The American usage is to place a period after Mr., Mrs., Ms. and Dr.; the British do not (Mr Mrs Ms Dr).
Both British and American usage require a period if the abbreviation is a truncation - i.e., if it does not contain the last letter of the word (the r in Mr is the last letter of the word mister): e.g., Prof. Pres. Hon. Capt. Gen.
Showing posts with label Spelling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Spelling. Show all posts
Until and till
Both of these are subordinating conjunctions and prepositions and mean essentially the same thing. Neither is better than the other, though until seems to have more fans these days.
Till is not a poor cousin to the word until. It has its own dignity and history. Do not demean it by writing 'till or 'til as if it were a handicapped version of the longer word.
Till is not a poor cousin to the word until. It has its own dignity and history. Do not demean it by writing 'till or 'til as if it were a handicapped version of the longer word.
Flammable and inflammable
These two words mean exactly the same thing: liable to burst into flames.
Often the prefix in- indicates a negative, as in invulnerable, incapable, ineluctable, inorganic, inactive. But just as often, perhaps even more often, it does not: inculcate, inflatable, incubate, influence, insert.
For health and safety reasons, manufacturers have started using flammable rather than inflammable, lest some genius decide that a bottle of inflammable lighting fluid could not possibly explode and then sues them for his blistered face and incurable illiteracy.
Often the prefix in- indicates a negative, as in invulnerable, incapable, ineluctable, inorganic, inactive. But just as often, perhaps even more often, it does not: inculcate, inflatable, incubate, influence, insert.
For health and safety reasons, manufacturers have started using flammable rather than inflammable, lest some genius decide that a bottle of inflammable lighting fluid could not possibly explode and then sues them for his blistered face and incurable illiteracy.
Nobody, noone, no-one, no one
Nobody and no-one mean the same and are interchangeable. Choose whichever you prefer.
As for spelling the latter:
No-one is fine.
No one is also fine.
Noone is wrong.
None is a different word.
As for spelling the latter:
No-one is fine.
No one is also fine.
Noone is wrong.
None is a different word.
Lie v. lay
No-one gets these right. We need to start a petition to get rid of one or the other.
Let's start off with the obvious.
To lie, meaning to tell an untruth, is a regular verb, so its past tense is lied.
But that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about people in horizontal positions.
To lie (down), lay, lain is an intransitive verb. That is to say, it does not take an object. You do not lie someone or something. You simply lie down and close your eyes.
To lay, laid, laid is a transitive verb. It does take an object. It means to put down, place in a horizontal position. It also means to deposit an egg (if you're a hen) and to prepare the table (you lay a cloth over it, you see). So you lay down your weary head and close your eyes. You may also lay out a plan.
These would not be so damned confusing were it not that the present tense of the second transitive verb happens to be the same as the past tense of the first intransitive verb. Further confusion is added by the similarity of meaning.
If it helps, to "lay" a person is a rather vulgar way of saying to have sexual intercourse with - you place him or her in a horizontal position and...
Let's start off with the obvious.
To lie, meaning to tell an untruth, is a regular verb, so its past tense is lied.
But that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about people in horizontal positions.
To lie (down), lay, lain is an intransitive verb. That is to say, it does not take an object. You do not lie someone or something. You simply lie down and close your eyes.
To lay, laid, laid is a transitive verb. It does take an object. It means to put down, place in a horizontal position. It also means to deposit an egg (if you're a hen) and to prepare the table (you lay a cloth over it, you see). So you lay down your weary head and close your eyes. You may also lay out a plan.
These would not be so damned confusing were it not that the present tense of the second transitive verb happens to be the same as the past tense of the first intransitive verb. Further confusion is added by the similarity of meaning.
If it helps, to "lay" a person is a rather vulgar way of saying to have sexual intercourse with - you place him or her in a horizontal position and...
-t or -ed in past participle?
Once upon a time, several English past participles that now end in -ed used to end in -t
So we had: I kist a girl (and I liked it). I dropt the glass and curst my clumsiness. The referee stopt the fight.
Those are all gone now, but a few brave verbs hung on to the -t ending: crept, dealt, felt, kept, left, meant.
(By the way, these verbs are also called "strong" verbs, which is another way of saying "irregular". They are "strong" because, like Chuck Norris, they set their own rules).
Other verbs just couldn't make up their minds, and got stuck between regular and irregular (or "weak" and "strong", if you prefer) -- So you don't have to make up your mind either:
Bereaved or bereft
Burned or burnt
Dreamed or dreamt (the -t ending looks more British to me)
Kneeled or knelt (the -ed looks a bit weird, but that might just be me)
Leaned or leant (the -t ending looks more British to me)
Learned or learnt (the -t ending looks more British to me)
Spoiled or spoilt
Smelled or smelt
Spelled or spelt
Spilled or spilt.
It's hard to measure the popularity in print of these. My impression is that -ed is winning. You can check Google's ngram to see for yourself. Here, for example, is a graph showing the increasing popularity in print of spelled.
Ironic, isn't it, that it's difficult to spell the past tense of spell?
Quick rule: If in doubt, go for the -ed ending.
So we had: I kist a girl (and I liked it). I dropt the glass and curst my clumsiness. The referee stopt the fight.
Those are all gone now, but a few brave verbs hung on to the -t ending: crept, dealt, felt, kept, left, meant.
(By the way, these verbs are also called "strong" verbs, which is another way of saying "irregular". They are "strong" because, like Chuck Norris, they set their own rules).
Other verbs just couldn't make up their minds, and got stuck between regular and irregular (or "weak" and "strong", if you prefer) -- So you don't have to make up your mind either:
Bereaved or bereft
Burned or burnt
Dreamed or dreamt (the -t ending looks more British to me)
Kneeled or knelt (the -ed looks a bit weird, but that might just be me)
Leaned or leant (the -t ending looks more British to me)
Learned or learnt (the -t ending looks more British to me)
Spoiled or spoilt
Smelled or smelt
Spelled or spelt
Spilled or spilt.
It's hard to measure the popularity in print of these. My impression is that -ed is winning. You can check Google's ngram to see for yourself. Here, for example, is a graph showing the increasing popularity in print of spelled.
Ironic, isn't it, that it's difficult to spell the past tense of spell?
Quick rule: If in doubt, go for the -ed ending.
There v. their v. there
Please be careful with these. I am assuming that errors are the result of a temporary distraction by which the inner voice in your head causes the misprint. The same caution is needed for you're and your.
There - In that place
They're - They + are
Their - Belonging to them.
There - In that place
They're - They + are
Their - Belonging to them.
Doubling consonants
When do you double a consonant when adding -ing or -ed?
First of all, consider this:
mat but mate
cut but cute
mit but mite
bit but bite
sit but site
dot but dote
pet but Pete
pop but pope
As you can see, the effect of the final e is to lengthen the vowel that precedes it. It is as if the final e were not really a proper letter but a sort of delayed acute accent.
(I say "short" vowel [lit, hit, mop, cap] and "long" vowel [light, height, mope, cape], though the proper terms are, respectively, "open" and "closed" or "high" and "low" in reference to what your mouth and tongue are doing when pronouncing the vowel).
The problem is that when we drop the e before the suffixes -ing and -ed, how do we know how to pronounce the word? The solution is to double the consonant if you want to keep the preceding vowel short (open) and, conversely, not to double the consonant if you want to keep it long (closed) (i.e. if the original word ended with an e).
Thus we have mate-mating, but mat-matting (and matted). The double t tells you that the original sound was a short/open a.
Accordingly, cut becomes cutting, sit becomes sitting, dot becomes dotting or dotted, whereas dote becomes doting (what I hope your parents are with respect to you), and site becomes siting. Note becomes noting (no doubling of the t, therefore the o is long), and bite becomes biting.
This rule works for one-syllable words. With polysyllabic words, it becomes a little more difficult. Yet if you get this point clear, the rest follows quite easily.
Still, here's a teaser: Does combat becomes combatting or combating?
Well, for the British, the t needs to be doubled to keep the final a short, otherwise it is as if the original word were combate. For Americans, on the other hand, given that word has two syllables, you do not have to apply the double-consonant rule: it's obvious the original word was not combate, as no such word exists. The answer? Both are acceptable.
First of all, consider this:
mat but mate
cut but cute
mit but mite
bit but bite
sit but site
dot but dote
pet but Pete
pop but pope
As you can see, the effect of the final e is to lengthen the vowel that precedes it. It is as if the final e were not really a proper letter but a sort of delayed acute accent.
(I say "short" vowel [lit, hit, mop, cap] and "long" vowel [light, height, mope, cape], though the proper terms are, respectively, "open" and "closed" or "high" and "low" in reference to what your mouth and tongue are doing when pronouncing the vowel).
The problem is that when we drop the e before the suffixes -ing and -ed, how do we know how to pronounce the word? The solution is to double the consonant if you want to keep the preceding vowel short (open) and, conversely, not to double the consonant if you want to keep it long (closed) (i.e. if the original word ended with an e).
Thus we have mate-mating, but mat-matting (and matted). The double t tells you that the original sound was a short/open a.
Accordingly, cut becomes cutting, sit becomes sitting, dot becomes dotting or dotted, whereas dote becomes doting (what I hope your parents are with respect to you), and site becomes siting. Note becomes noting (no doubling of the t, therefore the o is long), and bite becomes biting.
This rule works for one-syllable words. With polysyllabic words, it becomes a little more difficult. Yet if you get this point clear, the rest follows quite easily.
Still, here's a teaser: Does combat becomes combatting or combating?
Well, for the British, the t needs to be doubled to keep the final a short, otherwise it is as if the original word were combate. For Americans, on the other hand, given that word has two syllables, you do not have to apply the double-consonant rule: it's obvious the original word was not combate, as no such word exists. The answer? Both are acceptable.
Capitalization
Here are some words you may not be capitalizing when you should:
.... and here are some words you are possibly capitalizing that you should not be:
- January and all the months.
- Monday and all the days
- Earth, Saturn, Venus and all the planets
- Rome, Athens, John, John Paul and all cities, place names and personal names
- A Freudian slip, a Shakespearean sonnet and all adjectives derived form proper names
- Coca Cola, Boeing, Pringles, Apple and all brand names
- Congress, Houses of Parliament, the Supreme Court and all institutes of state
- John Cabot University, Harvard, Columbia and all academic institutes
- The Titanic, the Queen Mary and named structures made by humans
- Italians, Irish, Indians, African, American and all epithets of race, including when used adjectivally (an English breakfast, an Indian summer)
- Catholicism, Protestantism, Islam, Confucianism and all religions
- Fifth Avenue, the Strand and all names of roads and streets
- The American Revolution, the Enlightenment, the Renaissance and all historical epochs
- The Middle East, the Far East, Lincolnshire, Cook County, County Cork and all geographical names
- Italy, France, Russia and all countries
.... and here are some words you are possibly capitalizing that you should not be:
- spring, winter, summer, fall, autumn, the equinox, the summer solstice
- the internet, the web, the dark web
- the euro, dollar, pound and all currencies
- north, south, east, west, north-west (unless referring to a specific, known geographical area such as Southeast Asia)
- the nineteenth, twentieth century and all other centuries
- the seventies, eighties and all other decades
- heaven, hell and wherever you're going after death
- hydrogen, helium, lithium and all the elements, including those named after a person
- the moon, the sun
- tuberculosis, autism and all conditions and diseases (but partly capitalize if named after a person (Hodgkin's disease)
- fir, larch, spruce, elm, maple (but Douglas fir), roses, daisies, ivy and all plants
- president, chairman, moderator, speaker, minister - unless they are used as part of the title. So we write, Obama is the president of the United States, but then President Obama.
Privilege
Thus is the word spelled. It has no d as in ledge or knowledge, and it contains an i and then another i. Not privelege or priviledge.
Discreet v. Discrete
The one you're looking for is probably discreet, meaning prudent, careful, quiet, judicious in action or presentation, unobtrusive.
Jeeves coughed discreetly. [A quiet cough, just enough to draw attention, not enough to embarrass anyone].
Discrete means distinct, separate, detached, made up of different parts.
Even though the USA and the UK are allies, they have discrete (different, not the same) global interests.
Jeeves coughed discreetly. [A quiet cough, just enough to draw attention, not enough to embarrass anyone].
Discrete means distinct, separate, detached, made up of different parts.
Even though the USA and the UK are allies, they have discrete (different, not the same) global interests.
Accommodation
This word doubles all the consonants it can. In this respect, it is the opposite of apartment, which, though a form of accommodation, is very mean with its consonants.
Effect v. Affect
(1)
Let's start with a rule of thumb: Affect is a verb; effect is a noun.
That movie really affected me (moved me emotionally).
Your policies will not affect the realities of the immigration crisis (influence).
His words had a great effect (impact) on my soul.
The effect of your policies has been to destroy all faith in government (result, impact).
(2)
Now, sadly, we must break that rule. But before we do, make sure it is clear in your mind.Effect is also a verb.
Damn. But its meaning is quite specific and its use is less common than affect. It means "to bring about" or "to cause to be" or "to carry out". Also, it will often be found in the company of the word "change", or "transformation", "escape", "feat" or "exit" - it contains the idea of doing something difficult (He effected a handbrake turn at 90 mph while clutching a cigarette with one hand and making rude gestures at the police with another) .
To effect real change, we need to take radical action (to bring about, make happen).
She effected her escape by digging a tunnel with her teeth (made happen, succeeded, caused, managed).
(3)
The dull, despairing spaced-out affect is symptomatic of student vocabulary anxiety.
But you need not really worry about this last one.
If confused, go back to the rule of thumb (1) above. It will stand you in good stead for many a year.
Your v. You're
Your is the personal pronoun, meaning belonging to you.
You're is the contracted form of you are.
Here's a trick: don't use contractions in your essays (I can because this is a blog and I'm your teacher), and you're should not present itself as a problem.
When I see you're for your or vice-versa, I don't actually faint from shock. I know it can happen to the best of us, because we often hear the words in our own minds when writing, and mixing one up with the other is a form of mispronunciation. But you sure as hell need to know the difference when asked.
You're is the contracted form of you are.
Here's a trick: don't use contractions in your essays (I can because this is a blog and I'm your teacher), and you're should not present itself as a problem.
When I see you're for your or vice-versa, I don't actually faint from shock. I know it can happen to the best of us, because we often hear the words in our own minds when writing, and mixing one up with the other is a form of mispronunciation. But you sure as hell need to know the difference when asked.
Than v. Then
Than is the word that goes with a comparison. He is taller than me.
Then is the temporal adverb. We ate cakes, then we went clubbing.
I don't know whether to put this under grammar-syntax, spelling or some special category for the utterly hopeless.
Then is the temporal adverb. We ate cakes, then we went clubbing.
I don't know whether to put this under grammar-syntax, spelling or some special category for the utterly hopeless.
Definitely
Definitely one of the more mysterious misspellings for me, this. There is no a in the word. Define-definite-definitive-definitvely. Nope, still no a.
Independence
Independence - it contains only e's after the initial i. It does not have an a anywhere. Likewise, dependence is all e's.
Dependance is a French word. This is English we are doing.
Dependance is a French word. This is English we are doing.
Ridiculous
That's how it is spelled. Not rediculous, or ridiculus or any other ridiculous variant such as might be seen in the comments section below a YouTube video.
Hyphens
Hyphens are a pain. They demand attention to hard-to-understand rules. They are hard to love.
James Joyce decided unilaterally to get rid of hyphens
altogether, but then he used them instead of inverted commas to indicate
speech. So he was no help, really. It would be nice if they went away, but they
won’t, so let’s deal with them.
The rule is this: if you are running two or more adverbs,
adjectives or nouns together to forge a single concept, then hyphenate them to
show that they belong together. Do this when the words are in the adjectival
position (before the noun).
So, you might say in reference to an unpleasant baby, a
hard-to-please, three-year-old, blue-faced, bad-tempered, spoilt little monster. But you would also say, Wow, that child is hard to please. In the second sentence, the
words are not melded into a single adjective; in the first, they are.
He is a soft-headed,
happy-go-lucky, exam-dodging student.
She is a
sweet-natured, hard-working, quick-thinking grammar queen.
You might justifiably say
that this is not a very
interesting topic, and I agree.
You might also say, pushing the limits of
style a little, that this is a
not-very-interesting topic.
Why? Because I changed the position of the
“not” (an adverb) in the sentence, making it, in the second, part of a (rather
awkward) adjectival phrase.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)