Recently Added Articles Page #65

naval, navel

Your navel is your belly button. Naval is a synonym for nautical, which is used to describe anything having to do with the Navy or ships.Example: The naval officer still has stomach problems after he was hit by shrapnel near his navel....

neither

When neither serves as a pronoun, it is typically singular, that is, it requires a singular verb and a singular pronoun referring to it. Thus, the following is correct: Neither of the investments is a good one. When neither joins with nor, the pair a...

noisome, noisy

The human ear can detect only one of these words, that is, noisy. The other, noisome, is better associated with the nose. Noisy means “loud.” Noisome means “offensive,” “disgusting,” or “dangerous” as in noisome fumes.Example: We had ...

none, singular or plural

This indefinite pronoun may take either a singular or a plural verb. Don’t pay any attention to the myth that none always requires a singular verb. It doesn’t.In the words of New Fowler at p. 526: It is a mistake to suppose that the pronoun [none...

nor

Many writers use nor as a conjunction even when the negative state has already been established in the sentence. Savvy writers use or because the negative state carries over to the series. Consider this correct sentence, where the word no establishes...

now, know, no

Now means “at the present time,” “immediately,” or “at this point.” Know means “to perceive” or “to understand.” No means “no.”Example: Right now, it’s hard for us to know if they will say yes or no....

only

Garner Oxford at p. 239 describes only as “the most frequently misplaced of all English words.” You should put only immediately before the word you intend to limit. The greater the distance between only and the word it limits, the greater the cha...

or

Don’t hesitate to start a sentence with Or. It’s a coordinating conjunction, and great writers have been starting sentences with conjunctions for hundreds of years. You can remember the coordinating conjunctions by referring to the acronym BOYFAN...

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....