Laura's Competitive Edge Grammar Rules
by Laura A. DeCarlo

BUGBEARS: Write Meaning, Rong Word?
Principal vs. Principle
"Principal" is a noun and adjective referring to someone or something which is highest in rank or importance.
e.g., In a loan, the principal is the more substantial part of the money, the interest is--or should be--the lesser.), or "The principal is your pal."

"Principle" is only a noun, and has to do with law or doctrine.
e.g., "The workers fought hard for the principle of collective bargaining."

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i.e., vs. e.g.,:
e.g., "for example"
i.e., "that is"

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Plural Acronyms:
CD's is CDs

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Oversee vs. Overlook
Oversee: To take control and manage the operation closely.
e.g., "I oversaw the preparation of dinner for the party."

Overlook: To forget to do something entirely.
e.g., "I overlooked preparing dinner tonight, so we need to order pizza."

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Cite, Sight & Site
Cite: You cite the author in an endnote;
Site: You visit a Web site or the site of the crime
Sight: You sight your beloved running toward you in slow motion on the beach (a sight for sore eyes!).

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In Regard to vs. In Regards to
It is always "in regard to; and never "in regards to."

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Access
Wrong: "You can access"
Correct: "You can get access to"

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Accept vs. Except
Accept: To take or receive
e.g., "If you offer me Godiva chocolates I will gladly accept them."

Except: To discount, remove, ignore.
e.g., "I like all of the chocolates except the strawberry crèmes."

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Adverse vs. Averse
Adverse: difficult
Averse: is aversion

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Vita vs. Vitae
Vitae: Use to claim credit for accomplishments in previous incarnations. The "ae" in "vitae" supposedly indicates the genitive rather than the plural.
Vita: Most appropriate for curriculum vita

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Advice vs. Advise
Advice: Noun
Advise: Verb.

e.g., "When Ann Landers advises people, she gives them advice."

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Assure, Ensure & Insure

Assure: To "assure" a person of something is to make him or her confident of it.

Ensure: To "ensure" that something happens is to make certain that it does.

Insure: To "insure" is to issue an insurance policy.

Note: Some authorities consider "ensure" and "insure" interchangeable.

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A While vs. Awhile
Awhile: Adverb which means "for a time" ("stay awhile").
A while: When "while" is the object of a prepositional phrase, like "Lend me your monkey wrench for a while" the "while" must be separated from the "a."

Note: If the preposition "for" were lacking in this sentence, "awhile" could be used in this way: "Lend me your monkey wrench awhile."

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CD-ROM vs. CD-ROM DISK
CD-ROM stands for "compact disc, read-only memory," so adding another "disc" or "disk" is redundant. The same goes for "DVD" -originally "Digital Versatile Disc."

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Center on vs. Center Around
You center on a topic, not center around the topic.

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Warrantee vs. Warranty
Warrantee: Rare legal term that means "the person to whom a warrant is made."

Warranty: A promise or guarantee of satisfaction.

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A vs. An
Use "an" in place of "a" when it precedes a vowel sound, not just a vowel.

e.g., "It is an honor to be elected."
"He saw a UFO."

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Affect vs. Effect
The problem here is that "affect" and "effect" actually represent four distinct words distinguished only by pronunciation.

Affect when accented on the final syllable "a-FECT": Verb meaning to have an influence on. e.g., "The million-dollar donation from the industrialist did not affect my vote against the Clean Air Act."

Affect when accented on the first syllable "AFF-ect": Means emotion. Relatively rare and typically used mostly by psychiatrists and social scientists.

Effect as a noun: Resulting consequence of an action. e.g., "The effect of the drug was almost instantaneous."

Effect as a verb: To create. Less commonly used meaning. e.g., "I'm trying to effect a change in the way we purchase widgets."

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Altogether vs. All Together
Altogether: Adverb which means completely or entirely. A unity of things. e.g., "When he first saw the examination questions, he was altogether baffled."

All together: One word which indicates / implies a separation. e.g., "All together we went to the ballgame."