Common usage forms.docx

Common usage forms.docx

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Commonusageforms

COMMONUSAGEERRORS

ableto（abilityto）

NoonehasbeenabletoprovethatthepersonwhowroteShakespeare’splayswasnamedShakespeare.

accept/except:

Themeaningsareentirelydifferent;don’tletthesound-alikeconfuseyou.Acceptisaverb;exceptisaprepositionoraconjunction.

Iacceptyouroffer.（verb）

Iwouldgoexceptthatshedidn’tinviteme.（conjunction）EveryoneexceptStanleylovedthemovie.（preposition）

adapt/adopt

Adaptandadoptarebothverbs,butadaptmeanstomodifytofitorsuitsome（new）purposewhereasadoptmeanstoacceptandputintouseorpractice.

Theyadaptedthecoursetoappealtoforeignstudents.Sheadoptedhisproceduresforall,committeemeetings.Adaptedto/for/from

Adaptedtomeans“naturallysuitedfor.”Adaptedformeans“createdtobesuitedfor.”Adaptedfrommeans“changedtobesuitedfor.”

Thepolarbearisadaptedtothesubzerotemperatures.

Forany“NewOrder”tobesuccessful,itmustbeadaptedforthecontinuallychangingworldpowerstructure.

Lucas’latestreleaseisadaptedfromthe1950B-movie“AttackoftheAmazons.”

affect/effect:

Bothofthesewordscanbeusedasnouns,but,unlessyouareinthepsychologyfield,youwillseldomseeaffect（accentonthefirstsyllable）usedasanoun.Inthisusage,itindicatesaperson’sdemeanororfacial/posturalexpression.Affect（accentonthesecondsyllable）ismostoftenseenasaverbmeaningtoinfluence,modify,orhaveaneffecton.

Affectismostoftenseenasaverb;effectismostoftenseenasanoun,meaningtheresultorimpactofanaction.Effectasaverbmeanstobringaboutorcausetohappen.

Restricteduseasnoun:

Whenthejudgereadtheverdict,thewitnessshowednochangeinaffect.

Hisattitudeaffected（hadaneffecton）hisoverallgrade.

Commonuseasverb:

Theprofessorwasnotaffected（influenced）byhisoutburst.

Frequentuseasnoun:

Studyinghardseemedtohavelittleeffectonhergrade.

Lessfrequentuseasverb:

Thepolicychangeeffectedwidespreaddissensionamongemployees.

TIP:

Ifyouknowyournounsandverbs,youcanassumethatninetimesoutoftenaffectwillbeaverbandeffectwillbeanoun-butbealert.

Allude/Elude

Alludemeanstomakereferenceto,suchas,

Whenshesaidthat,Iknewshewasalludingtome.

Eludemeanstoescapeattention,“slipyourmind,”orleaveyoupuzzled.

Hedartedinandoutofthealleysandeludedthepolice.ThereferencehemadetoHelenKellereludedme.

Allreadyvs.Already

Allreadymeans“everythingisready.”Alreadymeans“earlier.”

Alotvs.Alot

Alotisnonstandard;alotisthecorrectform.

amongversusbetween

Usebetweenwhenreferringtotwoitemsorgroups,amongwhenreferringtothreeormore.

Don’tmakemechoosebetweenTweedledumandTweedledee.

Theyoungladymustchoosebetweentwosuitors.

Amongallfivecandidates,he’sbyfarthebestqualified.

Thefaultisspreadevenlyamongthethreedefendants.

amountversusnumber

Useamountwhenreferringtoanuncountablequantity,likesouporlove,andnumberwhenreferringtocountablethings,likejellybeansorpeople.

TheamountofworkyouputintoyourstudieswillaffectthenumberofpointsyouwilladdtoyourGMATscore.

asversuslike

Useliketocomparenouns;useastocompareactions-inotherwords,useaswhenwhatfollowsisaclause.

Likefinewine,fruitcaketastesbetterafterithasaged.

Dogsdon’tscratchupfurniture,ascatsoftendo.

Afrequentmistakeistouselikewhenasisneeded.Ifyouareconnectingaclausetoitssubject,useas.Ifyoumerelyneedaprepositiontointroduceanoun,uselike.

Itappearsasthoughthepeaceplanhasfailed.（Asisintroducingtheclause“thepeaceplanhasfailed.”）

Itlookslikerain（Likeisintroducingthenoun“rain.”）

Accent/Ascent/Assent.

Accentmeans“toemphasizeorstress.”Ascentmeans“agoinguporrisingmovement.”Assentmeans“toagree”:

Hisaccentontheworddemotionbetrayedhistruefeelings.

Hisascentupthecorporateladderhasbeenrapid.

Thetrustee’sassentisnecessarybeforewesigntheagreement.

Accept/Except.

Acceptisaverbmeaning“toreceive.”Exceptisaprepositionmeaning“totheexclusionof”:

Iacceptyourgift.

WecompletedeverythingexceptthetwoproposalsforAcme,Inc.

A.D.andB.C.

A.D.standsfortheLatinAnnoDomini（intheyearoftheLord）.UsingA.D.issimple-placeitbeforeayearandafteracentury:

PopeJuliusII,whosefertilepartnershipwithMichelangeloproducedmanyfineworksofart,reignedfromA.D.1503to1513.

ArabiansborrowedcoffeefromtheAbyssiniansaboutthetwelfthcenturyA.D.

B.C.standsfor“beforeChrist.”UsingB.C.isalsosimple-placeitaftertheyearandafterthecentury:

KingPriam’sTroyfellneartheendoftheBronzeAge,around1200B.C.

ThehighpointofancientGreekcivilization,thePericleanAge,wasduringthefifthcenturyB.C.

Somewriters,however,havequalmsaboutusingA.D.andB.C.,whichareconnectedtothebirthofJesusChrist.Theyuseothersystems,suchasB.C.E.（beforethecommonera）orB.P.（beforethepresent）andplacethemafterthedate.

Adapt/Adept/Adopt.

Adaptmeans“toadjusttoasituation.”Adeptmeans“skillful.”Adoptmeans“toputintopracticeortoborrow”:

Withinaweeksheadaptedtothenewbillingprocedure.

Shewonthepromotionbecauseshewassoadeptatherjob.

Justlastyearweadoptedanewmethodformaintaininginventory.

Adjacent/Contiguous/Conterminous.

Adjacentisthemostgeneralword,usuallymeaning“closetoandnearby”andonlysometimes“sharingthesameboundary”:

BurgerKingisadjacenttotheCottonwoodMall.

Theadjacentlotswerebothownedbythesameconstructioncompany.

Contiguoususuallymeans“sharingthesameboundary”eventhoughitincludesthenotionof“adjacent”inmostofitsuses:

Thetwominingclaimsturnedouttobecontiguousoncethesurveywascompleted;theownershadoriginallybelievedthatastripofstatelandseparatedtheclaims.

Conterminous（alsocoterminous）isthemostspecificofthetermsandalsotherarest.Itsmostdistinctivemeaningis“containedwithinoneboundary”eventhoughitalsoincludesthesensesof“sharingthesameboundary”andquiterarelyofbeing“adjacent.”Itsmostdistinctiveuse,however,isasfollows:

TheconterminousUnitedStatesincludesonly48ofthe50states.

Thesethreewordsareaproblembecausetheyshareacommonmeaning:

“closetoornearbyeachother.”Atthesametime,theyeachhavemorespecificmeanings,asillustrated.Aswithanyconfusedwords,writersshouldchooseotherphrasingiftheywishtobeaspreciseaspossible:

better

Ourtwolotssharedacommonboundaryonthenorth.

orwithadifferentmeaning

Ourtwolotsfellentirelywithinthecityboundary.

not

Ourtwolotswereadjacent.（neithercontiguous,norconterminous）

Adverse/Averse.

Adverseisanadjectivemeaning“unfavorable.”Averseisanadjectivemeaning“havingadislikeoradistasteforsomething.”Thetwoalsocontrastinhowtheyareusedinsentences.Averseappearsonlyaftertheverbbeoroccasionallyfeel:

Westudiedtheadversedatabeforemakingourdecisiontoplugandabandonthewell.

Anadversecommentdestroyedthenegotiations.

ThePresidentwasaversetocuttingtheDefensebudget.

Wefeltaversetosigningforsuchalargeloangiventheadverseeconomicforecasts.

Advice/Advise.

Adviceisanounmeaning“recommendations.”Adviseisaverbmeaning“tomakearecommendation”:

Myadvicewastomeetwiththeclientabouttheserviceproblem.

Didsomeoneadviseyoutohirealawyer?

Affect/Effect.

Affectisusuallyaverbmeaning“tochangeorinfluence.”Effectisusuallyanounmeaning“aresultorconsequence”:

Temperaturevariationswillaffectthetestresults.

Thetechniciananalyzedtheeffectsofthenewsampleonthedata.

Note:

Affectcanalsobeanounmeaning“thesubjectiveimpressionoffeelingoremotion,”andeffectcanalsobeaverbmeaning“tobringaboutorcause”:

Hisstrangeaffect（noun）causedthepsychiatristtosignthecommittalorder.

Thegeneralmanager’sdirectiveeffected（verb）animmediaterestructuringofallseniorstaffoperations.

Allright/Alright.

Allrightisthestandardspelling;alrightisaninformalornonstandardspellingandisnotconsideredcorrect.Neverusealright.

Allusion/Illusion/Delusion.

Allusionmeans“areferencetosomething.”Illusionmeans“amistakenimpression.”Delusionmeans“afalsebelief”:

HisallusiontoJapanesemanagementtechniqueswasnotwellreceived,buthemadehispoint.

Liketheoldmagician’sillusionsofthefloatinglady,thebankmanagercreatedanillusionofsolvencythatfooledevenseasonedinvestors.

ThepatienthaddelusionsaboutbeingwatchedbytheFBI.

Alternate/Alternative.

Confusioncomesfromcompetingadjectiveuses.Alternateasanadjectivemeans“occurringinturns”or“everyotherone.”Alternativeasanadjectivemeans“allowingforachoicebetweentwoormoreoptions”:

Winnerswerechosenfromalternatelinesratherthanfromasingleline.

Thealternativecandidatewasaclearcompromisebetweenthetwoparties.

Sometimesthesetwoadjectivemeaningsalmostmerge,especiallywhenanalternativeplanisviewedasaplanthatreplacesanother:

Analternate/alternativeplanprovidedforsupplementarybankfinancing.（Eitheriscorrect.）

Note:

Stricteditorsattempttorestrictalternative（initsnounandadjectiveuses）toonlytwooptions:

Lifeisthealternativetodeath.

Actual（correct）usage,however,hasbroadenedalternativetoincludeanynumberofoptions