One bird is different from/than/to the rest. Which of the following sentences do you prefer? Your opinion is different from mine. Your opinion is different to mine. Your opinion is different than mine. Does it matter? Traditionally, different from was regarded as Standard English, but different to and different than are becoming increasingly common. I don’t think […]
The difference between elicit and illicit Through questioning, she elicited that the material was illicit. elicit Elicit means to draw out or evoke. It can only be used as a verb. She elicited a response. illicit Illicit is an adjective that means unlawful or forbidden. Alcohol was illicit during Prohibition. Memory jog Think of something […]
The difference between disorganised and unorganised Dis- as a prefix often implies the reversing of the action of the verb (e.g. disagree, disown, distrust). Un- as a prefix means ‘not’ (e.g. unable, unusual, untidy). Disorganised and unorganised are often used interchangeably to mean not arranged in an orderly way. His desk is disorganised. His desk is […]
‘Either you apologise or I’ll sulk for hours’ Either/or and neither/nor connect two balanced words, clauses or phrases. They are called correlative conjunctions. Singular or plural verb? When two singular subjects are connected by either/or or neither/nor, use a singular verb. Either Sally or Peter is invited. Neither Sally nor Peter is invited. If one of […]
There’s no excuse for sexist language in business writing The first book on business writing I ever bought was The Handbook of Nonsexist Writing: For writers, editors, and speakers by Casey Miller and Kate Swift (The Women’s Press, 1981). I still have it on my bookshelf, and it’s available on Amazon. (My version has a hyphen in Non-sexist.) They […]
Commas can be costly Take a look at these three court cases to appreciate the power of the humble comma. US$10 million overtime dispute hinges on the Oxford (serial) comma The first comma case is about the Oxford comma (also known as the serial comma). First a definition. A comma is sometimes added between the last two […]
The difference between dependent and dependant The children are dependants who are dependent on their parents for care. British, Australian and New Zealand English distinguish between dependant and dependent. The distinction doesn’t exist in US English, which uses dependent for both the following meanings. dependant A dependant is someone who relies on someone else for support. […]
Do you need a hyphen in decision-making? Reader’s question: Should decision making be hyphenated in noun form i.e. decision-making? Answer: You can use either decision making or decision-making in noun form, but decision-making is becoming more common. Just be consistent. Everyone in the team had a role in the decision making. Everyone in the team had […]
Hyphens drop out of some words over time Do you need a hyphen in coordinate? The hyphen has dropped out of coordinate, but co-ordinate is not wrong. Hyphens tend to drop out over time when words are used together a lot. e-mail is now email semi-colon is now semicolon Use a modern dictionary as your […]
The clouds are continually changing shape. The difference between continually and continuously In informal conversation, continually and continuously are used interchangeably, but they are subtly different in meaning. continually Continually means either always going on, or recurring at short intervals and never coming to an end. He is continually biting his nails. continuously Continuously means […]