ACCEPT, EXCEPT
Not commonly seen even from unpublished writers, who are probably familiar with the difference because they're all waiting for an acceptance!
"We accept your invitation to your party, except for Bill, who will be away on that day."
ADAPT, ADEPT, ADOPT
Adapt means to adjust, adept means skilled and
adopt means to take as your own:
"Some people cannot adapt to new surroundings."
"He is very adept at dodging awkward questions."
"He tends to adopt the attitudes of those around him."
ADVERSE, AVERSE
Adverse means inauspicious, hostile; averse means disinclined, repelled.
"I'm very much averse to making a long, arduous journey under such adverse weather conditions."
ADVICE, ADVISE
Advice is the noun and advise the verb.
"His advice was that we should advise everybody to either stay away or be extremely careful."
AFFECT, EFFECT
Affect is a verb; effect is a noun.
"Bad weather will affect the quality of the fruit."
"The effect of bad weather is a reduction in fruit quality."
ALREADY, ALL READY
Already means by this time; all ready means prepared.
"Are you already packed?"
"Yes, I'm all ready to leave."
ALTOGETHER, ALL TOGETHER
Altogether means wholly; all together means everybody in a group:
"It's altogether too bad you can't come."
"All together, now: 'Good morning, Sir!'"
ALL RIGHT, ALRIGHT
All right is the correct form; alright is grammatically incorrect.
ALLUDE, ELUDE
Allude means to refer to; elude means to dodge or escape.
ALLUSION, ILLUSION
Allusion is an indirect reference or hint; illusion means deception or mirage.
ALL WAYS, ALWAYS
All ways means by every way or method; always means all the time, forever.
ANNUAL, ANNUL
Annual means yearly; annul means to make void or invalid.
ANYONE, ANY ONE
This is quite tricky. Anyone means anybody, any person at all; any one means any one person and is followed by "of".
"Does anyone else want to come?"
"Any one of you is welcome to come along."
APPRAISE, APPRISE
Appraise is to assess or estimate. Apprise is to inform or notify:
"I will appraise the situation and immediately apprise everybody of my conclusions."
Please don't make your character say or write anything like this, though--unless you want him to sound like a pompous twit!
ASCENT, ASSENT
Ascent is an upward movement; assent means agreement.
ASSISTANCE, ASSISTANTS
Assistance means help or aid; assistants is the plural of assistant, one who gives help.
ASSURE, ENSURE, INSURE
Assure means to guarantee; ensure means to make sure; insure means to protect against loss or damage:
"I assure you there's no call for alarm."
"To ensure your crockery doesn't get broken, wrap it all in bubble wrap."
"In case of breakage or loss, you should insure everything with a good insurance company."
About The Author
Laraine Anne Barker writes fantasy for young people. Visit her web site at http://lbarker.orcon.net.nz - Fantasy for Children & Young Adults for FREE stories and novel excerpts. Sign up for the NOVELLA OF THE MONTH CLUB, absolutely FREE!
My Dad has this old joke that goes, "What's the... Read More
Why is it that so many people don't take writing-as-a-job... Read More
As a previous article ("Making Better Word Choices ? 4... Read More
A few months ago, I wrote a guide entitled: 101... Read More
What a lack of research could do to you.When creating... Read More
(Skip directly to ten for the fastest shortcut!)Like any field,... Read More
Have you ever written a letter to a friend? Ever... Read More
1) Can you summarize the story in about a sentence... Read More
List-making is a favorite journaling technique and is often used... Read More
All Writers need the press, especially new writers. As a... Read More
If you dread the thought of writing, if you fear... Read More
All writers should use a plan whether written or reflected.... Read More
If you either want to write a book to help... Read More
It would be very selfless or noble of me to... Read More
Ever wonder why we refer to convincing an editor a... Read More
Complaint letters aren't always fun, but sometimes they need to... Read More
Lately I've been noticing an odd trend amongst the freelance... Read More
You have just completed a draft of an article. It... Read More
If Ben Franklin were alive today, he would be...uh, very... Read More
One of the biggest problems that inexperienced writers have is... Read More
Let's Discuss Publisher Ethics:If you are an ezine publisher or... Read More
It's the funniest thing. When someone asks me what I... Read More
Everybody knows writing a story is not easy. Like the... Read More
No user manual? Surely you jest!It may seem comical, but... Read More
As an aspiring or an established entrepreneur, you are an... Read More
Western Springs shuttle limo ..The creativity of Jaisini is not designed to be preaching... Read More
Have you ever wondered why some people can make millions... Read More
Typically when falling asleep in bed at night great thoughts... Read More
Punctuation, when used creatively, is powerful. Note, however, that when... Read More
So you've got your plot outlined, a title lined up... Read More
EditingExpect, allow, and accept that every first draft will represent... Read More
So you're one of 20 million Americans who want to... Read More
Are you ready to abandon your short stories? Before you... Read More
When my first book "Starting Your Own Business" was published... Read More
Weather posting a page to your Website, writing a letter... Read More
There are so many ways for writers to make good... Read More
Sometimes a freelance writing career can feel very much like... Read More
'Summer afternoon - summer afternoon; to me those have always... Read More
If you are an aspiring writer, or you simply want... Read More
Freelance writer STANLEY BURKHARDT has a passion for animals. He... Read More
A well-punctuated approach letter may make the difference between acceptance... Read More
How do you describe a scene without slowing down the... Read More
Why is it that so many people don't take writing-as-a-job... Read More
Back in my school days, if the teacher demanded a... Read More
Have you given up on getting your book out of... Read More
The urge to write fiction seems God given for some,... Read More
I hate to admit this, but I rarely get an... Read More
Proofreading worksheets are a great tool to help individuals open... Read More
ESSAYS ON AUTOBIOGRAPHY: NUMBER 1Preamble:Nearly seven years ago I wrote... Read More
Peter Abrahams is the author of thirteen novels, including "The... Read More
Writing |