Wordplay©
Grammar clinic
Common mistakes in English grammar,
and the simple rules that will keep you on track.
Common mistakes in English grammar,
and the simple rules that will keep you on track.
These two words are not interchangeable. They have very different meanings.
Affect means to influence, to have an impact upon.
Effect means to bring something about.
So:
Almost 90% of homes affected by the blast have received compensation.
The blast had an impact on the homes.
… with immediate effect.
Something that is brought about immediately.
‘The X effect’ is a construction often used to describe a specific phenomenon.
The Greenhouse Effect.
The Doppler Effect.
The Butterfly Effect.
Again, very different meanings.
‘Allude’ means to refer to something indirectly.
‘Elude’ means to evade.
So:
He alluded to the possibility that a merger may be about to happen.
He managed to elude capture for more than ten years.
The prefix ‘ante’ means before. Ante-natal classes are what you go to before the baby is born.
‘Upping the ante’ is a phrase from card playing. It means you increase the amount of money you’ll pay to see another player’s card, thus increasing tension in the game.
‘Anti’ means against, or opposed to.
Eg: I am anti smoking in public places.
Blond describes men’s hair.
Blonde describes women’s hair. So ‘a blonde’ is a woman with light hair.
Bought is the past participle of the verb ‘to buy’.
Therefore, you bought a bunch of bananas, and they cost you £1.
Brought is the past participle of the verb ‘to bring’.
Which means that having bought the bananas, you brought them home.
Callous means cruel and uncaring.
Callus is a patch of hard skin you get from repeated friction.
They sound the same though.
To accept means to assimilate, to welcome on board, to agree with.
To except means to exclude, or not include.
Very different meanings.
Stationary is an adjective which describes something that is not moving.
Stationery is what you can buy in WH Smiths and Paperchase.
Eg:
The vehicle was stationary.
I need envelopes, cards and some other items of stationery.
TIP: For stationary with an ‘a’ think car. For stationery with an ‘e’ think envelope
They’re – contraction of ‘they are’
They’re moving house on Saturday.
Their – possessive pronoun
Their new house is in Blackpool. It is theirs.
There – a word of many meanings, generally used to introduce a fact, truth, or to establish a position
There is a green hill far away.
There you have it.
The book is right there.
Veracity means truth.
Voracity means greed.
Whisky comes from Scotland.
Whiskey comes from Ireland or the USA.
Whose – shows belonging – who it belongs to
Who’s – is a contraction of ‘who is’ or ‘who has’
Eg:
Who’s been eating my porridge? (Who has been eating my porridge?)
Whose is that porridge? (Who does that porridge belong to?)
