Category Archives: Grammar & Writing

Check Your Homophones

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Homophones are the words that sound the same but are spelled differently and have different meanings.  Spell check doesn’t always catch homophones so you need proofread carefully.  Check out the Grammarly.com blog-post (edited) below to see some common homophones.

For the full post, see:

http://www.grammarly.com/blog/2015/25-homophones-that-most-spell-checkers-wont-catch/?source=trending&position=2

 

25 Homophones That Most Spell-Checkers Won’t Catch

Kimberly Joki ··

While Grammarly has algorithms that will help you correct all of these common mix-ups, there’s no substitute for the old noggin. So next time you’re writing, be sure to put on your thinking cap and look out for these homophones that most spell checkers won’t catch.

A while/Awhile

It had been a while since the long-lost lovers had seen each other, but their passion was still so true they didn’t mind waiting awhile for their fast-approaching reunion.

Accept/Except

Everyone except Christopher, who has already discovered the truth, needs to accept the fact that the world is not flat.

Affect/Effect

The technicians didn’t realize that the special effect that creepily breathed down viewers necks would affect audience members so deeply. People ran out of the theater screaming.

Aide/Aid

The teacher’s aide was the first to arrive at school that day. So when the tornado hit, she gave as much aid to the kids as possible.

Aloud/Allowed

After breaking the television set he wasn’t allowed to touch, Bart had to repeat this phrase aloud 1,000 times: I will not replace the television dials with marshmallows.

Anytime/Any time

Call anytime! Actually, scratch that. Call me at any time after 5:00 p.m.

Bizarre/Bazaar

The strange, old-fashioned bazaar featured a freak show made up of bizarre and mysterious people.

Capital/Capitol

The protesters left their own state capitals to converge on the Capitol building in Washington, DC, and rally for their cause.

Cite/Site/Sight

The site of the excavation came into sight as they emerged from the tunnel. If the bones were in fact dinosaur bones, then scientists would need to cite the analysis taken from this discovery in every paleontology research paper for the next hundred years.

Compliment/Complement

The winemaker received compliment after compliment for her incredible pairing. Each selected dish seemed the perfect complement to the chosen vintages.

Conscience/Conscious

My conscience plagues me most when I’m sleeping. Then, when I wake up, I become conscious of the guilt I’m feeling for my actions.

Desert/Dessert

If only this hot, sandy desert was made of dessert. Then I could simply eat my way out of it.

Elude/Allude

If you’re going to allude to your diamond heist so casually in conversation, you should prepare to elude the authorities, who will most likely find out about the theft.

Ensure/Insure

It seems strange that in order to ensure my son can receive medical treatment, I need to insure him with the healthcare company on the day of his birth.

Every day/Everyday

Just because the office attire is everyday wear doesn’t mean you should wear the same clothes every day.

Formerly/Formally

Formerly a Buddhist monk clothed only in a tunic, he was confused by the need to dress formally, in a shirt and tie, for work.

Guerilla/Gorilla

The paramilitary forces had a new tactic; they were going to use actual gorillas as foot soldiers in their guerilla warfare.

Led/Lead,

He led them through the dangerous forest of giant spiders with only a headlamp and a lead pipe. As the lead scout, he needed to be brave and fearless even though he felt incredibly frightened.

One/Won

She won the costumed thumb war competition by one measly point.

Pedal/Peddle

If you want to peddle stolen goods to innocent people, you’d better be prepared to pedal your bike as fast as you can away from the town when you’re done.

Pore/Pour

If you pore over your schoolbooks with the same discipline that you apply to gaming, I won’t be forced to pour this macaroni over your head.

Premier/Premiere

The premier of Switzerland eagerly awaited the premiere of the new production of the Sound of Music. The woman cast as Maria was the country’s premier actress.

Principle/Principal

School principals should be people of principle. Their behavior and attitude should, in principle, be an example to all students.

Reign/Rein

Take the reins and lead the horse as if you’re ruling a kingdom and your reign has lasted five decades.

Weather/Whether

Who cares about the weather? We’re going to have a good time regardless of whether it’s raining, snowing, or glowing.

Set the Mood: Tone in Business Writing

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Tone is the subtle meaning or feeling your reader gets when reading your writing. Using the appropriate tone may be very important. You wouldn’t want to sound happy when telling a client the product will be delivered late, for example.

OWL has a great article about tone in business writing:

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/652/01/ 

 

Semicolons and Colons

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Semicolons are used to join complete thoughts. They generally appear before transition words such as however, therefore, consequently. Both examples below show correct semicolon use:

  • Rachel was about to graduate; she was looking for a position.
  • Rachel was about to graduate; consequently, she was looking for a position.

Colons are used to introduce lists and long quotations. Occassionally, colons separate two clauses when the second clause explains the first. The following examples show correct colon use.

  • Rachel started by checking two popular sites: Monster and CareerBuilder.
  • The recruiter said: “A thoughtful follow-up letter carries as much clout as a cover letter. Be sure to send both.”
  • A post-interview message should deliver one main point: you want the job.

______________________________________________

Transitions

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Transitions help your reader move smoothly from one idea to the next.

Transitions such as “first, next, lastly” help readers follow the organization of your document and the progression of your ideas. As a writer, you want to develop smooth and subtle transitions. Repetition of a key word or phrase or use of a dependent clause can help guide the reader through your document.

Follow this link to read more about writing smooth transitions:

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/574/01/

 

HBS Guide to Using Lists or How to Use Bullets

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Using bullet lists is an efficient and effective way to provide information.  To use lists effectively, writers must follow certain rules.  Below, we detail the guidelines for APA style lists.

Guidelines

Punctuate bulleted and numbered vertical lists correctly:

  • Vertical lists are best introduced by a grammatically complete sentence (i.e., a sentence that is complete all by itself, without the help of the list), like the one above, followed by a colon.
  • No periods are required at the end of entries unless at least one entry is a complete sentence, in which case a period is necessary at the end of each entry.
  • Listed items should be parallel in construction; that is, they should all begin with the same part of speech: noun, verb, etc.
  • Unumbered items that are phrases (incomplete sentence), should begin lower case and require no terminal punctuation.

If a list completes the sentence that introduces it:

  • items begin with lower case letters,
  • commas or semicolons are used to separate each item,
  • the last item ends with a period.

If items are numbered, a period follows each number, and each entry begins with a capital letter—whether or not the entry forms a complete sentence.
Correct Examples

Standards reflect the marketplace today:

  • All organizations are struggling with the paradigm shift to open systems.
  • Many organizations recognize the need to recommend standards selections.

Questions to consider are:

  • How long has the system been used?
  • How expensive is maintenance on the system?
  • What new products have emerged since the last upgrade?

The elements of a biographical reference are:

  • the author or authors of the work,
  • the title of the work,
  • publication information

 

Incorrect Examples

Standards reflect the marketplace today.

  • All organizations are struggling with the paradigm shift to open systems;
  • Many organizations recognize the need to recommend standards selections;

Questions to consider are

  • How long has the system been used
  • The maintenance on the system is expensive
  • If new products have emerged since the last upgrade

The elements of a bibliographical reference

  • are the author or authors of the work
  • the title of the work
  • and publication information