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