The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation (29 page)

Chaise lounge

Chicago Manual of Style

Childish, childlike

Chile, chili

Chomping at the bit

Choral, coral

Chorale, corral

Chord, cord

Cite, sight, site

Classic, classical

Clauses: defined; dependent; essential vs. nonessential; independent; semicolons in sentences with multiple

Cliché

Click, clique

Climactic, climatic

Close proximity

Coarse, course

Cohort

Coin a phrase

Collectable, collectible

Collective nouns, subject-verb agreement

Collide, crash

Colons; after salutation in business letter; capitalization of lists following; between independent clauses when second explains first; to introduce lists; to introduce long quotations; to introduce series of items; quizzes; semicolons vs.

Comma splices

Commas; with academic degrees; after dependent clauses starting sentences; after salutation in informal letters; appositive commas; with cities and states; with dates; with
etc.
; with independent clauses; with interrupting expressions; with introductory words; with
Jr.
and
Sr.
; with names directly addressed; with nonessential words, phrases, and clauses; in numbers; Oxford commas; with parentheses; quizzes; with quotations; to separate contrasting parts of sentences; to separate statements from questions; to separate two adjectives before nouns; in series; with titles used with names; with two adjectives before nouns

Common Errors in English Usage
(Brians)

Common nouns: capitalizing, in brand names; defined; possessives of, ending in $s$

Complement, compliment

Complete, completely

Compound adjectives

Compound nouns: defined; hyphenating; possessives of; subject-verb agreement

Compound verbs

Comprise

Concerted

Concrete, cement

Confidant, confident

Connive, conspire

Connote, denote

Consistency: capitalization and punctuation of list items; capitalization of titles of works; collective noun subject-verb agreement; parallel construction; possessives of nouns ending in $s$; singular pronouns; spelling out numbers vs. using figures

Continual, continuous

Contractions

Convince, persuade

Copperud, Roy H.

Coral, choral

Cord, chord

Corral, chorale

Council, counsel

Couple (of)

Course, coarse

Crash, collide

Craven

Criteria

Currently

D

Daily basis

Dangling modifiers

Dashes; punctuation replaced by; spacing with; subject-verb agreement

Data

Dates: apostrophes in decades; commas with; using figures to express; years beginning sentences

Definite, definitive

Degrees: academic; of adjectives; of adverbs

Denote, connote

Dependent clauses: commas with independent clauses followed by; commas with sentences starting with; defined; with
whoever/whomever

Desert, dessert

Despise

Device, devise

Dictionary of Modern American Usage, A
(Garner)

Dictionary of Usage and Style, A
(Copperud)

Different from, different than

Dilemma

Disburse, disperse

Discomfit, discomfort

Discreet, discrete

Disinterested, uninterested

Dock

Dos and don'ts

Drug (dragged)

Dual, duel

E

Each

Eager, anxious

Effect, affect
; quizzes

E.g., i.e.

Either

Either/or

Eke out

Ellipses; defined; to express hesitation, changes of mood, etc.; with omitted words or sentences; spacing with

Elude, allude, refer

Emigrate, immigrate

Eminent, imminent

Empathy, sympathy

Emulate, imitate

Enormity

Ensure, insure, assure

Enthuse

Epitaph, epithet

Epitome

Erstwhile

Essential clauses

Etc., et al.

Every day, everyday

Ex-

Exacerbate, exaggerate

Except, accept

Exclamation points; in formal business writing; overuse of; replacing periods; to show emotion, emphasis, or surprise

F

Factious, fractious

Faint, feint

Fair, fare

False possessives

Farther, further

Faze, phase

Feat, feet

Fewer, less

Fir, fur

Firstly

Flair, flare

Flammable, inflammable

Flaunt, flout

Flea, flee

Flounder, founder

Flour, flower

For instance

Forego, forgo

Foreword, forward

Forth, fourth

Fortuitous, fortunate

Foul, fowl

Fractions: hyphenating; mixed; subject-verb agreement

Fractious, factious

Free gift

Fulsome

Fun

Fur, fir

Further, farther

G

Gait, gate

Gamut

Gantlet, gauntlet

Garner, Bryan A.

Gel, jell

Gilt, guilt

Glib

Good
,
well

Graduate

Graffiti

Grammar: mastery test; pretest

Grill, grille

Grisly, gristly, grizzly

Guerrilla

Guilt, gilt

H

Hair, hare

Hall, haul

Halve, have

Hangar, hanger

Hanged, hung

Have, of
used in place of

Heal, heel

Healthful, healthy

Hear, here

Helping verbs

Here

Heroin, heroine

Historic, an

Hoard, horde

Hoarse, horse

Hole, whole

Holy, wholly

Homage

Hone in

Hot water heater

Hung, hanged

Hyphens

I

Idle, idol, idyll

I.e., e.g.

Illusion, allusion

Imitate, emulate

Immigrate, emigrate

Imminent, eminent

Impact

Imply, infer

In
,
into

In order to

In regard(s) to, with regard(s) to

Incite, insight

Include

Incomparables

Incredible, incredulous

Independent clauses: capitalization of midsentence; commas with; defined; semicolons between.
See also
Sentences

Indirect questions

Infinitives

Inflammable, flammable

Ingenious, ingenuous

Initials, plurals of

Insure, assure, ensure

Interrupting expressions: brackets for; commas with; dashes with; subject-verb agreement

Introductory words: commas with; semicolons before

Irony,
93

Irregardless

Irregular nouns

Is is

Isle, aisle

It is, it was

Italics: for
sic
; for titles of works

It's, its

J

Jell, gel

Jibe, jive

Jr.

Just

Just deserts

K

Karat, carat, caret

Kindergartner

Knew, new

Kudos

L

Language, concrete vs. vague

Lastly

Latter

Laxadaisical

Lay, lie
; quizzes

Lead, led

Leak, leek

Less, fewer

Lessen, lesson

Let he who is without sin.~.~.

Liable, libel, likely

Lie, lay
; quizzes

Lightening, lightning

Like

Likely

Linking verbs

Lists: capitalization and ending punctuation; colons before;
etc.
vs.
et al.
with.
See also
Series

Literally

Loan, lone

Loath, loathe

Loose, lose

M

Mail, male

Maize, maze

Manner, manor

Marquee, marquis

Marry, merry

Marshal, martial

Masterful, masterly

Material, materiel

May, can

Medal, meddle, metal, mettle

Media

Meretricious

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage

Mic

Miner, minor

Minuscule

Misnomer

Modern American Usage

Modifiers: dangling; misplaced

Moral, morale

More importantly, most importantly

Morning, mourning

Muscle, mussel

N

Namely

Names of people: capitalization of kinship names; commas with degrees or titles; commas with, directly addressed; commas with
Jr.
or
Sr.
; hyphens with double last names; nicknames; plurals of; possessives of

Names of places: capitalization of
city, county,
etc. before; capitalization of geographic regions; commas with cities and states

Naval, navel

Negatives, double

Neither

Neither/nor

Neither.~.~.or

New, knew

New record

None

Nonessential clauses

Nonplussed

Not just

Notoriety

Nouns: collective, subject-verb agreement with; common; compound; defined; linked with pronouns by
and
or
or
; phrases used as; plurals of initials, capital letters, and numbers used as; possessives of; quizzes on finding; regular vs. irregular.
See also
Proper nouns; Subjects

Number, amount

Numbers.
See
Writing numbers

O

Object of the preposition

Object pronouns

Of
: subject-verb agreement and phrases beginning with; used in place of
have

Off of

Oneself

Or
: independent clauses joined by; pronouns and nouns linked by; subject-verb agreement

Oral, aural

Ordinance, ordnance

Orwell, George

Overdo, overdue

Overly

Oxford commas

P

Pail, pale

Pain, pane

Palate, palette, pallet

Parallel construction

Parentheses; for clarifications and asides; comma placement with; punctuation of complete sentences in; quizzes; subject-verb agreement.
See also
Brackets

Parish, perish

Parody, satire

Participles

Particles, initial negative

Passed, past

Passive voice

Past history

Pastime, past time

Peace, piece

Peak, peek, pique

Peal, peel

Pedal, peddle

Peer, pier

Penultimate

Percent

Periods: with abbreviations at end of sentences; after indirect questions; capitalization after; with complete sentences in parentheses; at end of sentences; with
et al.
and
etc.
; exclamation points replacing; question marks replacing; quizzes; with quotation marks; semicolons replacing

Perpetrate, perpetuate

Persecute, prosecute

Persuade, convince

Phase, faze

Phenomenon

Phrasal verbs

Phrases: beginning with
of
, subject-verb agreement with; defined; essential vs. nonessential

Piece, peace

Pique, peak, peek

Pistil, pistol

Place names.
See
Names of places

Plain, plane

Plum, plumb

P.m., a.m.

Point in time

Pole, poll

Poor, pore, pour

Possessive pronouns

Possessives: amounts of time or money as; of compound nouns; false possessives; with joint ownership; of nouns; of personal pronouns; of words ending in $s$; of words ending in y

Pray, prey

Precipitate, precipitous

Predominately

Prefixes; confusing without hyphens; defined; ending in same vowel that begins root word; hyphens with; before proper nouns or adjectives; quizzes on hyphens with;
re-
;
self-, ex-, all-

Premier, premiere

Prepositions;
in, into
; defined;
different from, different than
;
of
vs.
have
;
as, as if, as though, the way
;
like
; phrases used as; quizzes; sentences ending with