccusingly.

‘Thebusiscoming,’hecalledout.

•Donotforgettouseacommatoseparateaperson’sname,orthenameofagroup,fromtherestofthesentencewhenyouareaddressingthem,asin:

Jim,welcomehome!

I’moverhere,Peter.

I’msorry,MsPark,butyouhavenotgotthejob.

Gentlemen,letmeshowyoutheway.

•Donotforgettoinsertacommaafteraninterjectionatthestartofasentence,asin:

Heavens,it’shot!

See,thedisplayhasstarted.

•Donotforgettouseacommatoseparateaquestiontagfromtherestofthesentence,asin:

Itwasalovelyevening,wasn’tit?

Youdostillwanttogo,don’tyou?

•Remembertoinsertacommainnumbersthataremadeupofmorethanfourfigures, as in86,350 and150,600.A comma is alsooftenused in numbersconsistingoffourdigits,asin3,000,butthereisagrowingtendencytoomitthiscomma.

•Donotusecommastoseparatethenumbersindates,asin1941and2013(not1,941and2,013).

DASH• Thedashcanbeusedaspartof apair inmuch the samewayasbrackets,

althoughdashesaregenerallymuchmorepopularthanbracketsandusedinlessformalcontextsasin:

Myparents’next-doorneighbour–Ican’trememberhisname–hasopenedawinebaronthehighstreet.

• The single dash used on its own has several uses, often at the end ofsentences,asin:

Ineversawhimagain–andIwasn’tsorry.

Youcankeepthebook–I’vefinishedwithit.

COMMONERRORSINVOLVINGDASHES•Donotforgettoinsertthesecondoneofapairofdashes.•Donotoverusepairsofdashes.Thisisacommonthingtodoasdashesare

verypopularwithagreatmanywriters.Usingalotofdashesisfineifyou’rejustwritingachattyemailtoafriend,butusethemverysparinglyinanykindofformalcommunication.Toomanyofthemreallyinterrupttheflowofwhatyouarewritingandcanlookmessy.

•Donotoverusethesingledash.Asisthecasewithpairsofdashes,thisisaverycommon thing todoandshouldbeavoidedwhenyouarewritingany

kindofformalcommunication.Topepperyourpieceofwritingwithalotofdasheslooksrathermessy.

EXCLAMATIONMARKTheexclamationmarkisusedattheendofasentenceinsteadofafullstopwhenthe sentence is expressing someone’s strong reaction to something, e.g. anger,shock,surprise,asin:

Iabsolutelyhatehim!Theexclamationmarkoftenfollowsasinglewordoragroupofwordswithoutaverbthatalsoexpressastrongreaction,asin:

Howamazing!Wow!Exclamation marks may also function as markers of friendly interaction, forexample,bymaking‘Goodluck!’seemfriendlierthansimply‘Goodluck’.

ACOMMONERRORINVOLVINGEXCLAMATIONREMARKS• Do not overuse exclamation marks. If you do they become ineffective.

Restrict their use to situationswhere very strong reactions are appropriate.Usethemvery,verysparinglyinformalcontexts.

FULLSTOPIt is abasic requirementofwriting tobe able towrite in sentences.Themainfunctionofthefullstopistomarktheendofsentencewherethisdoesnotendinaquestionmarkorexclamationmark.

The full stop is also sometimes used in connectionwith abbreviations.Themoderntendencyistousefullstopsfarlessfrequentlyinabbreviationsthanwasformerlythecase.Oftenwhetheryouusethemornotisamatteroftasteaslongasyouareconsistentwithinanyonepieceofwriting.

The full stop also plays an important role in email addresses and websiteaddresses.

COMMONERRORSINVOLVINGFULLSTOPS•Fullstopsareoftenomittedinerror.Itisacommonerrorjusttoleavetheend

of a sentencewithout anypunctuation at all even though thenext sentencemaybeginwithacapitalletter,asin:

Idon’tknowwhyheleftHewentawayverysuddenlywithoutsayinganything

These examples arewrongly punctuated. They should both endwith a fullstop.

• Failure to recognize the end of a sentence resulting in failure to use theappropriatepunctuation,asin:

Heknewhewasn’tlikelytowinthematchhehadn’tbeentrainingasmuchasusual.

This iswrong.There shouldbea full stopafter thewordmatch and thehethat follows should have a capital letter. Alternatively, there should be aconjunctionaftermatch,asin:

Heknewhewasn’tlikelytowinthematchbecausehehadn’tbeentrainingasmuchasusual.

•Ifyoufindthatyouhavejustwrittenaverylongsentence,haveacarefullookatit.Isitcorrectlypunctuated?Shouldyouhavebrokenyourpieceofwritingintomorethanonesentenceandinsertedfullstopsandcapitalletterswhereappropriate?

• Omitting the full stop at the end of a group of words complete in itselfalthoughitisnotactuallyasentence,asin:

‘WhendidyoulastSeehim?’

‘Yesterdayevening’

There should be a full stop after the word evening and before the closingquotationmark,asin:

‘WhendidyoulastSeehim?’‘Yesterdayevening.’

• In dialogue, putting the full stop in thewrong placewhen it is usedwith

quotationmarks.Itshouldgobeforetheclosingquotationmarknotafter,asin:

‘I’mafraidIcan’tcomewithyou.’•Puttingafullstopinabbreviationswhichinvolveinitialcapitalletters,suchasBBC,TUC,USA,isbestavoided.Thisisnotinkeepingwithmodernusage.

•Puttingafullstopinabbreviationsifoneorsomeoftheinitiallettersdonotrelatetoafullword,suchasTV.

•Forgettingtoinsertafullstopwhereitisneededcanpreventanemailfromreachingitsdestinationorpreventyoufromaccessingawebsite.

HYPHENThehyphen is used in various situations but it has fallenout of favour and isnowusedmuch less frequently thanformerly. Itwasoncecommonpractice tojointwowordstogetherasacompoundusingahyphen,asinboat-hook,boat-house, bake-house, boot-guard, boot-brush, dog-house, dog-walker, door-handle,gun-rack,tree-house.

Nowthetendencyistoremovethehyphen,makingthecompoundeitheroneword or two. Often this is amatter of taste, although longer words aremorelikelytobecometwowordsthanoneword.

COMMONERRORSINVOLVINGHYPHENS•Havingmadeyourchoiceaboutwhethertomakeacompoundnounoneword

or two, remember to stick with this system throughout any one piece ofwriting.Itiseasytobeinconsistent,particularlyifyouhavebeenundecidedaboutwhichstyletochoose.

• Remember that there are some fixed compounds of two or three ormorewordswhichstillusually retain thehyphen,as inbrother-in-law andgood-for-nothing.

• Rememberthat thehyphenisnormallyusedincompoundadjectivesbeforenouns, as in the wine-producing areas of France, a ten-year lease and athree-bedroomhouse.

• Remember that thehyphen isnormallyused incompoundadjectiveswherethesecondelementofthecompoundendsin–ed,asinfair-mindedjudges.

•Rememberthatthehyphenisnormallyusedincertainadverbs,sometimestoavoid ambiguity, as ina well-establishedmethod, a half-organized schemeandthebest-knownwriteroftravelbooksaboutthatarea.

•Donotuseahyphentoseparateanadverbfromanadjectiveorparticipleifthe adverb ends in –ly, as in a highly successful fashion designer and animmaculatelydressedyoungman.

•Rememberthatcompoundnumberssuchastwohundredandseventhousandarenothyphenated,althoughcompoundnumbersfrom21to99whenwritteninfullareoftenhyphenated,asinseventy-fiveyearsagoandforty-fivemiles.

•Becarefulwhenyouareusingtwoormorehyphenatedcompoundadjectiveswhichhavethesamesecondelementandwhichqualifythesamenoun.Youdo not need to repeat the second element, but you do need to repeat thehyphen,asinfour-andfive-storeybuildings.

PARAGRAPHThere is no doubt about it. Paragraphs can be difficult to get to grips with,particularlysincetheyarenotgovernedbyanyruleswhichtellushowtodealwiththem.Thegoodnewsisthatdecidingwhentostartanewparagraphsoonbecomes amatter of instinct andyoudo it automatically.Paragraphwriting isoneofthosecaseswherepracticemakesperfect–oratleastcompetent.Also,ithelpsifyoureadalot.Seeinghowotherpeopledoitcanbeveryuseful.

COMMONERRORSINVOLVINGPARAGRAPHS• First of all do remember to arrange yourwriting in paragraphs if you are

writingsomethingthatisatallformal.It isallverywelltotypearamblingemail toa friendwithoutworryingaboutparagraphs,but thisapproachwillnotdoforcollegeessays,applicationsforjobs,lettersofcomplaint,etc.

•Donotmakeyourparagraphstoolong.Theideabehindparagraphsistomakeapieceofwritingmoreaccessible.Ifyouwriteverylongparagraphsyouaregoing to create the impression of inaccessibility, however good yourintentionsare.

• It isnolongerconsideredagrammaticalsintohaveonlyonesentenceinaparagraph,butdonotoverdoit.Useitoccasionallyforstylisticeffectifyoulike, but do not end upwith a piece of writing consisting of one-sentence

paragraphsunlessyouareatabloidjournalist.

QUESTIONMARKThequestionmark is used, as youmight expect, at the endof a sentence thatasksadirectquestion,asin:

Whydidyoudothat?

Haveyouseenhimlately?

COMMONERRORSINVOLVINGQUESTIONMARKS•Donotforgettoinsertaquestionmarkattheendofaquestion,asin:

Whyareyouhere.

Thereshouldbeaquestionmarkinsteadofafullstopafterhere.•Donotuseaquestionmarkwhenthequestionispartofreportedorindirect

speechinsteadofaquestionindirectspeech,asin:

Sheaskedmewherehewas?

Iwonderedwhotoldhimthat?

Bothof these arewrong, because they are examples of reportedor indirectspeech.

QUOTATIONMARKSQuotation marks are used in pairs and have several uses. They are used toenclosedirectspeech,i.e.theactualwordsthatsomeonehasspoken,asin:

‘Whyonearthdidshemarryhim?’Iasked.They are also used in a piece of writing to enclose a direct quotation fromanotherpieceofwritingorspeech,asin:

Itwasabitofanexaggerationwhenshereferredinherreportto‘record-breakingsales’.

Theyarealsosometimesusedtoindicatetitlesofbooks,plays,etc,asin‘JaneEyre’.

Quotationmarksinallcasescaneitherbedoubleorsingleaccordingtotaste,aslongasthisisconsistentinanyonepieceofwriting.Itisclearerforreadersifa different style is used for anything quoted within a quote, so either singlequotation marks within double quotation marks or double quotation markswithinsinglequotationmarks,asin:

‘It’s“businessasusual”eventhoughwe’vegotscaffoldingup,’theshopmanagertoldus.

COMMONERRORSINVOLVINGQUOTATIONMARKS•Donotomitthesecondsetofquotationmarks,asin:

‘Weareleavingtomorrow,shesaid.•Donotuseasinglequotationmarkfollowedbyaclosingdoubleone,asin:

‘Let’smeetforlunchnextweek,”hesuggested.

3

IRREGULARPLURALNOUNSIrregularplurals(see1)refertothepluralformofnounsthatdonotmaketheirpluralintheregularway.

MostnounsinEnglishadd–stothesingularformtomakethepluralform,asinboytoboys.Someadd–estothesingularformtoformtheplural,asinchurchtochurches.Nounsendinginaconsonantfollowedby–yhave–iesasaregularplural ending. Thus fairy becomes fairies and berry becomes berries. Theforegoingareallexamplesofregularplurals.

Irregular plural nouns include nouns that are different in form from theirsingularformsanddonotsimplyaddanending,suchasmenfromman,womenfromwomanandmicefrommouse.Irregularpluralsareformedinanumberofdifferentways.• Some irregular plurals are formed by changing the vowel of the singular

forms,asinfeetfromfoot,geesefromgooseandteethfromtooth.•Someirregularpluralformsareformedbyadding–en,asoxenfromoxandchildrenfromchild.

•Somenounsendingin–fformirregularpluralsin–ves,asinloaftoloaves,half tohalves,wife towives andwolf towolves, but some have alternativeendings,asinhoof toeitherhoofsorhooves,andsomeformregularpluralsbysimplyadding–stothesingularform,asinrooftoroofs.

• Some irregular plural forms are the original foreign plural forms ofwordsadopted into English, for example stimuli from stimulus, phenomena fromphenomenonandcriteriafromcriterion.Inmodernusagethereisagrowingtendency to anglicize the plural forms of foreign words. Many of thesecoexistwiththeoriginalpluralform,asinthesaurusesandthesauri,formulasand formulae, and gateaus and gateaux. Sometimes the anglicized plural

formedaccordingtotheregularEnglishrulesdiffersslightlyinmeaningfromtheirregularforeignplural.Thus,indexesusuallyappliestotheguidestothecontent at the end of books, and indices is normally used in the field ofmathematics.

• Somenouns have irregular plurals in that the plural form and the singularformarethesame.Theseincludesheep,grouse(thegame-bird)andsalmon.Also, somenounshave a regularplural and an irregularplural form.Thus,brotherhasthepluralformsbrothersandbrethren,althoughbrethrenisnowmainlyusedinareligiouscontextandisarchaicingeneralEnglish.

4

PROBLEMATICPREPOSITIONS

PREPOSITIONS

Youmaythinkthat,aspartsofspeechgo,prepositionslookfairlyharmless.Thisisprobablybecausemanyof themare so short (e.g. in,on, from,off,with, to)that you would not think that they could cause much in the way of trouble.However,smallisnotalwaysinnocent.Justthinkofthediscomfortthatmidgescancause!Prepositionsmaybeshortbuttheyarecertainlynotproblem-free.

WHATFOLLOWSWHAT?But let’s be fair to prepositions. The problems associated with them tend tocentre not on the prepositions themselves, but on their relationships. It is thefunctionofprepositionstoshowhowsomeelementsinsentencesrelatetootherelements,anditisnotalwayseasytodecidewhichprepositionconnectswhattowhat.ThisisaparticularproblemforlearnersofEnglishasaforeignlanguageorasasecondlanguage.However,itcanalsopuzzlenativespeakers.

Somewordscauseparticularproblemsbecausetheycanhookupwithmorethan one preposition. For example, the verbagree can be accompanied by to,withoron,whiletheadjectiveresponsiblecanteamupwithtoorfor.TheA–Zlistbelow,althoughitisbynomeanscomprehensive,willgiveyouguidanceonsomeofthese.

absentfrom/presentatYouaresaidtobeabsentfromameetingorplacewhenyouarenotthere,asin:

Thatisthethirddaythepupilhasbeenabsentfromschool.

Theleadactorwasabsent fromlastnight’sperformancebecausehewasill.

Theoppositeofabsentfromispresentat,asin:

Therewere300peoplepresentattheprotestmeeting.

absolvefromIfyouabsolvesomeonefromblameyousaypubliclyorofficiallythattheyarenotguiltyofacrimeoractofwrongdoing,oftenonethattheyhavebeenaccusedof,asin:

Hehasbeenabsolvedfromallblameinconnectionwiththeaccident.

Absolvefromismostlyusedinformalcontexts.

accustomedto/inthehabitofIfyouareaccustomedto(see1)somethingitissomethingthatyoudoregularlyorareveryfamiliarwith,asin:

Theirteenagechildrenwereaccustomedtotheamenitiesofcitylifeandfoundlifeinacountryvillageveryboring.

Itisamoreformalwayofsaying‘usedto’,asin:

Theywereaccustomedtosittingaboutdoingnothingandcertainlydidn’twanttostartworking.

Anotherwayofsayingthisisinthehabitof,asin:

She’sinthehabitofgoingforarunafterworkeveryevening.

accuseof/chargewithBothoftheseverbsinvolvesayingthatsomeoneisguiltyofsomething,buttheyarefollowedbydifferentprepositions.

accuseofIfyoubelievethatsomeonehasdonesomethingwrongyoucanaccusethemofwrongdoing,asin:

Moneyhadgonemissingfromthetillandheaccusedoneofhisemployeesoftakingit.

Ifyouusethenounaccusationthisisoftenfollowedbytheprepositionagainst,asin:

Heappearstohavemadefalseaccusationsagainsthisformerbusinesspartner.

chargewithIf thepolicegoonestep furtherand formallyaccusesomeoneofacrime theychargethemwithit,asin:

Thepolicechargedhimwithmanslaughter.Ifyouusethenounchargethisisoftenfollowedbytheprepositionagainst:

Thepolicecalledthesuspectedcriminalinforquestioningthendecidedtopresschargesagainsthim.

adheretoIfyouadheretoaruleoranagreementyoudowhatitsaysyoushoulddoorinotherwordsyouobeyit,asin:

Weexpectallpupilstoadheretotheschool’srulesduringtheschoolday,withnoexceptions.

Adheretoismostlyusedinformalcontexts.

afraidof/frightenedof

Ifyouareafraidofsomethingyoufeelfearbecauseyouthinkyoumightbehurtorharmed,asin:

Thechildrenareafraidofthedark.

She’safraidofdogsbecauseshewasbittenbyonewhenshewasachild.

You can also say that you are frightened of something, which has the samemeaningasafraidof,asin:

Theboy’sfrightenedofghostsalthoughhe’sbeentoldthatthere’snosuchthing.

agreeThe verb agree can be followed by various prepositions according to itsmeaning.

agreetoIfyouagreetosomethingyousaythatyouwillallowittohappen,asin:

Theyagreedtoourplanrightaway.Ifyouagreetodosomethingyousaythatyouwilldoit,asin:

Heagreedtocleanthecarattheweekendaftercomplainingitwasn’thisturn.

agreewithYouaresaidtoagreewithsomeoneaboutsomethingifyoubothhavethesameopinionorfeelingaboutit,asin:

IhardlyeveragreewithmybrotherbutIthinkhe’srightaboutthis.

Ifyouapproveofsomething,suchasasuggestionoraplan,youcanbesaidtoagreewithit,asin:

Iagreewithhisproposalsforawindfarmbuttherewillbealotofoppositionfromthepeoplewholiveinthearea.

Lesscommonlyagreewithcanbeused to indicate thatsomething isgoodforyou,asin:

Thewarmerclimatecertainlyagreeswithhimandhishealthhasimproveddramatically.

Theoppositeofthisistodisagreewith,asin:

Thepoliticiansdisagreedwitheachotheraboutthewayforward.Ifyouwant touse thenounagreement inthiscontextthisisalsofollowedbytheprepositionwith,asin:

Ifwe’reallinagreementwitheachother,wecanmoveontothenextissueupfordiscussion.

agreeonIf people discuss and reach a decision about something you can say that theyagreeonit,asin:

Theyoungcouplehavefinallygottheirfamiliestoagreeonadateforthewedding.

alternative/alternativetoWhen used to describe a course of action the adjective alternative refers tosomethingthatcanbedoneorusedinsteadofsomethingelse,asin:

Thepolicearerecommendinganalternativeroutetothecitycentre.

Alternativecanalsobeusedasanountakingtheprepositionto,asin:

Mymother’salwayssayingthatthere’snoalternativetohardworkwhenitcomestopassingexams.

Hehadnoalternativebuttocancelhisplansafterhewascalledintowork.

analogoustoSomething is analogous to something else if it is similar in some ways tosomethingelseandsoabletobecomparedwithit,asin:

ThesecasesoffluarecertainlyanalogoustothosethathavebeendescribedinpartsofEurope.

Analogoustoisusedinformalcontexts.

answeranswerfor/vouchfor1 Ifyouhavetoanswerforsomethingyouareresponsibleforitandhaveto

explainhowitcametohappen,asin:

Theteamlostbyahugemarginandtheirmanagerwillhavetoanswerfortheirappallingperformance.

YourbrotherwillhavetoanswerforhisbadbehaviourandremainafterschoolhourstoSeetheheadmaster.

2 If you say that you can answer for someone’s good qualities orcharacteristicsyoumeanthatyoucansaywithcertaintythattheyhavethese,asin:

Ihaveknowntheyoungwomanformanyyearsandcananswerforherhonesty.

Answerforissimilartovouchfor,asin:

Severalpeoplearewillingtovouchfortheintegrityoftheaccused.3 If you say that youcan’t answer for someone elsewho is not present it

meansthatyoucannotsaywhattheyarelikelytothinkordo,asin:

I’mdefinitelyinfavouroftheschemebutIcan’tanswerforanyofmycolleagues.

answertoIfyouanswertosomeoneinauthorityitmeansthatyouhavetoexplaintothem

whyyouhaveactedinthewayyoudid,asin:

I’mnotgoingtotellyouwhyI’mlate.Ionlyanswertotheheadofthedepartment.

anxiousanxiousaboutIfyouareanxiousabout somethingyouareworriedabout it for some reasonandthinkaboutitallthetime,asin:

Thestudentsareanxiousabouttheirexamresults.

Thechildisanxiousabouttravellingonthetrainbyherself.

anxioustoIfyouareanxioustodosomethingyouwantverymuchtodoit,asin:

Sheisanxioustogetajobsoshecanstartsavingsomemoney.

Theyareanxioustohelp.

anxiousforAnxiousforcansometimesbeusedtomean‘worriedabout’,asin:

Theirsonisdoingadangerousjobandthey’reanxiousforhissafety.

However, anxious for can also indicate that you want very much to havesomethingorthatyouwantittohappen,asin:

Theworkersareanxiousforanimmediateincreaseinsalary.

Theyareanxiousfortheirhousealterationstogetfinishedbutthebuildersareveryslow.

apartfromYou use apart immediately followed by from when you are referring to an

exceptionofsomekind,asin:

Ilikeallkindsoffilmsapartfromhorror.

Apartfrommysistereveryoneinourfamilyhassummerbirthdays.Apartfromcanalsobeusedtomean‘aswellas’,asin:

ApartfromtheirlargetownhouseinLondontheyhaveaflatinParisandavillainSpain.

appealappealagainstIfyouappealagainstadecisionorajudgementyouaskforittobereconsideredandchanged,asin:

Hewasfoundguiltyoffraudbuthisdefenceteamhaveappealedagainsttheverdict.

NotethatinAmericanEnglishappealisusedwithoutaprepositionfollowingit,asin:

Theyhaveappealedtheverdict.appealtoIfyouappeal to someoneforsomethingyoumakea request forsomekindofhelp,asin:

Policehaveappealedtothepublicforinformationregardingtherecentbreak-insinthearea.

Charities for homeless people have appealed to people to givegenerousdonationsthiswinter.

Ifsomethingappealstoyou,youlikeitandfinditattractiveorinteresting,asin:

Theideaofgettingmarriedatabeachresortreallyappealstome.

Livinginthecitycentrejustdoesn’tappealtome.

applyapplyforIf you apply for something you make a formal request to be considered forsomethingsuchasajob,aplaceatcollege,etc,asin:

There’sajobvacancyinourdepartmentbutyouhavetoapplyforitinwritingbyTuesdayofnextweek.

applytoApplytomeans‘toconcernoraffectsomeoneorsomething’,asin:

Thiswarningdoesn’tapplytopeoplewhoarealreadyrespectingtheschool’srules.

approveof/disapproveofIfyouapproveofanaction,suggestion,etc,youthinkitisagoodthingandarepleasedwithit,asin:

Hisparentsapprovedofhisdecisiontogotouniversity.

Not all the staff approved of the board’s decision to expand thecompany.

Theoppositeofapproveofisdisapproveof,asin:

Manyparentsdisapproveofthechangesintheschoolcurriculum.

arrivearriveat/reachIfyouarriveataplaceyoucometoitafterajourney,asin:

Wearrivedatthepartyjustaseveryoneelsewasgoinghome.Note that the verb reach without a following preposition can often be usedinsteadofarriveat,asin:

Wehopetoreachthehotelbeforenightfall.

arriveinIftheplaceattheendofyourjourneyisacountryoratownyouuseininsteadofatwitharrive,asin:

TheferrywasdelayedandwedidnotarriveinFranceuntilafterdark.

WewillphoneyouwhenwearriveinRome.

ashamedofIfyouareashamedofsomethingyouhavedoneyoufeelguiltyorembarrassedbecauseyouthinkitwaswrongorunacceptableinsomeway,asin:

Hewasreallyashamedofshoutingathismotherlastnight.Youcanalsobeashamedofyourselfwhenyoufeelthiskindofguilt,asin:

Hefeltashamedofhimselfforshoutingathismotherlastnight.

askafterIfyouaskaftersomeoneyouaskhowtheyare,iftheyarewell,etc,asin:

MydoctorwasatschoolwithmymotherandhealwaysasksafterherwheneverIhaveanappointmenttoSeehim.

attachedtoIfyouareattachedtosomeoneorsomethingyoulikethemverymuchandhaveoftenknownorownedthemforalongtime,asin:

Thechildrenareveryattachedtotheirgrandfather.

She’s now a teenager but she’s still very attached to her teddybear.

awareof/consciousof/unawareof/unconsciousofIfyouareawareof(see1,2)someoneorsomethingyouknowthattheyexistorarepresent,asin:

Shewassuddenlyawareoffootstepsbehindher.

Iwasawareofanatmosphereofhostilitybetweenthem.

Shewasalltooawareofthenoisesinthehouseatnightbecauseshewasn’tusedtostayingtherealone.

Theoppositeofawareofisunawareof,asin:

Hewasquiteunawareofthetimeuntilheheardtheclockstrikemidnight.

Theexpressionconsciousofmeansmuchthesameasawareof,asin:

Hewasconsciousofsomeonestaringathim.

Shewasconsciousofachangeintheirattitudetowardsher.

Theoppositeofconsciousofisunconsciousof,asin:

Heseemedtotallyunconsciousofthefactthatpeoplewerelaughingathim.

bankon/relyon/dependonIf youbankon something happening you relyon it happening and hope thatyouwillgetsomeadvantagefromithappening,asin:

I’mrunninglateandI’mbankingonthetrainbeinglate.Itusuallyis.

He’s only had time to revise three or four topics for the historyexamandhe’sbankingontherebeingquestionsonatleasttwoofthese.

Bankonisslightlymoreinformalthanrelyon.Youcanalsousedependoninthisway.

becauseof/owingto/dueto(see1)Ifsomethinghappensbecauseof(see1)somethingithappensasaresultofit,asin:

Thefootballmatchhadtobecancelledbecauseofafloodedpitch.

Ourplanewasdelayedbecauseofastrikebybaggagehandlers.

Thephraseowingtoisaslightlymoreformalthanbecauseof,asin:

Wehadtopostponeourholidayowingtomymother’sillness.

Work in thewhole factorywasbrought toastandstillowing toaseriouselectricalfault.

Due to is sometimes used as an alternative to because of and owing to.Althoughitisgrammaticallywrongtodoso,thisusageisbecomingwidespreadbecause the difference betweendue to andowing to andbecause of is quitedifficult to understand. Due to is adjectival and means ‘caused by’, whilebecauseofandowingtoareprepositional,asin:

Everyoneagreedthatitwasanerrorduetolackofexperience.

Cancellationsduetobadweatherareexpected.

becomeofYouusethephrasebecomeoftorefertowhathashappenedtosomeoneorwhattheyaredoingnow,asin:

HewasatprimaryschoolwithmeandIoftenwonderwhatbecameofhim.

Wedon’tknowwhatbecameofhimafterheleftcollege.

beginbeginbyIfyoubeginbydoingsomethingyoudoitfirstbeforedoinganythingelse,asin:

Ithinkwe’llbeginbyputtingthekettleonforacupoftea.beginwithIf you beginwith something you deal with it first before carrying out othertasks,asin:

Assemblyinthatschoolalwaysbeginswithaprayer.

believeinIfyoubelieveinsomethingsuchasmagic,fairiesorghosts,youfeelsurethattheseexist.

ThechildrenstillbelieveinFatherChristmas.ThesameistrueifyoubelieveinGod,asin:

ShehadbeenraisedinareligioushouseholdbutnolongerbelievedinGod.

Thephrasebelieve in canalsobeused tomean thatyouhaveconfidenceandtrustinsomeoneandaresurethattheywillbesuccessful,asin:

Inherearlycareershereceivedmanyrejectionsbutshecontinuedtobelieveinherselfandwentontobecomeafamousactress.

Ifyoubelieveinsomethingcanalsomeanyouareinfavourofitorsupport itbecauseyouthinkthatitisright,asin:

Hebelievedinequalityforwomenlongbeforeitbecameapopularissue.

belongtoIfsomethingbelongstosomeone,theyownit,asin:

Thatcarovertherebelongstomyneighbour.Ifyoubelongtosomething,suchasaclub,organization,grouporcategory,youareamemberofit,asin:

Theyallbelongtothelocaltennisclub.

TheybelongedtotheEnglisharistocracy.

benefitfromIfyoubenefitfromsomethingyougetsomeformofadvantagefromit,asin:

Lowerpaidworkersshouldbenefitfromthenewtaxrules.

blameblameforIf you blame someone for something you say that they are responsible forsomethingbad,asin:

Thedriveroftheothercarblamedhimfortheaccident.

Herbossblamedherfortheerrorintheaccountsalthoughitwasreallyhismistake.

blameonThe expression blame something on someone used to be consideredunacceptable by many users, but now things have changed and this use hasbecomequitewidespread,asin:

Iwasn’tevenherewhenthevasebroke.Don’tblameitonme!Ifyouwanttousethenounblametoconveythismeaningyousayorwrite:

TheytriedtoputtheblameonmealthoughIwascompletelyinnocent.

bored

boredwithIfyouareboredwithsomethingyounolongerfinditinteresting,asin:

Hesayshe’sboredwithhisjobandwantstoleave.boredofTheexpressionboredofissometimesusedinspeechorveryinformalpiecesofwriting, as inbored of this programme. It should not be used inmore formalwriting.

capableof/incapableofIfyouarecapableofsomethingordoingsomething,youareabletodoitorareliabletodoit:

Ireallydidn’tthinkthathewascapableofplayingthepianolikethat.

Shethinksthatshe’squitecapableofmovingintoaflatonherown.

Theoppositeofcapableofisincapableof,asin:

Shehadthoughtherselfincapableofspeakinginpublic.

Thatmessyboyseemsincapableoftidyingupafterhimself!Incapableofisoftenusedinquiteformalcontexts.

carecareforIfyoucarefor someonewho is sick,disabled,old,veryyoung, etc, you lookafterthemandmakesurethattheyhavethethingstheyneed,asin:

Sheemployssomeonetocareforherelderlymotherduringtheday.

Ifyousayyoudon’tcareforsomething,itmeansyoudon’tlikeit,asin:

Idon’tcareforredwine.

Itcanalsobearatherold-fashioned(andratherrude!)wayofsaying‘No,thankyou’,asin:

Wouldyoulikesomefruitcake?No,Idon’tcareforit.careaboutIf you care about something you think that it is important and you areconcernedaboutit,asin:

Ifyoucaredabouttheenvironmentyouwouldrecyclemoreofyourhouseholdrubbish.

Ifyoucareaboutsomeoneorsomethingyoureallylikethemorlovethem,asin:

Heaskedhismothertocomeandstaywiththembecausehereallycaredabouther.

Thisisratheraformaluse.

centrecentreonIf something centres on something it is the focus or centre of attention oractivity,asin:

Hispoliticalthinkingiscentredontheredistributionofwealth.

Thegreaterpartofthebankers’discussioncentredonthedownturnintheworldeconomy.

centrearound/roundThephrasecentrearound orcentreround is now frequently used instead ofcentreon.Thisisdislikedbysomelanguagecommentatorsonthegroundsthatthewordcentre is too precise to be usedwith the imprecisewords roundoraround. The phrases centre around or centre round are more likely to betolerated by precise users if they are used with reference to somethinggeneralizedratherthansomethingspecific,asin:

Mostofherhobbiescentrearoundthegreatoutdoors.

chargewithseeaccuseof

closetoseenearto

clothedinseedressedin

commitmenttoIfyoushowcommitmenttosomeoneorsomethingyoushowloyaltytothem,asin:

Hiscommitmenttothefootballteamcausedhimtoturndownalucrativetransferoffer.

Theexpressionbecommittedtocanhavemuchthesamemeaning:

Shewassocommittedtohercharityworkthatshespentallherfreetimevolunteering.

communicatecommunicatetoIfyoucommunicatesomethingtosomeoneyoutellthemaboutit,asin:

Shehadtocommunicatenewsofthefactory’sclosuretotheworkforce.

Thisisusedinratherformalcontexts.communicatewithIfyoucommunicatewithsomeoneyouexchangeinformationwiththem,asin:

Wecommunicateregularlywitheachotherbyemail.

comparecomparetoorwith

Whenyoucomparetwothingsyouoftendosoasacommentontheirdifferencesorsimilarities. In thiscontextyoucan followcomparewitheither to orwith.Formerlycomparetowasconsideredincorrectinthiscontext,butthedifferencebetween the two phraseswas not at all clear to some users.Now things havebecome simplified and compare with and compare to are both consideredacceptableinthiscontext,asin:

It’sinterestingtocomparetheschoolruleswiththoseofahundredyearsago.

It’sapityforhimthathealwaysfeelsheisbeingcomparedtohisolderbrother.

comparetoWhenyouareonlycommentingonthesimilaritybetweentwothingsandsayingthattheyarelikeeachother,thencomparetoisthecorrectphrase,asin:

HeisaverygoodactorbutyoucertainlycannotcomparehimtoRobertdeNiro.

compatiblewith/incompatiblewithIfsomethingiscompatiblewithsomethingelsethetwothingsareabletoexisttogetherorcanbeusedtogetherwithoutanyproblemsbeingcaused,asin:

Havingsuchahighpressurejobisn’tcompatiblewiththedemandsoffamilylife.

Theoppositeofthisisincompatiblewith,asin:

Thenewhead’sapproachtoeducationistotallyincompatiblewiththedeputyhead’sapproach.

complaincomplainaboutIfyoucomplainaboutsomethingyouthinkthatthereissomethingwrongwith

itandyousaythatyouarenotsatisfiedwithit,asin:

Thefoodintherestaurantwassobadthatseveralpeoplecomplainedaboutit.

complainofIfyoucomplainofsomethingitcanmeanthatyousaythatyouareannoyedorupsetaboutit,asin:

Themanwhowasarrestedcomplainedofill-treatmentbythepolice.

Itcanalsomeanthatyouhaveapaininpartofyourbodyorthatyouarefeelingill,asin:

Thechildiscomplainingofapaininherstomach.complaintoIf you complain to someone you tell them that you are not satisfied withsomethingorthatsomeoneorsomethinghasmadeyouannoyedorupset,asin:

TheradioIboughtisfaultyandI’mgoingtocomplaintothemanageroftheshopwhereIboughtit.

Ifthestudentskeeponhavingnoisypartieseveryweekendwearegoingtocomplaintotheirlandlord.

complimentonWhenyoucompliment someoneon somethingyou say somethingpleasant inpraiseoftheirappearance,ability,etc,toshowthatyouadmirethem,asin:

Severalpeoplecomplimentedheronhernewhairstyle.

Hecomplimentedtheyoungmanonhisdrivingskills.

composedofIfsomethingiscomposedofsomeparts,substances,people,etc,itismadeupof

them,asin:

Thecommitteeiscomposedoflocalbusinesspeople.

Theexamiscomposedoftwounits:anoraltestandawrittentest.Thephrasebecomposedofissimilarinmeaningtothatofconsistof,butitisoftenusedinmoreformalcontexts.Seeconsistof.

concernedconcernedaboutorforIfyouareconcernedaboutsomethingyouareworriedaboutit,asin:

Sheisconcernedaboutenvironmentalissues.Thephraseconcernedforalsomeansworriedabout,asin:

Manyyoungpeopleareconcernedforthefutureoftheplanet.concernedwithIfsomethingisconcernedwithsomethingitdealswithitorisaboutit,asin:

ThebookisconcernedwithchangesinsocietyaftertheSecondWorldWar.

conditionalonIf something is conditional on something it means it will only happen or bedoneifsomethingelsehappensorisdonefirst,asin:

Hisoffertobuytheirhouseisconditionalonasubstantialreductionintheprice.

Thepricewehavequotedisconditionalontheorderbeingdeliveredrightontime.

Thisphraseinfoundinfairlyformalorcommercialcontexts.

conduciveto

If something isconduciveto something itmakes it possible ormore likely tohappen,asin:

Theholidaycomplexwasverynoisyandhardlyconducivetoarelaxingtime.

Thephraseconducivetoisusedinfairlyformalcontexts.

confidenceinIf you have confidence in someone you feel sure that they are going to dosomethingwelloraregoingtosucceedinsomethingthattheyaretryingtodo,asin:

Hehastoundergoalonganddifficultoperationtofixhisheartbuthehascompleteconfidenceinthesurgeon.

confidentofIfyouareconfidentofsomethingyoufeelsure that itwillhappenor thatyouwillachieveit,asin:

Shesaysthatsheisconfidentofvictorybecausesheisbyfarthebetterplayer.

Heseemstobeconfidentofgettingthejob.

concentrateonIfyouconcentrateonsomethingyougiveitmostofyourattentionratherthanattendingtootherthings,asin:

Theyusuallyspendalotoftimeplayingvarioussportsbutthistermtheyarehavingtoconcentrateontheirschoolwork.

conformto/withIf something conforms to something such as a rule or guideline, it obeys or

followsit,asin:

Planningpermissionwasrefusedbecausetheplansofthebuildingdidnotconformtolocalbuildingregulations.

Youcanalsouseconformwithinthiscontext,asin:

Theproposedskateboardingparkmustconformwithsafetyregulations.

Conformtocanalsomean‘toagreewithormatch’,asin:

Hedoesn’tconformtomyideaofadoctor:he’ssoyoung!Youcanalsouseconformwithinthiscontext,asin:

Hecertainlydidnotconformwiththeirideaofthekindofmantheirdaughtershouldmarry.

connectwith/toWhentheverbconnectmeans‘tojoin’itcanbefollowedeitherbytoorwith,asin:

Theproposedroadwouldconnectourtownwiththecity.

Ourpropertyisconnectedtotheirsbyanarrowwindinglane.Iftheverbmeans‘tonoticeorshowalinkorrelationshipbetweensomeoneorsomething’,connectisfollowedbywith,asin:

Policehavefailedtoconnecthimwiththecrime.

consciousofseeawareof

consenttoIfyouconsent to something, you agree to it or giveyour permission for it tohappen,asin:

Hewasrathersurprisedwhensheconsentedtoatrialofhissuggestedscheme.

Consenttoismoreformalthanagreeto.

consistofIfsomethingconsistsoftwoormorethingsorpeople,itismadeupofthem,asin:

Thefootballteamconsistsofpupilsfromtwodifferentschools.

Themixtureconsistsofflour,milk,eggsandflavouring.

Thephraseconsistsofmeansthesameasbecomposedofbutitisnotusedinthepassive.

contentcontentwithIfyouarecontentwithsomethingyouarequitehappyorwillingtohaveitoracceptit,asin:

Sheseemstobecontentwithaveryquietlife.

contenttoIfyouarecontenttodosomethingyouarehappyorwillingtodoit,asin:

Hewascontenttoworkovertimeeveryweekaslongashegotpaidforhisextrahours.

contrastwithIftwothingscontrastwitheachothertheyshowamarkeddifferencewhentheyarecomparedwitheachother,asin:

Thechildren’scolourfulcoatscontrastedwiththestarkwhitenessofthesnow.

convincedofIfyouareconvincedofsomethingyouaresurethatit’strue,asin:

Shewasconvincedofhishonestydespiteherfriend’swarning.

copewithThe phrase cope with is similar in meaning to deal with, but the situationinvolvedisoftenmoredifficult,ormoreofaproblem,asin:

Shehastocopewithafull-timejobontopoflookingafterherchildrenandelderlyparents.

Seedealwithbelow.

correspondcorrespondtoIf something corresponds to something it is very similar to or the same assomethingoritistheequivalentofit,asin:

ThetitleofadvocateintheScottishlegalsystemcorrespondstothetitleofbarristerintheEnglishone.

correspondwithIf youcorrespondwith someoneyouwrite letters to themand receive lettersfromthem,asin:

Theyhavenevermetbuttheyhavecorrespondedregularlywitheachothersincetheywerechildhoodpenpals.

criticalofIfyouarecriticalof someoneor somethingyoupointoutwhatyou regardastheirfaultsorbadpoints,asin:

Severalparentswerecriticaloftheschool’spolicytowardsbullying.

culminateinIfsomethingculminatesinsomethingitfinishesinthatparticularway,asin:

Theeveningculminatedinanimpressivefireworksdisplay,tothedelightofthespectators.

Culminatesinisaformalwayofsayingendsin.

dealwithIfyoudealwithsomethingorsomeoneyoutakethenecessaryactiontoachievearesultorsolveaproblem,asin:

Themanagerwilldealwiththecustomer’scomplaint.

Tryingtodealwithfallingsalesandincreasedproductioncostsisextremelydifficult.

Ifabook,speech,etc,dealswithasubjectitisaboutthatsubject,asin:

Thearticledealswithhomelessness.

decidedecideonTomakeupyourmindaboutsomethingortochoosesomeoneorsomethingafterthinkingcarefully,asin:

Shespentagesworryingaboutwhattoweartothepartyandfinallydecidedonherlittleblackdress.

The new graduate had several job offers, but she decided on acareerinthefamilybusiness.

decideuponDecideupon has the samemeaningasdecideon but it is often used inmoreformalcontexts.

delightdelightinIfyoudelightinsomething(oftensomethingthatupsetssomeoneelse)youtakepleasureinitorenjoyit,asin:

Shedelightsinwatchingthesunsetfromherbalcony.

Hedelightsinteasinghisyoungerbrotherandmakinghimcry.delightedwithIfyouaredelightedwithsomethingyouareverypleasedandhappyaboutit,asin:

Thegirlwasdelightedwithhernewdress.

dependonIfsomethingdependsonsomethingelseitisdirectlyaffectedbythat,asin:

Wherewegoonholidaythisyeardependsonhowmuchwearepreparedtopay.

If you depend on someone or something you need their support in order tosurvive,asin:

Shedependsonanallowancefromherparentstopayherbillsatuniversity.

Seebankon.

dependentonIfyouaredependentonsomeoneyoudependontheirsupportforyoursurvival,asin:

Hewasastudentuntilhewasnearlythirtyandwasdependentonhisparentsallthattime.

Themagazineisdependentonlocaladvertisingforitssurvival.

depriveofIfyoudeprivesomeoneofsomethingyoustopthemfromhavingit,especiallysomethingthattheyreallyoughttohave,asin:

Thelawsaretheretostoppeoplebeingdeprivedoftheirrights.

deterfromIfsomethingdetersyoufromdoingsomethingitstopsyoufromdoingit,asin:

Theyputafenceroundtheoldtreetodeterchildrenfromclimbingit.

detractfromIfsomethingdetractsfromsomethingitmakesitseemlessgoodorattractive,asin:

Theruinsoftheoldfactorydetractfromthebeautyofthearea.Donotconfusethiswithdistractfrom.

devoidofIfsomethingisdevoidofsomethingitiscompletelylackinginit,asin:

Thehouseiscomfortableenoughbutitiscompletelydevoidofstyle.

devotedtoIfyouaredevotedto someoneyou love themverymuchor arevery loyal tothem,asin:

She’sdevotedtoherbossandwon’thearawordagainsthim.

She’sdevotedtohergrandchildrenandalwaysbakesthemspecialtreats.

differentdifferentfromDifferent can be followed by the prepositions from, to and than. In BritishEnglishdifferentfromisthemostacceptableconstruction,especiallyinformalcontexts,asin:

Herattitudetoworkwasquitedifferentfromhis.

differenttoDifferenttoisfoundininformal,especiallyspoken,contexts,asin:

Theirlifestyleiscompletelydifferenttomine.

Thisconstructionshouldbeavoidedinformaluse.

differentthanDifferentthan isfrequentlyusedinAmericanEnglish,but thisconstructionisnotconsideredcorrectinBritishEnglish,althoughitisbecomingmorecommon.Differentthanisconsideredmoreacceptableifitisfollowedbyaclause,asin:

Itlooksnodifferentthanitdidadecadeago.

disagreewithseeagreewith

disapproveofseeapproveof

disloyaltoseeloyalto

disposeofIfyoudisposeofsomethingthatyoudonotwantorneedanylongeryouthrowitawayorgiveittosomeone,asin:

Youmustrememberthatsomethingscanberecycledwhenyouaredisposingofyourhouseholdwaste.

distractfromIf you distract someone from something you take their attention away fromsomething,sometimesbygettingthemtopayattentiontosomethingelse,asin:

It’sdangeroustotalktothedriverbecauseyou’lldistracthimfromhisdriving.

Seealsodetractsfrom.

dressedinIfyouaredressedinsomething,youarewearingit,asin:

Thechildrenwerealldressedintheirschooluniform.Thephraseclothed inmeans the same,but it isusually found inmore formalcontexts,asin:

Thekingandqueenwereclothedinscarletrobestrimmedwithermine.

duetoseebecauseof

endendinIfsomethingendsinsomethingitfinishesinthatparticularway,asin:

Thenightendedintriumphashetookhomethreeawards.Culminateinisamoreformalwayofsayingthis.endwithIfsomethingendswithanevent,etc,thateventmarksthefinishofsomething,oftenbeingthelastofaseries,asin:

Thechoirsangaselectionofwell-knownsongs,endingwiththenationalanthem.

engagedengagedinIfyouareengagedinsomethingyouarebusydoingsomethingorareverymuchinvolvedinsomething,asin:

Theyareengagedinthedifficultprocessofsellingtheirhouse.Engagedinisusuallyusedinquiteformalcontexts.

engagedtoIfyouareengagedtosomeoneyouhavesaidthatyouwillmarrythem,asin:

SuehasjustgotengagedtoTomandtheyareplanningtogetmarriedearlynextyear.

engrossedinIf you are engrossed in something you are so interested in it that youconcentrateonitanddonotnoticeanythingelse,asin:

ShewassoengrossedinthefilmthatshedidnothearmewhenIcalledtoher.

enviousofIfyouareenviousofsomeone,youwishthatyouhadsomethingthattheyhaveordo,asin:

Sheisenviousofherbrotherbecauseheisoldenoughtostayoutlate.

Ifyouareenviousofsomethingthatsomeonehas,youwishthatyouhadit,asin:

Theywereenviousoftheluxuryhousethattheirfriendslivedin.

escapefrom

Ifyouescapefromadangerousplaceorsituationyousucceedingettingawayfromit,asin:

Theyescapedfrompovertybymanagingtoemigrate.

exceptThewordexceptintroducesthepersonorthingthatageneralstatementdoesnotapplyto,asin:

Youcanborrowanyofthebooksexceptthisone.Itissometimesfollowedbyfor,asin:

WewillallbethereexceptforJim.

withtheexceptionofWhenyouarementioningsomeoneorsomethingthatisanexceptionyouoftenusethephrasewiththeexceptionof,asin:

Thewholefamilywentwiththeexceptionofmyaunt,whowasfeelingill.

Anexception is someone or something that a general statement of somekinddoesnotapplyto.

faithinIf you have faith in someone, you trust them absolutely or have completeconfidenceinthem,asin:

Shehasgreatfaithinhercounsellor.If you lose faith in someone, you no longer trust themor have confidence inthem,asin:

Theworkersarelosingfaithintheirmanagementteamandareworriedabouttheirjobs.

faithfulto/unfaithfultoIf you are faithful to someone or something you remain loyal to them andcontinuetogivethemyoursupport,asin:

Whenthekingwasdefeatedinbattlemostofthenoblesremainedfaithfultohimandhelpedhimtoescapeoverseas.

The politician remained faithful to his principles and refused tovotewithhispartyontheissue.

If you are faithful to a husband or wife, etc, you are in a monogamousrelationshipwiththem,asin:

Hepromisedinhisweddingvowstobefaithfultohiswife.Theoppositeoffaithfultoisunfaithfulto,asin:

Hedidnotwanttobeunfaithfultohiswife.

familiarfamiliartoIfsomethingisfamiliartoyou,youknowitwell,asin:

AlthoughherfaceisfamiliartomeIcannotrememberhername.

familiarwithIfyouarefamiliarwithsomething,youknoworunderstanditwell,asin:

Shewasbroughtupinthisareasoshemustbefamiliarwithit.

filledwithseefullof

fondofIfyouarefondofsomeoneyoulikethemverymuchandmayevenlovethem,butusuallynotinaromanticway,asin:

Theyarecousinsandareveryfondofeachother.

Johnandthegirlnextdoorareveryfondofeachother,buttherehasneverbeenanysuggestionofromancebetweenthem.

freeof/freefromIf something or someone is free of something they do not have any of it orcontainanyofit,asin:

Theroomisnowfreeofdust.

Thepatientisnowfreeofpain.

The expression freefrommeans the sameas freeof and is used inmuch thesameway,asin:

Nowthatthesunhasgonedownwearefreefromthatterribleoppressiveheat.

Yesterdaythedoctorsthoughtshehadmeaslesbuttodaysheisfreefromalltheusualsymptoms.

friendfriendswithIfyouarefriendswithsomeonethatpersonisyourfriend,asin:

IhavebeenfriendswithAnnesinceourschooldays.

friendlywithIfyouarefriendlywithsomeoneyoulikeeachotherandenjoyspendingtimetogether,asin:

Sheisfriendlywithseveralofthewomenwhohavechildrenatherdaughter’sschool.

frightenedofseeafraidof

fullof/filledwithIfsomethingisfullofpeopleorthingsitcontainsaverylargenumberofthem,sometimestotheextentthatitcanhardlycontainanymore,asin:

Thebuswasfullofseniorpupilsfromthenearbyschool.

Thecellarwasfullofrubbish.Ifsomethingisfilledwithpeopleorthingsitisfullofthem,asin:

Shewastryingtosmilealthoughhereyeswerefilledwithtears.

Thehallwasfilledwithpeopleaboutanhourbeforethemeetingwasduetostart.

gladgladaboutIfyouaregladaboutsomethingyouarepleasedandhappyaboutit,asin:

Wehavediscoveredthatwecangetaflightfromourlocalairportandwe’reverygladaboutthat.

gladforIfyouaregladfor someone you are pleased that they have got something ordonesomething,asin:

Oursonhasgotthejobheappliedforandwe’resogladforhim.

gladofIfyouaregladofsomethingyouarehappythatyouhaveitandyouaregratefulforit,asin:

He’shadtoworkovertimealotrecently,buthewasgladoftheextramoneysoneartoChristmas.

gladtoIfyouaregladtodosomethingyouarewillingandkeentodoit,asin:

I’llbegladtolookafterthechildrenforyouthisafternoon.

graduatefromIfyougraduatefromauniversityorcollegeyougetadegreefromit,oftenafirstdegree,asin:

Manyyoungpeoplenowhavedifficultyingettingjobswhentheygraduatefromuniversity.

gratefulgratefulforIfyouaregratefulforsomethingyouarehappytohaveitandfeelthatyouwanttothanksomeoneforit,asin:

Weareverygratefulforallthedonationstoourcharity.

gratefultoIfyouaregrateful to someone for somethingyou feel thatyouwant to thankthemforit,asin:

Wearesogratefultoeveryonewhohasgivenustheirsupport.

guiltyguiltyabout/feelguiltyatIfyoufeelguiltyaboutsomethingyoufeelbadandashamedbecauseyouknowthatyouhavedonesomethingbadorwrong,asin:

Ifeelguiltyaboutforgettingyourbirthday.Thephrasefeelguiltyatmeansthesame,asin:

Theyfeelguiltyatnotinvitinghimtotheirparty.

guiltyofIfyouareguiltyofsomethingyouhavedonesomethingbad,wrongorcriminal,asin:

Thejuryfoundhimguiltyofmanslaughter.

He’sguiltyofbullyingtheyoungerchildren.

inthehabitofseeaccustomedto

half/halfofYoucanuseeitherhalforhalfoftorefertoanamountthatisoneoftwoequalpartsthatmakeupawhole.Youcanusehalfofinsteadofhalfinfrontofanounornoungroupbeginningwithadeterminer,althoughhalfisthemorecommon,asin:

Hehasdonehalfhisworkfortoday.

Thechildateonlyhalfherlunch.

Shehasbeeninandoutofhospitalforhalfofheradultlife.

Herfatherwasoverseaswiththearmyforhalfofherchildhood.

Youusehalfofnothalfinfrontofpronouns,asin:

Ihaven’tfinishedmyessaybutI’vedonehalfofit.

More than half of our foreign students went back to their owncountriesaftergraduating.

Youusehalfnothalfofinfrontofwordssuchashour,kilo,metre,etc,asin:

Itwilltakeushalfanhourtogetthere.

Ineedhalfakiloofflourforthisrecipe.

harmfultoIfsomethingisharmfultosomeoneorsomethingithasabadeffectonthem,asin:

Exhaustfumesfromcarsareharmfultotheenvironment.

The substancedoesnot seem toaffect adults but it is harmful toyoungchildren.

hearof/hearaboutIfyouhearofsomethingyoufindoutaboutit,asin:

She’sheardofajobthatwouldsuitherverywell.Youcanalsousehearaboutinthissense,asin:

Weonlyheardaboutherpromotionyesterday.

heardofYou can use heard of to show that you have knowledge about someone orsomething,asin:

HaveyouheardofatowncalledSeaway?

We thought we knew the area well, but we’ve never heard of atowncalledSeaway.

hopehopeforYou use hope for when you want something to happen and think that it ispossible,asin:

She’shopingforsomesunshineonherweddingday.

We’rethebetterplayersandwe’rehopingforvictorytoday.

hopeofIfthereishopeofsomethinghappeningyouwantittohappenandthinkthatitmight,asin:

Doctorshavehopeofacureinthenearfuture.

Theirarmyoutnumberedoursandtherewasnohopeofvictory.

incapableofseecapableof

incompatiblewithseecompatiblewith

inferiorto/superiortoIf someoneor something is said tobe inferiorto someoneor something else,theyarenotasgoodortheyareofpoorerquality,asin:

Youshouldn’tfeelinferiortothemjustbecausetheyhavemoremoneythanyoudo.

Thismaterialisinferiortothatone.

Theoppositeofthisissuperiorto,asin:

Theteamthatisplayingthisweekisfarsuperiortotheonethatplayedlastweek.

inquireintoIf you inquire into something you ask questions in order to get informationaboutit,asin:

Thepoliceareinquiringintothecompany’sprofitsbecausetheysuspecttheowneroffraud.

insiston

Ifyouinsistondoingsomethingyousayveryfirmlythatyouwilldoit,asin:

Sheinsistedongettingataxitotheairportalthoughweofferedtodriveherthere.

intentionofIfyousaythatyouhaveeveryintentionofdoingsomething,youmeanthatyoudefinitelyplantodoit,asin:

Hesaysthathehaseveryintentionoffinishinghisprojecttoday.Ifyousaythatyouhavenointentionofdoingsomething,youmeanthatyouaredefinitelynotgoingtodoit,asin:

Theysaythey’vedonenothingwrongandtheyhavenointentionofapologizing.

interfere/meddleinterfereinIf you interfere in somethingyouget involved in it and try to influence it orchangeitinsomewayalthoughit’snotreallyyourbusiness,andotherpeopledonotwantyoutogetinvolved,asin:

Thenewownerpromisedthathewouldnotinterfereintheday-to-dayrunningofthebusiness.

Theexpressionmeddleinmeansmuchthesame,asin:

Theoldladyresentsthefactthathersontriestomeddleinherfinancialaffairs.

interferewithIf something interferes with something it prevents it from happeningsuccessfullyorasplanned,asin:

It looks as though the weather is going to interfere with our

plannedbarbecue.

Thebadweatherinterferedwiththeirplans.

involvedinvolvedinIfyouareinvolvedinsomethingyoutakepart init,oftenveryactively,orareconnectedwithit,asin:

Policesuspectthathewasinvolvedintherobbery.

Mysonisveryinvolvedinsportatschool.

involvedwithIfyouareinvolvedwithsomethingitmeansthatyoutakepartinit,oftenveryactively,asin:

Sheisinvolvedwiththelocalchurch.Ifyouareinvolvedwithsomeoneitcanmeanthatyouareworkingwiththemorspendingtimewiththem,orthatyouareconnectedwiththeminsomeway,asin:

They’vebeeninvolvedwitheachotherinbusinessbefore.

Hefeelsthathewantstobemoreinvolvedwithhischildren.

However, it can also mean that you are having a romantic relationship withsomeone,asin:

Wethinkshe’sinvolvedwithamanfromherwork.

irrespectiveof/regardlessofIrrespectiveofmeans‘havingnoeffectonasituation’or‘havingnoimportanceorrelevance’,asin:

Thecompetitionisopentoalllocalartists,irrespectiveofage.Irrespectiveofmeansmuchthesameasregardlessof,asin:

Ouraimisforallstudentswithsuitableacademicqualificationstogetauniversityeducation,regardlessoftheirfinancialsituation.

lackofIf there is a lack of something there is either not enough of it or a completeabsenceofit,asin:

Becauseofalackoffunds,wehavenooptionbuttoclosetheyouthclub.

leanonLean on has several meanings. Literally it means to rest on something orsomeoneforsupport,asin:

Sheleantonherson’sarmastheywalkedslowlyuptheroad.Leanoncanalsomeantorelyordependonsomeoneforsupport,asin:

She’sasinglemotherwiththreeyoungchildrenandsheleansquiteheavilyonherparents.

Lean on also has a more sinister side and can mean to try to influence orpersuadesomeonebythreateningtheminsomeway,asin:

Theblackmailerleantevenharderonhisvictiminthehopeofgettingmoremoney.

liableliableforIfyouareliableforsomethingthenyouarelegallyresponsibleforsomethingorforthecostofsomething,asin:

Hedoesn’tearnenoughtobeliableforincometax.

Ifyoutakethemattertocourtandloseyoumaybeheldliablefortheircostsaswellasyourown.

liabletoIfsomeoneorsomethingisliabletodosomethingtheyarelikelytodoit,asin:

Sheisliabletolosehertemperratherbadlyifanyonedisagreeswithher.

Thekitchendoorisliabletoslamshutifthere’sawindblowing.

Ifyouareliabletosomethingyouarelikelytobeaffectedbyit,asin:

Heisliabletobeabitimpulsivesometimes.

limittoseerestrictto

loyalto/disloyaltoIfyouare loyal to someoneor somethingyouare faithful to themandalwaysgivethemyoursupport,asin:

Someofthesoldiersremainedloyaltotheirleaderafterthemutiny.

Theoppositeofloyaltoisdisloyalto,asin:

Thesoldierwasaccusedofbeingdisloyaltohisregiment.

masqueradeasIfyoumasqueradeassomeoneyoupretendtobethatperson,asin:

Thethiefmasqueradedasasecurityofficerinordertogainadmittancetothebank.

meddleinseeinterferein

meetwith

Ifyoumeetwithsomethingithappenstoyouoryouexperienceit,asin:

Theclimbermetwithaterribleaccidentandisbadlyinjured.

Youcanexpectyourwindfarmproposaltomeetwithalotoflocalopposition.

There is a modern tendency, especially in business circles, to usemeetwithwheremeetisperfectlyadequate,asin:

Weplantomeetwiththeirrepresentativesnextweek.

mergemergeintoIfone thingmerges into another the difference between themgradually fadesandit’sdifficulttoseparatethem,asin:

ThegreycloudsmergedintothegreyseaanditwasdifficulttoSeethehorizon.

mergewithIf a firm shouldmergewith another the two firms join together and form asinglefirm,asin:

OursmallPRcompanyistomergewithalargecityfirm.

mindfulofIf you are mindful of something you remember about it and take it intoconsiderationwhenyoudosomething,asin:

Youmustbemindfulofyourresponsibilitiesasleaderofagroupofteenagers.

Mindful of the dangers of sudden avalanches in the region, wedecidedtoskielsewhere.

modelonIfyoumodelyourselfonsomeoneyoutrytoactlikethembecauseyouadmirethemandwanttobelikethem,asin:

Manyteenagegirlstrytomodelthemselvesonwhateverfemalepopstarispopularatthetime.

nativetoIfananimalorplantisnativetosomewhere,thatiswhereitexistsnaturallyanditsnaturalhabitatisthere,asin:

TheseorchidsarenativetoSouthAmerica.

ThekangarooisnativetoAustralia.

nearto/closetoIfsomethingisnearto(see1)somethingitisaveryshortdistanceawayfromit,asin:

Theirhouseisquiteneartothevillage.Near to can also be used to mean that someone or something is almost in aparticularstate,asin:

Hiswifewasveryneartogivingbirthwhentheyarrivedatthehospital.

Closetocanbeusedinboththesemeanings,asin:

Ournewflatisclosetothecitycentre.

Thefirmisclosetobankruptcy.

Seealsonexttobelow.

need

inneedofIfyouareinneedofsomethingyourequireitoritisnecessarythatyouhaveit,asin:

Weareinneedofextrafundingtofinishtheproject.

needforIfthereisaneedforsomethingitisnecessaryormustbedone,asin:

Thereisanurgentneedforfreshwaterintherefugeecamp.

Thereisnoneedforeveryonetogo.

nexttoIfsomethingisnexttosomethingitisphysicallybyitsside,asin:

Thetablewasnexttothebed.

Thehouseswererightnexttoeachother.Seealsonearto(see1)opposite.

objecttoIfyouobjecttosomething,youdonotapproveofitoryoudonotagreewithit,asin:

Localresidentsaresuretoobjecttothenewparkingrestrictions.Amoreformalwayofsayingthisisraiseobjectionsto,asin:

Theyhavenotyetraisedanyobjectionstotheproposednewscheme.

obliviousof/toSomepeoplestillobjecttotheuseofobliviousto,insistingthatobliviousof isthe only correct form. However, the use of oblivious to is increasing, partly

because it is the preferred option in American English. It can no longer beregardedaswrong,althoughitstillraisessomeobjections.

Bothobliviousofandoblivioustooriginallymeant ‘no longerawareof’or‘forgetfulof’,asin:

Longingforaswimafterthelonghotdrive,andobliviousofthewarningshehadreceivedaboutstrongcurrents,sheplungedintothewaves.

Nowbothexpressionsareoftenusedtomean‘simplyunawareofsomething’,asin:

Oblivioustothepassageoftime,shesuddenlyrealizedthatdarknesshadfallenandshewasstillfarfromhome.

obsessedby/withIfyouareobsessedbysomeoneorsomethingyouthinkorworryaboutthemallthetime,findingitdifficulttothinkaboutanythingelse,asin:

She’stotallyobsessedbyherappearanceandspendsmostofhersalaryoncosmeticsanddesignerclothes.

Youcanalsouseobsessedwithinthesameway,asin:

He’sobsessedwithfootballandlovestowatchhisfavouriteteaminaction.

opportunityfor/toIf you have theopportunity for something it is possible for you to get it orachieveit,asin:

Thecompany’sownersawtheofferasanopportunityforexpansion.

Thebookgroupwasanexcellentopportunityforusalltomeetoldfriendsonceamonth.

Thiscanalsobeexpressedusingtheopportunitytodosomething,asin:

Itwasaonce-in-a-lifetimeopportunitytotraveltootherpartsoftheworld.

oppositeofIfsomethingorsomeoneistheoppositeofsomethingorsomeoneelse,theyarecompletelydifferentfromeachotherinsomeway,asin:

Sheisquietandstudious,quitetheoppositeofherfun-lovingsister.

opposedtoIfyouareopposedtosomethingthenyoustronglydisapproveofit,asin:

Manyofthetown’sresidentsareopposedtotheideaofanewout-of-townsupermarketandtheyarelaunchingacampaignagainstit.

optforIfyouoptforsomethingyouchooseitratherthansomethingelse,asin:

ShewasofferedaplaceatOxford,butshe’soptedforauniversitynearerhome.

owingtoseebecauseof(see1)

pleasedpleasedaboutIfyouarepleasedaboutsomethingyouarehappyaboutit,asin:

OurdaughterisgettingmarriedtoareallynicemanandmyhusbandandIareverypleasedaboutit.

pleasedwithIfyouarepleasedwithsomethingyoulikeitandaresatisfiedwithit,asin:

ShewasverypleasedwithherChristmaspresentfromheraunt.

pleasuretakepleasureinIfyoutakepleasureinsomethingyouenjoyit,asin:

HetookpleasureinwatchinggolfontheTV.

poreoverIfyouporeoversomethingyoulookatitforalongtimeandreaditcarefully,asin:

Threeofusporedoverthemapbutwecouldn’tfindthevillagewewerelookingfor.

prefertoIfyouprefersomethingorsomeonetosomethingorsomeoneelse,youlikeitbetterandwouldratherhaveit,asin:

Iprefercountrylifetolifeinthecity,butIhavetoliveinthecityforthesakeofmywork.

preferabletoIfsomethingorsomeone ispreferableto somethingor someoneelse theyareconsiderablybetter,moresuitable,etc,asin:

Fromahealthpointofviewfreshfruitispreferabletosweetdesserts.

Tometraintravelispreferabletoairtravel.

presentatseeabsentfrom

preventfromIfsomethingpreventsyoufromdoingsomethingitstopsyoufromdoingit,asin:

Heavytrafficpreventedusfromgettingthereintime.

priortoPriortoisaformalwayofsaying‘before’,asin:

Priortohisretirementhewaschiefexecutiveofalargetextilebusiness.

prohibitfromIf something or someone prohibits you from doing something you are notallowedtodoit,asin:

Thenewlawprohibitspeoplefromsmokinginhere.

Prohibitfromisoftenusedinthepassiveinformalcontexts,asin:

Membersofthepublicareprohibitedfromtouchinganyofthemuseumexhibits.

protestprotestagainstIfyouprotestagainst somethingyou say that you strongly disagreewith anddisapproveofsomething,oftensayingsopubliclyincompanywithotherpeoplewhohavethesameopinion,asin:

Alargecrowdgatheredinthecity’smainsquaretoprotestagainsttheproposedchangestotheHumanRightsBill.

protestatIf you protest at something, you say that you strongly disagree with anddisapproveofsomething,asin:

Manypeoplehaveprotestedatthegovernment’shandlingoftheeconomy.

proudofIfyouareproudofsomeoneyouthinkthattheyhavedonesomethinggoodandyouadmirethem,asin:

Sheisproudofhersonforhavingdonesowellinhisexams.Ifyouareproudofsomethingyouareverypleasedtohaveitorhavedoneit,asin:

He’sveryproudofhisnewcarandhepolishesiteveryweekend.

He’sveryproudofgettingaplaceintheschoolfootballteam.

provideforIfyouprovideforsomeoneyougivethemthethings,suchasfoodandclothing,thattheyneedtoliveon,asin:

Sheworkshardinordertobeabletoprovideforherchildren.

reacttoIfyoureacttosomethingyoubehaveinaparticularwayasaresultofit,asin:

Shereactedwithgreatjoytothenewsthatherdaughterhadgivenbirthtoalittlegirl.

How do you think the stock market will react to the news thatunemploymentisrising?

Thenounfromreactisreaction.Ifyouhaveareactiontosomethingitaffectsyouinsomeway,asin:

Shehadaverybadreactiontotheantibioticswhichtheygaveher.

recoverfromIf you recover from an illness or a bad or unpleasant situation you get wellagainorreturntoyourpreviousstate,asin:

Shetookalongtimetorecoverfromanastyvirus.

Doyou think theeconomywill ever recovercompletely from thisrecession?

refertoIfyourefertosomeoneorsomethingyoumentionorspeakaboutthem,asin:

She’sclearlyveryfondofhergrandfatherandconstantlyreferstohiminherconversationwithothers.

reflecton/uponIfyoureflectonsomethingyouthinkaboutitverycarefullyanddeeply,asin:

Unsurewhattodoafterfinishingschool,hereflectedonallhisoptions.

Reflectuponisaslightlymoreformalversionofthis.

refrainfromIfyourefrainfromdoingsomethingyoudonotletyourselfdoiteventhoughyoumaywantto,asin:

Pleaserefrainfromeatingordrinkinginthelibrary.

Formywife’ssakeIrefrainedfromtellingmysister-in-lawexactlywhatIthoughtofherbehaviour.

Refrainfromisusedinquiteformalcontexts.

regardlessofseeirrespectiveof

relyon/uponIfyourelyonsomeoneorsomethingyouneedtheirsupportinordertosurvive,besuccessful,etc,asin:

Shereliedonherparents’generousfinancialsupportwhileshewasayoungactressstrugglingtogetparts.

The country can no longer rely on tourism alone to ensure itsfuture.

Relyuponisaslightlymoreformalversionofthis.

remindofIfsomeoneorsomethingremindsyouofsomeoneorsomething,theymakeyourememberorthinkofthatpersonorthingbecausetheyaresimilarinsomeway,asin:

Sheremindsmeverymuchofhermotheratthatage,bothintemperamentandlooks.

renegeonIfyourenegeonapromiseoranagreement,youdonotdowhatyoupromisedoragreedtodo,asin:

Wehadplanstoworkwithalocalcompanyonbuildingfishingboats,buttheyhaverenegedontheagreementandleftuswithoutabusinesspartner.

resistanttoIfsomethingisresistanttosomethingitisnotaffectedordamagedbyit,asin:

Fortunatelythesetreesseemtoberesistanttothediseasewhichisdecimatingsomeofourforests.

Weneedtouseametalthatisresistanttorust.

responsibleresponsibleforIfyouareresponsiblefordoingsomethingitisyourjobordutytogetitdoneandyoumaybeblamedifsomethinggoeswrong,asin:

Asthepersonresponsibleforcompanysecurity,hemaylosehisjobforallowingunauthorizedvisitorsintothebuilding.

Ifyouareresponsibleforsomeoneitisyourjobtolookafterthemortakecareofthemandyoumaybeblamedifsomethinggoeswrong,asin:

Eachnurseryassistantisresponsibleforfourchildren.

Responsibleforalsomeanscausingsomething,asin:

Smokingcigarettesisresponsibleforalotofdeathsfromlungcancer.

responsibletoIfyouareresponsibletosomeonetheyhaveamoreseniorpositionthanyouinanorganization andyou report to themandmayhave to explain to themwhyyouhaveactedinthewayyoudid,asin:

MsMorrisonisthenewheadofthesalesdepartmentandyouareallresponsibletoher.

restrictto/limittoIfyourestrictthesize,amount,extent,etc,ofsomethingtosomething,youdo

notallowanythinglarger,greater,etc,thanthat,asin:

Werestrictthenumberofpeopleallowedinthehallto400.

Membershipisrestrictedtopeopleover60.

He restricts the amount he eats each day, in an attempt to loseweight.

Limittoisalsousedinthisway,asin:

Theyaregoingtolimitthetimeeachgymmembercanspendontherowingmachineto20minutes.

resultresultfromIfsomethingresultsfromsomethingitiscausedbythat,asin:

Someofthedamageresultsfromthefireandsomefromthewaterusedtoputitout.

resultinIfsomethingresultsinsomethingitcausesthattohappen,asin:

Thebuildingofthefactoryresultedinagreatmanynewjobsforthepeopleinthesurroundingarea.

retirefromIfyouretirefromsomethingyoustopdoingsomething,oftenbecauseyouhavereachedaparticularageorbecauseyouareill,asin:

Heisnearly70andhasdecidedthatthetimehascomeforhimtoretirefromhispostaschairmanofthecompany.

He decided to retire from professional football after injuring hislegverybadlyinthecupfinal.

reverttoIfyoureverttosomethingyoustartdoingsomethingagainthatyouusedtodointhepast,asin:

Afterhecameoutofprisonhisbehaviourimprovedforatimebuthehasnowrevertedtohisoldcriminalways.

Whenherdivorce is finalizedshe intends torevert tohermaidenname.

richinIfsomethingisrichinsomethingitcontainsalotofit,asin:

Theyeatadietthatisrichincalcium.

Theareaisrichinhistory.

robofIf you rob someoneof something you steal something from someone or takesomethingawayfromsomeone,asin:

Thethievesrobbedtheoldmanofhislifesavings.

Hisinjuryonthetrackrobbedtheathleteofagoldmedal.

satisfiedwithIfyouaresatisfiedwithsomethingyouarepleasedwithitandcannotfindfaultwithit,asin:

Iamquitesatisfiedwiththenewarrangements.

scepticalIfyouarescepticalaboutsomethingyouhavedoubtsaboutwhetheritistrueor

whetheritislikelytohappen,asin:

Iamscepticalaboutheraccountoftheaccidentbecausesheisthewifeofoneofthedrivers.

Hesaysthatheisveryscepticalaboutourchancesofwinning.

Scepticalofmeansthesameasscepticalabout,asin:

Wearescepticalofherclaimthatsheisrelatedtothedeadman.

Herparentsare scepticalofher insistence that she studieseverysingleday.

sensitivetoIfyouaresensitivetosomeoneelse’sfeelings,needs,etc,youareawareofthemandareabletounderstandthem,asin:

Heissensitivetothefamily’sgrief,especiallysinceitisnotlongsincehisownfatherdied.

If someone or something is sensitiveto something they are easily affected ordamagedbyit,asin:

Thechildisverysensitivetoheatandcomesoutinarashifshegetstoohot.

Thestudentisverysensitivetoanyformofcriticismandneedstolearnnottoover-reacttoconstructivecritisicm.

separatefromIfyouseparatesomethingorsomeonefromsomethingorsomeone,youdividethemintotwopartsorsections,asin:

ThemeringuerecipesaysthatImustseparatetheeggwhitesfromtheeggyolks.

Itwas schoolpolicy to separate thegirls from theboys formostsportingactivities.

Ifsomethingseparates something from something else, it is between themsothattheyarenotrightnexttoeachother,asin:

Alargehedgeseparatesourgardenfromoutnext-doorneighbour’sgardenandgivesuseachsomeprivacy.

shareshareoutIfyousharesomethingoutyoudivideitbetweentwoormorepeople,asin:

Thebirthdaycakewassharedoutamongstalltheguestsattheparty.

sharewithIfyousharesomethingwithsomeoneyouhaveitoruseittogetherwithanotherpersonorotherpeople,asin:

Hehastosharealockerwithoneoftheotherstudentsastherearenotenoughlockers.

Shesharesaflatwiththreegirlsthatshewasatschoolwith.

sickofIf you are sick of someone or something they bore you or they have beenirritatingyouforsometimeandyouaretiredofthem,asin:

Ithinkwe’rebothsickofallthetalentshowsonTV.

My neighbour is always interruptingmewhen I’m busy and I’msickofit.

Sickofisusedininformalcontexts.

similarto/similaritybetweenIfsomethingissimilartosomethingitislikethatthingbutnotthesameasit,asin:

Theirhouseisquitesimilartoours.Ifyouwanttousethenounsimilaritytoconveythesameideaitisfollowedbybetween,asin:

Thereisasimilaritybetweenourhouses.Similaritycanalsobefollowedbyto,asin:

Inthatphotographshehasastrikingsimilaritytohergrandmother.

smellofIfsomethingsmellsofsomethingithasthesmellorodourofthatthing,asin:

Theroomsmellsofflowersfreshfromthegarden.

He smells of stale sweat. Someone should tell him to use adeodorant.

sorrysorryaboutIfyouaresorryaboutsomething,youfeelsadandashamedaboutit,asin:

Iamsorryaboutmybehaviourtheotherday.Youcanalsousesorryforinthiscontext,asin:

She’ssorryforbeinglate,butthetrafficwasveryheavybecauseofanaccidentonthemotorway.

sorryforIfyouaresorryforsomeoneyoufeelpityorsympathyforthem,asin:

Shefeelsreallysorryforhomelesspeopleandtriestohelpbyworkingasavolunteeratthelocalhomelessshelter.

Seesorryaboutabove.

striveforIfyoustriveforsomethingyoutryveryhardtogetit,asin:

Shestrivesforperfection,butisrarelysuccessful.

subjecttoSubject (with the stress on the first syllable) to has various meanings. Ifsomeoneorsomethingissubjecttosomethingbadorunpleasant,theyarelikelytobeaffectedbyit,asin:

Bothbrothersaresubjecttooccasionalepilepticfits.

Theyhavejustannouncedthatmosttrainschedulesaresubjecttodelayorcancellationbecauseoftheheavysnow.

If something is subject to something happening, it depends on that thinghappeningforittotakeplace,asin:

Ihavebeeninformedthattheconstructionofanewhotelontheoutskirtsoftownissubjecttoplanningpermission.

Ifsomethingissubjecttoalaw,rule,etc,itmustobeythatlaw,rule,etc,asin:

Workingconditionsforpart-timeemployeesarenowsubjecttonewregulations.

Subject to can also be a verb which means ‘to make someone experiencesomethingunpleasant’,asin:

Weweresubjectedtonoisenightanddayfromthebuildingsitenexttoourhotel.

Inthecaseoftheverbtosubject,thestressisonthesecondsyllable.

substituteforIfsomethingisasubstituteforsomethingelseitisusedinsteadofit,asin:

Sheusesanartificialsweetenerasasubstituteforsugaraspartofherweight-lossplan.

If someone is a substitute for someone else they do the job that that personusuallydoes,asin:

Heisplayingtodayasasubstitutefortheinjuredgoalkeeper.

succeedinIfyousucceedindoingsomething,youdoorachievewhatyousetouttodo,asin:

Hesucceededinpassingallhisexams.

sufferfromIfyousufferfromsomethingyouareusuallyaffectedbysomethingunpleasantsuchasdisease,pain,etc,asin:

Shehasbeeninaseriousroadaccidentandissufferingfrominternalinjuries.

Thecountryisstillsufferingfromtheeffectsoftherecession.

superiortoSeeinferiorto

susceptibletoIf you are susceptible to something you are very likely to be affected orinfluencedbyit,asin:

Theseplantsareparticularlysusceptibletodisease.

Thechildissusceptibletochestinfections.

suspiciousofIfyouaresuspiciousofsomeone,youdonottrustthemandthinkthattheymayhavedonesomethingwrong,asin:

Anne’snewboyfriendneversaysmuchabouthimselfandI’mrathersuspiciousofhim.

Ifyouaresuspiciousof somethingyou think that itmaybedishonest, illegal,etc,althoughyoudonothaveanyproof,asin:

Thepolicemanwassuspiciousofthecardriver’sexplanationandhewonderedifthecarwasastolencar.

sympathizewithIf you sympathizewith someone you feel sorry for them and understand theproblemstheyhave,asin:

IcansympathizewiththepeoplelookingforworkbecauseI’vebeenunemployedseveraltimesinmylife.

tamperwithIfyoutamperwithsomethingyoumakechangestoitwithoutbeingaskedto,oftenwiththeintentionofdeliberatelydamagingit,asin:

Hisrivaltamperedwithhiscarengineandcausedhimtocrash.

tendencytoIfsomeoneorsomethinghasatendencytodosomethingtheyarelikelytodoit,asin:

Becauseoftheincreaseinunemploymentinthecountrypeoplenowhaveatendencytostayinthejobstheyhave,ratherthantrytomoveon.

Shehasatendencytogethyperactiveaftereatingsweets.

thinkthinkoverIf you think something over you consider it very carefully before reaching adecision,asin:

Theyhaveofferedhimthejob,buthehasaskedforsometimetothinkitoverbeforehedecideswhethertoaccepttheirofferornot.

thinkthroughIfyouthinksomethingthroughyouthinkaboutapossiblecourseofactionverycarefully,consideringallthethingsthatmighthappen,asin:

Iwasn’tsurprisedtheirplanfailed,becauseitwasobviousthattheysimplyhadn’tthoughtitthrough.

thinkupIfyouthinksomethingupyoucreateitinyourmind,oftensomethinginventiveorimaginative,asin:

Oneoftheprisonersofwarthoughtupacleverescapeplanthatprovedsuccessful.

togetherwithTogetherwithcanmeaninadditiontosomethingelse,asin:

Youneedtoproduceyourpassporttogetherwithyourbirthcertificate.

Togetherwith can also be used to refer to someonewho is also involved insomething,asin:

Jim,togetherwithTom,climbedtotheverysummitofthemountain.

truetoIfyouaretruetosomeoneorsomethingyouremainloyaltothemandcontinuetogivethemyoursupport,whateverhappens,asin:

Evenafterseveralseriousdefeatsonthebattlefieldthetroopsremainedtruetotheirleader.

Ifyouaretruetoyourwordorpromise,youactorbehaveasyoupromisedtodo,asin:

ShewastruetoherwordandrepaidthemoneyIlentherbytheendofthemonth.

unawareofseeawareof(see1)

unconsciousofseeawareof(see2)

usedtoseeaccustomedto(see1)

waitwaitforIfyouwaitforsomeoneorsomethingyoustaywhereyouareuntiltheyarrive,asin:

I’moutsidethecinemawaitingformyson,buthe’sabitlate.

We’rewaitingforthebus.

Ifyouwaitforsomethingtohappenyouareexpectingittohappen,asin:

Heiswaitingforaflattobecomevacant.

Seewaitonbelow.

waiton

If you wait on someone you bring food and drink to them at their table,especiallyinarestaurant,asin:

Theyoungwomanwhowaitedonusintherestaurantwasverypolite.

Waitonissometimesusedtomean‘tolookaftersomeone’sneeds’,asin:

Myaunthascometovisitusandsheexpectsusalltowaitonher,eventhoughweareallverybusy.

WaitonisalsousedinformallyinBritishEnglishtomeanwaitfor,asin:

WearewaitingonJacktofinishwork.

Many people disapprove of this last use and it should not be used in formalcontexts.

5

PHRASALVERBSPrepositions can also cause problemswhen they are part of phrasal verbs buttheyarenottheonlyculpritsinthisrespect.Aphrasalverbisaverbwhichcanbe combined with an adverb, with a preposition or with an adverb plus apreposition.

Examplesofsentencescontainingtheverb+adverbcombinationinclude:

Whenthepolicemansawthethiefheranaway.

Shefeltdizzyandsuddenlyfelldown.

Examples of sentences containing the verb + preposition combinationinclude:

Thechildrenranthroughthedarkwoodasfastastheycould.

Hedivedintothedeepestpartofthepool.

Examples of sentences containing the verb + adverb + prepositioncombinationinclude:

Theparty’stonightandI’vedecidedtogoalongwithSue.

Mark’sgoneoffwithJaneonacampingholiday.

ManyfeaturesofEnglishcauseproblemstobothnativespeakersofEnglishandlearnersofthelanguageasasecondorforeignlanguage.However,thisisnotthe

casewithphrasalverbs.LearnersofEnglishfindthesemuchmoreproblematicthannativespeakersdo.

Whyshouldthisbe?Well,thereisanelementofintuitionaboutlanguageasfar as your native language is concerned, and some of what a native speakerknowsaboutphrasalverbsmightbeputdowntothat.Thenthereisthefactthatthenative speaker, to a largeextent, automatically learnshow touse languagefrom listening to other people speaking, and later from reading. Somewherealongthewaytoschoolandduringtheeducationalprocesssomethingwillhavebeenlearntaboutphrasalverbs.

Ofcourseyoungnativespeakersmaybecompletelyunawarethattheyhavethis knowledge about the use of phrasal verbs. That is because they probablyhavenoideawhataphrasalverbis.Itisnotasubjectthatcropsupveryofteninthe English language classes of native speakers. Quite a few of you who arecurrentlyreadingthismaybecompletelyinthedarkaboutthesubject.

Sowhatisaphrasalverb?Nativespeakersmightnotwanttoknow.Perhapstheywouldratherignoreproblemsthat theyhavesofarnotgivenathoughttobecausetheyhavesimplybeendoingwhatcomesnaturally.Meanwhilelearnersof English will most likely groan. Phrasal verbs to them are well-knowntroublemakers.

TherearenativespeakerswhofeelpassionatelyabouttheEnglishlanguage.Manyofthemdonotlikechangeandtheywanttopreservethelanguageasitis.Unfortunatelyfor them,languagedoesnotworklikethat.Societychangesandlanguagehastoreflectthesechanges.

PHRASALORSINGLEVERB?

Some of the language preservationists dislike the growing tendency to use aphrasalverbwherea singleverbwilldo.Forexample, for a long timepeoplewerecontenttousetheverbmeetonitsown.Thiswastrueofinformalcontexts,

asin:

I’mmeetingRebeccaforlunchtomorrow.

Butitwasalsotrueofmoreformalcontexts,asin:

Theboardofdirectorsplantomeettheirmanagementstaffnextweek.

Inrecentyears,however,peoplehavebeguntousethephrasalverbmeetwithinsteadofjusttheverbmeetinformallyaswith

I’mmeetingwithRebeccaforlunchtomorrow.

andmoreespeciallyinformalcontexts

Theboardofdirectorsplantomeetwiththeirmanagementstaffnextweek.

BritishEnglishhasacquiredthishabitfromAmericanEnglishandobjectorstoitsay that the use of meet with is completely unnecessary and pretentious.Nevertheless, the verbmeetwith seems to be here to stay, at least in formalcontexts.

Thisuse is also spreading tootherverbs.For example, somepeoplearenolongercontenttoconsultaprofessionalaboutsomething.Theyprefertoconsultwithaprofessional,asin:

Hethinksthathehasbeendismissedunfairlyandhehasbeenadvisedtoconsultwithhislawyer.

Again,objectionshavebeenraisedtothis,onthesamegroundsasthosetomeetwith,buttheywillnotdoanygood.Tryingtoholdbackchangestothelanguageisacompletewasteoftime.Whateveranyonedoes,suchchangeswillhappen.

FIGURATIVEORLITERALMEANING?

One of the difficultieswith phrasal verbs is that they frequently do notmeanwhat theyseemtobesaying.Youcanknowperfectlywell themeaningof theindividualwords thatmakeup thephrase,andyetbeunable tounderstand themeaningofthephrase.Asisthecasewithmanyidioms,manyphrasalverbsareusedfigurativelyanditisoftennoteasytodeducethisfigurativemeaningfromtheliteralmeaningofthewordsmakingupthephrase.

Somefigurativemeaningsofphrasalverbsaremoredifficulttodeducethanothers.Somearequiteeasy.

Forexample,inthesentence

Thechildrenwillcomethroughthatdoorverysoon.

thephrasalverbcomethroughmeans justwhat it says, that the childrenwillexitfromthedoorsoon.

However,inthesentence

Itwasamiraclethatsomanysoldierscamethroughthewaralive.

thephrasalverbcamethroughisnotusedexactlyliterallyinthatsentence,butisusedinawaythatisonlyashortstepfromtheliteralmeaning.Thesentenceisreferringtosoldierswhosurvivedawar.

Thesentence

Hegotoverthefencewithdifficultyandhopedtherewerenoguarddogsaround.

obviously refers to someone literally climbingover a fence toget to theotherside.

Thesentence

Henevergotoverhisfiancée’sdeathandremainedunmarriedallhislife.

refers to someone who has never recovered from something bad that hashappened.Again, the phrasal verb is not being used exactly literally, but it iscloseenoughtotheliteralmeaningtobeeasilydeducibleincontext.

There are a greatmany examples of phrasal verbs of this kind – not quiteliteral in meaning but fairly easy to understand in context. Some are a stepforward in difficulty from the two phrasal verbs mentioned above, but stillrelativelyeasilydeducible,andtheycertainlydonotusuallycauseanyproblemstonativespeakers.

Theseincludelookdownonandlookupto.Thephrase lookdownmeansthatyouliterallyloweryoureyesinordertoSeewhatisbelowyou.Similarly,thephraselookupmeansthatyouliterallyraiseyoureyesinordertoSeewhatisaboveyou.

Thereisabitmoretotheirliteralmeaningswhenyouaddtheprepositionsonand to respectively.The phrasal verb lookdownonmeans that you think thatsomeoneismuchlessimportantthanyouareandsoisinferiortoyou,asin:

Shelooksdownonstudentswhosefathersworkinthelocalfactory.

The phrasal verb look up to means that you respect and admire someone asthoughtheyweremuchmoreimportantorbetterthanyou,asin:

Heisawell-knownartistaswellasbeingateacherandmanyofthestudentslookuptohim.

Thephrasalverb lookforwardmeans literally thatyouare lookingatwhat isstraightinfrontofyou.Ifyouaddtotothephrase,asinlookforwardto,youare pleased or excited about something that you expect to happen sometimesoon,asin:

Thelittlegirlisreallylookingforwardtoherfriend’sbirthdayparty.

The literal meaning of the phrasal verb look through should present nodifficulties,asin:

Welookedthroughthewindowattherain.

While its figurative meaning as applied to newspapers, reports, etc, is fairlyobviousfromthecontext,asin:

Ihavetolookthroughthereportbeforethemeeting.

Whenusedofsomething that isdone topeople,however, thingsbecomemorecomplicated.Ifyoulookthroughsomeoneyoulookatthemasthoughyouhavenotnoticedthem,oftenbecauseyouaredeliberatelyignoringthembecauseyouareangrywiththem,asin:

AsshecametowardsmeIwasabouttospeaktoherbutshelookedrightthroughmeandwalkedon.

Learnerscanbeeasilyconfusedwhenthemeaningofaphrasalverbseemsquiteeasy to understand and then turns out not be. There may be an unexpectedovertone or nuance that changes the meaning quite considerably. Take thesentencewhichwasmentionedaboveasanexampleofaphrasalverb:

Mark’sgoneoffwithJaneonacampingholiday.

Nowwe know nothingwhatsoever aboutMark and Jane or their relationship,andwedonotneedtoknow.Allwearetoldisthattheyhavegoneonacampingholidaytogether.

Ontheotherhand,ifthesentenceis

Mark’sgoneoffwithJim’swife.

thenwehavegroundsforsomesuspicion,andifthesentencethenbecomes

Mark’srunoffwithJim’swife.

then our suspicion appears to be well-founded. It would seem thatMark andJim’s wife have been having a relationship and they have decided to livetogether.Itisamazingwhatyoucanlearnfromalittlephrasalverb!

POSITIONOFTHEOBJECT

There is another problem that crops upwith reference to phrasal verbs. Somephrasal verbs are intransitive and so do not take an object. Many of them,however,aretransitiveanddotakeanobject.Thereinliestheproblem.

Thereissomevariationinthepositionofthisobject.Iftheobjectisanounora short noun phrase it can sometimes be placed after the secondword of thephrasalverb,asin:

Sheisputtingawaythedishesinthecupboard.

Theboxerknockedouthisopponentinthefirstround.

Ontheotherhand,thenounorshortnounphrasecansometimesbeplacedafterthefirstwordandbeforethesecondwordofthephrasalverb,asin:

Themayorishandingtrophiesovertothewinnersnow.

Sheisputtingthedishesawayinthecupboard.

Inalltherelevantsentencestheobjectisinbold.Howdoyoudecidewheretoputthenounornounphrase?Itisoftenamatter

of taste or amatter ofwhich form you think sounds better. Sometimeswhichsoundsbestdependsonthelengthofthenounphrase.

When the object is a pronoun it usually precedes the second word of thephrasalverb,asin:

Theornamentwasbrokenintomanypieceswhenthechildknockeditover.

Theleft-overfoodwilltasteallrightifyouwarmitup.

COMPLEXPHRASALVERBS

A small selection follows of fairly complex phrasal verbs which have beenformedfromcommonverbs.Therearemany,manymore,butthisselectionwillshowyouphrasalverbsinaction,sotospeak.Mostofthesephrasalverbshavemeaningswhicharemore than just thesumof theirparts. Inotherwords,youcannot deduce their overall meaning just from knowing the meaning of theindividualwords.TheyarethuslikelytobeusefultonativespeakersofEnglishaswellastolearners.

PHRASALVERBSINACTION

comecomedownonIfyoucomedownon someoneor somethingyou criticizeor punish them forsomethingtheyhavedone,asin:

Thenewheadteachersaidthatshewillcomedownheavilyonbullies.

comedownwithIfyoucomedownwithadiseaseoraninfectionyoudeveloporbegintohaveit,asin:

IfeelasthoughIamcomingdownwithflu.comeupwithIf youcomeupwith an idea, plan, etc, you think of it, often having thoughtaboutitforaconsiderabletime,asin:

Theyhavefinallycomeupwithsufficientfundingtopayfortheproject.

cutcutbackonIf youcutbackon something you reduce the extent of it, often because youcannotaffordtospendsomuchmoneyonit,asin:

Thegovernmentareplanningtocutbackondefenceexpenditure.cutdownonIfyoucutdownonsomethingyoutrytoreducetheamountofitthatyouuseortoreducethenumberoftimesyoudoit,asin:

Shehasn’tgiveupsmokingalthoughshe’scutdownonthenumberofcigarettesshegetsthroughinaweek.

dodoawaywithIfyoudoawaywithsomethingyougetridofitorabandonit,asin:

They’veintroducedcomputerizationanddoneawaywithold-fashionedproductionmethods.

Theschooldidawaywithschooluniformbutbroughtitbackagainafewyearslater.

Doawaywithcanalsobeusedinformallytomean‘tokillsomeone’,asin:

ShelookedsoangrythatIthoughtshewasgoingtodoawaywithme!

The gang leader disappeared over a year ago, and police thinkthatmembersofarivalgangmayhavedoneawaywithhim.

dooutofIf you do someone out of something you stop them getting it or having it,sometimesdishonestly,asin:

Theworkerswentonstrikebecausetheysaidthattheiremployershaddonethemoutofabonus.

The schoolchildren felt that they had been done out of a day’sholiday.

getgetalongwithIfyougetalongwith someoneyou find it easy to bewith themand to enjoytheircompany,asin:

Jill’sboyfrienddoesn’tgetalongverywellwithherfamily.

It’sgoodthatall themembersof the teamgetalongsowellwitheachother.

getawaywithIfyougetawaywithsomethingyouarenotpunishedorscoldedfordoingit,asin:

Hegetsawaywithbeingreallynaughtywhenhestayswithhisgrandparents.

getbehindwithIfyougetbehindwithsomethingyouarelateorslowindoingit,andhavenotmadeasmuchprogressasyoushouldhavedone,asin:

Thelandlordisangrybecausewe’regettingbehindwiththerentagain.

I’m going to work late at the office this evening as I’m gettingbehindwithmypaperwork.

getdowntoIfyougetdownto somethingyou start doing it seriously andpaying a lot of

attentiontoit,asin:

I’mgoingtogetdowntosomerevisionrightawayasIhaveabigtesttomorrow.

Wereallymustgetdowntothinkingofwaystosavemoney.

getoutofIfyougetoutofsomethingyouavoiddoingsomethingwhichyoudonotwanttodo,asin:

She’sofferedtodotheshoppingtogetoutofhelpingwiththehousework.

He’sbeenaskedtospeakatthemeetingbuthe’stryingdesperatelytogetoutofit.

getroundtoIf you get round to doing something you do something that you have beenintending to do for some time, or that you should have donebefore, but havebeentoobusyorunwillingtodo,asin:

ItwasthedaybeforeChristmasEvebeforeIfinallygotroundtowritingsomeChristmascards.

Heaskedhertomarryhimseveralmonthsago,buthehasn’tgotroundtobuyingheranengagementringyet.

getthroughtoIfyouget throughto someoneby telephoneyouareable tocontact themandspeaktothem,asin:

Telephonereceptionisn’tverygoodinthatpartoftheworldandIwasn’tabletogetthroughtomysister.

The line was engaged at first but I soon got through to the

hospital.

However,youdonotneedalwaysneedatelephoneinordertoget throughtosomeone. The phrase can also mean ‘to succeed in getting someone tounderstandsomething,althoughthismaybedifficult’,asin:

Hedidn’tseemtounderstandhowdangerousthesituationwas,butIfinallygotthroughtohimbeforeitwastoolate.

Pleasecansomeoneget through to thestudents that theseexamsareimportantandtheymustgetsomestudyingdone.

getuptoIfyougetuptosomethingyoudosomethingbadornaughty,asin:

ThosekidsaregigglingbehindtheshedandI’msurethey’regettinguptomischief.

Thepoliceweresurethattheyouthsstandingonthestreetcornerwereplanningtogetuptosomething,buttheydidn’tknowwhat.

Getuptoisusedininformalcontexts.

gogoalongwithIfyouliterallygoalongwithsomeoneyougowiththemtosomewhere,asin:

Shewantsmetogoalongtothepartywithher,butI’mnotinthemood.

Iwentalongtotheopeningceremonywithmyparents.

Ifyougoalongwitharuling,decision,etc,youacceptitandobeyit,asin:

Althoughhecouldhaveappealedagainstthecourt’srulinghedecidedtogoalongwithit.

If yougoalongwith someone orwith their idea, policy etc, you accept it oragreewithit,asin:

Mostoftheteachersgoalongwiththehead’sproposalsforchangestotheschooltimetable.

gobackonIfyougobackonsomething,youdonotdowhatyoupromisedoragreedtodo,asin:

She’snotverytrustworthysoI’mnotreallysurprisedthatshe’sgonebackonherpromisetohelp.

goinforIfyougoinforacompetitionofsomekindyoutakepartinit,asin:

Idon’tthinkhe’sfitenoughtogoinforthemarathonrace.

They’rebothgoinginforthetennisclubtournament.

Ifyougoinforaparticularkindofworkyoumakeityourjoborcareer,asin:

Shewantedtogoinformedicinebutherexamresultswerenotgoodenough.

Hisfatherwantshimtogoinforaccountancy.

goinwithIfyougoinwithsomeoneyoudecidetobecometheirbusinesspartner,asin:

John’sstartedagardeningbusinessandJack’sdecidedtogoinwithhim.

gooffIfsomeonegoesoffsomeoneorsomethingitmeanstheyceasetolikethemorit,asin:

Mysisterhasgoneoffherbestfriendsincetheyquarrelled.

gooffwithIf someone goes off with something they take something that belongs tosomeoneelse,usuallywithoutpermission,asin:

IshowedhimratheravaluablebookandIlaterdiscoveredthathehadgoneoffwithit.

gothroughwithIf you go through with something you continue doing it until it has beencompletedorachieved,asin:

Hehadthreatenedtoquituniversityseveraltimesbefore,butnoneofhisfriendsthoughthewouldevergothroughwithit.

The government’s proposal to raise taxeswas so unpopular thattheydidnotgothroughwiththescheme.

holdholdoutforIfyouholdout for someoneor somethingyou insistonwaiting forwhatyouwantandrefusetoacceptanythingless,asin:

Shesaidshewasholdingoutforatall,dark,handsome,wealthyman.

Heturneddownseveraljobsaftergraduationbecausehesaidhewasholdingoutforsomethinginterestingandwell-paid.

holdoutonIfyouholdoutonsomeoneyourefusetotellthemsomethingortogivethemsomethingthattheywant,asin:

Heassuredthepolicethathehadnoideawherehisfriendwasbuttheyweresurehewasholdingoutonthem.

Thephrasalverbholdoutonisusuallyusedinaninformalcontext.

keepkeepinwithIf youkeep inwith someoneyou remain friendlywith them,usually becausethismayhelpyoutogetsomethingyouwant,asin:

SheonlykeepsinwithJimbecausehe’sgotacarandgivesheralifttoandfromworkeveryday.

There’sarumourthatAnne’sgoingtobemadeheadofdepartmentandeveryone’skeepinginwithherasaresult.

keeponatIfyoukeeponat someoneyou repeatedly askor tell them something so thattheygetannoyedorupset,asin:

Herfatherkeptonatheraboutworkingharderatschooluntilshelosthertemperandstormedoutofthehouse.

Theboykeptonathismotheraboutgettingamobilephoneandfedupwithhisnaggingsheeventuallyagreed.

keepoutofIf you keep out of something you avoid being involved in an unpleasant ordifficultsituation,asin:

Ifthetwosistersstartarguingwitheachother,keepoutofitorthey’llbothturnagainstyou.

Iftheboydoesn’tkeepoutoftroublefortherestofthetermhe’llbeaskedtoleave.

keepupwithIfyoukeepupwithsomeoneyoustayincontactwiththem,asin:

Overtheyearsshe’skeptupwithoneortwoofherschoolfriendsandtheyliketomeetforcoffeeoccasionally.

Wepromisedtokeepupwitheachotherafterweleftuniversity,butwe’velostcontact.

makemakeoffwith/makeawaywithIfyoumakeoffwithsomethingyoustealsomethingandtakeitaway,asin:

Hehadfoolishlyleftthekeysintheignitionandathiefmadeoffwithhiscar.

Thedogleaptontothetableandmadeoffwiththeremainsoftheroastbeef.

Makeawaywithmeansthesameasmakeoffwith,asin:

Someone’smadeawaywithmywallet.

makeuptoIfyoumakeuptosomeoneyouflatterthemandsaypleasantthingstothemsothattheywillgiveyousomething,ordosomething,thatyouwant,asin:

She’susuallyhorribletoherbrother,butshe’smakinguptohimtonightbecauseshewantstoborrowhiscar.

Thepolitician isgoingroundthe townmakinguptoeveryonehemeetsbecausehewantstheirvoteatthenextelection.

makeupforIf youmakeup for something you do something that tries to put right a badsituation,asin:

Heboughthismotherabeautiful,expensivenewvasetomakeupforbreakingherfavouriteone.

Her fatherpromised to takeher toSeea filmduring theweek tomake up for having to cancel their trip to the cinema at theweekend.

pulloutofIfyoupulloutofsomethingyougetoutofadifficultordangeroussituation,asin:

We’repullingoutofthemarketbecauseit’snolongerprofitable.

Theterritoryistoodangerousandourarmyispullingout.

putputdowntoIf youput somethingdown to something you think or say that something iscausedbysomething,asin:

Sheputhergoodmooddowntothelovelyweather.

Thefirmputtheslumpintheirprofitsdowntotherecession.

putinforIfyouputinforsomethingyouapplyforit,asin:

There’samoreseniorjobcomingupsoonandI’mputtinginforit.

She’sputtinginforextendedmaternityleave.

putuptoIf you put someone up to something you encourage them to do somethingfoolish,dangerousorwrong,asin:

Herfriendsputheruptostealingapacketofsweetsfromtheshop.

Hisbrotherputhimuptoclimbingontheroofandhefelloff.

putupwithIfyouputupwithsomethingorsomeoneyouacceptanunpleasantsituationorpersonwithoutcomplainingortoleratesomeoneorsomething,asin:

Shesaidthatshehadputupwithherunreasonablebossaslongasshecould.

Theymoved house because they couldn’t put upwith their noisyneighboursanylonger.

standstandoutagainstIfyoustandoutagainstsomethingyougoonstronglyopposingit,asin:

Theotherpoliticalpartiesarestandingoutagainstthespendingcutsproposedbythegovernment.

standoutforSeeholdoutforunderhold.

standupforIfyoustandup for someoneor somethingyoudefendor support themwhentheyareunderanattackofsomekind,asin:

Thenewregimeisveryharshandweallneedtostandupforourbasichumanrights.

Weaker, younger pupils who cannot stand up for themselves areprotectedfrombullyingbyolder,strongerpupils.

standuptoIfyoustandup to someoneyou refuse to bebulliedby themand are able toresisttheirattacksordemands,asin:

Hedidhisbesttostanduptothebullybutitwasnoteasy.

Although it is a small country, its inhabitants stand up to thecontinualattacksofitspowerfulneighbour.

taketakeuponIfyoutakesomeoneuponsomethingyouacceptanofferorasuggestionthattheyhavemadetoyou,asin:

I’lltakeyouuponyourofferofalifthome,ifthat’sallright?

I’mbusytonightbutI’lltakeyouuponyoursuggestionofdinnersometimesoon.

takeupwithIfyoutakeupwith someoneyoustartbeingfriendlywith themandspendingquitealotoftimewiththem,oryoustartaromanticrelationshipwiththem,asin:

Theirson’stakenupwithsomekidsthathavebeenintroublewiththepolice.

WehearthatKate’stakenupwithaboyinherclass.

walkwalkawayfromIf you literallywalk away from someone or something you just move awayfromthembywalking.Ifyoufigurativelywalkawayfromasituationyoudonottrytodealwithitbutleaveitorignoreit,asin:

Herwealthybrothercouldhavehelpedherwithherfailingbusiness,buthechosetowalkawayfromitallandlefthertocopealone.

After their lastquarrelhefelt that their friendshipwasatanendandthetimehadcometowalkawayfromit.

walkinonIfyouwalkinonsomeoneyouentersomewhereunexpectedlyandSeethem,orseveralpeople,doingsomethingprivateorsecretwhichmayembarrassyouorthem,asin:

Iwalkedinonmyauntwhenshewasintheshower.

She walked in on her parents when they were in a passionateembrace.

walkoffwithIf youwalk off with something you win something, such as a trophy, veryeasily,asin:

Therewasnooneinthetournamentwhowasanywherenearherstandardandshewalkedoffwiththechampionshiptrophy.

Theywere easily themost talented popgroup in the competitionandwalkedoffwithfirstprize.

6

DISPOSINGOFDISCRIMINATION

DESEXINGTHELANGUAGE

Therearevariousreasonsforlanguagechange.AmajorinfluenceontheEnglishlanguagewastheescalation,fromthe1960son,ofamovementwhichwasnotprimarilyaimedatlanguage,butwhichwastogiverisetoenormouschangesinit.Thiswasthewomen’smovement,anditspurposewastoimprovethesocialandeconomic statusofwomen in society, andgivewomen the same rights asmen.

Some progress had been made when women in Britain had finally beenallowed tovote inelections toparliamentafter ahard-foughtcampaignby thesuffragettes, but that was only the first step. During the two World Wars,especially thesecondof these,manywomenhadworkedoutside thehomeforthefirst time.Inmanycasestheyweredoingjobs,suchasdrivingambulancesandworkinginfactories,thatmenhadformerlydone.

When thesemencameback from thewar they found that theirwomenhadtastedindependenceanddidnotwanttoreturntothekitchenandthenurseryfortherestoftheirlives.Theywantedtoworkoutsidethehomeand,intime,theywantedthesamerateofpayandthesameemploymentrightsasmendoingthesamejob.

FEMINISTADDITIONSTOTHELANGUAGE

Itwasalongandslowprocess,andthefightisnotoveryet.Somepeoplefeelthereisstillaso-calledglassceiling,atermusedtodescribetheinvisiblebarrierthatpreventswomenfromachievingtheirfull,seniorpotentialintheworkplace.GlassceilingwasoneoftheadditionstotheEnglishlanguagethatthebattleforequalrightsforwomenbroughtwithit,andtherewereothers.

Before the fight for equality there was a distinct male bias in the Englishlanguage. If the sexof a personwas not known, or not given, the personwasassumedtobemale.Aswomengainedequalityinsociety,callsweremadeforchanges to the language to rectify this male bias and some changes haveoccurred.

Aswellasglassceiling,thelanguageadditionsbroughtusmalechauvinist,usedtodescribeamanwhoisconvincedoftheinferiorityofwomenandwhoistotally opposed to the idea of equal rights for women. Men who wereparticularlyopposed to the ideaandactedaccordinglyweredescribedasmalechauvinist pigs. It is odd how the poor pig seems to get an unfair deal inlanguage!

Of course, the struggle for equality brought us sex discrimination andsexism – the unfair treatment of people on account of their gender. On thepositiveside,thefightforequalrightsforwomenandforotherpeoplewhowerediscriminated against (of which more later) brought us not only equalopportunity,butalsopositivediscriminationandaffirmativeaction.

The term positive discrimination was coined to describe the practice ofgivingaparticularnumberofjobs,universityplaces,etc,topeoplewhowereinthe habit of being treated unfairly because of their gender, race, etc.Positivediscrimination was the phrase favoured by the British. The Americanequivalentwasaffirmativeaction.Bothexpressionsprovedquitedurable.Iamnotsosureabouttheactionsthattheydescribed.

REMOVING–MANThecontributiontothelanguagemadebythebattleforwomen’srightswasnot

justaboutadditionstothevocabulary.Theexistinglanguagewasitselffoundtobejustassexistasmanyemployers.

Many compound nouns indicating some kind of job or position ended in–man, even though this job or position might easily be held by a woman.Fireman andpoliceman are cases in point, and they became fire fighter andpolice officer when sexism was removed. Foreman became supervisor orsomethingsimilar.Sofarsogood.Thesewordsmanagedtobringoffarelativelysmoothtransition.

Thewordchairmanwasnotsolucky.Becauseitendedin–manithadtogo,butwhatwoulditbecome?Thatwasadifficultquestionanditwasgivensometrickyanswers.Partofthetroublewasthattherehadalwaysbeenalotoffemalechairmen around.Notmany of them had succeeded in smashing through theglass ceiling to become heads of companies, but many of them had beendesignatedchairmenofsocietiesandsocialorganizations.

Youngerwomeninparticularwantedtogetshotof the–manelementatallcosts.Areasonablypopularreplacementchoicewas–person,butitwasfarfrompopularwitheveryone.Manypeopleabsolutelyhatedchairpersonandsaidso.Bearinmindthat,althoughthereisalwaysadegreeoflanguagechangegoingon, the scale and the speed of change was not as great when chairman wastryingtodivestitselfofitsobviousmasculinity.Manywomen,especiallyolderwomen, said that, given the choice, they would rather be a chairman than achairpersonanyday.

Oneproposedalternativewaschair.Thisalsobroughtforthmuchprotest. Iheardonerathermatronlywomandeclaimthatshehadnointentionofbecomingsomethingneuterlikeachair.Shewouldratherbeachairman.

Somehow thewhole thinghas calmeddown, as thingsdo in time. I donotthink that there has ever been an across-the-board solution. Some peoplechairing a meeting or a social organization will be chairs and some will bechairpersons.Probably,some,whatevertheirgender,maystillbechairmen.

Of course the use of –man in compound nouns was not restricted to its

associationwithchair.Therewereotherwordsthatfellintothiscategory,wordssuchasbarmanandspokesman,forexample.Adifferentfatehasbefallenthesetwo.Althoughattemptshavebeenmadetoimposebarpersononpub-goerstheyhavenotbeenallthatsuccessful.Barmanisstillflourishing.Moresurprisingly,so is barmaid, which you would think would be regarded as sexist in theextreme. Ithas foughtoffnotonlybarperson, butother attempts to replace itwithwordssuchasbarassistantandbarattendant.

Spokesman, however, has not shown the same capacity for survival asbarmaid. Spokesperson is one of a few –person words that do notautomatically reduce people to fits of laughter. The word has become quitecommonwhenthegenderofthepersonspeakingonbehalfofanorganizationisnot known.Obviously, if the gender of that person is known then the correctgender can be assigned and we could end up with a spokesman or aspokeswoman.Thisshouldbeacceptabletoallalthoughthatisnotalwaysthecase.Itisnosurprisethatmanyorganizationstendtoduckthisissueandgoforthewordrepresentativeinstead.

The proposed substitution ofperson forman was considered by many, atleast at first, to be hilarious. As a result it gave rise to a great deal ofexaggerationandsatire.Peoplewouldfindamusementinsubstitutingpersonformaninwordssuchasmanhole.Otherswithnothoughtofhumourattemptedtogetridofthewordmanholebysubstitutingseweraccessholeorutilityaccesshole.Fortunatelymostofusdonothavemuchcalltorefertomanholes,unlesswe trip over one or,worse, fall down one. In such caseswe are probably notoverlyconcernedwithwhattheyarecalled.

ISMANKINDNOMORE?We are not yet finished with the word man.Man was also formerly useduniversally to refer to human beings as a group or to human beings from aparticularperiodofhistory,asin:

Manhasdestroyedthehabitatsofmanyanimals.

Earlymanlivedincavesandworeanimalskins.

Sometimesmaninthissensewasspeltwithacapitalletter,sometimesnot,butitwasnotthespellingthatcausedtheproblem.Itwasthefactthatitsuseignoredhalfthehumanrace,thewomen.

Somepeoplecontinue touseman in this senseas though itwereagenericwordreferringtoanyhumanbeingratherthantoamemberofthemalesex.Ifyouwanttoavoidthisuseyoucanoftensubstitutehumansorhumanbeingsorthe human race, whichever seems the most appropriate in the context.Similarly,mankind can be avoided by the use of humankind, but do avoidusingpersonkindoryouwillruntheriskofbeinggreetedbythesamekindofhilaritythatpersonholegivesriseto.

PERSONThe word person may often be used satirically when it is used as part of acompoundwordsuchaspersonhole,butitisaperfectlyrespectablewordwhenused on its own. It plays a useful part in avoiding male bias in language.Formerly,someoneseekinganewemployeewouldveryprobablyhavespokenorwrittenoftheneedtofind‘therightmanforthejob’.Nowadaysthewould-beemployerwouldbemuchmore likely to sayorwrite ‘the right person for thejob’.Whenmorethanonepersonisinvolvedpeopleshouldbeusedinsteadofmen.

–ESSThe suffix –ess may not look like a particularly troublesome word but itsappearanceisdeceptive.Ithasplayedamajorpartinthefightforequalityofthesexes.

Formerly,somewords,suchasauthor,poet,sculptor,whosegender isnotobvious, unless the identity of the individual person is known, were

automaticallyassumedtobemasculineandtheyhadfeminineforms,authoress,poetessandsculptress.Thecalltostampoutsexismfromlanguagemeantthatthese–ess formswereconsideredbelittling towomenandsowerefoundtobeunacceptable.

The –ess was thus removed from these and some other words and theybecamethegender-freeorneutralwords,author,poetandsculptor.However,theEnglishlanguageisnotalwaysconsistent–farfromit.Sowefindthatsomefeminineforms,suchaswaitress,arestillincommonuse,whilebothactorandactressarecommonlyusedforafemaleactor.

Manageressisstillsometimesusedtorefertoawomanwhoisinchargeofashop, but not to a womanwho has climbed the company executive ladder tomanageriallevel.Thejobofairhostess,oncethoughttobeultra-glamorous,isnowknownbythemoremundanetermofflightattendant,whetherthepersondoingthejobisamanorawoman.

Alternativesto–esssuchas–trixarealsodisappearing.Asisthecasewith–ess, the former male term is now seen as the neutral term and the wordproprietorcanrefereithertoamaleorfemaleownerofabusiness.

–ETTEIf–esswasoften,bythistime,consideredtobesomethingofadespisedsuffix,howmuchmoredespisedwasthesuffix–ette. Itwasbelittlingon twocounts.Like–ess, itwasused to forma femaleequivalentofamaleword,but itwasalsousedtorefertoadiminutiveorsmallform.

Fortunately, there were never that many –ette words referring to womenaround.Probablythebestknownwasusherette,awomanwhoshowedyoutoyour seat in a cinema or theatre. Nowadays, places which still have peopleshowingpatronstotheirseatswouldprobablyrefertothemaleorfemalepersondoingthejobasanusher.

Female jockeys were sometimes called jockettes but, although there havelong been a large number of female riders around,women jockeys have been

fewontheground.Thewordjocketteneverreallycaughtonbeforeitwasruledoutoforder.

Thewordhackettewas, and is still, occasionally used to refer to a femalejournalist. Its use is usually satirical and women journalists sometimes use ithumorouslyofthemselves.

LADY/WOMAN/FEMALEWearenotyetfinishedwiththeinfluenceofwomenonlanguage,butthisnextissuehasnothingtodowithmen.Itispurelyafemaleissueandonethatsoundsasthoughitbelongsmoretoclassthangender.Itconcernstheuseofthewordsladyandwoman(see1,2).

Formerlythewordladywasoftenusedinsteadofwomanbecausedoingsowas thought to be part of the code of polite behaviour. Many parents stillencourage theirchildren to refer toawomanasa lady.Forexample,amothermightsaytoheryoungchildinabus:

‘Sue,comeandsitonmykneeandgivethatladyyourseat.’

Someolderpeoplemightfeeluncomfortableaboutusingthewordwomansincetheywillhavebeen taughtnot todoso.However, for themostpartwoman isnowtheacceptedtermandladycanberegardedasratheracondescendingterm.Thuscleaningladyistobeavoidedandthereisnoneedtousecleaningwomansince cleaner will be absolutely fine. After all the person doing the cleaningmightbeaman!

Therearesomeemploymentwordswhich,evenbeforethesexualrevolution,could refer to either men or women, although there were far more men thanwomenintheroles.Suchwordsincludedoctorandengineer.

Thetermladydoctorwasformerlyquitecommonlyusedtorefertoadoctorwhowasawoman.Thistermisnowold-fashionedandpeoplewhofeeltheneedofconsultingadoctorwhoisnotamanprobablyquitehappilyrefertoawomandoctor.Alternatively,itisperfectlyallrighttorefertoafemaledoctor.

People are not so likely to have toworry about the gender of an engineer.Formerly it was not a problem at all because there were very few femaleengineers,engineeringnotbeingconsideredasuitablecareerforawoman.Nowengineerswhoarefemalecanfollowtheexamplesetbydoctorsandbereferredtoasawomanengineerorafemaleengineer.Thiswillalsoapply tovariousothertrades,professions,etc,asin:

Thecompanynowemploysquiteafewfemalebusdrivers.

Asimilarproblemcanaffectmeniftheytakeupaprofessionthatwasformerlyrestricted towomen.For example, there arenowmoremen takingupprimaryteachingbutthathasnolinguisticproblems.Likewomen,theyarejustteachers.Butthesameisnottrueofnurses.Formerlynurseswereassumedtobewomensowhenmenstartedto takeupnursingasaprofessiontheybecameknownasmalenurses.

FEMALEASANOUNAswehaveseen,femaleisperfectlyacceptableasanadjective,butcaremustbetakenifyouarethinkingofusingitasanoun.Itisfinetouseitifyouwishtorefer toyoungpeopleof the female sexwhoare tooyoung tobedescribedaswomen,asin:

Heistheonlymaninahousefulloffemales–hiswife,hismotherandhisthreeyoungdaughters.

Itcanalsobeusedtocontrastwithmale,asin:

Therearenowtwicethenumberoffemalesastherearemalesintheclub.

Itcanbeusedoffemaleanimalswithoutanyprotest.However, the use of female as a noun can be regarded as disrespectful or

insulting,asin:

Someinterferingfemalehasjusttoldusthatwecan’tparkhere.

Whoisthefemalewearingthatdreadfulhat?

GIRLGirlisobviouslyquiteacceptableifitisusedtorefertosomeoneofthefemalesexwhoiseitherachildoranadolescent,asin:

Thegirlsintheclasshavedonebetterintheexamthantheboys.

When it is used of older people who are, in fact, women, the word girl cansometimesbe regardedaspatronizingordisrespectfulwhen it isusedbymen.This is quite ironic as some men, particularly older men, think that they arebeingcomplimentaryorcourteouswhenusinggirl torefer toawomanwhoisquiteobviouslynolongerasyoungasagirl,asin:

Whatwouldyougirlsliketodrink?

The‘stampingoutofsexism’campaignmaywellhavepassedsuchmenby.It seems a bit unfair but it is quite all right forwomenwho are no longer

youngtorefertotheirfriendsofasimilarageasgirls,asin:

Mymothersaysshecan’tcometodinnertomorrownightasshealwayshasanightoutwiththegirlsonaThursday.

PARTNERSORWHAT?Anotherissuewhichinvolvedasocialchangeconnectedwithgendercausedthelanguagesomeproblemsalongtheway,althoughthefinaleffectwasnotatalldramatic.Beforethe1960sitwasnotconsideredrespectableformembersoftheopposite sex to live together unless theyweremarried.Attitudes to unmarriedsexchangedfromthe1960s,partly,itmustbesaid,becauseoftheintroductionofthecontraceptivepill.Fromthenon,moreandmoremembersoftheoppositesextooktolivingtogetherwithouttakinganymarriagevows.

This involveda linguisticproblemthatpeopleweremuchpreoccupiedwithduringthelate1970sandearly1980s.Howdoyouintroducesomeoneyouarelivingwithbutwho isnotyourhusbandorwife?Believe itornot, thiswasaquestionthatmanypeople,includingseverallanguageexperts,agonizedoveratthetime.

Spousewasobviouslyjustasinappropriateashusbandorwife,whilecallingsomeone by the legal term, cohabitee, is enough to have them begging formarriage.

Boyfriend and girlfriend may have sounded a bit young in the particularcircumstances and may even have suggested an unwanted degree ofimpermanence.Loverhadtheadvantageofbeingabletobeusedtorefertobothsexes, but it sounded rather racy and even illegal. We are talking here ofrespectableunmarriedcouples.

Partnerwassuggestedquiteearlyon,butitwasrejectedonthegroundsthatitproperlybelonged inabusiness relationship.Somestrangealternativeswereputforward.Oneofthesewassignificantotherwhichsomepeoplestuckwith.However, this termmostly went on tomean a person who was influential orsupportiveinone’slife(ratherthansomeonewhosharedyourhouseandbedaswellasyourlife).

OneofthestrangesttermswasPOSSLQ,shortfor‘personsof theoppositesex sharing livingquarters’. It seems extraordinary that thiswasgiven seriousconsiderationbyquitesensiblepeople.Fortunatelyitdidnotlast.

Someone uncovered the Scots word bidie-in, a word meaning ‘a live-inpartner’ thatwashithertomoreor less restricted to thenorth-east ofScotland.ForatimeitenjoyedquitealotofgeneralattentionintheBritishmedia,butthissoonfaded.Itprobablysoundedfartoohomelyandunsophisticatedtobearealcontenderanditsoonretreatedbacktoitsnativeheath.Live-indidnotlastverylongeither.

I mention these words that did not catch on simply to show you what anarrowescapelanguagesometimeshas.Inthiscaseitallcamerightintheend

andwewereleftwithpartner,thewordthatisnowstillmostcommonlyused.Itscloseassociationwithbusinessseemednottomatterafterall.Alotofangstandargumentcouldhavebeenpreventedifpeoplehadjustsettledonthisterminthefirstplace!

VocabularywasnottheonlythingtochangeastheEnglishlanguagediditsbesttodisposeofsexism–grammar,too,wasaffected(seesexisminDesexinggrammarinChapter1).Therecanbenodoubtthatthemovementtostampoutsexisminlanguageachievedagreatdealofsuccess.

POLITICALCORRECTNESS

To some extent, the movement to stamp out sexism got tangled up with themovement to imposepoliticalcorrectness (PC)on language,although thePCmovementneverdidbecometheuniversalsuccessthatsomepeoplepredicted.

Perhaps this lack of success was not all that surprising. For a start, themovementfacedamajorbasicproblem.Manypeopledidnotknowwhatitwasall about and many still do not know. Its very name was and is a barrier tounderstanding it. The term political correctness sounds as though it shouldmeansomethinglike‘inaccordancewithcurrentoracceptablepoliticalbeliefsorpolicy’andinfactithadameaningofthiskindinthe18thcentury.

However,bythetimemodernpoliticalcorrectnesscameintoplayaroundthemid 1980s in America, later in Britain, the term had little to do with whatordinary people regard as the meaning of ‘political’. Instead it referred to amovementaimedatminimizingcausingoffencetoothers,especiallywhenthiswas based on race, gender, religion, disability, age, occupation, etc. Thismovementwasnotonlyaimedatlanguage,butalsoatpolicy,behaviourandsoon.

Asyouwillsee,itsoundsasthoughthismovementwasbasedonverygoodintentions.Itwasanexcellent ideato try toprotectpeoplefromdiscrimination

andinsult.Sadly, this ideawas taken tosuchridiculousextremes that the termpolitical correctness came to be regarded as a pejorative term, rather than aforceforgood.

It became something to poke fun at, rather than something to applaud andadmire.Ifyoumentionthetermpoliticalcorrectness,agreatmanypeoplewillcome up with some humorous inventions based on the notion of politicalcorrectness.

Manyoftheseinvolvetheadditionofthewordchallenged,asin:

chronologicallychallenged=oldmorallychallenged=criminalfollicularlychallenged=bald.

Themoreextremeandunusualtheseinventionsare,thefunniertheyseem–orsotheuserofthewordthinks.

Ofcoursepoliticalcorrectnesshadaseriouspurposewhenitwasintroduced.Itwasintendedtoputapositivelightonsomekindofpersonalproblemsothatitdidnotseemtobeasmuchofadisadvantageasmightfirstappear.Initsnon-humorous sense it can be applied to someone who is disabled in the formphysicallychallenged.Also,visuallychallengedissometimesusedtorefertopeoplewhoarepartiallysightedorvisuallyimpaired.

TherewereseveralotherPCsuggestionsputforwardtodescribepeoplewhoaredisabled,buttheysimplypointtoanotherproblemthatpoliticalcorrectnessencountered.Thiswasthefactthattheverypeoplethatthemovementwastryingtoprotectdidnotmuchlikethewordsthatweresuggested.Perhapstheyfoundthempatronizing.Perhaps theypreferred to face theirproblemsheadon ratherthanpussyfoot around them.Whatever the reason, someexpressions thatweremeant toputapositivelightonadisability,suchasdifferentlyabled,otherlyabled,otherwiseabledanduniquelyabled,neverreallycaughton.

REMOVINGOFFENSIVETERMSTheaimofpoliticalcorrectnesswas toavoidwordsandphrases thatmightberegardedasoffensivetoaparticularsectionofsocietyanditisapitythatitallwenthorriblywrong.However, theprocessof trying to avoidoffensivewordsandphraseshadbeenstartedlongbeforethelaunchofthePCmovementandithas had some success, particularlywhen related to race and nationality.Mostdictionariesnow,iftheyincludesuchwordsatall,clearlyindicatethattheyareconsideredtobeoffensive.

Somealterations to the language in this area involve a changeof thenametraditionallygiventoaparticulargroupofpeople.Forexample,theindigenouspeopleoftheArcticarenowmostlyknownbythenameInuit,ratherthanbythenameEskimo, meaning ‘eater of raw flesh’. The term Inuit is preferred bymanyofthepeoplethemselves,althoughthewordEskimoisstillused.

There has also been a change of name for the people whose ancestorsinhabitedAmericabefore thearrivalofEuropeans. It seemsunbelievablenow,but, until fairly recently, these people were offensively and quite commonlyknownasRedIndians.ThisthenbecameeitherIndiansorAmericanIndiansandnowthepreferredtermisNativeAmericansorNativeNorthAmericans.

THECOLOUROFYOURSKINThecolourofaperson’sskinhascausedmanyproblemsinlanguage.Opinionsas towhat isanacceptable termforadark-skinnedpersonhavediffered,havechangedandhavechangedbackagain.Ifyouhavelivedthroughthesechangesthismakes it difficult to decide what will be considered acceptable and whatmightgiveoffence.

Inthe1960sthewordcoloured,whichgroupedtogethereveryonewhowasnotwhite-skinned,wasdecreedtobeoffensiveinBritain,butnowadaysthetermColouredisusedofficiallyinSouthAfricatodescribeSouthAfricansofmixedethnicparentageordescent.

Political correctness wasmore successful in North America than it was in

Britain. So it is that the termspeople of color (POCs) andwomen of color(WOCs) are commonly used in America by ordinary people as well asbureaucrats.

Also in the 1960s, the term black, often speltBlack, became universallyacceptableandwastobefoundinsuchexpressionsasblackpower.Itwasalsoused as a noun to refer to a person. However, many Americans of AfricandescentpreferthetermAfricanAmerican.

AGEISM

Therehavebeenmanychangesinsocietyasthedecadeshavegoneby.Oneofthese changes involves the length of the average allotted lifespan.Because ofmajor advances in medical diagnosis and treatment, a great many people arelivinglongerthanpreviousgenerationsdid.Manyofthemremainfitandlivelyuntiltheyarequiteold,buttheydonotfeeloldandtheydonotliketobecalledold. Baby boomers, the many people born in the years just after the SecondWorldWar,havebeenusedtogettingtheirownway,largelybecausetherearesomanyof them.If theydidnotwant tobecalledold then theywouldbecalledsomethingmoreappropriate,butwhat?

Elderly is not much better than old, although it is considered to be morepolite.Bothwordssuggestthatthepersonsodescribedisabitdatedandmightconsidersittingbythefireknittingorreadinganewspaperratherthangoingonacruise. Perhaps older (attached to people) is the best option here. After all,practicallyeveryoneisolderthansomeoneelse.Whocanpossiblyobjecttothephraseolderpeople?Almostcertainlyagoodmanycanandwill,butweshallmoveswiftlyon.

It isaswellnot to talkoftheold.This lumpspeople togetherandsuggeststhatindividuallytheydonotmatter.Thesameistrueofexpressionssuchasthepoor,thedeafandtheblind.SeeWhichword?inChapter8.

For awhileOAPwas thought to be a suitable term for an older person. It

mightevenhavebeenregardedasanaffectionate term, ifyou ignored thefactthat it is an abbreviation forold age pensioner.Old age pensioner does notsound at all affectionate. Some language commentators have said that theexpressionisoftenusedtosuggestdependencyonothers,thefeelingbeingthatoldagepensionershavesomehowtobehelpedalongbytherestofus.Thebabyboomerswouldnot like thatatall,evenalthoughmanyoldagepensionersarereliantonthestatebenefitknownastheoldagepension.

Iamalwayspuzzledwhenmediapresenters,as theyarewont todo, talkofpensioners and then reveal that they are talking of people over 55 or 60, orsometimesevenover50.Theyhave tobe talkingaboutpeoplewhoare in theenviablepositionofhavingaprivatepensionwhichtheycantakeattheseages.Successive governments seem to try and increase the age at which the statepensionispaid.Whoknowswherethatwillend?

TheAmericansneverdidtaketothetermOAP,or,forthatmatter,itslongerformoldagepensioner.Instead,theyoptedforseniorcitizen.Unfortunately,Icannot help thinking of that in terms of the classroom and the playground,especiallynowthatseniorhasgradually takenover fromseniorcitizen in theStates.Meanwhile,BritishEnglishseemstobeembracingseniorcitizen.

Ihaveaparticulardislikeofultra-jollypeople,compèresatconcertsandthelike,whodescribeolderpeopleas80or90 (orso)yearsyoung. Iamnot tookeenontheyoungofallageseither.

In some cases, efforts to remove discrimination from language have beensuccessful. However, in some ways by changing the language we are simplypaying lip service to the removal of discrimination which unfortunately stillflourishesinsocietytothisday.

7

VEXINGVERBSTheverb isusually themost importantpartofasentenceandso it isessentialthatyougetitright.Now,thereisnothingquitesooff-puttingassomeonetellingyourightat thestartofsomethingthat itcanbeverydifficult.However,IfeelthatIhavetodothisonthesubjectofverbs.Thereisnopointinlyingtoyou.Verbs are hardwork. They fulfil a number of functions in sentences, such astenseandmood,andallofthesefunctionscangiverisetoproblems.Youhavebeenwarned!

Some of youmay have put a lot of hardwork into verbs already but haveforgottensomeofwhatyouhavelearnt,oryoumayhavenotquitegraspedtheinformation first time around. For you the comments that followwill act as akindofrefreshercourseorgiveyousomemoreguidancethroughthejunglethatisverbs.

Hopefully,thoseofyouwhoarestillonthenurseryslopesofverbswillalsofindthemusefulasastartingpoint.

WHATISAVERB?

Inprimaryschoolsomechildrenaretoldthataverbisa‘doingword’.Tosomeextentthisistruebutitisnotthefullstory.Verbsare‘doingwords’inthesensethat theyexpressaction. In the followingsentences thewordswalk and listenarebothverbs:

Theyalwayswalktoschool.

Pleaselistencarefully.

However, verbs can also be said to be ‘being’ words, in that they indicate aconditionorastate.Inthissituationtheydonotactuallyrefertoanaction,butsimply act as a connection between the subject and the other parts of thesentencethatrelatetoit.Inthefollowingsentencesthewordsisandseemsarebothverbs:

Sheisaverybeautifulwoman.

Heseemsanhonestman.

Ihaveindicatedabovethat thefunctionsofverbscancauseproblems,butyoudonotget as far as thatbeforeyoucomeacrossproblems.Thevery formsofverbscanthemselvescauseheadaches.Theverbsthatcausefewestproblemsinthis respect are known as regular verbs because they follow a set, regularpattern–exceptwhenthereareexceptions!

In order to understand what this pattern involves, you need to knowsomething about tenses.With reference to verbs, theword tense indicates thetimeatwhichanactiontakesplace.Iftheactionistakingplacenowtheverbisinthepresenttense,asin:

Theylivenextdoortous.

Wearemakingcakes.

Iftheactionhastakenplaceinthepasttheverbisinthepasttense,asin:

Thechildrenplayedintheparkyesterday.

Heoncelovedher.

Iftheactionreferredtoislikelytohappeninthefuturetheverbisinthefuturetense,asin:

ShewillbeverypleasedtoSeeyou.

You also need to knowwhat aparticiple is or does.You probably know thisalreadybutyoumayneedreminding.Thepastparticiple isusedwithpartsofthe verb have to form the perfect tense, also known as the present perfecttense,asin:

Theyhaveboughtanewhouse.

Shehastakenherchildtothedoctor.

In the first sentencebought is the past participle of the verbbuy and in thesecondsentencetakenisthepastparticipleoftheverbtake.

Thepastparticipleisalsousedtoformthepluperfecttense,alsoknownasthepastperfecttense,asin:

Wehadbroughtapackedlunchwithus.

Hehadhiddenthejewelsinacave.

Inthefirstsentencebrought is thepastparticipleoftheverbbringandinthesecondsentencehiddenisthepastparticipleoftheverbhide.

Thepresent participle is formed by adding–ing to the infinitive orbaseform,asinwalking.Thepresentparticipleisusedwithpartsoftheverbbe toformthepresentcontinuoustense,asin:

Wearewalkingtowork.

Youaresnoring.

Theinfinitiveorbaseformofaverbgivesnoindicationofperson,numberortense.Theinfinitiveisoftenprecededbythewordto,asin:

Shewantedtosing.

Theyrefusedtogo.

REGULARVERBS

Inregularverbstheending–edisaddedtotheinfinitiveorbaseformoftheverbinordertoformthepasttenseandthepastparticiple.Thereforeworked is thepasttenseoftheverbwork.

Iftheverbalreadyendsinethenonly–disadded.Thereforelovedisthepasttenseoftheverblove.

Whentheinfinitiveorbaseformendsin–ch,–ssor–x,–ed isadded,as inmarch/marchedandtoss/tossed.

Whentheinfinitiveorbaseformendsin–y,theychangestoibefore–ed isadded,asintry/triedandmarry/married.

The present participle of regular verbs is formed by adding –ing to theinfinitiveorbaseform,asinlaugh/laughingandwalk/walking.

Ifthebaseformendsin–e,theeismostlydroppedwhenthe–ingisadded,asindare/daringandchange/changing.

Another feature of regular verbs is that the third person singular of theirpresenttenseisformedbyadding–stotheinfinitiveorbaseform,asin:

Heplaysfootball.

Itseemsobvious.So far so good. All this seems fairly straightforward, but I have not yetmentioned spelling with reference to regular verbs and this can cause a fewproblems.Herearesomerulesthatyouneedtoknowabout.

SPELLINGRULESFORREGULARVERBS

1Toformthepresenttensewhentheinfinitiveorbaseformendsin–ch,–ssor–x, –es is added rather than just –s , as inmarch/marches and toss/tosses.Whenthebaseformendsin–y,theychangestoibeforethe–esisadded,asintry/triesandcry/cries.

2Toformthepresentparticiplewhentheinfinitiveorbaseformendsin–e,thee is removed from the infinitive or base form before adding –ing, as

manage/managing and rummage/rummaging. Note thatageing can also becorrectlyspeltaging.

3Whenaverbconsistsofonesyllableandendsinasingleconsonantwhichisprecededbya singlevowel,youdouble theconsonantwhenadding–ed toformthepasttenseorpastparticiple,or–ingtoformthepresentparticiple,aswithdrop/dropped/droppingandpat/patted/patting.ThissoundscomplicatedbutIassureyouthatitdoesmakesenseifyoureaditenoughtimes.

4 (see1,2,3)When a verb consists ofmore than one syllable and ends in asingleconsonantprecededbyasinglevowel,youdoubletheconsonantiftheword is pronouncedwith the stress is on the last syllable to form the pasttense or past participle and the present participle. Examples includerefer/referred/referring and transmit/transmitted/transmitting. I promiseyouthatthisreallydoesmakesense.Startagainandreadslowly.

Justtomakelifemoredifficulttherearesomeexceptionstothisrule.Oneof them concerns the letter I. For this see rule 5 below. Other exceptionsincludeworshipped/worshipping andhandicapped where you double thepeventhoughthestressisonthefirstsyllable.

5(see1,2)Whentheverbendsin–lthenyoudoubletheletterlwhenformingthe past participle or past tense orwhen you add–ing to form the presentparticiple, even when the stress is not on the final syllable, as intravel/travelled/travellingandlevel/levelled/levelling.Tomakemattersmorecomplicated, American English does not follow this rule. It hastraveled/travelingwhereBritishEnglish has travelled/travelling.Watch outforthisifyoureadalotofAmericannovels.

Notethatsomeofthesespellingrulesdonotapplyonlytoregularverbsbuttheycauseparticularproblemswithreferencetothem.

COMMONERRORSINVOLVINGREGULARVERBSTheseofteninvolvespellingerrors.•Forgettingtoremovethe–efrominfinitiveorbaseformsbeforeadding–ing

whenformingthepresentparticiple.Forexamplewritingjudgeinginsteadofjudging.SeeRule2.

• Forgetting to double the final consonant when forming the past tense orpresentparticipleofverbssuchasrotorpet.Donotwriterotedorpeting.Thesearewrong.Rottedandpettingarethecorrectforms.SeeRule3.

• Forgetting to double the final consonant in the past tenses or presentparticiples of such words as prefer and commit. Do not writeprefered/prefering or commited/commiting. These are wrong.Preferred/preferringandcommitted/committingarethecorrectforms.SeeRule4.

•Forgettingtodoublethe–rinthepasttenseandpresentparticipleoftheverboccur.Theseshouldbespeltoccurredandoccurring.Awordofwarning.While you are trying to remember to double the letter r, you need torememberthatthelettercshouldalsobedoubled.

•Doublingthe–rinthepasttenseoftheverboffer.Offerrediswrongbecausethestressonofferisnotonthelastsyllable.Offered iscorrect.SeeRule4(see1).

• Doubling the –p in the present participle of the verb develop, as indevelopping, because the stress is not on the last syllable.Developing iscorrect.SeeRule4(see2).

• Forgetting to double the –l when forming the past participle or presentparticiple of verbs such as travel and level. Do not write marveled orappaling.Thesearewrong.Marvelledandappallingarethecorrectforms.SeeRule5(see1).

•Forgettingtodoublethe–pinworshipped/worshipping.ThisisanexceptiontoRule4(see3).TheformwiththesingleletterpiscorrectuseinAmericanEnglish(worshiped/worshiping).

•Doublingthe–tinthepastparticiple,pasttenseandpresentparticipleoftheverbbenefitasinbenefitted/benefitting.Thesearewrongbecausethestressisnotonthefirstsyllableofthewordbenefit.Theyshouldbespeltbenefitedandbenefiting.

Thereareplentyofexamplesofcorrectusageinitalicsinthetwopassagesthatfollow.

GETTINGAROUNDWhenweweretherewe travelledeverywherebytrainandcouldnothelpmarvellingathowefficienttheirrailsystemis.Wethoughtoftakingourcarover there, butwe have both committed ourselves to helping to save theenvironment. Mind you, we were quite appalled at the cost of the traintickets. It occurred to me too late that the friend we were visiting hadreferred to this in one of her letters. Indeed, she had offered to buy our

tickets locally for us, but I had refused. I thought it would not havemattered, but we found out that purchasing tickets locally in advance ismuchcheaper.Ourtravelbudgetwouldhavebenefitedgreatlyfromsavingmoneylikethat.

RETURNINGHOMEAsIturnedthekeyinthedoor,IwasawareofsuchaterriblesmellthatIdroppedthekey.Irushedtothekitchenandfoundthatallthevegetablesinthe fridge had rotted. The door had not been shut properly. Itmust havebeen open since we left to go on holiday two weeks ago. My son wassupposed to make regular trips to the house but something must havecroppedup.Mywife,whowaspattingthedog,wasdevelopingacoldandshewasluckyenoughnotbeabletosmellverywell.Ihastilygatheredupthefoodfromthefridgeandtosseditintothebinatthebackofthehouse.Ithennoticedagreatpileofnewspapersbehindthefrontdoor.Oursonhadnot cancelled them. I needed a cup of coffee desperately – or maybesomethingstronger!

IRREGULARVERBS

If you think that regular verbs are difficult, you should prepare yourself forsomethingmuchworse!Asyoumightexpectfromtheirname,irregularverbsdonotfollowthepatternofregularverbs.Theyfallintoseveraldifferentcategories,therulesofwhicharelistedbelow.Theinformationgivenisdesignedtosimplyjogyourmemoryandhelpyoureinforcewhatyoualreadyknowbutmayhaveforgotten.

RULESFORIRREGULARVERBS1 In some irregularverbs thepast tenseand thepastparticipleboth take the

same formas the infinitiveor base form, as incut/cut,bet/bet, hit/ hit andput/put.

2Someirregularverbshavetwopasttensesandtwopastparticiples,bothsetshavingthesameform,asinburned/burnt,dreamed/dreamtandspoiled/spoilt.

3 Some irregular verbs have past tenses and past participleswhich have the

same form as each other and do not end in –ed, as in hold/held/held,keep/kept/keptandteach/taught/taught.

4 Some irregular verbs have a past tense which, in common with those ofregular verbs, ends in –ed or –d, whichever is relevant. However in thiscategorytheverbhastwopossiblepastparticiples,oneofwhichisthesameasthepasttenseandtheotherofwhichtakesadifferentform.Forexample,theverbshowhasthepasttenseshowedandthetwopastparticiplesshowedand shown, and the verb prove has the past tense proved and the pastparticiplesprovedandproven.

5 Some irregular verbs have a past tense and a past participle which aredifferentfromeachotheranddifferentfromtheinfinitiveorbaseform.Forexample the verb draw has the past tense drew and the past participledrawn,theverbgrowhasthepasttensegrewandthepastparticiplegrown,andtheverbswimhasthepasttenseswamandthepastparticipleswum.

Ifyouhavereadthroughallthisandfeltcompletelyoverwhelmed,donotworryand do not feel inadequate. It is not you. It is them. Irregular verbs areacknowledgedtobeoneofthemostdifficultaspectsofEnglishgrammar.Thereisonlyonethingtodowiththem.Youhavetogrityourteethandlearnthem.Itwillbeworthitintheend.You’llsee.ListsofirregularverbsintheirdifferentformscanbefoundonSomeirregularverbs.

COMMONERRORSINVOLVINGIRREGULARVERBS•Manyoftheerrorsinvolvetheverbswhichhavebeenassignedtocategory5.

Some errors involve using the past participle form of one of these verbswronglywhenitisthepasttensethatisthecorrectforminthecontext,asinIswum (past participle) in the lake yesterday instead of correctly writing Iswam(pasttense) inthelakeyesterdayandwronglywriting thephoneonlyrung (pastparticiple)once insteadofcorrectlywriting thephoneonly rang(pasttense)once.

•Sometimesitistheotherwayround.Someerrorsinvolveusingthepasttenseformwrongly when it is the past participle that is the correct form in thecontext,asin theshiphadsankoff thecoastof Ireland insteadofcorrectlywritingtheshiphadsunkoffthecoastofIreland.

• Using beat, the past tense of the verb beat, in contexts where the past

participlebeaten should be used, as inwe’ve beat (past tense) them threetimes this season insteadof correctlywritingwe’vebeaten (past participle)themthreetimesthisseason.

•Usingbit,thepasttenseoftheverbbite,incontextswherethepastparticiplebitten shouldbeused. It iswrong towriteherdoghasbit (past tense) thepostman.Thecorrectformisherdoghasbitten(pastparticiple)thepostman.

• Usinggotten insteadofgot as thepastparticipleof theverbget inBritishEnglish. To write they have gotten very friendly just recently or they hadgottenwhattheydeservediscurrentlyconsideredwrong,butitisgrowinginpopularity because of the influence of American films and books. TheinfluenceofAmericanEnglishhasbeenstrengthenedby thefact thatmanylearnersofEnglishnowlearnAmericanEnglishratherthanBritishEnglish.

• Usingdove instead ofdived as the past tense of the verbdive in BritishEnglish. InAmericanEnglishbothdoveanddivedareacceptable.Theboydove into the pool is considered correct inAmericanEnglish butwrong inBritishEnglish.TheboydivedintothepooliscorrectinBritishEnglish.

• One of the most common errors involves the verb do. People frequentlymisusedone(pastparticiple),wronglywritinghedonewrongandshouldbepunished, when the correct form of this is either he has done wrong andshouldbepunishedorhedidwrongandshouldbepunished.ThismistakeismorecommoninspokenEnglish.

Thepassagesthatfollowprovideexamplesofirregularverbsinuse.

MOREOFAHINDRANCETHANAHELPMr Jackson had learnt that his friends’ children all helped with thehousework and he thought that his three children should do the same.Unfortunately,itwasnotworkingoutverywell.Janewashelpingtocookdinner,butshehadspilled/spiltabottleofcookingoilonthekitchenfloorand had then burned/burnt the sausages. Dinner had definitely beenspoiled/spoilt.MeanwhileJackhadmowed/mown thelawnanddiscoveredhehadanallergytofreshlycutgrass.Theareaaroundhiseyeshadswelledup/swollenupandhekeptsneezing.Hehadbroken the lawnmower, but he said that itbroke by itself. Sue

chosetogoshoppingandnowwishedshehadchosensomeothertask.Sheforgotseveralitemsandwasnearlyhomewhensherealizedit.Hermotherwould not be pleased that she had forgotten so many things. Still her

mother forgave peopleeasily.Shehad already forgiven Jack and Jane fortheirmistakes.Suewasright.Furthermore,hermotherhaddecidedthatshewouldrathernothaveherchildren’shelparoundthehouse.Shehadalwaysknownthewholethingwouldbeadisaster.Sheknewherchildrentoowell!

ATRAGEDYATSEAThefishingboatgotintodifficultiesinthestormwhenitwaswithinsightoftheisland.Whenitsankquitesuddenlymanyofthecrewswamashore.If the shiphad sunk any further out to sea there would have beenmorefatalities.Possiblytherewouldhavebeenmoresurvivorsifmoremenhadswum ashore right away insteadof taking time toget the lifeboat out.Atleastthatiswhatoneofthecrewwroteinalettertohisfamily.Hehadalsowritten to the families of those who had drowned simply to send hiscondolences.Manyofthesurvivorsgavemoneytowardsthepurchaseofalargewreathandtheyhadgiventhistothegrievingfamiliesonthedayofthefuneral.

ANTIQUESFORSALEJohndidnot sell thehousewhichhe inherited fromhis aunt, but he soldmostof the things thatwere in it.He said thathehadsold these for tworeasons.Theyweretooold-fashionedforhistasteandheneededthemoneywhichhegot for them. In fact, hehadgot quite a lot ofmoney from thesale.WhenJohn’sauntwasyoungshewasakeencollectorofantiquesandhadspentmostofhermoneyonthese.Asshegotolder,shespentlessonthem,butshestillhadavaluablecollection.Shehadputverylittlemoneyintokeeping thehouse ingood repair.NowJohnput themoney from thesaleoftheantiquesintodoingjustthat.

AMISUNDERSTANDINGI couldn’t believe it.MyboyfriendTom’s breath stank of alcohol and hehaddrivenhome.TomdrovetoandfromworkeverydayandbeforeImethimhehadfrequentlyhadafewdrinkswithhisworkmatesbeforesettingout for home.Before hemoved inwithme hehad sworn that hewouldneverdrinkanddriveagain.IsworethatIwouldthrowhimoutifheeverdid.Mybest friendwaskilledbyadrink-driver twoyears ago.Shealways

rodeherbiketouniversityandshehadjustriddenoutofthecampusontothemainroadwhenacarstruckher.Shediedafewhourslaterinhospital.The driverwas so drunk that hehadstruck herwithout even noticing. Itseemedimpossible.FromthenonIhadwornabadgewarningpeopleofthedangersofdrink-

driving.Tomworeonetoo,butitobviouslydidn’tmeanverymuchtohim.IwassoangrythatItorethebadgefromhisjacket.InfactIsawthatIhadtornabitofthejacketaswell.Sofarmyboyfriendhadnotspokenaword.HenowspokeandIrealized

thatIhadmadeahugemistake.Ihadlostmytemperbeforecheckingthefacts.Tom’steetotalfriendJackhaddrivenTomhomeinTom’scar.ThatishowIlostthatparticularboyfriend!

ASPECTSOFVERBSLIKELYTOCAUSEPROBLEMS

PARTICIPLESANDPARTICIPIALPHRASESAparticipialphrasecontainsaparticipleofaverb,whetherpresentparticipleor past participle. Participial phrases can be used to cement the parts of asentencetogether,asin:

Strollingalongthewoodlandpath,thevisitorsadmiredthebrightlycolouredspringflowers.

InthesentenceabovetheparticipialphrasebeginningwiththepresentparticipleStrolling refers to the subject of the sentence, the visitors, and is placed rightnexttoit.

COMMONERRORSINVOLVINGPARTICIPLES

AvoidthedanglingparticipleThebestplacetoputaparticipialphraseisnexttothenountowhichitrefers.A

danglingorhangingparticiplereferstoaparticiplethatisnotattachedtoanywordinthesentence.Itisjust‘dangling’there,asin:

Lyingonthebeach,summerwasnearlyatanend.

LyingiscertainlyapresentparticipleanditbeginstheparticipialphraseLyingonthebeach.Thetroubleisthatthisphraseshouldrefertoaperson,butitseemstobe referring to summer. This does not make sense. The participle is danglingtherewithout purpose. In order to get the sentence tomake sensewe have torewordit,asin:

Lyingonthebeach,theyoungsun-worshippersfeltthatsummerwasnearlyatanend.

Lyingnowreferstothesubjectofthesentence,theyoungsun-worshippers.Itisnolongerdangling.

Anotherexampleofadanglingparticipleoccursinthefollowingsentence:

Travellingnorth,thelandscapebecamemoreandmorebleak.

Travelling is apresentparticipleand itbegins theparticipialphraseTravellingnorth.But theparticipialphrase seems tobe referring to the landscape, whichdoesnotmakesense.Thelandscapehasbeenthereforthousandsofyearsandisnottravellinganywhere.Theparticipialphrasehastobeattachedtoapersonorsomethingthatiscapableoftravelling.Theparticipleisdanglingtherewithoutpurpose.

Inordertogetthesentencetomakesense,wehavetorewordit,asin:

Travellingnorth,theexplorerssawthatthelandscapewasgettingmoreandmorebleak.

Travellingnowreferstothesubjectofthesentence,theexplorers.Itisnolongerdangling.

AvoidthemisrelatedparticipleSometimesparticiplesareeitherwronglyorambiguouslyplaced.Theseareoftenknownasmisrelatedparticiples,althoughsomepeoplealsocallthesedanglingparticiples,asin:

Inthedistancewecouldsee,drivingthroughthemountainpass,asmallgroupofsoldiers.

Thissentenceispotentiallyambiguous.Arewedrivingthroughthemountainsoris it thesmallgroupofsoldiers thataredoing thedriving? It is important thatyouattachtheparticipletotheappropriatenountoavoidconfusionandremoveanypossibilityofambiguity,asin:

Drivingthroughthemountainpass,wecouldSeeinthedistanceasmallgroupofsoldiers.

–INGFORMOFVERBSThepartofaverbendingin–ingcaneitherbeapresentparticipleoritcanbeaverbalnoun,alsoknownasagerund.Itdependsonthecontext.Inthesentence

Iamwalkinginthepark.

thewordwalkingisapresentparticiple,whileinthesentence

Walkingisanexcellentformofexercise.

walking isaverbalnounorgerund.In thissentencetheverbalnounorgerundwalking is thesubjectof thesentence,butaverbalnounorgerundcanalsobetheobjectofasentence,asin:

Hehastakenupwalkinginordertogetfit.

Thewordgerund is now an unfamiliar word tomany native speakers and isgenerally regarded as being difficult. There is one aspect of verbal nouns or

gerunds that causes particular problems. According to traditional grammar,nouns or pronouns which qualify verbal nouns or gerunds should be in thepossessivecase.Thismeansthatthesentence

Myparentsstronglyobjecttomysmokingintheirhouse.

is,accordingtotraditionalgrammar,consideredcorrect,whereasthesentence

Myparentsstronglyobjecttomesmokingintheirhouse.

isconsideredwrong.Likewise,thefollowingsentence

Apparently,herhusbanddoesnotlikeyourgoingroundthere.

is,accordingtotraditionalgrammar,consideredcorrect,whereasthesentence

Apparently,herhusbanddoesnotlikeyougoingroundthereisconsideredincorrect.

Thetrouble is thatmanypeoplehavedifficulty inunderstandingthis,anditsounds more natural to them to use the second version of each of the abovesentences. The result is thatmore andmore people are opting for it althoughsuchusageisungrammatical.It isoneofthosecasesinmodernEnglishwherewhat sounds natural is taking precedence over what is grammatically correct.However, this use is best confined to spoken English and informal writtenEnglish.

COMMONERRORSINVOLVINGGERUNDSForgettinginformalcontextstousethepossessivecaseinsentencessuchas:

Myparentshatemysmokingintheirhouse.

It is grammatically correct to use the possessive case, although in spoken andlessformalwrittencontextsmanypeoplenowuse:

Myparentshatemesmokingintheirhouse.

VERBAGREEMENTVerbagreementisalsoknownasconcordandreferstothefactthataverbmust‘agree’ with the appropriate subject in number. The word number is used toindicatewhethertheformofawordreferstoonethingormorethanonething.Number agreement indicates that a singularnoun isusually accompaniedbyasingularverb,asin:

Thebustothecityrunseverytwohours.

Whileapluralnounisusuallyaccompaniedbyapluralverb,asin:

Busestothecityarenotveryreliable.

COMMONERRORSINVOLVINGNUMBERAGREEMENT•Usuallytwosingularnounsjoinedtogetherwithandtakeapluralverb,asin:

TomandJanearegoingtotheparty.

Remember, however, that when the subject is made up of two or moresingular nouns connected by a phrasewhich, in someway, emphasizes the‘togetherness’ofthenouns,suchas togetherwith,aswellas,withandplus,theverbtakesthesingularform,asin:

Theboy’sfather,togetherwithhiseldersister,isgoingtovisithiminhospital.

• Formerlyitwasthecasethat,whenthesubjecttakestheformofasingularnounlinkedtoapluralnounbyof,asinanumberof issues, thishad tobeaccompaniedbyasingularverb,asin:

Anumberofseriousissueshastobetakenintoconsideration.

Ifyouusedapluralverbinthiscontextitwasconsideredwrong.Thisisnolongerthecase.Nowadays,manypeopleuseapluralverbinsuchasituation,asin:

Anumberofseriousissueshavetobetakenintoconsideration.

Inotherwords,theymaketheverbagreewiththenearestnoun,inthiscaseissuesratherthannumber.Sincethissoundsmorenaturalitisbecomingmore

andmore common, although it is grammaticallywrong.You could say thatcommonsenseisprevailing.

• Take care with group or collective nouns, such as committee, family,governmentandjury.Theycancauseproblemsinrelationtoverbagreement.Some of these can be accompanied by either a singular or plural verbdependingonthecontext.Italldependsonwhetheryouwishtoemphasizethe unity of the relevant noun, or whether you wish to emphasize theindividual components that go to make up the noun. In the first case youwouldoptforasingularverb,whileinthesecondcaseyouwouldoptforapluralverb.

Forexample,ifyouarethinkingofthefamilyasaunityoumightsay:

Thefamilyisthemostimportantinfluenceinayoungchild’slife.

Ifyouareconsideringthecomponentsofafamilyyoumightsay:

Hisfamilyarecomingfromvariouspartsoftheworldtocelebratehiseightiethbirthdaywithhim.

Thisdistinctioncanbeverydifficulttogetyourheadroundanditcanleadtoa great deal of puzzlement and confusion. It can sometimes be difficult todecidewhichmeaningyouhave inmind.Most people goon instinct or onwhattheythinksoundsbest.ItisamuchsimplerissueinAmericanEnglish,wheresuchgrouporcollectivenounsaretreatedassingular.

•Rememberthatindefinitepronouns,suchasanyone,someone,everyoneandnoone,shouldbeaccompaniedbyasingularverb,asin:

Everyoneiswelcometoattendtheopeningparty.

Eitheroftheflatsissuitable.

Neitherofthemhasajob.

•Rememberthatifthereisacombinationofsingularandpluralsubjectsintheeither…orconstruction,theverbagreeswiththenounnearesttoit,asin:

Eithermybrotherormyparentsaregivingmealifttotheairport.

Eitherhis friendsorhiscousinis toblameforthedamagetohis

car.

Thesameistrueoftheneither…norconstruction,asin:

Neithermysistersnormybrotherhasbeeninvited.

MOODMoodisoneofthecategoriesintowhichverbsaredivided.Itgetsitsnamefromthe fact that itwas thought to show the attitude or viewpoint that a particularverbindicated.

The moods are the indicative mood, the imperative mood and thesubjunctivemood, but the only one of these that causes any problems is thesubjunctive.

As far asmost verbs are concerned the subjunctive formof the verb is thesame as its basic form except that the third person singular leaves off the –sending,e.g.departinsteadofdeparts.

However the verb be has the past tense subjunctivewere and its presentsubjunctiveisbe.

ThesubjunctiveisusedinmodernEnglishtoexpresshypotheticalstatements,oftenbeginningwiththeconjunctionif.

Inthefollowingsentencestheverbwereisinthesubjunctivemood:

IfIwerehimIwouldlookforanotherjob.

IfIwereJack’smotherIwouldbeverydisappointedinhim.

Thesubjunctiveisalsousedincertainclauses,oftenbeginningwiththat,whichexpressawish,demandorrecommendation,asin:

Iinsistthatsheleaveimmediately.

Wesuggestthathelookforanotherjob.

Thejudgerecommendsthathebeimprisonedforlife.

Because many people nowadays are not familiar with the word subjunctive,and, even if theyare, donotunderstandwhat it is, its use is fading, except inveryformalcontexts.Thisispartlybecausepeoplefindthatsentencesusingthesubjunctivesoundratherstiltedandunnatural.Itoftentakesalongtime,butintheend,thewillofthepeoplesometimesdictateswhathappenstolanguage.

Ifyouarewritingsomething formalanddonotwish touse thesubjunctiveyoucanalwaysusetheverbshouldinstead,asinthesentence

Thejudgerecommendsthatheshouldbeimprisonedforlife.

ratherthan

Thejudgerecommendsthathebeimprisonedforlife.

VOICEVoice,withreferencetoverbs,hasnothingtodowiththevocalcords.Instead,itreferstotwowaysoflookingattheactionofverbs.Verbswhichtakeanobject,calledtransitiveverbs,caneitherbeintheactivevoiceorthepassivevoice.

Inthecaseoftheactivevoicethesubjectperformstheactiondescribedbytheverbinasentence,asin:

Theboythrewtheball.Inthecaseofthepassivevoicethesubject inasentenceis therecipientoftheaction described by the verb, i.e. the object of the verb in an active sentencebecomesthesubjectinapassivesentence,asin:

Theballwasthrownbytheboy.

COMMONERRORSINVOLVINGTHEPASSIVEVOICE•Becarefulhowyouusethepassivevoice.Inparticular,donotoveruseit.The

active voice suits its name.Verbs in the active voicemove the action of apieceofwritingon,sotospeak.Theyaremoredirectandmoreforcefuland

theyareoftenclearerandshorter.Sentenceswithverbsinthepassivevoiceareoften lessdirect and,by theirverynature, canbe longerand lessclear.Sometimes theycanslow theactiondown,and researchshows that readerstake longer to understand sentences with verbs in the passive voice thansentenceswithverbsintheactivevoice.Asentencewithaverbintheactivevoice actually identifies the person who was responsible for the action sothereislittlepossibilityofvaguenessorambiguity,asin:

Jackbrokethewindow.

Asentencewith a verb in the passive voice candescribe an actionwithoutidentifying the person who is responsible for it and this leaves room forvaguenessorambiguity,asin:

Thewindowwasbroken.•However,donotbeafraidofthepassivevoice.Somepeopletreatitasthough

itweresomekindofmonsterthathastobeavoidedatallcosts.Thisisnottrue.Thereisatimeandaplaceforeverything,includingthepassivevoice.Forexample,youmightwanttoreportsomekindofactionwhichyouknowhasbeencommittedwithoutknowingwhocommittedit,asin:

Thewomanwasmurderedearlythismorning.

Thissoundsbetterthan:

Someonemurderedthewomanearlythismorning.

Use the passive voice sparingly and avoid it asmuch as possible until youhave reasonably well-honed writing skills. But remember that it can be ausefulstylisticdevice.

• If you are writing something of an academic nature or if you are writingsomethingthatismeanttobeinformative,donotusephrasesinthepassivevoicetoooften.Thephrasesinthepassivevoicethatfollow,forexample,arefrequentlytoovaguetobeappropriateinthatkindofwriting:

Itisnowwidelybelievedthat…

Ithasbeenshownbyresearchthat…

Studiesshowthat…

TENSEThetenseofaverbindicatesthetimeatwhichanactiontakesplace.

COMMONERRORSINVOLVINGTENSE•Manyerrorsinvolvingtenseconcernthepartsofirregularverbs,especiallythe

pastparticiplesandthepasttenses.SeeCommonerrorsinvolvingirregularverbs.

•Acommonerroristousetheverbwaswhenyoumeantheverbwere,asin:

Wewassurewewouldwin.

Thisiswrong.Itshouldbe:

Weweresurewewouldwin.

This mistake is common in spoken English and in very informal writtenEnglish.

•Trynottoconfusethesimplepresenttenseandthecontinuouspresenttense,alsoknownastheprogressivepresenttense.

Thecontinuouspresenttenseisusedwhenyouarereferringtosomethingthatishappeningatthatverymoment,orwhenyouarereferringtoanactioncontinuingoveraperiodoftime,includingthepresent,andnotcompleteatthe time you are referring to it. The continuous present tense is morecommonly used in everyday English than the present tense. Learners ofEnglish,inparticular,canhaveproblemswiththistense.

If,forexample,someoneispreparingamealasyouspeak,youwouldsay:

Heiscooking(continuouspresenttense)tonight’smealinthekitchen.

not

Hecooks(simplepresenttense)tonight’smealinthekitchen.

Youwouldsay:

Wearejustreachingtheoutskirtsofthecitynow.not

Wereachtheoutskirtsofthecitynow.

• A similar confusion can arise between the simple past tense and thecontinuouspasttense,alsotheprogressivepasttense.

•will/shall.Rememberthatthefuturetenseisnowcommonlyformedwithwillplustheinfinitiveformofthemainverb,asin:

IwillSeeyouthere.

Theywilldriveuptomorrow.

Formerly,youhadtochoosebetweenwillandshallaccordingtocontext.SeeWhichword?(see1)inChapter8.

The word shall is sometimes used when questions are being asked orwhen suggestions are being made when these relate to the immediatesituation,asin:

ShallIproceed?

Ininformalandrelativelyinformalcontextsthecontractedformisused,asin:

What’llyouhave?

Remember that the simple present tense is sometimes used instead of thefuturetense,asin:

IleavefortheStatestomorrow.

MODALVERBSThemainmodalverbs,alsocalledmodalauxiliaryverbs,arecan,could,may,might,will,shall,would,should,mustandoughtto.

Theseverbsareusedwithmainverbs toexpressawide rangeofmeaningsincluding possibility, probability, ability, permission, prediction, requests,invitations,etc.

COMMONERRORSINVOLVINGMODALVERBS•can/may.Inallbutthemostformalcontextscanisnowmorenormallyused

thanmay,asin:

CanIcomein?

Canwegoouttoplay?

Usingcan in such situations is no longer regarded as an error.SeeWhichword?(see2)inChapter8.

•will/shall.•Donotwritethewordofinsteadoftheverbhaveaspartofaverb.Thereisa

commontendencynowforpeopletousecouldof,shouldof,wouldof,mustof,etc, insteadof thecorrect formcouldhave,shouldhave,musthave,etc.Doingsoisgrammaticallyquitewrong.Ofcourse,exceptinformalcontexts,it is all right to use the contracted forms of could have, should have andwouldhave,etc,asincould’ve,should’ve,would’ve,etc.SeeWhichword?(see3)inChapter8.

THEANTI-VERBBRIGADE

There is something about someverbs that somepeople do not like inmodernEnglishusage.Thecreationofnewverbsthatendin–ize(or–ise)isaparticularpet hate ofmany.Thismodern tendency began in the second part of the 20thcenturyandoneofthefirstofsuchverbstorecordextremelevelsofdislikewasprivatize. This means ‘to transfer an industry, etc, from state ownership toprivateownership’andtheremighthavebeenatouchofpoliticaldissentthereaswellaslinguisticdisagreement.

A spate of verbswith the same ending followedwithmuch protest. Soweended upwithwords such ashospitalize,pedestrianize and institutionalize.Prioritizewas very unpopularwhen it firstmade an appearance but, as oftenhappens,peoplegotused to it,aswedid todecimalizeandcomputerize.Theintroductionofincentivizecausedanotherstormofprotest,butsinceitspurposeis to motivate people by offering them high rewards, usually of a financialnature, those in thehappysituationofbeing incentivized, suchasbankers,are

almost certainly not worried. More specialist –ize verbs, such asweaponize,havealsorearedtheiruglyheads.Letushopetheuseofthatparticularverbdoesnotbecomeaneverydayoccurrence.

The habit of forming new verbs, now called ‘verbing’ or ‘verbifying’, byadding–izewasblamedonAmerica,asmanythingsare,butthe–izehabitisinfact a very old one. Itwas a common practice of ThomasNashe, theEnglishdramatist, satirist and pamphleteer, and hewaswriting towards the endof the16th century. He was apparently fond of such words as superficialize andcitizenize!

Ofcourse,notallnewverbsareformedwiththeending–ize(or–ise).Someofthemsimplyusetheformofthenounonwhichtheyarebased.Forexample,inthefollowingsentencestheverbtaskedhascomefromthenountask,andtheverbimpactedhascomefromthenounimpact:

Hewastaskedwithsettingupanewmarketingdepartment.

Onlinepurchasinghasimpactedonmanyhigh-streetshops.

Both of these verbs send the blood pressure of some people soaring and yetneither of them is new.Taskwas first used as a verb in the 16th century andimpactinthe17thcentury.

The age of the computer has brought many new verbs into the Englishlanguage.Theyseemtohavebeenwelltoleratedatfirstaslongastheyremainedfirmly in the technical field anddid not spread into the general language.Butinevitablysomeoftheseverbshavespreadtheirwingstohowlsofprotestfromsome.Theverbsinputandaccessmetwithparticularlystrongoppositionwhentheyfirstenteredintothegenerallanguage,buttheseandothernewverbs,suchasbookmark,blogandGoogle,arenowusedbymillionsofpeople.

Technological advances in general are occurring at a terrifying rate andadvancesinverbingarenotfarbehind.ThinkofothernewverbsliketextfromtheworldofmobilephonesandtheverbsfriendandunfriendfromFacebook.

TheymayhavecausedsomecontroversybutforbetterorworsealloftheseverbsarenowpartoftheEnglishlanguage’srichstoreofwords.

SOMEIRREGULARVERBS

Inthefollowinglistofirregularverbsthepasttenseandthepastparticiplebothtakethesameformastheinfinitiveorbaseform:

infinitive pasttense pastparticiplebet bet betburst burst burstcast cast castcost cost costcut cut cuthit hit hithurt hurt hurtlet let letput put putset set setshed shed shedshut shut shutslit slit slitsplit split splitspread spread spread

Someirregularverbshavetwopasttensesandtwopastparticipleswhicharethesame.Theseinclude:

infinitive pasttense pastparticipleburn burned,burnt burned,burntdream dreamed,dreamt dreamed,dreamtdwell dwelled,dwelt dwelled,dwelt

hang hanged,hung hanged,hungkneel kneeled,knelt kneeled,kneltlean leaned,leant leaned,leantleap leaped,leapt leaped,leaptlearn learned,learnt learned,learntlight lighted,lit lighted,litsmell smelled,smelt smelled,smeltspeed speeded,sped speeded,spedspill spilled,spilt spilled,spiltspoil spoiled,spoilt spoiled,spoiltweave weaved,woven weaved,wovenwet wetted,wet wetted,wet

Someirregularverbshavepasttensesthatdonotendin–edandhavethesameformasthepastparticiple.Theseinclude:

infinitive pasttense pastparticiplebend bent bentbleed bled bledbreed bred bredbuild built builtcling clung clungdig dug dugfeel felt feltfight fought foughtfind found foundflee fled fledfling flung flungget got gotgrind ground groundhear heard heardhold held heldkeep kept kept

lay laid laidlead led ledleave left leftlend lent lentlose lost lostmake made mademean meant meantmeet met metpay paid paidrend rent rentsay said saidseek sought soughtsell sold soldsend sent sentshine shone shoneshoe shod shodsit sat satsleep slept sleptslide slid slidsling slung slungslink slunk slunkspend spent spentstand stood stoodstick stuck stucksting stung stungstrike struck struckstring strung strungsweep swept sweptswing swung swungteach taught taughttell told toldthink thought thoughtunderstand understood understood

weep wept weptwin won wonwring wrung wrung

Some irregular verbs have regular past tense forms but two possible pastparticiples,oneofwhichisregular.Theseinclude:

infinitive pasttense pastparticiplemow mowed mowed,mownprove proved proved,provensew sewed sewed,sewnshow showed showed,shownsow sowed sowed,sownswell swelled swelled,swollen

Someirregularverbshavepasttensesandpastparticiplesthataredifferentfromeachotheranddifferentfromtheinfinitive.Theseinclude:

infinitive pasttense pastparticiplearise arose arisenawake awoke awokenbear bore bornebegin began begunbid bade biddenbite bit bittenblow blew blownbreak broke brokenchoose chose chosendo did donedraw drew drawndrink drank drunkdrive drove driveneat ate eaten

fall fell fallenfly flew flownforbear forbore forborneforbid forbade forbiddenforgive forgave forgivenforget forgot forgottenforsake forsook forsakenfreeze froze frozenforswear forswore forsworngive gave givengo went gonegrow grew grownhew hewed hewnhide hid hiddenknow knew knownlie lay lainride rode riddenring rang rungsaw sawed sawnsee saw seenrise rose risenshake shook shakenshrink shrank shrunkslay slew slaininfinitive pasttense pastparticiplespeak spoke spokenspring sprang sprungsteal stole stolenstink stank stunkstrew strewed strewnstride strode striddenstrive strove strivenswear swore sworn

swim swam swumtake took takentear tore tornthrow threw throwntread trod troddenwake woke wokenwear wore wornwrite wrote written

8

CONFUSIONUPONCONFUSIONThe English language has a huge vocabulary. This is obviously a good thingbecause it means that you have a wide choice of words at your fingertips toexpresswhatyouwant to say.However, it alsomeans that isveryeasy togetconfused when you are trying to select the right word for what you want toexpress.

There are various well-known pitfalls when it comes to making the rightchoiceofword,butthatdoesnotmakethemanyeasiertoavoidunlessyouhavebeen made aware of them. My aim is to try to bring some of the potentialstumblingblockstoyourattention.Tryandrememberatleastsomeofthem,orat least remember to look themupwhenwarningbells ring inyourhead.Thiswilldefinitelysaveyouproblemsinthefuture.

Thereare threecategoriesofwordswhichcauseparticular confusion.Theyarehomophones,homographs,homonyms.Theysoundrathercomplicatedandareexactlythekindofwordsthatmightmakesomeofyouswitchoff.Ifyoudothatpleaseswitchbackonagain!Thewordsareeasier tounderstand thanyouthink. Anyway, you can forget the names of the categories as long as youremembertheproblemswhichtheyrepresent.

HOMOPHONES

ThewordhomophonecomesfromtheGreekwordhomophonos,whichmeanshavingthesamesound.Thismayhaveledmoreofyoutoswitchingoff,butit

gives a good indication of the nature of the problem with homophones.Homophones are pronounced in the same way as each other, but they havedifferentmeaningsandspellings.Theycauseagooddealofconfusion.

RPAminorwordofcautionhereregardingpronunciation.Strictlyspeaking,wearetalkinghereofpronunciationaccordingtoRP.LearnersofEnglishwillbewellawareof this term.However,nativespeakersmayhavemanaged to ignore theexistenceofRPandgoneonpronouncingwordsintheirownsweetway.

Just for the record I should tell you, or remind you, that RP is short forReceivedPronunciation.Thisname isgiven to the formofspeechassociatedwith educated people in the south of England and is used as a model ofpronunciationintheteachingofEnglishasaforeignlanguage.

There aremanyaccents in theUKand several formsofEnglishother thanBritishEnglish,whichdonotconformto therulesofRP.Thus,words thatarehomophonesaspronouncedbyRPspeakerswillnotnecessarilybehomophoneswhen they are pronounced by speakers of American English or by peoplespeakingwith,forexample,aScotsaccent.

Below are some examples of homophones. Sometimes only twowords areinvolved,butsometimestherearethreeorfour.

HOMOPHONEEXAMPLES

currant/currentThe words currant and current have nothing in common except theirpronunciation.Currantisanounmeaning‘asmalldriedgrapeusedinbaking’,asin:

Weneedflour,butter,eggsandcurrantstomakethiscake.

Currenthasamuchwiderrangeofmeanings.Asanounitcanbefoundinsuchcontextsaselectriccurrent,thecurrentofariverandacurrentofcoldair.Asanadjective it means ‘belonging to the present time’, as in a current affairsprogrammeontelevisionandthecurrentfashioninfood.

heal/heelThesewordsarepronouncedinthesamewaybuthaveverydifferentmeanings.Healisaverbmeaning‘tobecomeormakehealthyagain’,asin:

Thewoundhasstartedtohealatlast.

Heelisthebackpartofafootbelowtheankle,asin:

Hershoesweretootightandshegotablisteronherheel.

hear/hereThewordshear andhere share a pronunciation but have differentmeanings.Hearisaverbmeaning‘tobecomeawareofsoundsbymeansofyourears’,asin:

Shedidn’thearthedoorbellbecausesheisdeaf.

Hereisanadverbmeaning‘thisplace’,asin:

I’mnotgoinganywhere.I’mstayingrighthere.

rain/reign/reinThe words rain, reign and rein are pronounced alike but are otherwiseunrelated.Rainiswaterthatfallsfromthesky,asin:

Wegotverywetintheheavyrain.

Reignreferstotheperiodoftimewhenakingorqueenisruling,asin:

TheSecondWorldWartookplaceduringthereignofGeorgeVI.

Reinmeans ‘a long narrow band of leather used to control a horse’ and it ismostlyfoundinthepluralform,asin:

Theriderletthereinsfallfromherhandsasherhorsecametoastandstill.

right/rite/write/wrightThesewordsarepronouncedalikebutarecompletelydifferentinmeaning.

Asanadjectiverighthasseveralmeanings. Itcanmean‘correct’,as in therightanswerorheturnedouttoberight.Itcanalsomean‘theoppositeofleft’,asin:

Hehelditinhisrighthand.

Asanounright refers to something that you are legally, officially ormorallyallowedtodoorhave,asin:

Youhavenorighttorefuseusentrytothispark.

The women’s movement was established to protect the rights ofwomen.

The word rite is a noun which refers to a ceremonial act that is alwaysperformed in the same way, often as part of a religious ceremony, as intraditionalfuneralrites.

Thewordwrite is a verb meaning ‘to make letters, words or numbers onpaperusingapenorpencil’,asinprimaryschoolchildrenjustlearningtowrite.Itcanalsomean‘tosetdownwordsforotherstoread’,asin:

I’mnotgoingtophonethem.I’mgoingtowritethemaletter.

Thewordwright ismuch less common than the other twowords on this list.

Usually it comes as the second part of a compound word which indicatessomeonewhoworksatparticulartradeorjob,asinshipwrightandplaywright.

HOMOGRAPHS

Homographs are words which have the same spelling but differentmeanings,andarepronounceddifferently.

HOMOGRAPHEXAMPLES

lead/leadAsyou can see, these twowords look exactly the same.They are spelt in thesameway, but they are pronounced differently and they have totally differentmeanings.Oneofthewordsrhymeswithbeadandfeedwhiletheotherrhymeswithredandfed.Theleadrhymingwithfeedisaverbwhoseprimarymeaningis‘toguidepeoplesomewherebygoinginfrontofthem’,asin:

Themountainguidewillleadthepartyofclimberssafelytothesummit.

Theleadrhymingwithfed isanounwhichreferstoatypeofsoft,heavygreymetal,asin:

Leadwasonceusedtomakewaterpipesbutthispracticewasstoppedasleadispoisonous.

Notethatthepastparticipleoftheverbleadisspeltledanditispronouncedlikethemetal.

row/row

Obviously these two words are spelt the same but they are pronounceddifferentlyandhavetotallydifferentmeanings.

Oneofthewordsrhymeswithlowandmowandisanounmeaning‘anumberofpeopleorthingsarrangedinaline’,asin:

Therewasarowofpolicemenblockingtheentrancetothebuilding.

Theotherrow rhymeswithcowandhow and is anounmeaning ‘aquarrelordisagreement’,asin:

Theboyandhisfatherwerealwayshavingrows.

minute/minuteLike the otherswords in this category, thesewords share a spelling but not apronunciationandtheyhavedifferentmeanings.

Oneofthewordsispronouncedmin-it,withthestressonthefirstsyllable.Itisanounreferringtoaunitoftime,asin60minutesinanhour.

Theotherwordisanadjective.Itsfirstpartispronouncedtorhymewithmineanditssecondpartispronouncedyoot,thestressbeingonthefirstsyllable.Thissecondwordmeans‘extremelysmall’,asinminuteamountsofpoison.

HOMONYMS

Homonymsarewordswhichhavethesamespellingandthesamepronunciationbut they have differentmeanings.They are sometimes referred to asmultiplemeaningwords.Belowaresomeexamples.

HOMONYMEXAMPLES

bill/billThese two words are spelt and pronounced in the same way, but they havedifferentmeanings.

Thefirstandmorecommonbillreferstoapieceofpaperwhichshowshowmuchmoneyyouowesomeoneforgoodsorservices(althoughitalsohasotherrelatedmeanings),asin:

I’vejusthadahugebillforrepairstothecar.

Thesecondbillisquiteunrelatedtothefirst.Itmeans‘abird’sbeak’,asin:

Thethrushhadasmallwormhangingfromitsbill.

calf/calfThese two nouns are spelt and pronounced in the same way, but they havedifferentmeanings.

Oneofthemeaningsofthewordcalfrelatestoanimals.Commonlyitreferstoayoungcow,althoughitcanalsorefer totheyoungofsomeotheranimals,suchaselephants.

Theothermeaningofcalf relates to thehumanbodyandrefers to thebackpartofthelegbetweentheankleandthebackoftheknee,asin:

Shegotcrampinhercalfafterdancingallnight.

swallow/swallowThese two words are spelt and pronounced in the same way, but they havedifferentmeanings.

Oneofthesewordsisanounusedtorefertoakindofbird,asin:

Itwastheendofsummerandswallowsweregettingreadytoflytowarmerlandsforthewinter.

Theotherswallow isaverbmeaning‘tocausefoodordrink togodownyour

throatintoyourstomach’,asin:

Hehadaverysorethroatandcouldonlyswallowverysmallpiecesoffood.

ORONYMS

Itmightbetimetointroducealittlelightrelief.Asequenceofwords,asinicecream,thatsoundsthesameasadifferentsequenceofwords,asinIscream,aresometimes used humorously or in word games and are called oronyms. Theword oronym was apparently coined by Gyles Brandreth, wordsmith,broadcasterandformerMP.

Oronyms include ice cream and I scream; example and egg sample; fourcandlesand fork handles; realize and realeyes; anddepend anddeepend. Ofcourseitsometimesdependsonhowyoupronouncethem.

What use are oronyms? Not a lot, really, but you might have fun makingsomeup!

AMISCELLANYOFMISTAKES

Thereareahugenumberofwordsthatcauseproblemsandtheydonotfallintoanyoftheabovecategories.Sometimesconfusionbetweenwordsarisesbecausetheysoundquitesimilarandtheyarebothassociatedwiththesametheme.Someofthemostproblematicarediscussedbelow.

SIMILARBUTDISSIMILARcontinual/continuousThesetwoadjectivessoundquitesimilarbuthavequitedifferentmeanings.

Continualmeans‘frequentlyrepeated’,asin:

Continualcomplaintsfromotherresidentswereignoredbythestudents.

Continuousmeans‘withoutabreak’,asin:

Howdothefactoryworkersputupwiththecontinuousnoisemadebythemachinery?

adopted/adoptiveAnother two adjectives in the same category areadopted andadoptive. Theyalso sound quite similar and they are both associated with the same theme,namelyraisingachildwhoisnotyourbiologicalsonordaughter.

Adopted is used todescribe childrenwhohavebeenbroughtupbypeopleotherthantheirbiologicalparents,asin:

Thecouplehavetwosons,onebiological,oneadopted.

Adoptiveisusedtorefertoadultswhohavedonetheadopting,asin:

Shewouldlovetotryandgetincontactwithherbiologicalmother,butshedoesnotwanttoupsethermuch-lovedadoptivemother.

arbiter/arbitratorAnothertwowordswhichfallintoasimilarcategoryarearbiterandarbitrator.Thefirstpartofthesecondwordsoundslikethefirstwordandtheybothrefertoasimilartheme,thatofjudging.

Thenounarbiterreferstosomeoneorsomethingwiththepowerorinfluencetomakedecisionsorjudgements,asin:

Thedressdesignerisveryyoungbutsheisquicklybecomingrecognizedasoneoftheleadingarbitersoffashion.

The noun arbitrator refers to someone appointed to settle differences in adispute,asin:

Managementandunionleadershavefailedtosettletheirdifferencesandhavecalledinanarbitratortotrytoavoidastrike.

Note thatarbiter is one of thosewords that is in the process of changing. Inmodernusageitisoccasionallyusedwiththesamemeaningasarbitrator.Thiscanonlyaddtotheconfusion.

abuse/misuseThe words abuse andmisuse (see 1) also fall into the same category as thewordsdealtwithabove.Inthecaseofabuseandmisusetheysharetheirsecondsyllableandtheybothrefertothethemeofuseortreatment.Botharenounsthatrefer toawronguseor treatment,but theyareused indifferentcontexts.Likemisuse,thewordabusereferstoimproperorwronguseortreatment.Thewordabuse, however, is more likely to refer to something that is morally wrong,dangerous tohealthor illegal,as inalcoholabuse;drugabuse; solventabuse;theabuseofpoliticalpower;physicalabuseandsexualabuse.Theverbabusehassimilarassociationstothatofthenounabuse,asin:

Thepoliticianwasbeinginvestigatedforabusinghispower.

Misuseusuallyreferstoincorrectorinappropriateuse,asinmisuseofthegymequipmentandmisuseofthecommunalgarden.

compulsory/compulsiveAnothertwowordswhichfallintothecategorydescribedabovearecompulsoryandcompulsive.Onlytheendingsofthesetwoadjectivesaredifferentandtheybothrefertosomethingthatmustbedone.

Ifsomethingiscompulsorythereisalaworrulewhichsaysthatitmustbedoneorcarriedout,asin:

Inthatcountryitiscompulsorytoalwayscarryidentificationdocuments.

Compulsivereferstobehaviourorahabitthatisverydifficultorimpossibletostoporcontrol,asin:

Heisacompulsivegamblerwhohaslostafortuneonbettingonhorses.

industrial/industriousThewordsindustrialandindustriousarebothadjectives.Theylookandsoundlike each other, apart from their endings, and are liable to be confused. Theybothrefertowork,butnotthesamemeaningofwork.

Asyoumightexpect, industrialhas todowith industry in thesenseof thebusinessofmakingorproducinggoods,usuallyonalargescale,asin:

Thelandonwhichthehouseswerebuiltwasformerlyanindustrialsite.

Industrious is an adjective based on a much less common and more formalmeaningofindustrymeaning‘hardwork’or‘diligence’,asin:

Hewasnotasintelligentassomeoftheotherstudentsbuthewasveryindustriousandusuallymanagedtodowellinexams.

immoral/immortalSomewordswhichgetconfusedbecausetheyresembleeachotherquitecloselyandbecause theyhaveareasonablysimilarpronunciationdonotbelongto thesametheme.Theyareactuallyunrelated.Twosuchwordsareimmoralandimmortal.Thesetwoadjectiveswouldbethesamewordbutforthelettert,andthisgivesrisetoconfusion.Whatadifferenceonelettercanmake!

Immoral means ‘morally wrong’. In other words, wrong according to the

principlesofwhatisconsideredtoberightandwrongbehaviour,asin:

Itisimmoraltomakeyoungchildrenworklonghoursforverylittlepayinordertobeabletoexportcheapgoods.

Immortalliterallymeans‘livingorexistingforever’,asin:

Nooneisimmortal,althoughsomepeoplebehaveasthoughtheythinktheyare.

Immortalcanalsobeusedtorefertosomething,suchasalineofprose,poetryorsong,thathasbecomeveryfamousandhaslastedaverylongtime,asin:

Justthinkoftheimmortalline‘Tomorrowisanotherday’.

persecute/prosecuteTwo other words which are frequently confused are the verbs persecute andprosecute.Obviously, the confusion arises because the secondpart of eachofthem is the same.However, the problem lies inper andpro, their short firstsyllables.

Aswehaveseen, thesewordshavesomething incommonin that they lookquite like each other and, in fact, there is a degree of similarity in theirpronunciation.Thereisalsoadegreeofsimilarityintheirthemebuttheyareatopposite ends of the scale. The theme is fairness or justice.Persecute comesunder the heading of ‘unfairness’ or ‘lack of justice’ in that itmeans ‘to treatsomeoneveryunfairlyandunjustly,andusuallywithgreatcruelty,overalongperiodof time’.This treatmentoften takesplaceon thegroundsofpoliticalorreligiousbeliefs,asin:

Manypeoplewerepersecutedfortheiroppositiontoracialdiscrimination.

Prosecute,ontheotherhand,ismostlyonthesideoffairnessandjustice,oratleastwehopeso.Itmeans‘tochargesomeonewithcommittingacrimeandto

trytoshowthattheyareguiltyofit’,asin:

Therewasasignontheshopdoorsaying‘Shoplifterswillbeprosecuted’.

chronic/acuteAsyouhaveseen,confusionwithregardtowordsisoftenaresultofthewords,orpartsofwords,havingasimilarsound.Sometimes,however,thewordsdonotsoundorlooklikeeachotheratall.Theyarecompletelydifferentbuttheymayvery well relate to the same theme. The confusion created by the adjectiveschronicandacuteisagoodexampleofthis.Bothchronicandacutefrequentlyrefertoadiseaseorillness.Chronicreferstoadiseaseorillnessthatlastsalongtime,frequentlyaperiodofseveralyears,andoftendevelopsslowly,asin:

Manyelderlypeoplesufferfromchronicarthritisandneedlong-termdrugtreatment.

By contrast,acute refers to a disease that lasts a relatively short time andstartsupquitesuddenly,asin:

Shehasacuteearacheandneedssomestrongpainkillersimmediately.

hire/rentHire andrent are another twowords that get confused, although they do notresembleeachotheratallinappearanceorsound.However,theybothrelatetothe temporaryuseof something in exchange for payment.Sometimeswhetheryouusehireorrentdependsonhowlongthetemporaryuseislikelytolast.

Hireismorelikelytobeassociatedwithshort-termuse,asin:

Shethinksshemighthireaweddingdressratherthanbuyone.

Rentsuggestsamorelong-termuse,asin:

Theirplanistorentaflatforthetwoyearsthattheircollegecourseslast.

However, there is a problem. InAmericanEnglish rent is used in connectionwith short-term use as well as longer-term use. The American use is havingsomeinfluenceonBritishEnglish,sothatyouwillnowfindbothhireacarfortheweekend and rent a car for theweekend being commonly used. Isn’t thattypical?Youjustgetsomethingsortedoutwhenitchanges!

Note that the verb charter, rather thanhire or rent, is used in connectionwithboatsorplanes,asincharterayacht.

VARIABLEVERBS

Muchconfusioniscausedbyirregularverbs.Thisproblemisdealtwithinquitealotofdetail inChapter7,sohavea lookthereforfurther information.Apartfrom anything else, you will find a helpful list of irregular verbs there. Theirregularverbsthatcausemostproblems,asfarasthischapterisconcerned,arethosewhichfallunderrule5(see2)inChapter7.

Thissectionreferstothoseirregularverbswhichhaveapasttenseandapastparticiplewhicharedifferentfromeachotheranddifferentfromtheinfinitiveorbase form. For example the verb draw has the past tense drew and the pastparticipledrawn,theverbgrowhasthepasttensegrewandthepastparticiplegrownandtheverbswimhasthepasttenseswamandthepastparticipleswum.

hanged/hungOneof themost commonpairof confusedwords relating to irregularverbs ishangedandhung(see1).Theverbhanghastwopossiblepasttensesandpastparticiples, hanged and hung. Of these the form hung is by far the morecommon,asin:

WehungsomedecorationsontheChristmastree.

Theformhangedismostlyusedwhenrelatedtoexecutionbyhangingsomeonefromaropeortosuicidebythesamemeans,asin:

Themurdererwashanged.

Thiserrorhasbecomesocommonthatthedistinctionbetweenthetwowordsisinrealdangerofbeingforgotten.

got/gottenA pair ofwords relating to irregular verbs has only relatively recently startedcausingconfusion.Thewordsaregotandgotten(see1)andtheyarebothpastparticiplesoftheverbget.

GottenusedtoberestrictedtoAmericanEnglishusagebutIhavenoticedanincreasingnumberofwriterswhoareusing theAmericanversion.Admittedlysomeofthemhavebeenwriterswhoarepublishingtheirownmaterialasebooksrather than having it carefully edited by trained publishers’ editors, but it iscertainlyasignofthetimes.Seealsogotten.

PERSONALANDFAMILIALCONFUSION

Sometimesproblemwordsareapurelypersonalthing.SomepeopleseemtoSeesimilarity,andsoconfusion,betweenwordswhennooneelsecanspotthis.OnepersonIknewusedtousetheworddislevelledwhenshemeantdishevelled,anadjectiveusedof thehairorclothes todescribeastateofuntidiness.Althoughshe was very well educated, she seemed totally unable to take on board thatdislevelledwasnottherightword,orevenawordatall!

ThenIdiscoveredthathermother,sisterandgrandmotherallusedtheworddislevelled instead ofdishevelled. It certainly seems to be the case that someword confusion is hereditary. A member of one generation gets hold of thewrongword and this is then passed down the line to succeeding generations.

Peoplelearnthewrongwordattheirmother’skneeanditsticks.Dishevelled isnotaword thatyouuseeveryday,even ifyoucomefroma

particularlyuntidyfamily,so it tookmequitea longtimetofindthisout.ThefamilywasgenerallylowonmalessoIdonotknowifthislinguistichabitwasrestrictedtothefemaleline.

I had another friendwho persisted in using the wordmunificent when hemeantmagnificent. At leastmunificent is an actual word but its meaning isquitefarfromthatofmagnificent.

Munificentisanadjectivemeaning‘extremelygenerous’andmagnificentisan adjectivemeaning ‘impressive’ or ‘splendid’.Again,my friendwas a verywell-educatedpersonand,indeed,aprofessionalwritertotrade.Whetherornothis linguisticerrorwaspurelypersonalorwhether it, too, camedown throughthegenerationsIhavenomeansofknowingasInevermetanyofhisfamily.

PERENNIALPOSERS

Confusingwordscanbeapurelypersonalorfamilialhabit.Butasfarasthevastmajorityofwordsareconcerned,theconfusionisnotrestrictedtoonepersonoreven to a few people. As far as these words are concerned, confusion iswidespread and the confusion continues decade after decade. Some of thesewords have been discussed in what has gone before in this chapter, but thatleavesatremendousnumberofwordsthathavenotbeencovered.

WHICHWORD?Below is a list in alphabetical order ofwords(see1,2,3) that commonly getconfused.Itisbynomeanscomprehensive,butitwillatleastsetyouoffintherightdirection.

a/anThe indefinite article has the formsa and an. Although thesewords are verysmalltheycancauseagreatdealofconfusion.Theformaisusedbeforewordsor abbreviations that are pronouncedwith an initial consonant sound, as in abox;agarden;aUFO;andawall.

Theformanisusedbeforewordsthatbeginwithaninitialvowelsound,asinanapple;anigloo;anIOUandanostrich.Rememberthatitisthesoundoftheinitial letter and not the spelling that determineswhether the indefinite articleshouldbeaoran.

Theforma isusedbeforewordsbeginningwiththe letteruwhen thesearepronouncedasthoughtheybeganwiththeconsonanty,asinaunitandaunion.

Theformanisusedbeforewordsbeginningwiththeletterhwherethisisnotpronounced, as in anheir andan hour. Formerly the forman was commonlyusedbeforewordsbeginningwiththehsoundwhichbeganwithanunstressedsyllable,asinanhistoricvictoryandanhotel,butinmodernusagetheformaisusedinsuchcases,asinahistoricvictoryandahotel.

abuse/misuseSeeabuse/misuseinAmiscellanyofmistakes.

accessory/accessaryAlthoughnotspeltexactlyalike,thesewordssoundalike.

The noun accessory has two quite distinct meanings. The more commonmeaningis‘somethingadditionaltothemainpart’or‘anextraattachment’.Itisoftenusedinconnectionwithfashion,meaninghandbag,shoes,belt,scarf,etc,asin:

Sheworeareddresswithblackaccessories.

Theothermeaningofaccessoryisusedtorefertosomeonewhohelpssomeone

elsetodosomething,oftensomethingcriminal,asin:

Policesaythatthebankrobbermusthavehadatleastoneaccessory.

Whataboutthenounaccessary?Wellitwasformerlythewordusedtorefertoapartner incrime,butnowaccessory is themorecommonform. In thisBritishEnglish is following the practice of American English. You might still comeacrossaccessaryinsomeformallegalcontexts.

adopted/adoptiveSeeadopted/adoptiveinAmiscellanyofmistakes.

adverse/averseThesewordslookandsoundquitealikebuttheyareusedinquitedifferentways.Theadjectiveadverseusuallygoesbefore theabstractnoun towhich it refers,andmeans‘unfavourable’or‘hostile’,asin:

Thelastthingwewantisadversepublicityforourforthcomingexhibition.

Averseisneverplacedbeforethenountowhichitrefersandisfollowedbytheprepositionto.Aversetomeanshavingastrongdislikefor,asin:

Theyarenotaversetotheideabuttheyneedmoreinformationbeforetheymakeuptheirminds.

advice/adviseThesewordslookandsoundquitealikeandtheybothrelatetotellingsomeonewhattodo.However,adviceisanoun,asin:

Youshouldseekmedicaladvicerightaway.

Whileadviseisaverb,asin:

Iwouldadviseyoutomakeanappointmentwithadoctorrightaway.

adviser/advisorBothofthesespellingsforawordmeaning‘someonewhogivesadvice’areincommonuseinBritishEnglish.InAmericanEnglish,advisoristhecommonerform.Notethattheadjectiveisalwaysspeltadvisory.

affect/effectThesewordssoundalike,especiallywhentheyarespokenquicklyorcarelessly,andtheyarefrequentlyconfused.Inmeaningtheycanbothrefertoinfluenceorchange,butaffectisaverbandeffectisanoun.

Theverbaffectisusedinsuchcontextsas:

Howdidthewaraffecttheeconomy?

Whilethenouneffectisusedinsuchcontextsas:

Whatwastheeffectofthewarontheeconomy?

Thewordeffectcanalsobeusedasaverbinformalcontextsmeaning‘tobringabout’or‘carryout’,asin:

Thearmyeffectedaquickretreat.

afterwards/afterwardManylearnersofEnglishlearnAmericanEnglishratherthanBritishEnglishanditiseasytogetconfusedbetweenthetwo.InBritishEnglishafterwardsistheusualformoftheadverbmeaning‘later’or‘aftersomethingelsehashappened’,asin:

Hethoughtthathehaddonewellintheinterviewandhewastoldafterwardsthatheverynearlygotthejob.

InAmericanEnglishthisadverboftentakestheformafterward.

aggravate/irritateSeeChapter1,aggravate/irritate.

agnostic/atheistSeeatheist/agnostic.

aisle/isleThese words are homophones. They have nothing in common except theirpronunciation and the fact that they are both quite short, and yet peoplefrequentlymuddlethemup.Aislereferstoapassagebetweenrowsofseatsinachurch,theatre,train,plane,etc,orthepassagewaybetweendisplayshelvinginsupermarkets,asin:

Thebridewasabouttowalkdowntheaisle.

Shepushedhertrolleydownseveraloftheaisleslookingforcansofdogfood.

Thewordislemeans‘island’andisfrequentlyfoundinplacenamessuchastheIsleofWightortheIsleofSkye.Otherwiseitismostlyfoundinliterarycontexts.

allright/alrightThereisaconsiderabledisputegoingonoverthespellingofthisword.Ontheonehandwehavemany,manypeoplewhoareintheallrightcamp.Theylearntfromchildhoodthatallrightisthecorrectformandthatisitasfarastheyareconcerned. They are outraged that the spelling alright should even be

mentioned.However,intheothercamparequiteafewpeople,especiallyyoungpeople,whodonotseemtorealizethatthereisanythingwrongwithalrightandthatisthewaytheyspellit.

Whoisright?Well,atthemomentthetraditionalistsare.Allrightistheonlyspelling that is considered correct, but all that could change, particularly ininformalcontexts.

Why has the dispute occurred?Well, it probably has something to dowithwordssuchasalreadyandaltogether.Somepeoplethinkthatallright shouldbeusedtoindicatethatsomethingiscompletelycorrectbutthatalrightcanbeusedtomean‘acceptable’or‘satisfactory’.Buttheyarewrong–atleastforthetimebeing!

alter/altarOfthesetwohomophonesalterisbyfarthemorecommon.Itisaverbmeaning‘tochange’,asin:

Ineedtoalterthisdressslightly.

They’regoingtoalterthetimesofthetrainsfromnextweek.

Alter is frequently confusedwithaltar, a noun common in religious contextsandusedintheChristianchurchtomeanthetableonwhichthebreadandwineareblessedincommunionservices,asin:

Theprieststoodbeforethealtar.

Altarcanalsobeusedtorefertoatableorotherplacewhereformerlysacrificeswereofferedtoagod,asin:

Thelambwaskilledandputonthealtarasanofferingtothegods.

altogether/alltogether

Itisveryeasytoconfusethesewords.Altogethercanmean‘completely’,asin:

Ican’tsayI’maltogetherhappywiththesituation.

Itcanalsomean‘allinall’,asin:

Theroomswerecomfortable,thefoodwasgood,thestaffwerepoliteandaltogetheritwasanexcellenthotel.

Alltogethermeans‘atthesametime’or‘inthesameplace’,asin:

ItisthefirstChristmasformanyyearsthatwehavebeenalltogetherasafamily.

alternate/alternativeIn British English alternative is an adjective which suggests the offer of achoiceofasecondpossibility,asin:

Theroadisclosedbutthepolicehavesuggestedanalternativeroute.

In American English alternate is often used in this context instead ofalternative.TosomeextenttheAmericanuseofalternateinthiscontextisnowfoundinBritishEnglishalso,althoughalternativeremainsthecommonBritishform.

Thisshouldnotbeconfusedwithalternatemeaning‘everyother’,asin:

WemeetforlunchonalternateSaturdays.

Norshoulditbeconfusedwithalternatemeaning‘happeninginturns,oneaftertheother’,asin:

Thecakehasalternatelayersofcreamandjam.

amiable/amicable

Bothoftheseadjectivescanmean‘friendly’buttheyarenotinterchangeable.Amiableisusuallyusedofpeopletomeanfriendly,pleasantandlikeable,as

in:

Hewasanamiableyoungmanandallhisfellowworkersgotonwithhim.

Amicable is usually used to describe friendly relationships or dealings withotherpeople,asin:

Ithinkthathusbandandwifehadbothgrowntiredofeachotherbuttheirseparationseemstohavebeenquiteanamicableaffair.

among/betweenThe prepostions among and between may be used interchangeably in mostcontexts.Formerlyamongwasusedwhenreferring to threeormorepeopleorthings,asin:

Wedividedtheremainingfoodamongthefivechildren.

Betweenwasusedonlywhenreferringtotwopeopleorthings,asin:

Sue’sparentsdividedthemoneybetweenherandherbrother.

Inmodernusage,however,between isoftenusedwhenreferring tomore thantwothings(althoughsomepeopleobjecttothisuse),asin:

AnagreementhasbeenreachedbetweenallthestatesofAmerica.

anymore/anymoreThistermmeaning‘anylonger’isoftenspeltasonewordinAmericanEnglish,andusuallyastwowordsinBritishEnglish,asin:

She’sgivingtheseclothesawaybecauseshedoesn’twearthemanymore.

However, the American way of spelling is spreading to British English andbecomingmoreandmorecommon.

anyone/anyoneAnyoneisspeltasonewordwhenitmeansthesameasanybody,asin:

Anyonecansucceedinthisindustryiftheyworkhardenough.

Anyoneisusedwithasingularverb.Inmodernusageitissometimesfollowedbyapluralpersonalpronounorpluralpossessiveadjective toavoidsexism,asin:

Hasanyoneparkedtheircarinthecourtyard?

Anyoneisspeltastwowordsincontextssuchas:

Anyoneofthosedresseswouldsuityou.

Anyoneofthosecollegecourseswouldbeinteresting.

anyplace/anyplaceFormerlyinBritishEnglishthetermanyplacewasalwayswrittenastwowordsanditwasconsidered tobe lessacceptable,especially informalcontexts, thananywhere,asin:

Wecan’tfindanyplacetostaytonight.

Therearenohotelswithvacanciesanyplaceinthisarea.

TheexpressionismuchlesscommonandmoreinformalinBritishEnglishthaninAmericanEnglish. InAmericanEnglish theexpression isoftenspeltasoneword, anyplace, and this use is, to some extent, now spreading to BritishEnglish.

anytime/anytimeFormerlyinBritishEnglishtheexpressionanytimewasalwayswrittenastwowords,asin:

PleasecomeandSeeusanytime.

In American English, however, the expression is often spelt as one word,anytime,andthisuseisspreadingtoBritishEnglish.

arbiter/arbitratorSeearbiter/arbitratorinAmiscellanyofmistakes.

atheist/agnosticThesewords do notmean the same but they both relate to the same theme, abelief, or rather a non-belief, in God. An atheist is someone who does notbelieveintheexistenceofGod,asin:

MybrotherismarryingthedaughterofaChurchofEnglandminister,althoughhehimselfisanatheist.

An agnostic is not quite so certain, being someone who believes that it isimpossibletoknowwhetherGodexistsornot.However, thewordisusedinamoregeneralsensetorefertosomeonewhodoubtsthatGodexists,asin:

Hesaysthatscientistsdealinfactsandasaresultmanyofthemareagnostics.

aural/oralseeoral/aural

averse/adverseseeadverse/averse

backward/backwardsInBritishEnglishbackwardisnormallyusedasanadjective,asin:

Sheturnedawayandleftwithoutabackwardglance.

Thewordbackwardsisusuallyanadverb,asin:

Hesteppedbackwardstogetawayfromtheheatofthebonfire.

InAmericanEnglishbackwardisusedasanadverb,asin:

Hemovedbackwardintotheshadowofthebuilding.

balk/baulkBoththesespellingsofthisverbmeaning‘tostopshortof’or‘torecoilfrom’areacceptable,asin:

Webalked/baulkedattheideaofpayingsomuchmoneyfortheatretickets.

bated/baitedIn the expressionwith bated breath meaning ‘to hold one’s breath in fear orsuspense’youwaitwithbatednotbaitedbreath,asin:

Wewaitedwithbatedbreathforthejudgestoannouncethewinnerofthecompetition.

bathroomInBritishEnglishabathroomisusuallyaroomcontainingabath.InAmericanEnglishbathroomisoftenusedasthewordforatoiletorlavatoryandthisuseisnowsometimesfoundinBritishEnglish.Seetoilet/loo/lavatory.

becauseof/dueto/owingto

SeeChapter4,becauseof/owingto/dueto.

beat/beatenThesepartsoftheverbbeatareliabletobeconfused.Thewordbeatisthepasttenseoftheverbbeat,asin:

Theybeatthedefendingchampionseasily.

Thewordbeatenisusedasthepastparticiple,asin:

Theyhavebeatenlastyear’schampions.

SeeChapter7,beat.

bill/billSeebill/billinHomonyms.

blackSeeChapter6,black.

bow/bowThese words are homographs. They are spelt the same but pronounceddifferentlyandhavetotallydifferentmeanings.Onerhymeswith lowandmowandmeans,amongotherthings,‘aloopedknot’,asin:

Shetiedherdaughter’shairribboninabow.

Theotherrhymeswithcowandhowandmeansthebendingoftheupperbodyasamarkofrespect,asin:

Hesangtwosongs,gaveaquickbowandleftthestage.

bridal/bridleThese words are homophones, being pronounced in the same way but withdifferent spelling and different meanings. Bridal is an adjective meaning‘relatingtoabrideortoawedding’,asin:

Thebridalcarwasdecoratedwithwhiteribbons.

Thewordbridlereferstoaharnessforahorse’shead,asin:

Heboughtanewbridleforhishorse.

brooch/broachThesewordsarealsohomophones,beingpronouncedinthesamewaybutwithdifferentspellinganddifferentmeanings.

Broochisthecommonerofthetwowordsandisanounreferringtoapieceofjewellerythatispinnedtoagarment,asin:

Sheworeabeautifuldiamondbroochinthelapelofherjacket.

Broachisaverbmeaning‘tointroduceormentionasubject’,asin:

Hedidn’tliketobroachthesubjectofthemoneysheowedhim.

calf/calfSeecalf/calf.

canvas/canvassThesewordsarespeltslightlydifferentlybutarepronouncedinthesameway.

Canvas isanoun that refers toakindofheavycoarsecloth that isused tomaketents,etc,andalsousedbyartiststopainton.

Canvassisaverbmeaning‘totrytogetpeople’svotesinanelectionofsomekind’asinpoliticianscanvassingforvotes.

can/mayTheverbcanisusedtoindicateeitherthatsomeoneorsomethingisabletodosomething,asin:

Hecanskibutnotverywell.

Theverbmaycanbeusedtoindicatewhatislikelyorpossible,asin:

Hemayormaynotattendthemeeting–itdependsonhisotherengagements.

So far sogood.Theproblem is thatbothmayandcan arenowused tomean‘permittedorallowedto’,asin:

Youmay/cangotothepartyifyouarebackhomeby11pm.

Languagepuristswhodonotlikelanguagetochangedislikecanbeingusedinthisway,buttheyhavelostthebattle.Forinallbutthemostformalcontextscanisnowtheusualwordinthiscontext,asin:

CanIgonow?

Youwillstillfindmaybeingusedwhenpeoplearebeingexceptionallypolite,asin:

HowmayIhelpyou,sir?

censor/censureThesewordsarecloselyrelatedandliabletobeconfused.

Censor can be a verbmeaning ‘to examine letters, publications, films, etc,andremoveanymaterialthatisthoughttobeunsuitableinthecircumstances’,asin:

Theycensoredthesoldiers’lettersincasetheymentionedinformationthatwouldbeusefultotheenemy.

Censorcanalsobeanounusedtorefertosomeonewhocensorssomething,asin:

Hewasemployedasacensorofsoldiers’letters.

Censure can also act both as a verb and as a noun. As a verb it means ‘tocriticizeorblamesomeoneforsomething’,asin:

Theyounglawyerwascensuredforhispoorhandlingofthecase.

Asanouncensuremeans‘severecriticismorblame’,asin:

Thegovernmentreceivedcensurefortheirunsuccessfuleconomicpolicy.

centenary/centennialBothofthesewordsrefertoahundred-yearanniversary.

CentenaryistheusualBritishEnglishword,asin:

Wearecelebratingthecentenaryofthelocalschool.

CentennialisusedmorefrequentlyinAmericanEnglish.

cheque/checkBoth of thesewordsmean ‘an order to a bank to paymoney from a person’saccount’.ChequeistheacceptedforminBritishEnglish,asin:

Idon’thaveenoughcashwithmesoI’llhavetopaythebillbycheque.

Check is the acceptedAmerican form.Nowadays paying by cheque is on thewayoutasithaslargelybeenreplacedwithpayingbycreditordebitcard.

chronic/acute

Seechronic/acute.

city/townNowadaysacityisjustaplacethatislargerandmoreimportantthanatown,asin:

UsuallyIjustshopfornewclotheshereinthetown,butifIwantsomethingspecialIgotooneofthelargershopsinthecity.

InBritaintherightforatowntobecalledacityisgrantedbythekingorqueen,althoughitiswidelyassumedthatatownhastohaveacathedralbeforeitcanbecalledacity.Manycitiesdohavecathedrals,butthisisnotessential.

colouredSeeChapter6,coloured.

complimentary/complementaryComplimentaryisanadjectiveexpressingadmirationorpraise,asin:

Shewasflatteredbyhiscomplimentaryremarks.

Whenconnectedwiththegivingoftickets,productsetc,itisoftenusedtomean‘givenfree’,asin:

Eachcopyofthemagazinehasacomplimentarydiaryinsideit.

Complementary is an adjective referring to things that form a useful orattractivecombination,althoughtheymaybequitedifferent,asin:

Shewascarefultoputtogetherateamofpeoplewhohadcomplementaryskills.

In modern usage complementary is commonly found in the term

complementarymedicine,whichusestreatments thatarenotpartof theusualscientific Western medical methods. The term emphasizes the fact that itstreatmentscoexistwithscientifictreatments,ratherthanreplacingthem,asisthecasewithalternativemedicine.

comprehensible/comprehensiveThesetwoadjectivesarebothderivedfromtheverbcomprehend,buttheyarenotderivedfromthesamesenseof thatverb.Comprehensiblemeans‘able tobeunderstood’asin:

Thechildisjustlearningtospeakandwhatshe’ssayingisonlycomprehensibletohermother.

Itisoftenfoundinthenegativeformincomprehensible,asin:

Whyhesuddenlydecidedtogiveupsuchagoodjobiscompletelyincomprehensible.

Comprehensivemeans‘includingallormostthings’,asin:

Youwouldbewisetotakeoutfullycomprehensivecarinsurance.

compulsory/compulsiveSeecompulsory/compulsive.

contagious/infectiousBoththesewordsareadjectivesreferringtodiseasesthatcanbepassedonfromthe sufferer to other people. Contagious diseases are passed on by directphysicalcontact,asin:

Hehasbeentoldnottoattendschoolasheissufferingfromaskindiseasethatishighlycontagious.

Infectiousdiseasesarepassedonbyairbornemicroorganisms,asin:

Someinfectiousdiseases,suchasmeaslesandmumps,arenowmuchrarerasaresultofvaccination.

continual/continuousSeecontinual/continuous.

credible/credulous/incredibleThese adjectives refer to belief but they are quite different in meaning. Ifsomethingiscredibleitisbelievable,asin:

Boththeiraccountsofwhathadhappenedsoundedquitecredible,butoneofthemmusthavebeenlying.

Credulousisusedofsomeonewhoistooreadytobelievethatwhatevertheyaretoldistrue,asin:

OnlysomeoneascredulousasTomwouldbelievethatacarascheapasthatwouldbeingoodcondition.

It is very common now for people to use credulous when they really meancredible.

Theoppositeofcredibleisincredible,asin:

Itseemsincrediblethatnoonestoppedtohelptheinjuredman.

criteria/criterionPeopleoftenusecriteriawronglyasasingularnounbutcriterionisthesingularform,asin:

Agooddegreeisnottheonlycriterionforselectingsomeoneforthejob.

Criteriaisthepluralform,asin:

Hemeetsallthebasiccriteriaforthejobbutlet’sSeehowhedoesinhisinterview.

cue/queueVisually these twonounsdonot resembleeachotheratall.However, theyarepronouncedinthesamewaytorhymewithmewanddew.

Cue has two quite differentmeanings. In sport it canmean a kind of stickusedinbilliards.Inthetheatreitcanrefertoafewwordsoranactionthatisasignalforanotheractortodoorsaysomething:

Hestoodwaitingforhiscuetogoonstage.

FormingaqueueissomethingtheBritisharetraditionallyfamousfor,althoughIam not surewe are quite so disciplined aswe used to be.Aqueue is line ofpeoplewaitinginanorderlywaytobuysomething,getintoabuilding,etc,asin:

Therewasahugequeueoutsidetheshopfortheopeningdayoftheirsale.

Queuecanalsoactasaverb,asin:

Wehadtoqueueformorethananhourtogetintothepopconcert.

currant/currentSeecurrant/currentinHomophones.

deceitful/deceptiveBothof these adjectives are connectedwithdeceivingormisleading someone.Deceitfulisusedofpeopleortheirwordsoractionswhentheseareintendedtodeceiveormisleadsomeone,asin:

Shehasalwaysbeenaverydeceitfulpersonanditwastypicalof

hernottotellherfiancéthetruthaboutherbackground.

Deceptiveisusedtodescribethingsthatarelikelytomisleadpeople,althoughtheremaybenodishonestintentioninvolved,asin:

Thecottagelooksdeceptivelysmallontheoutside–it’sactuallyveryspaciousinside.

delusion/illusionThese two words are liable to be confused because they are very close inmeaning.Delusionreferstoafalseormistakenbelieforideathatsomeoneholdsaboutthemselvesortheirsituation,asin:

Heisunderthedelusionthatshehasfalleninlovewithhim.

Sometimessuchanideaorbeliefcanbepartofamentaldisorder,asin:

ShesuffersfromthedelusionthatsheisJoanofArc.

Illusionreferstosomethingthatappearstobethecase,butisnot,asin:

Themountainsseemedtobeveryclosebutitwasanopticalillusion.

dependant/dependentThenoundependantreferstoapersonwhodependsonsomeoneelsetosupplytheirmeansofliving,asin:

Hesaidthathewouldresignfromhisjobtomorrowifhecouldbuthehasdependants.

The word dependent is an adjective meaning ‘relying on’ or ‘unable to dowithout’,asin:

Shecan’tdriveanymoreandsheisdependentonherneighbourtakingherforherhospitalappointments.

Dependentoftenmeans‘relyingonsomeoneforfinancialsupport’,asin:

Hehasnodependentrelatives.

NotethatinAmericanEnglishboththenounandadjectivearespeltdependent.

deprecate/depreciateThese words look quite alike and they are liable to be confused. The worddeprecate means ‘to feel or express deep disapproval of’, ‘to deplore’ or ‘tocondemn’,asin:

Thespeakerdeprecatedthegovernment’sattitudetoasylumspeakers,describingtheirlatestproposalsasinhumanandtotallylackingincompassionorsensitivity.

Theverbdepreciatecanmean‘todecreaseinvalue’,asin:

Sharesinthecompanyhavedepreciatedtoanall-timelow.

Theverbdepreciatecanalsomean‘tobelittleortreatasinsignificant’,asin:

HewasdoinghisbesttospeakFrench,buttheteacherdepreciatedhiseffortsinfrontoftherestoftheclass.

It is thissecondmeaningofdepreciate thathasbecomeconfusedwith thatofdeprecate and the twoarenowoftenused interchangeably, although languagepurists remain opposed to this. The change began with the adjective self-deprecating,whichmeans‘modestorplayingdownyourownachievements’,asinheisveryself-deprecating.

derisory/derisiveTheadjectivederisory isnormallyused in the senseof ‘ridiculously small’or‘inadequate’,asin:

Theworkerssaythattheyhavebeenofferedaderisorypayrise

andtheyareplanningtogoonstrike.

Theadjectivederisivemeans‘mocking’,asin:

Thecomedian’sactwasnotatallfunnyandwasgreetedwithderisivecommentsfrommembersoftheaudience.

desert/dessertDeserthastheemphasisonthefirstsyllableand,asanoun,itreferstoanareaoflandthatisveryhotanddry,asintheSaharaDesert.Asaverbdeserthasthestressonthesecondsyllableandmeans‘toabandonsomeoneorsomething’,asin:

ShedesertedmewhenwewereouttogethersoIhadtogohomealone.

Thenoundesserthastheemphasisonthesecondsyllableanditmeansthelast,sweetcourseofameal,asin:

Thechildrenallwanticecreamfordessert.

device/deviseThese words look and sound quite alike but they are entirely different inmeaning.Deviceisanounpronouncedtorhymewithadviceandmeansatoolorgadget,asin:

Doyouhaveoneofthosedevicesfortakingthecorksoutofwinebottles?

Devise isaverbpronouncedtorhymewithadviseandmeans‘toinventorputtogether’,asin:

Theprisonersofwardevisedacleverescapeplan.

disc/diskThesewordsareliabletocauseconfusionbecauseoftheinfluenceofAmericanEnglish.InBritishEnglishthecorrectspellingisdisc,asin:

Heissufferingfromaslippeddiscandhisbackisverysore.

But when the word is associated with computers it becomes disk, as in diskdrive. In American English the word is generally spelt disk whatever themeaning. Many British English users are beginning to follow suit. See alsoChapter1,disc/disk.

discreet/discreteThese adjectives are pronounced the same but spelt differently and so arehomophones.Discreet is oftenmisspelt asdiscrete. Theworddiscreet is themorecommonofthetwowordsand,whenusedofaperson,means‘carefulnottotellsecrets’or‘carefulnottooffendorembarrasspeople’,asin:

Youcansafelyconfideinmymotherbecauseshe’sverydiscreetandwon’ttellanyoneelseaboutyourproblem.

Whenusedofbehaviouroractionsdiscreetmeans‘tactful’or‘carefultoavoidattention’,asin:

Thankstoherdiscreethandlingofthesituation,theaffairwasnotmadepublic.

Discreteisamuchlesscommon,oftentechnical,adjectivemeaning‘separate’or‘distinct’,asindiscreteparticlesofthemineral.

disinterested/uninterestedSeeChapter1,disinterested/uninterested.

downward/downwardsInBritishEnglishdownwardisnormallyusedasanadjective,asin:

Thedownwardescalatorisatthebackofthestore.

DownwardsisusedasanadverbinBritishEnglish,asin:

Hetookafewstepsdownwardsfromthesummitandslipped.

InAmericanEnglishdownwardisfrequentlyusedasanadverb.

drunk/drunkenThese words are connected with alcoholic intoxication, but they are not usedinterchangeably.Theadjectivedrunkisoftenusedafteraverb,asin:

Theteenagersgotverydrunkoncheapcider.

Itoftenreferstoatemporarystateofintoxication.

Drunk can also be used as a noun to describe someone who drinks a lot ofalcoholandisoftendrunk,asin:

Theolddrunkstoppedmeandaskedformoney.

Theadjectivedrunkenisusedbeforeanoun,asin:

Hewassufferingfromahangoverafteradrunkenparty.

Drunkenisoftenusedtodescribesomeonewhoisinthehabitofdrinkingtoomuchandbecomingintoxicated,asin:

Thefamilyneverhaveanymoneybecausetheirdrunkenfatherspendsallheearnsonalcohol.

dueto/becauseof/owingto

SeeChapter4,becauseof/owingto/dueto(see1).

eachandeveryoneSeeChapter1,eachandevery.

economic/economicalEconomicisanadjectivereferringtotheeconomyortoeconomics,asin:

Iwouldn’topenanewbusinessinthepresenteconomicclimate.

Economical is an adjective meaning ‘concerned with using the minimum ofresourcesandavoidingwaste’,asin:

He’slookingforasmallcarthat’seconomicaltorun.

effect/affectseeaffect/effect

e.g./i.e.These abbreviations refer to quite different things but they are frequentlyconfused,perhapsbecausenotverymanypeoplelearnLatinatschoolanymore.Theabbreviatione.g.means‘forexample’andisshortfortheLatinexpressionexempligratia.Theabbreviatione.g.isusedinsuchcontextsas:

TherearemanyhistoricalplacestovisitinLondon,e.g.theTowerofLondonandtheNaturalHistoryMuseum.

Theabbreviationi.e.isshortfortheLatinexpressionidestandmeans‘thatis’.Itisusedtointroduceabriefexplanationoramplificationofwhathasjustbeensaid,asin:

Beforewesetupbusinessinhereweneedtogetsomeofficeequipment,i.e.acomputer,aprinterandsomedesks.

Originally both of these abbreviationswere speltwith full stops, but they arenowfrequentlyspeltwithouttheminBritishEnglish,asinegandie.

elder/olderElder and older are both adjectives relating to age comparison and aresometimes confused. The word elder is used only in comparing the ages ofpeoplewithinagroup,oftenafamilygroup,asin:

JohnwasAnne’selderbrother.

AuntJanewasmymother’seldersister.

Youcanalsosay:

Shewastheelderofmymother’stwosisters.

Eldercannotbefollowedbythan.Oldercanbeusedinsteadofelderbutitcanalsobeusedofthingsaswellaspeople,asin:

Ipreferolderhouses.

Oldercanbefollowedbythan,asin:

Theircarisevenolderthanmine.

enquiry/inquiryThewordsenquiryandinquirycanbeusedinterchangeablyinBritishEnglish,although inquiry is the standard form in American English. Some people,however,prefertouseenquiryinBritishEnglishtorefertoanordinaryrequestforinformation,asin

Oneofthelibrarystaffwilldealwithyourenquiry.

Inquiryisusedforaformalinvestigationofsomekind,asin:

Policeareinterviewinghimaspartofamurderinquiry.

envelope/envelopThesewordslookquitealikebuttheyarepronounceddifferentlyandtheyhavedifferentmeanings.Theemphasisisonthefirstsyllableofthenounenvelope,whichisafoldedpapercontainerinwhichyousendaletterorcard,asin:

Ineedanenvelopeforthisbirthdaycard.

Theemphasisisonthesecondsyllableofenvelop,whichisaverbmeaning‘toencloseorsurround’,asin:

Thegrandmotherenvelopedhergrandsoninabighug.

Notethatthepasttenseandpresentparticipleoftheverbenveloparespeltwithasinglep,asinenvelopedandenveloping.

–essSeeChapter6,–ess.

everyday/everydayWhenthisexpressionisusedtomean‘daily’itisspeltastwowords,asin:

Shegoestothegymatleastonceeveryday.

It is spelt as one word when it is used as an adjective to mean ‘completelyordinary’,asin:

It’saniceenougheverydaydressbutIwantsomethingspecialtowearforthewedding.

Perhaps under the influence of such expressions as any more/anymore, thedistinctionbetweeneveryday andeveryday is beginning to fade slightly and

everyday isbeginningtobeusedforbothmeanings.However, thereisquitealongway to go before this is declared correct and acceptable and itwillmeetmanyprotestsalongtheway.

everyone/everybody/nooneSeeChapter1,everyone/everybody/noone.

extant/extinctThe adjectives extant and extinct are opposites. Extant means ‘still inexistence’,asin:

Thesearesomeofthetraditionsextantintheareaaroundhere.

Extinctmeans‘nolongerinexistence’,asin:

Therearequiteafewtheoriesaboutwhydinosaursbecameextinct.

extrovert/extravert/introvertExtravert is the original spelling but extrovert is now the more commonspelling.

Extrovert refers to someonewho ismoreconcernedwithwhat isgoingonaround them thanwith their own thoughts and feelings, andmore particularlysomeonewhoislively,confidentandsociable,asin:

Ourfirsttwoguestsarebothextrovertssotheyshouldgetthepartyofftoagoodstart.

Theoppositeisintrovertwhichreferstosomeonewhoispreoccupiedwiththeirown thoughts and feelings, particularly someone who is withdrawn andunsociable,asin:

He’sanintrovertwhoprefershisowncompanytothatofother

people.

farther/furtherBothfartherandfurthercanbeusedtorefertophysicaldistance,asin:

Thehotelismuchfartherfromthecitycentrethanweweretold.

Myhouseisabitfurtherdownthisroad.

However,onlyfurtherisusedinothersenses,asin:

Thepoliceofficersaidthathewouldtakenofurtherquestionsfrommembersofthepress.

Theverbformisalsoalwaysfurther,asin:

Therebelsvowedtofurtherthecauseoffreedom.

female/lady/womanSeelady/woman/femaleinChapter6.

femaleasanounSeefemaleasanouninChapter6.

fewer/lessFewer,thecomparativeformoffew,means‘asmallernumberof’,asin:

Fewerstudentsthanusualhavesignedupforthiscourse.

Less,thecomparativeformoflittle,means‘asmalleramountthan’,asin:

Tellthechildrentomakelessnoise.

It is becoming common, especially in informal contexts, to use less in many

caseswherefeweriscorrect,althoughthisuseisungrammaticalandshouldbeavoidedinformalcontexts.

first/firstlyWhenmentioningitemsinalistthefirstitemmaybeprecededbyeitherfirstlyorfirst,asin:

Thereareseveralreasonsformyrefusaltogo:firstly/firstIammuchtoobusytoattend…

Formerlyfirstlywasconsideredunacceptableinthiscontext.

fluFormerly thiswordwasprecededbyanapostropheandspelt’flu.Thiswas toshow that theword isa shortened formof influenza,but theapostrophe isnolongercommonlyused.Thelongform,influenza,isonlyusedinveryformalortechnicalcontexts.

forbear/forebearThe verb forbear is pronouncedwith the stress on the second syllable and itmeans‘torefrainfromdoingsomething’.Itismostlyusedinformalcontexts,asin:

Ishallforbearfrompunishingthestudentsinthecircumstances.

Thenoun forebear is pronouncedwith the stress on the first syllable and canalsobespeltforbear.Itisusedtorefertoanancestor,asin:

Someofourforebearsprobablylivedintheseruins.

forever/foreverThe two-word version of this expression is often used to emphasize that

somethingisforalltime,asin:

Hesaidhewouldloveherforever.

Inthesenseof‘continuallyorwithoutstopping’theexpressionisusuallywrittenasoneword,asin:

Thechildisforeveraskingforsweets.

fortuitous/fortunateSeeChapter1,fortuitous/fortunate.

forward/forwardsInBritishEnglishforward isusedasanadjective,asinaforwardmotionandsome forward planning is required. Forward and forwards can be used asadverbs, meaning ‘towards the front’, as in step forward andmove forwards.However, in idiomatic phrasal verbs such asput forwardamotion andaskingwitnessestocomeforward,thewordforwardsisnotused.

gaol/jailseejail/gaol

gaySeeChapter1,gay.

gipsy/gypsyBoth these spellings are acceptable, although some people object to thiswordhoweveritisspelt,regardingitasoffensive.Itisacceptedbysomewhenspeltwith a capital as inGypsy.An alternativeword isTraveller, although this isoftenusedtorefertoawiderrangeofpeoplethanGypsieswhoareRomanyinorigin,including,forexample,IrishTravellers.Theapprovedmodernalternative

preferredbymanyinEuropeisRoma.

girlSeeChapter6,Girl.

gorilla/guerrillaseeguerrilla/guerilla/gorilla

got/gottenSeegot/gotten(see1).

gourmet,gourmandThese twowordsaresometimesconfused.Theyarebothconnectedwithfood,butthewordgourmet isacomplimentary termusedtodescribesomeonewholikesfoodandwhoisknowledgeableaboutit.

Agourmandalsolikesfood,butisconcernedwiththeamountofitthatcanbeeaten,ratherthanwiththequalityofit.Gourmandmeansmuchthesameasglutton,butdoesnotsoundsoinsulting!

guerrilla/guerilla/gorillaThesewordsareoftenpronouncedinthesamewayalthoughtheyarespeltquitedifferentlyandhavecompletelydifferentmeanings.

Guerrilla,whichhasthealternativespellingguerilla,meansamemberofasmallunofficialgroupoffighters,asin:

Thesoldiersweresetuponbyabandofguerrillasinthemountainpass.

GorillaisthenameforthelargestoftheapesnativetocentralAfrica,asin:

Thehabitatofsomegorillaspeciesisbeingdestroyed.

gypsy/gipsyseegipsy/gypsy

hanged/hungSeehanged/hung(see1).

heal/heelSeeheal/heel.

heandhimSeeChapter1,heandhim(see2).

hear/hereSeehear/here.

hire/rentSeehire/rent.

hisandtheirSeeChapter1,hisandtheir(see2).

historic/historicalSeeChapter1,historic/historical.

hoard/hordeThese words are homophones since they sound alike but have differentmeanings.Hoardisanounmeaning‘astoreorcollectionofsomething’,asin:

Shewassupposedtobeonastrictdietbutshekeptahoardof

chocolatebarsinherbedroom.

Horde isadisapprovingwordusedtorefertoaverylargegroupofpeople,asin:

Theresortisarestfulplaceinthewinterbuthordesoftouristsflocktoitinthesummer.

holiday/vacationseevacation/holiday

hung/hangedseehanged/hung

hyper–/hypo–Theseprefixesare liable tobeconfused.Although theysoundsimilar theyareoppositeinmeaning.

Hyper–means‘above’,‘over,’or‘inexcess’,asin:

Thechildwassaidtobehyperactive.

Hypo–means‘under’,‘beneath’,asin:

Shehastoinjectinsulinwithahypodermicsyringe.

Hypothermiaisamedicalconditioninwhichthebodytemperatureismuchlowerthannormal.

i.e./e.g.seee.g./i.e.

illegible/eligibleThesetwowordsare liable tobeconfused,mainlybecausetheysoundsimilar,buttheyhaveentirelydifferentmeanings.

Illegiblemeans‘impossibletoread’,asin:

IhopehetypestheinformationIaskedforbecausehishandwritingisvirtuallyillegible.

Eligiblemeans‘suitable’or‘havingtherightqualifications’,asin:

Shewaspleasedtofindoutthatshewaseligibleforascholarship.

illusion/delusionseedelusion/illusion

immigrant/emigrantThesewordsare liable tobeconfused.This isquiteunderstandableas the twowordscanrefertothesameperson,lookedatfromtwodifferentviewpoints.Thewordimmigrantconcentratesonpeoplearrivinginanewland,asin:

ThereweremanyIrishimmigrantsinAmericafollowingthepotatofamineinIreland.

Thewordemigrantconcentratesonpeopleleavingtheirnativeland,asin:

ManyoftheIrishpeoplewholefttheirnativeshorewerereluctantemigrants,buttheytravelledtoBritainandAmericatoavoidstarvation.

immoral/immortalSeeimmoral/immortal.

imply/inferImplymeans‘tosuggestsomethinginanindirectway’,asin:

Hedidn’tactuallyaccusethestudentofcheatingoutright,butheimpliedit.

Infermeans‘todeducesomething’or‘toconcludethatsomethingistrue’,asin:

Weinferredfromthereportthatthehospitalwasalmostcertaintoclose.

Nowadaysinferisoftenusedwhenthecorrectwordisimply,asin:

Heinferredthathewouldbeleavingthejobshortly.

Thisisincorrectandshouldread:

Heimpliedthathewouldbeleavingthejobshortly.

impracticable/impractical/practicable/practicalThewordsimpracticableandimpracticalaresimilarinmeaning,buttheyarenotinterchangeable.

Impracticablemeans‘notabletobeputintopractice’or‘unworkable’,asin:

Hepersuadedseveralpeoplethattheschemewasagoodideabutitwassoexpensivethatitwascompletelyimpracticable.

Impracticalmeans‘notsensible’or‘unrealistic’,asin:

Hehascomeupwithvariousmoney-makingideasbutallofthemareimpractical.

Practicableandpracticalarethepositiveformsofthesewords,asin:

Doyouthinkitispracticabletobuildahousehalfwayupamountain?

Atwo-seatercarlikethat’snotverypracticalwhenyouhavetwochildren.

indexes/indices

Thenounindexhas twopossibleplural forms, indexesand indices.Thewordindexesistheusualpluralforminmostcontexts,asin:

Herjobistocompileindexesforreferencebooks.

Thewordindicesismostlyrestrictedtotechnicalormathematicalcontexts.

individualThe word individual means ‘a person’, but it can only be used in certaincontexts. Individual is often used in a context in which a single person iscontrastedwithagroup,asin:

Wemustgivesomethoughttotherightsoftheindividualaswellasconcerningourselveswiththenationasawhole.

Thewordindividualissometimesusedinaderogatoryorinsultingway,asin:

ShewasverynicebutIalwaysthoughtherhusbandwasamostunpleasantindividual.

industrial/industriousSeeindustrial/industrious.

infectious/contagiousseecontagious/infectious

infer/implyseeimply/infer

inflammable/flammable/non-flammableThetwowordsinflammableandflammablebothmean‘capableofburning’or‘easilysetonfire’,asin:

Children’snightclothesshouldnotbemadeof

inflammable/flammablematerial.

It is a common error to think that inflammable means the opposite, i.e. ‘notcapableofburning’,becausein–words,areoftennegative,asinincredible,butthewordforthisisnon-flammable.

ingenious/ingenuousThesewords are frequently confused although they are neither spelt the samewaynorpronouncedthesamewayandtheirmeaningsareentirelydifferent.Theeofthewordingeniousispronouncedlikethedoubleeinthewordseen,whiletheeofthewordingenuousispronouncedliketheeinthewordegg.

As to meaning, ingenious means ‘clever, especially in an inventive orunusualway’,asin:

She’sabrilliantcookandfindsagreatmanyingeniouswaystouseupleft-overfood.

Ingenuousmeansnaïveorinnocent,asin:

Hislatestgirlfriendisveryyoungandtooingenuoustorealizethatheisarealwomanizer.

–ise/–izesee–ize/–ise

isle/aisleseeaisle/isle

its/it’sThesetwolittlewordsareamongthemostoftenconfused.Itsisthepossessiveformofitandsoitisusedinsuchcontextsas:

Thedoghasinjureditspaw.

Theholidayresorthaslostitsappealforthem.

Notethatitsinthiscontextdoesnothaveanapostrophealthoughanapostropheisoftenusedtoshowpossession.

However,thereisanapostropheinit’s,whichisacontractionofitis,asin:

It’s(itis)difficulttofindadecentrestaurantaroundhere.

It’s(itis)gettinglateandit’s(itis)timeIwasgettinghome.

–ize/–iseEitheroftheseverbendingsiscorrectinBritishEnglish,withafewexceptions.InAmericanEnglish the–izeending is thestandardspellingandmanyBritishEnglishdictionariesandreferencebooksalsousethisspelling.

However,aslongasBritishEnglishusersareconsistentintheiruseof–izeor–iseitusuallydoesnotmatterwhichtheyuse.NotethattherearesomewordsinBritish English where the –ize spelling should not be used. These includeadvertise,advise, chastise, comprise, compromise, exercise, improvise, revise,supervise,surmise,surpriseandtelevise.

jail/gaolBothoftheseareacceptablespellingsofthewordfor‘prison’,althoughjail isthemorecommonspelling.

jewellery/jeweleryBothof theseareacceptablespellings inBritishEnglish,althoughjewellery isthe more common spelling. In American English jewelery is the standardspelling.

judgement/judgment

Bothoftheseformsareconsideredacceptable.Judgement ismorecommoninBritishEnglish,andjudgmentismorecommoninAmericanEnglish.

lady/woman/femaleSeeChapter6,Lady/woman/female(see1).

lay/lieThesewordscancauseconfusion.Notonlyare theirmeaningsrelated,but thepasttenseofthewordlieislay.Thisis,indeed,arecipeforconfusion!

The verb lay takes a direct object and means ‘to put or place somethingdown’,asin:

Thedoctoraskedthemtolaytheinjuredmanonthestretcher.

Theverblie,whichgetsconfusedwiththeverblay,doesnottakeadirectobjectandmeans‘torestonsomethinginahorizontalposition’,asin:

Ifeelfaintandneedtolieonthesofa.

Thepasttenseoflayislaid,asin:

Welaidthebabyonthebed.

Thepasttenseoflieinthiscontextislay,asin:

Helayonthebed,groaningwithpain.

Thepastparticipleoflayislaid,asin:

Wehadlaidthebabyonthebed.

Thepastparticipleoflieislain,asin:

Thelionhadlaininwaitunnoticedbyitsprey.

Just to addmore confusion, there is another verb to lie which means ‘to telluntruths’. Fortunately, neither its past tense nor its past participle causes anyproblems,bothbeingformedregularlyaslied.

lead/leadSeelead/lead.

learn/teachThewordlearn issometimesusedwronglyinsteadofteach. Ifyouaregivinginformationorinstructionaboutsomethingtosomeoneyouteachthem,asin:

SheteachesEnglishtoSpanishstudents.

When you are gaining information or knowledge or getting instruction aboutsomethingyoulearnsomething,asin:

TheFrenchstudenthasgonetolivewithafamilyinLondoninordertolearnEnglish.

lend/loanThewordlendisusedasaverbandmeans‘togivesomeonethetemporaryuseof’,asin:

I’msurehe’lllendyouthebookwhichyouneedforyourhomeworkassignment.

TheverbloaniscommonlyusedinAmericanEnglishintheabovecontext,butin British English loan is mostly used with reference to the lending ofreasonablylargesumsofmoney,valuableworksofart,etc,asin:

Thebankhasagreedtoloanusthemoneytostartournewbusiness.

Lendisalsocommonlyusedinthiscontext.Thewordloanisalsousedasanoun,asin:

Wehavetorepaythebankloanbytheendoftheyear.

It isnotcorrectEnglish touse lend asanoun,althoughsomepeopledoso ininformalcontexts.

less/fewerseefewer/less

libel/slanderBothlibelandslanderarenounsthatrefertountruestatementsintendedtogivepeopleabadopinionofsomeone.

Inlibelsuchstatementsarewrittendownorprinted,asin:

Sheissuingthenewspaperonthegroundsoflibelsinceoneoftheirreporterswronglyaccusedherofbeingdrunkanddisorderlyinanightclub.

Inslanderthestatementsarespoken,asin:

Sheisguiltyofslanderifshetoldyouthathedesertedhiswifeandchildren.He’snotevenmarried.

Bothlibelandslandercanalsobeusedasverbs.

licence/licenseThesewordsareoftenwronglyused.InBritishEnglishlicenceisanoun,asin:

ThepoliceofficeraskedtoSeehisdrivinglicence.

Theshopkeeperhasappliedforalicencetosellalcohol.

Notethespellingofoff-licence,whichisanounreferringtopremisesintheUK

whereyoucanbuybottlesorcansofalcoholicdrinkstotakeaway.Licenseisaverb,asin:

Theorganizersoftheeventarenotlicensedtosellalcohol.

The past participle form licensed is often used as an adjective, as in licensedgrocerandlicensedrestaurantandthisisoftenwronglywrittenaslicenced.InAmerican English things are simpler because both the noun and the verb arespeltlicense.

loan/lendseelend/loan

lose/loser/loose/looserThewordsloseandloosearesometimesconfusedalthoughtheyareneitherspeltinthesamewaynorpronouncedinthesameway.Loseisspeltwithonlyoneoandispronouncedtorhymewithwhose,whilelooseisspeltwithdoubleoandispronouncedtorhymewithgoose.

Loseisaverbmeaning‘tobeunabletofindsomething’asin:

Ifyouloseyourcreditcardyoushouldringyourbankrightaway.

Itcanalsomean‘tofailtowin’,asin:

Ifyoulosethismatchyou’llbeoutofthecompetition.

A loser is someone who fails to win, although it is often used to refer tosomeonewhoneverseemstowinorbesuccessfulinlifeingeneral,asin:

Howdidsuchasuccessfulbusinesswomancometomarrysuchaloser?

Looseisanadjectivemeaning‘nottight’,asin:

She’slostsomeweightandherclothesarenowabitloose.

Ifsomethingislooserthanitwasbeforeitisnotsotightorclose-fitting.

–manSeeRemoving–maninChapter6.

mankindSeeIsmankindnomore?inChapter6.

masterly/masterfulTheseadjectivesarebothderivedfromthenounmasterbuttheyhavedifferentmeanings.

Masterlymeans‘veryskilful’,asin:

Theaudienceapplaudedamasterlyperformancebytheorchestra.

Masterfulmeans‘showingstrengthordominance’,asin:

Hethoughthewasbeingmasterful,butshethoughthewasbeingabully.

metre/meterThesewords are liable tobe confused. InBritishEnglish ametre is thebasicmetric measurement of length, being also used in such derived forms askilometreandmillimetre.

Meterisameasuringinstrument,asingasmeter,speedometer.Note that in American English both the measurement and the measuring

intrumentsarespeltmeter.

migrantAmigrantissomeonewhotravelsfromoneplaceorcountrytoanother,oftenin

ordertotrytofindwork,asin:

ThefarmeremployedseveralmigrantsfromeasternEurope.

Migrantcanalsobeusedasanadjective,asinmigrantworkers.Itisalsousedfrequentlytorefertobirdstravellingfromplacetoplaceaccordingtotheseasonoftheyear,asin:

SwallowsaremigrantstoBritainduringthesummermonths.

Migrant is liable to be confused with immigrant and emigrant. Seeimmigrant/emigrant.

minute/minuteSeeminute/minute.

misuse/abuseseeabuse/misuse(see1)

momentary/momentousThese two adjectives are both derived from the nounmoment, but they areconnectedwithdifferentmeaningsofmoment.Thestressonmomentaryisonthefirstsyllableandthestressonmomentousisonthesecondsyllable.

Momentarycomesfromthecommon‘time’meaningofmoment,i.e.‘averyshorttime’,anditmeans‘lastingaveryshorttime’,asin:

Thechessplayerhadamomentaryfailureofconcentration,butthenhebegantoplaybetterthanever.

Momentouscomesfromalesscommonmeaningofmoment,i.e.‘importance’or ‘significance’, and means ‘very significant or having far-reachingconsequences’,asin:

Itwasamomentousdecisiontoinvadeanothercountry,andone

thatthepresidentwastoregret.

moral/moraleAlthough these words are pronounced in different ways and have totallydifferent meanings the fact that they look quite alike makes them easilyconfused.

Moralismostcommonlyanadjectiveandmeans‘referringtotheprinciplesofrightandwrong’,asin:

Theirmotherisaverymoralpersonandyetbothhersonsarecriminals.

Hehadamoralresponsibilitytolookafterthechildreninhiscare.

Moralasanounisusedtorefertoalessononhowtobehaveoract,oftenonewhichyoulearnfromreadingastory,asin:

ThereisoftenamoralinthestoriesfromAesop’sFables.

Morale refers to howmembers of a group are feeling and the extent of theirconfidenceandoptimism,asin:

Aftertheirelectionvictory,moraleinthepoliticalpartyisatanall-timehigh.

nauseousSeeChapter1,nauseous.

next/thisTheadjectivenextinoneofitssensesisusedtorefertothedayoftheweek,themonthoftheyear,etc,thatwillfollow,asin:

I’llSeeyounextTuesday.

The adjective this can also be used in this way and this can give rise toambiguity.Forexample,somepeopleusethistorefertotheverynextTuesday,reservingnext for theTuesdayafter that.Othersusenext forboth. Inorder toavoid this ambiguity it is best to specify exactly what day or date you arereferringto.

non-flammableseeflammable/inflammable

obscene/pornographicThese words are not interchangeable, although they are both often used ofliteraturethatisofasexualnatureandcangiveoffence.

Obscenemeansconnectedwith sex inaway that is considered indecentoroffensiveaccordingtousualstandards,asin:

Thewomenwereshockedbytheobscenegraffitionthebusshelter.

Obscene is now frequently used loosely to mean ‘disgusting’, ‘repulsive’ or‘abominable’incontextsthathavenothingtodowithsex,asin:

Somepeoplefeelthatseniorexecutivesinbankingsometimesearnanobsceneamountofmoney.

Pornographic is used of magazines, films, etc, that are intended to arousesexual excitement, often by showing sexual acts and imagery which manypeoplefindoffensive.Notethelettercinobscene.Thewordisoftenmisspelt.

of/haveOf is sometimes used wrongly instead of the verb have in certain contexts,perhaps because they sound rather alike when not emphasized or pronouncedclearly.Towriteorsayshouldofcomeinsteadofshouldhavecomeormustofdone insteadofmusthavedone isbecomingmoreandmorecommonbut it is

stillconsideredwrong.

off/fromThewordoff is used by some people instead of from in certain contexts, forexamplewhentheywishtoindicatewheretheyacquiredsomething,asin:

Icertainlywouldn’tbuyasecond-handcaroffhim.

Thisuseisincorrectandshouldbeavoided,especiallyinformalcontexts.

off+ofSomepeoplewronglyuseofffollowedbyofwhenonlyoffisnecessary,asin:

Thecatjumpedoffofthetableandranoutthedoor.

older/elderseeelder/older

one/youseeyou/one

oral/aural(see1)Thesewordsareliabletobeconfused.Thisisnotsurprisingbecausetheysoundthesameandtheybothrefertopartsofthebodyinvolvedincommunication.

Aural means ‘relating to the sense of hearing’. For example, in an auralcomprehension test the test is read out to the students so that they have tounderstanditthroughhearingbeforeansweringthequestions,usuallyinwriting.Thewordauralcanalsorefertotheear,butusuallyonlyintechnicalorformalcontexts.

Oralmeans ‘referring tospeech’. Inanoral test thequestionsandanswersare all spoken.Oral is also used tomean ‘referring to themouth’, as inoralhygiene.

oral/verbalseeverbal/oral

orientate/orientBothoftheseformsareconsideredacceptableinBritishEnglishinthesenseof‘togetyourbearings’,althoughorientateisthemorecommonlyused,asin:

Themistwascomingdownanditwasbecomingincreasinglydifficulttoorientatethemselvesonthemountainslopes.

InAmericanEnglishthestandardformisorient.

outdoor/outdoorsThese words refer to the same thing, but they are different parts of speech.Outdoorisusedasanadjective,asin:

Theytrytopersuadetheirchildrentogetinvolvedinoutdoorsportsattheweekendandduringtheholidays.

Outdoorsisusedasanadverb,asin:

It’snotoftenwarmenoughtoeatoutdoorsinthisclimate.

outward/outwardsThese words both mean ‘towards the outside’, but they are not generallyconsidered to be interchangeable in British English.Outward is used as anadjective,asin:

Thetrainontheoutwardjourneywasverylate,butitwasontimeonthewayback.

Outwardsisusedasanadverb,asin:

Thedancersstoodwiththeirtoespointingoutwards.

InAmericanEnglishoutwardcanbeusedbothasanadjectiveandanadverb.

partnerSeePartnersorwhat?inChapter6.

passed/pastThesewordssoundalikeandarehomophoneswhichareliabletobeconfused.

Thewordpassedisthepasttenseandpastparticipleoftheverbpass,asin:

Wepassedtheschoolonourwayhere.

Thewordpastcanbeanoun,asin:

Youmusttrytoforgetthepast.

Itcanbeanadjective,asin:

Heseemstohaveforgottenallabouthispastcrimes.

Pastcanalsoactasapreposition,asin:

Wemusthavedrivenpastthechurchwithoutnoticingit.

Itcanbeanadverb,asin:

Ilookedoutofthewindowandsawthemwalkingpast.

personSeeChapter6,Person.

persecute/prosecuteSeepersecute/prosecute.

phenomenon/phenomenaPeople often use phenomena wrongly as a singular noun when it isphenomenonthatisthesingularform,asin:

Therehavebeenmanyreportsofthephenomenonthatappearedintheskylastnightbutastronomersarestillbaffledbyit.

pornographic/obsceneseeobscene/pornographic

practicable/practicalseeimpracticable/impractical

practice/practiseThesewordsareliabletobeconfusedandusedwrongly.Practiceisanoun,asin:

HegoestofootballpracticeafterschoolonTuesdays.

Unfortunatelyourdoctorhasmovedtoanewpracticeinanothertown.

Somemembersofthecompanywereinvolvedinillegalpractices.

Practiseistheverbform,asin:

Theypractiseplayingthepianoeveryday.

Heisnotqualifiedtopractisemedicineinthiscountry.

NotethatpractiseisnotoneofthoseverbsinEnglishthatcanendin–ize.NotealsothatinAmericanEnglishboththenounandverbformsarespeltpractise.

precede/proceedThesewordsarecommonlyconfused.Thewordprecedemeans‘togoorcomeinfrontofsomeoneorsomething’,asin:

Thestaffandsixth-yearstudentsprecededtherestoftheschoolintotheassemblyhall.

Themaintextofthebookwasprecededbyashortbutinformativeintroduction.

WhoprecededDavidCameronasprimeminsterofBritain?

Thewordproceedmeans‘togoon’or‘tocontinue’,asin:

Theydidnotproceedwiththechanges.

Italsomeans‘tomakeyourway’or‘togo’,asin:

YoushouldproceedtoGate4immediately.

prescribe/proscribePrescribe is themore common of these two words andmeans ‘to advise’ or‘ordertheuseof’,ofteninamedicalcontext,asin:

Thedoctorprescribedamildsleepingpillforthepatient.

Heprescribedafewdaysofcompletebedrestformychild.

Proscribeisusedinformalcontextstomean‘toforbid’,asin:

Thelawproscribedthecarryingofknives.

principal/principleThesetwowordsarepronouncedin thesamewaybutarespeltdifferentlyandhavedifferentmeanings.

Principalasanadjectivemeans‘chieformain’,asin:

Herprincipalsourceofincomeischild-minding.

Boredomwastheprincipalreasonforhimleavinghisjob.

Principalasanounreferstotheheadorleader,asin:

Theprincipaloftheseniorschoolmetwiththeparents.

Principleisanounmeaning‘alaw’,‘abasicprinciple’or‘aguidingrule’,asin:

Itwasagainstherprinciplestoeatmeat.

Theresearchmustbeprovedtoconformwithscientificprinciples.

prostrate/prostateThesetwowordsareoftenconfused.Prostrateasanadjectivemeans‘lyingonthegroundfacingdownwards’,asin:

Thevictimoftheattackwaslyingprostrateattheentrancetothepark.

Itcanalsomean‘overcome’or‘shocked’,asin:

Shewasprostratewithgriefwhensheheardofherson’ssuddendeath.

Prostrate can alsobe a verbmeaning ‘to throwyourself on theground, as insubmission’,asin:

Theywereobligedtoprostratethemselvesbeforethetyrannicalpresidenteverymorning.

Prostateisanounwhichreferstotheglandroundtheneckofaman’sbladder,asin:

Heisbeingtreatedforprostatecancer.

queerSeeChapter1,queer.

queue/cueseecue/queue

rain/reign/reinSeerain/reign/rein.

rapt/wrappedThese words are sometimes confused because they sound alike. Rapt is anadjectivemeaning‘completelyengrossedinsomething’,asin:

Thechildrenwatchedwithraptattentionwhilethemagicianperformedhistricks.

Wrappedisthepasttenseoftheverbwrapmeaning‘toenfold’or‘tocover’,asin:

Shewrappedthegiftintissuepaper.

Itisthemorefigurativeuseofwrappedthatismostlikelytobeconfusedwithrapt,asin:

Shewasfartoowrappedupinlookingafterherfamilytowanttogoouttowork.

–right/rite/write/wrightSeeright/rite/write/wright.

Scottish/Scots/ScotchThese adjectives all mean ‘of or relating to Scotland’. However, they are notinterchangeable.Scottish is themost general of these adjectives and it can beusedinawiderangeofcontexts,asin:

BothhergrandparentscamefromScotlandandsheisveryinterestedinScottishculture.

HepaintswatercoloursoftheScottishlandscape.

TheadjectiveScots tendstoberestrictedtodescribingpeople, languageor thelaw,asinadictionaryoftheScotslanguageandinScotslaw.

ThenounScotsisusedtorefertoapersonwhocomesfromScotland,asin:

ManyScotsemigratedtoCanada.

ThenounScotsisalsousedtorefertotheScotslanguage,asinwritinginScots.Scotch is the least general of the three adjectives, being restricted to a few

contextssuchasScotchbroth,Scotchmistand, themost famousofall,Scotchwhisky.Scotch canalsobeusedasanoun tomean ‘Scotchwhisky’, althoughthisuseisnotcommoninScotlandwherewhiskyissimplywhisky.

seasonal/seasonableThesewordsarebothadjectivesformedfromthenounseason.Seasonalmeans‘relating to a particular season’, ‘occurring during a particular season’ or‘varyingwiththeseasons’,asin:

Thesteakisservedwithseasonalvegetables.

Farmworkisusuallyseasonalinthatarea.

Seasonablemeans‘suitablefororappropriatetoaparticularseason’,asin:

Theweatherthissummerhasnotbeenveryseasonable.

shall/willseewill/shall(see1)

stationary/stationeryThese words sound alike and are often confused. The adjective stationarymeans‘standingstill’or‘notmoving’,asin:

Becauseofthetrafficjamtherewasalineofstationaryvehiclesalongtheentirelengthofthehighstreet.

The noun stationery refers to materials used in writing, such as paper,envelopes,pens,etc,asin:

Theonlyshopthatsellsstationeryhereisthevillageshopandithasaverylimitedstock.

Aneasywaytorememberthedifferencebetweenthewordsistokeepinmindthatstationeryissoldbyastationer,which,incommonwithwordslikebaker,endsin–er.

swallow/swallowSeeswallow/swallow.

swingeing/swingingTherearebothspellingandpronunciationproblemsconnectedwithswingeing,whichmeans‘extensiveandsevere’andisoftenusedinafinancialcontext,asin:

Governmentministersareproposingswingeingcutsinpublicspending.

Note the letter e which differentiates the word from swinging, the presentparticipleoftheverbswing.Swingeing,unlikeswinging, ispronouncedswin-jing.

systematic/systemicBoth these adjectives are connectedwith the noun system.Systematicmeans‘well-organizedandorderly’,asin:

Thepoliceconductedasystematicsearchofthehouseand

grounds.

Youneedtoestablishamoresystematicprocessforselectingnewstaff.

Systemicreferstoasystemandisamuchlesscommonwordsometimesusedinerrorforsystematic.Systemic isusedmainlyinscientificormedicalcontexts,asin:

Herillnessbeganwithaninfectedfingerbutithasdevelopedintoaserioussystemicdiseaseoftheblood.

that/whichThatandwhicharebothrelativepronouns.Thatcanbeusedtorefertopeopleorthings,asin:

ThereisthemanthatIwastalkingabout.

Thatpenwasveryexpensive.

Whereaswhichcanonlybeusedtorefertothingsoranimalsandnotpeople,asin:

Thecat,whichISeeeveryday,liveswithJohn.

Thatandwhichareoftenusedinterchangeablyasin:

ThisisthecakethatMarymade.

ThisisthecakewhichMarymade.

This is not necessarily consideredwrong, however, there is a distinction to bemade:thatdefines(itappears inarestrictiverelativeclause),andwhichgivesextra information (it appears inanon-restrictive relativeclause)and isusuallyprecededbyacomma.

Thecake,whichMarymadeforme,isdamaged.

TheboytoldmethathewasSpanish,whichiswhatIthoughtoriginally.

Therelativepronounwhocanbeusedinsteadofthattorefertopeople:

ThatistheboywhotoldmehewasSpanish.

theThe is thedefinite article. It is sometimespronounced theewhen it is used torefertosomeoneorsomethingthatisuniqueorofgreatimportance,asin:

Youmeanyou’vebeenonthe(thee)OrientExpress?

Avoidusingsuchexpressionsasthepoorandtheold,becauseitisinsultingtolumppeople together in thatway. It ignores the fact that they are individuals.Usepoorpeopleandolderpeopleinstead.

their/they’reThesewordshavesimilarpronunciationsandaresometimesconfused.Theirisapossessivepronounmeaning‘belongingtoorconnectedwiththem’,asin:

Theyhaveparkedtheircaratthestation.

They’reisshortfortheyare,asin:

They’reherenow.

They’retooyoungtolearntodrive.

there/theirThewordsthereandtheiraresometimesconfused.Theremeans‘inthatplace’,asinjustoverthere,andinsuchcontextsas:

Thereisanexcellentlibraryinthetown.

Their isapossessivepronounmeaning‘belongingtoorconnectedwiththem’,

asintheirclothesandtheirkindness.

this/nextseenext/this

to/tooThesewordsaresometimesconfused.Thewordto isusedasapreposition,asin:

I’mgoingtothesupermarket.

Toisalsousedwiththeinfinitiveofaverb,asin:

Theywanttoleave.

Thewordtoocanmean‘also’or‘aswell’,asin:

Youcancometoo.

Oritcanmean‘excessively’,asin:

Thisflatisfartooexpensiveforus.

toilet/loo/lavatoryToilet is themostwidelyusedof thesewords,although loo isbecomingmoreandmorewidelyused,especiallyinlessformalsituations.Thewordlavatoryismore formal but not often used nowadays.Toilet is usually foundon relevantsignsinpublicplaces.Therearemanyeuphemismsforthewordtoilet,suchasrestroom,smallestroom,littleboys’/littlegirls’roometc.Seebathroom.

toward/towardsThese two formsof the prepositionmeaning ‘in the direction of something orsomeone’, ‘close or closer to a point in time’ or ‘in relation to someone orsomething’ are interchangeable except that in British English towards is the

morecommonform,asinwalktowardsthemandtowardstheendoftheweek.InAmericanEnglishtowardisthemorecommonform,asincomingtoward

usandtowardtheendoftheweek.

town/cityseecity/town

tryto/tryandThesetwoexpressionsareofteninterchangeableinmodernusage,asin:

Let’strytogetthisfinishedtoday.

Let’stryandgetthisfinishedtoday.

Formerlytryandwasconsideredtobeunacceptableinallbutveryinformalorcolloquialcontexts,trytobeingtheacceptableform.Nowtryandisacceptableinallbutthemostformalwrittencontexts.

uninterested/disinterestedseedisinterested/uninterested(see1)

until/tillThesewordsmeanthesame,butuntiltendstobeusedinmoreformalcontextsandtillisusuallyusedinspeech.

up/uponThesewordsmeanthesame,butupontendstobeusedinmoreformalcontexts.

upward/upwardsIn British English upward is usually used as an adjective, as in the upwardescalator and upwards as an adverb, as in pointing upwards. In AmericanEnglishupwardisfrequentlyusedasanadverb.

vacation/holidayInBritishEnglishthewordholidayisingeneralcommonuse,asin:

TheyalwaysgotoFrancefortheirannualholiday.

InAmericanEnglish thewordvacation isused in thisway,as in theirannualvacation. InBritishEnglishvacation ismostly used to refer to university andcollegeholidays,asin:

Manystudentsworkinbarsintheirsummervacation.

VacationissometimesusedinBritishEnglishincommercialcontexts,asin:

Wespecializeinlong-haulvacations.

verbal/oralThere is a certain amount of ambiguity associated with the use of the wordverbal.Itcanmean‘expressedinwords’inwritingandinspeech,asin:

Shemadenoverbalcommentaboutthefoodalthoughshelookedatitwithdisgust.

However, verbal is often used to refer to something that is spoken and notwrittendown,asin:

Althoughwehadaverbalagreement,wedidn’tputanythinginwriting.

Ifyouarereferringtosomethingthatisspokenratherthanwritten,andifthereisany possibility of ambiguity from the context, it is best to use thewordoral,whichcanmean‘expressedinspeech’.Seeoral/aural(see1).

whisky/whiskeyBoth refer to the strong alcoholic drink made from grain. The usual British

Englishspellingiswhisky,especiallywhenthisismadeinScotland.TheIrishformofthedrinkisoftenspeltwhiskey,andwhiskeyisthecommonAmericanEnglishspellingofboththeScottishandIrishdrinks.

whom/whoThewordwhomisusedastheobjectofaverborpreposition,asin:

Whomdidhechooseashisassistant?

Towhomdidheleavehishouse?

Whereasthewordwhoisusedasthesubject,asin:

Whosaidthat?

However, in modern usagewho is increasingly being used instead ofwhom(except in very formal contexts) in situations where this is technicallyungrammatical,asin:

Whodidhechooseashisassistant?

Whodidheleavethehouseto?

whose/who’sThesewordssoundalikeandcauseagooddealofconfusion.Thewordwhosemeans‘ofwhom’or‘ofwhich’,asin:

Theemployeewhosewifehasjusthadababyhastakenpaternityleave.

Whosebikeisthis?

Thewordwho’sisshortforwhois,asin:

Who’sgivingtheafter-dinnerspeech?

Who’sthewomanwearingthebrightreddress?

will/shallThefuturetenseofverbsisformedbyusingwillorshall(see1),oracontractedformofthese,withtheinfinitiveformofthemainverb,asin:

Thenewshopwillopenforbusinessnextweek.

We’llstartworktomorrow.

Formerly, the verb shall was always used with I and we andwill with you,he/she/itandthey,asin:

Ishalldeliverthegoodstomorrow.

Shewillstartherdutiesnextweek.

Therewasanexceptiontothis.WillwasusedwithIandweandshallwasusedwiththeotherpersonalpronounswhenafirmintentionwasbeingexpressed,asin:

Believeme,Iwillfinishthisintime.

Mywifeshallhavethatdiamondnecklace,howevermuchitcosts.

Inmodernusageachangehasoccurred.Theverbwillisnowcommonlyusedinmostcontexts.

The word shall is sometimes used when questions are being asked orsuggestionsbeingmadewhentheserelatetotheimmediatesituation,asin:

ShallIproceed?

Shallwegetgoing?

Ininformalandrelativelyinformalcontextsthecontractedformisused,asin:

Who’llgofirst?

What’llyouhave?

woman/lady/femaleSeelady/woman/female(see2)inChapter6.

wrapped/raptseerapt/wrapped

you/oneBothofthepronounsyouandonecanbeusedtorefertoanindefinitepersonorpeopleingeneral.Youisthepronounyouwouldusemostoftenforthispurpose,asin:

Youneedtobookaseatwhenyoubuyyourtrainticket.

Youlearnaforeignlanguagemorequicklyifyouspendsometimeinthecountrywhereitisspoken.

Youmustbuyaticketbeforeyouboardthetrain.

Thepronounonewasusedformerlyintheseandothercontexts,asin:

Onemustguardagainstpickpocketsinthemarket.

Now,however,oneisusuallyrestrictedtoveryformalcontexts,asin:

EtiquettedemandsthatonemustcurtseywhenbeingintroducedtotheQueen.

your/you’reThesewordssoundalikeandtheyarecommonlyconfused.Thewordyourisapossessivepronounmeaning‘belongingtoorconnectedwithyou’,asin:

Iforgottogiveyouyourpenback.

Itwasdefinitelyyourmistake.

Thewordyou’reisshortforyouare,asin:

You’relookingverycheerfultoday.

You’rereallytooilltogotoworktoday.

9

PUTTINGITINWRITINGManyofususemobilephonestocommunicatewitheachother,whetherthisbeforsocialorbusinesspurposes.Whenwedoresorttousingthewrittenwordthisoftentakestheformoftexting.Becauseofthesmallscreensizeonwhichtextsare sent and received, texting tends tomake great use of abbreviations, oftenbasedon thesoundof individual lettersandnumbers.ThusB4means‘before’and CUl8r means ‘See you later’. There is even an abbreviation for theubiquitouscliché‘attheendoftheday’.Thisbecomes@TEOTD.

Thereisaconcernthattextingishavinganunfortunateeffectonthespellingofsomepeoplewhodonotcommunicateveryofteninamoreformalway,Thetruth is that fewer and fewer of us are regularly exchanging information bymeansofformalwrittencommunications.Herearesometipsjusttoremindyouhow‘toputitinwriting’:•Thinkbeforeyouwrite.Ifyourushstraightintoprintwithoutthinkingabout

whatyouwanttosay,youareliabletoramble.Thereisnothinglikeapieceofunconstructedramblingtoputthereaderoff.

•Ifyouarewritingsomethingthatisparticularlyimportantwritedownafewnotesfirst.Thesehelpyoutomarshalyourthoughtsandwillactasguidelinesifatanypointyouforgetwhatyouweregoingtosay.

• Make sure that youhave spelt all thewords correctly.Remember that youcannot always relyonyour computer’s spell-checker. Itmight indicate thattherewascorrectinasituationwhenyoumeanttheir.

•Beconsistentwithyourspelling.Forexample,ifyouchoosetousethe–iseending in verbs instead of the –ize ending, be sure to use it in all relevantverbsthroughoutyourpieceofwriting.

• Do notmix up British English spelling andAmerican English spelling orBritish andAmerican vocabulary in one piece ofwriting. There aremajordifferencesbetweenthetwo.Youneedtooptforoneandsticktoit.

•Makesurethatyouhaveinsertedtheappropriatepunctuation.Remember,inparticular,tostartasentencewithacapitalletterandtoenditwithafullstop,questionmarkorexclamationmark.Useexclamationmarksverysparingly.Remembertoputapostrophesinthecorrectplace.

• If you include information that is additional to the main statement of asentence be sure to separate off the additional text by means of a pair ofcommas, a pair of brackets or a pair of dashes. Commas are the leastintrusive.Usedashessparinglyatalltimes.Itisverytemptingtooverdotheiruseandtheycanseemveryintrusive.

• Makesurethatyouhaveusedthecorrectword.Somewordsaresoalikeinsomeway that theyareeasilyconfused. It isworthchecking thatyouhavemadetherightchoice.

•Inaformalpieceofwritingdonotusecontractedformssuchasdon’t,isn’t,you’reandhe’ll.Usethefullforms,asindonot,isnot,youareandhewill.

• Avoid using clichés in a formal piece ofwriting.They have their place inspokenEnglishandininformalwrittenEnglish,but,eventhere,theyshouldnotbeoverused.

•Avoidusingcolloquialismsandslanginformalpiecesofwriting.•Avoidusingjargonunlessyouhappentobewritingtoaworkcolleagueorto

someonewhodoesthesamekindofworkasyoudo,inwhichcaseyouwillbothbefamiliarwiththejargonusedinyourworkplace.Donotinflictjargononotherswhomaynotbefamiliarwiththewordsortheirmeanings.

•Avoidusingwords,suchasepicandiconic,thatarealreadysoover-usedthattheyhavebecomevirtuallymeaningless.

•Donottrytobetoocleverinyourchoiceofwords.Forexample,theverbuseisfineinmostcontextsandyoudonothavetoseekoutsuchexpressionsasutilize or put into service. Avoid using difficult words that you might notknow themeaning of, especially if you are simply trying to impress. Youmightwellendupsoundingpompousratherthanimpressive.

• Avoidbeing long-winded.Aimforconcisenessandsimplicity,especially ifthe purpose of your piece of writing is to convey information. Your aimshouldbetomakeyourworkascomprehensibleandaccessibleaspossible.

•Keepyoursentencesandparagraphsreasonablyshortandclear.• If you are aiming to produce a piece of writing that is more stylish and

interesting than something that just conveys information, try adding somevariety. Vary the length of your sentences and introduce a range ofconjunctions.Donot stick solely to theuseofandandbut.Do not alwaysbeginyoursentenceswithamainclause.Rememberthatitisacceptablenowto have paragraphs of two sentences, or even one, if you are doing this toachieveaparticulareffect.

•Ifyouchoosetouseanidiommakesureyouhavegotthewordingright.Forexample,ifyouwanttousetheidiomashotacrossyourbows,whichmeans‘something given as a warning’, check that you have not used the wordboughs insteadof thewordbows inerror.Because idiomsareoftenusedinspoken English it is common not to know how to spell some of their keywords.Alsomakesureyouhavethemeaningcorrect.Someidiomsdevelopmore than one meaning and this can cause confusion. For example, thephrasegunningforsomeoneorsomethingoriginallymeant‘planningtoharmsomeone or something’. Now it can also mean ‘very anxious to achievesomething’,suchasaparticularjob.Thismeaningisnowthemorepopularandthiscancauseconfusion.

•Avoidredundantwords.Forexample,intheexpressionanecessaryrequisitetheadjectivenecessaryisredundantasthenounrequisitealreadycoversthenotionofbeingnecessary.This isalsocalledtautology, i.e. theuseofmorethanonewordtoconveythesameidea.

Ifyouhavetakenonboardthecontentsofthisbook,youshouldnowbearmedwith enough knowledge on the intricacies of English usage to write well andconfidently.Goodluck!

WEBSTER'SWORDPOWERBettyKirkpatrick,agraduateofEdinburghUniversity,hasalongcareerinreferencepublishing.ShehaseditedChambersTwentiethCentury Dictionary, Roget’s Thesaurus, the concise edition ofBrewer’s Phrase and Fable, and was language consultant to theEncartaWorldEnglishDictionary.Shehascompiledvariousotherreference books, including theOxford Paperback Thesaurus andtheBloomsburyDictionaryofClichés.Sheactsasaconsultant totheBloomsburyGoodWordGuide.Bettyisauthorofanextensivelistofpublicationsonvariousaspectsof theEnglish languageforlearnersofEnglish.

Published 2014 byGeddes&Grosset, an imprint of TheGreshamPublishingCompany Ltd., Academy Park, Building 4000, Gower Street, Glasgow, G511PR,Scotland,UK

TextbyBettyKirkpatrick

Copyright©2014TheGreshamPublishingCompanyLtd.

All rights reserved.Nopartof thispublicationmaybe reproduced, stored inaretrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,

mechanical,photocopying,recordingorotherwisewithout thepriorpermissionofthecopyrightholder.

ConditionsofSaleThisbookissoldwiththeconditionthatitwillnot,bywayoftradeorotherwise,be resold,hiredout, lent,orotherwisedistributedor circulated inany formorstyleofbindingorcoverotherthanthatinwhichitispublishedandwithoutthesameconditionsbeingimposedonthesubsequentpurchaser.

ISBNsPrint:978-1-84205-760-5epub:978-1-84205-786-5mobi:978-1-84205-816-9

ThisbookisnotpublishedbytheoriginalpublishersofWebster’sDictionaryorbytheirsuccessors.

Developed with the financial assistance of the Creative Scotland InnovationFund.

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