We all know those professors who take off for grammar. Writing is already tough enough without lost points for grammatical mix-ups. Hopefully this list will help, if only slightly, with clarifying some common confusion. This is the setup:
Word 1 vs. Word 2
1. Example or definition
2. Example or definition
The last few examples offer advice for quotations, commas, italicization, etc.
Toward vs. Towards
1. American and Canadian preferred spelling
2. Non-American/Canadian spelling
Who vs. Whom
Think about it rather like this: he vs. him.
1. Who found the puppy?
He found the puppy?
2. You found the puppy with whom?
You found the puppy with him?
Than vs. Then
1. I like vanilla better than chocolate.
2. My mother always said, "Dinner first, then dessert."
i.e. vs. e.g.
1. A United States president, i.e., an elected leader of the American people
– restates the noun, "that is"
– [i.e.,] Americans use a comma after the period, others do not
2. A United States president, e.g. George Washington, Abraham Lincoln
– gives examples of two or more nouns
A lot vs. Alot
1. This is a word.
2. This isn't a word.
Affect vs. Effect
1. Usually a verb; "She affects me somehow! I completely lose my train of thought!"
Exception as a noun: "He had such a flat affect that I couldn't tell if he was angry."
2. Usually a noun; "Her effect on me completely makes me lose my train of thought!"
Exception as a verb: "They sought to effect a new approach to the homework policy."
Accept vs. Except
1. "Accept the donation!"
2. "Great look, except I don't love the shoes."
Allusion vs. Allude
1. A reference
2. Refers to
Desert vs. Dessert
My grade school teacher taught my class that:
1. Desert is sand and
2. Dessert is sweet because dessert has two Ss and you always want seconds.
Elicit vs. Illicit
1. Verb, to get or to generate
2. Adjective, illegal or unacceptable
It's vs. its
1. It is
2. Belonging to
There vs. Their vs. They're
1. Over there vs. 2. owned by multiple people vs. 3. they are
Your vs. You're
1. Possessed by you; "Your car."
2. You are; "You are smart."
Discreet vs. Discrete
1. Secretive
2. Separate
Conjugation of "lie" and "lay"
1. to rest horizontally
Present: I lie down
Past: Yesterday I lay in the sun.
Past participle: I had lain in the sun for two hours before I burned.
Progressive: lying
2. To put or place
Present: I lay the book down.
Past: I laid the book down.
Past participle: I had laid the book down.
Progressive: laying
Proper in-text citation
"..." (page #).
Block quotation
4+ lines; indent all lines; no quotation marks
Commas and quotations
Commas always go within the quotation marks, save proper in-text citations.
The Oxford Comma
Italicize or parenthesize the title?
1. Italicize long works, e.g. books, plays, albums
2. Parenthesize short works, e.g. poems, articles, songs
Keep the singular/plural
Someone, anyone = his/hers, him/her. Keep it singular throughout.
Wrong: Making one person smile can change the world. Maybe not the whole world, but their world.
Correct: Making one person smile can change the world. Maybe not the whole world, but his or her world.
Hopefully those infamous professors will have less grammatical mix-ups to grumble about!
