by Laura A. DeCarlo
Apart vs. A Part
Apart: Separated by distance. e.g., “Feuding roommates decide to live apart.”
A part: Indicates a section or part of a whole. e.g., “She accepted a part in the play.”
Continuous vs. Continual
Continuous: Actions which are uninterrupted.
e.g., “My upstairs neighbor played his stereo continuously from 6:00 PM to 3:30 AM.”
Continual: Actions which are repeated but not necessarily uninterrupted.
e.g., “My father continually urges me to get a job.”
Corp vs. Corps
Corps: Correct in regard to military.
Corp: Short for corporation.
Disburse vs. Disperse
Disburse: To hand out or distribute.
e.g., “You disburse money by taking it out of your purse and distributing it.”
Disperse: To scatter.
e.g., “When the police officer arrived at the party the teenagers quickly dispersed.”
Discreet vs. Discrete
Discreet: Prudent, circumspect.
e.g., “People are much less discreet about their sexual behavior in the 20th century.”
Discrete: Separate, distinct.
e.g., “He arranged the guest list into two discrete groups: meat-eaters and vegetarians.”
Precede vs. Proceed
Precede: To go before.
Proceed: To go on.
e.g., “Let your companion precede you through the door, then proceed to follow her.”
Setup vs. Set Up
Setup: A noun referring to a thing.
e.g., “Check out his great computer setup.”
Set up: A phrase which describes putting something together.
e.g., “It is time to set up the experiment.”
Than vs. Then
Than: Appropriate when making a comparison.
e.g., “When comparing one thing with another you may find that one is more appealing than another.”
Then: Refers to time and progression.
e.g., “First you separate the eggs; then you beat the whites.”
That vs. Which
Many different thoughts on the subject:
Many of the best writers could not tell you the difference between the two words. The difference is so subtle that it is fine to use whichever sounds right.
That: Relative pronoun that is restrictive. It tells a necessary piece of information about its antecedent.
e.g., “The word processor that is used most often is Microsoft Word.”
Or: Use when defining something by distinguishing it from a larger class of which it is a member. e.g., “I chose the lettuce that had the fewest wilted leaves.”
Which: Relative pronoun that is non-restrictive and would work with or without its use. It does not limit the word it refers to.
e.g., “Penn’s ID center, which is called CUPID, has been successful so far.”
Or: Use when the general class is not being limited or defined in some way. e.g., “He made an iceberg Caesar salad, which didn’t taste quite right.”
Note: If you can tell which thing is being discussed without the “which” or “that” clause use “which. If you cannot tell which thing is being discussed without the “which” or “that”, use “that”.
Elicit vs. Illicit
Elicit: Verb which means to try to get something, typically from a person.
e.g., “He tried to elicit a description of the attacker from the witness.”
Illicit: Adjective describing something illegal or naughty.
e.g., “They participated in an illicit sex act.”
Exalt vs. Exult
Exult: To celebrate joyfully.
Exalt: To raise something high (even if only in your opinion).
Farther vs. Further
Farther: Physical distance.
Further: An extent of time or degree.
Forego vs. Forgo
Forego: The E in “forego” tells you it has to do with going before. It occurs mainly in the expression “foregone conclusion,” a conclusion arrived at in advance.
Forgo: To abstain from or do without. e.g., “After finishing his steak, he decided to forgo the blueberry cheesecake.”
Who vs. Whom
Who: the subject form of this pronoun “who.”
e.g., “Who was wearing that awful dress at the awards banquet?” is correct because “who is the subject of the sentence.”
Whom: The object form of this pronoun “who.”
e.g., “The MC was so startled by the neckline that he forgot to whom he was supposed to give the award” is correct because “whom” is the object of the preposition “to.”
Note: “whom” is rarely used as the first word in a question, even in the sentence “Who are you staring at?”
Note: Gender-biased but effective test for “whom”: Try rewriting the sentence using “he” or “him.”
e.g., “I wonder whom he bribed to get the contract.” To determine if it is correct replace the “whom” with “he” or “him.”
When the direct object appears at the beginning of a sentence it can be tricky because we are used to having subjects in that position and are strongly tempted to use “who”:
e.g., “Whomever Susan admired most was likely to get the job.”
When the object or subject status of the pronoun is not immediately obvious, things get messy.
e.g., “The police gave tickets to whoever had parked in front of the fire hydrant.” The object of the preposition “to” is the entire noun clause, “whoever had parked in front of the fire hydrant,” but “whoever” is the subject of that clause, the subject of the verb “had parked.”
Confused? If it’s still not clear, go with “who.” You’ll bother fewer people and have a fair chance of being right.
UK vs US in –ED –T endings
UK | US |
Learnt | Learned |
Dreamt | Dreamed |
Dwelt | Dwelled |
Leant | Leaned |
Leapt | Leaped |
Spelt | Spelled |
US & UK equality
Burned = Burnt
Kneeled = Knelt