Recently Added Articles Page #64

passed, past

The word pass has more than two dozen distinct meanings as a verb, another dozen as a noun, and perhaps that many again as part of a phrasal verb or idiom. For our purpose here, we will try to help determine when passed should be used instead of past...

patience, patients

Patients often go to the doctor’s office.Patience is the ability to tolerate the inevitable delay when waiting at the doctor’s office.Example: In most hospital waiting rooms, the patients must exercise considerable patience....

peace, piece

Peace is “tranquility” or “the absence of war.”Piece means a “portion” or “part,” usually of a larger item or group of similar items.Example: There would never be peace until each child got a piece of candy....

peak, peek, pique

A peak is a “summit” or a prominent “point” that protrudes from another object or series of values.To peek means to “glance quickly.”To pique means to “provoke” or “arouse.”Example: As I drove through the winding switchbacks, his ...

peddle, petal, pedal

Peddle means “to sell.” Peddled is the past tense and past participle of that verb.Petals are the colorful part of a flower.A pedal is a part of a bicycle, and pedaled is the past tense and past participle of the verb for operating a bicycle.Exam...

perquisite, prerequisite

These words have entirely different meanings. A perquisite is a privilege or a benefit often given in addition to wages or salary. We often refer to the shortened version: perk.A prerequisite is a previous condition or requirement. Study the example ...

personnel, personal

Personnel is an administrative group or a group of people involved in a particular business, group, or activity.Personal has a host of meanings: “relating to a specific person” (a personal opinion), “intended for a particular person” (a perso...

phenomenon, phenomena

The word phenomenon is singular. Its plural is phenomena....

pleaded, pled

The preferred past tense and past participle of the verb to plead is pleaded, not pled. Thus, here’s the correct past tense: He pleaded guilty. Here’s the correct past participle: He has pleaded guilty. And, finally, here’s the correct use of p...

pore, pour, poor

To pore means “to read” or “to ponder.”To pour means "to cause a liquid or granular solid to flow."Poor means to be "of bad quality or low economic status."Example: If you pore through enough books instead of pouring pitchers of beer, you can...

pray, prey

To pray means "to meditate or communicate with God."As a verb, prey means “to hunt.” As a noun, prey is the object of the hunt.Example: Once he realized that he was the prey, he started praying for help....

precedent, precedence

The meaning of the word precedent in law—a judicial decision that sets a rule—is very close to the common usage of the word: an “example” or “custom resulting from long practice.” A lawyer might find several precedents, that is, a number ...

predominant, predominate

As an adjective, predominant describes something with the greatest influence or authority.As a verb, predominate means “to gain controlling power.”Careful writers do not use predominate as an adjective.Example: The predominant ingredient in the n...

premier, premiere

Premier is both a noun and an adjective associated with the highest status or rank.Premiere can be used as a noun or a verb, both having to do with the first public performance of a movie or a play.Example: The premiere of the political play was atte...

principal, principle

Note: The differences between principal and principle are discussed in depth in the Common Grammatical Mistakes section of Grammar.com. Click here for that discussion.The principal (who should be your pal) is the head of a school. As a noun, principa...

prior to, subsequent to

The expression prior to means nothing more than before. Yet many professionals insist on using prior to because it sounds intelligent. It isn’t. All it does is stuff up your style with hot air.The same goes for subsequent to. It means after, nothin...

prioritize

The word prioritize gums up the styles of many people lacking an ear for good writing. Delete it from your vocabulary. Instead, use set priorities or establish priorities....

proceed, precede

To proceed means “to go forward,” “to carry on,” or “to originate from a source.” The verb proceed is distinctly intransitive. That is, you may not proceed something. Instead, you proceed with something.To precede means “to occur or exi...

prostrate, prostate

As a verb, to prostrate means "to throw oneself on the floor or lie facedown."The word prostrate also serves as an adjective, as in he was prostrate with grief.The prostate gland is a part of the anatomy of a male mammal that produces the fluid in se...

quality

The writers of advertisements love to use quality as an adjective: quality auto parts. Good writers, however, avoid this use and stick to fine, good, superior, or other suitable adjective....

quite, quiet, quit

These words would probably never be confused if not for their similar spellings. Their meanings are not similar at all.Quite means “to an extreme or intense degree.”Quiet is the lack of noise.Quit means "to stop or cease an activity."Example: The...

quote, quotation

As a verb, to quote means “to repeat or copy the words of another.”The word quotation is the noun form.Many writers use the short word quote as a noun. Though improper, the usage is gaining ground.Example: Shakespeare is often quoted, but perhaps...

really, real

Real is an adjective meaning “genuine” or “authentic,” or having a “verifiable existence.”Really is an adverb used to add emphasis and means “in fact,” “genuinely,” or “indeed.”Careful writers do not use real as an adverb: He ...

reek, wreak

Reek means “to smell” or “to smoke.”Wreak means “to bring about,” “to cause,” or “to inflict.”The past tense and past participle of wreak is wreaked. It is not wrought, which is an archaic past tense and past participle of work. E...

reign, rein, rain

To reign means “to rule.”A rein keeps your horse attached to the hitching post.Raindrops keep falling on your head.Example: He tugged on the reins of his horse as the rain began to fall and galloped back to the castle where he reigned over his sm...