a glossary of usage about chapter 12 word choice 1 word choice 2

A Glossary of Usage• About chapter 12• Word choice 1• Word choice 2• Word choice 3• Word choice 4• Word choice 5

About chapter 12• Some examples in this chapter will be labeled

nonstandard, standard, formal, or informal– Nonstandard: words suitable only in the most

casual speaking or writing that attempts to re-create this type of speech

– Standard: grammatically correct; appropriate in any situation

– Formal: appropriate in serious speaking/writing (speeches/school compositions)

– Informal: standard usage common in everyday speech and personal letters

Word choice 1

1. A, an: 1. Use a before words that start with consonant

sounds2. Use an before words that start with vowel

soundsEx:

3. He did not think of himself as a hero.4. An apple a day keeps the doctor away.5. I’ll be back in an hour.

2. accept, except1. Accept is a verb. It means to receive or allow.2. Except can be a verb or a preposition.

1. As a verb, it means to leave out or exclude2. As a preposition, it means other than or excluding

Ex: 3. I accept your apology.4. Seniors will be excepted from the admissions fee.5. I told all of you except Bob that there was a GLR

test today.

3. Affect, effect1. Affect is a verb meaning “to influence”2. Effect can be a noun or a verb:

1. Effect as a verb means “to enact” or “to bring about”2. Effect as a noun means “a result”

Ex: 3. The missed free throws affected the outcome of the

game.4. The commissioner's announcement effected a great

change in the mood of the NBA players’ association. 5. Read more about the effects of discrimination in

today’s news article.

Just don’t. Thanks.(nonstandard)

4. Ain’t

5. All ready, already1. All ready means “completely prepared”2. Already means “previously”

Ex: 3. I asked you if you were all ready to head outside

and line up for lunch.4. Sadly, they had already run out of mozzarella

sticks by the time you arrived.

6. All right– All right can be used as an adjective or an adverb• Adjective: “unhurt” or “satisfactory”• Adverb: “well enough”

– It should always be written as two wordsEx:

1. I tripped, but I am all right.2. Your essay was all right but not brilliant.3. You did all right at the plate, but you were great

in the field.

7. A lot– Always write it as two words

Ex: I have a lot of grading yet to do.

8. Anyway– Use this word without a final s.– No anyways

9. At– Do not use at after where• Nonstandard: Where is my super suit at?• Standard: Where is my super suit?

10. Bad, Badly– Bad is an adjective– Badly is an adverb

Ex:1. Megamind wasn’t really a bad man.2. He behaved badly, however.

Exercise 1: p. 267• Use your boards• Select the best choice from inside the parenthesis.• A evens, B odds; start with 2.

Ex: Korea has been in the news (a lot, a lot) lately.A: a lot1. South Korea occupies the lower half of (a, an)

peninsula between China and Japan.A: a

Word choice 2

1. Between, among: 1. Use between when referring to two things at a time2. Use among when referring to a group rather than to

separate individualsEx:

3. In homeroom, Carlos sits between Bob and me.4. Some players practice their seed-spitting techniques

between innings.5. We hit five home runs among the three of us.6. There was disagreement among the fans about

whether the coach should have been fired.

2. Bring, take1. Bring means “to come carrying something.”2. Take means “to go carrying something.”

1. Bring is related to arrival2. Take is related to departure

Try it: 3. _______ your skateboard when you come to my

house this weekend.4. Please _______ these letters with you to the post

office when you go.

Bring

take

3. Bust, busted1. Avoid using these words as verbs2. Use a form of burst, break, catch, or arrest

Fix: 3. The bubbles busted when they touched the

ground.A: The bubbles burst when they touched the ground.2. The officer busted the thief.A. The officer arrested the thief.

4. Could of1. Do not write of with the helping verb could2. Write could have instead.3. This confusion comes from the pronunciation of

the contraction could’ve. Avoid this and most other contractions in formal writing.

4. Also avoid ought to of, should of, would of, might of, and must of.

Fix this poorly captioned still:

You don’t understand! I ________________ had class! I ________________ been a contender! I ________________ been somebody instead of a bum, which is what I am!

could have could havecould have

5. Doesn’t, don’t1. Doesn’t is a contraction for does not2. Don’t is a contraction for do not3. Use doesn’t, not don’t, with singular nouns and

he, she, it, this, and that.

Try it: 4. He ________ know how to swim.5. The price _________ include tax.

doesn’t

doesn’t

6. Fewer, less– Fewer is used with plural words• It tells “how many”

– Less is used with singular words• It tells “how much”

Try it: 1. Do _______ plants grow in the tundra than in the

desert?2. Do desert plants require ________ water?3. Do desert plants require ________ waterings?

fewerplural

lesssingular

fewerplural

6. Good, well– Good is an adjective. Don’t use it as an adverb. Instead, use

well.• NONSTANDARD: Nancy sang good at the audition.• STANDARD: Nancy sang well at the audition.

– Well is usually an adverb. You can, however, use it as an adjective to mean healthy.• Ex: He didn’t look well after eating the entire pie all by

himself.– Feel good and feel well mean different things.

• Feel good means “to be happy/pleased”• Feel well means “to be healthy”

Ex:1. I felt good when I god an A on my report.2. I stayed home yesterday because I didn’t feel well.

Reminder: Avoid double negatives• Hardly and scarcely are words with negative connotations• They should not be used with other negative words to express

negative ideas.

Fix:1. I can’t hardly read your handwriting.A: I can hardly read your handwriting.

2. We hadn’t scarcely enough food.A. We had scarcely enough food.


Ex: When you come to my house, (bring, take) that interesting book you have.A: bring1. Teddy Roosevelt must have felt (good, well) about

having a teddy bear named for him.A: good

Word choice 3

1. He, she, it, they: 1. Don’t use unnecessary pronouns after nouns2. This error is called a double subject

NONSTANDARD: Annika Sorenstam she is my favorite golfer.STANDARD: Annika Sorenstam is my favorite golfer.

2. Hisself2. Hisself is nonstandard English. Use himself instead.

3. How come– In informal situations, how come is often used

instead of why.– In formal situations, why should be used.

INFORMAL: How come Nori’s not here yet?FORMAL: Why is Nori not here yet?

4. Its, it’s– Its is a personal pronoun in the possessive form• Use its to show ownership

– It’s is a contraction for it is or it has

Examples:1. Its handle is broken.2. It’s a hot day.3. The dog hurt its paw.4. It’s a secret to

everybody.

5. kind, sort, type– Make sure these agree in number with words like

this, that, these, and those

Examples:1. Whitney likes this kind of music.2. I think those kinds of math problems are easy.

6. Kind of, sort of– In informal situations, kind of and sort of are often

used to mean “somewhat” or “rather”– In formal English, somewhat or rather is preferred

INFORMAL: He seemed kind of embarrassed.FORMAL: He seemed somewhat embarrassed.

7. Leave, let– Leave means “to go away”– Let means “to allow or permit”

Try it: 1. (Leave/Let) me be! A. Let me be!2. (Leave/Let) her go to the concert.A. Let her go to the concert.

8. Lie and Lay

• Lie: “to rest,” “to recline,” or “to be in a place” (intransitive- no object) (like sit)

• Lay: “to put something in a place” (transitive – has a direct object) (like set)

Base form: Present participle: Past: Past Participle:Lie (is) lying lay (have) lainLay (is) laying laid (have) laid

Lie or Lay?Examples: • The napkins are lying next to the plates. (no object)• The servers are laying extra napkins beside every plate.

(object = napkins)• The soldiers lay very still while the enemy passed. (no object)• The soldiers laid a trap for the enemy. (object = trap)

Rip Van Winkle had _______ asleep for twenty years.

Rip Van Winkle had _______ his knapsack on the ground.

lain

laid

9. Like, as– In informal situations, the preposition like is often

used to introduce a clause instead of as– In formal situations, as is preferred

Ex: 1. I looked up all the words on the computer, as

our teacher had suggested.

10. like, as if, as though– Informally, the preposition like is used instead of

the compound subordinating conjunction as if or as though

– In formal situations, as if or as though is preferred

Ex: 1. They behaved as if [not like] they hadn’t heard

him.2. You looked as though [not like] you knew the

answer.


Ex: I’d like to know (how come/why) folk tales about tricky animals have become so popular.A: why1. People all over the world enjoy stories about a

creature that outsmarts (its/it’s) enemiesA: its

Word choice 4

1. of1. Don’t use of after prepositions such as inside, off, and

outside

Examples:

2. He quickly walked off [not off of] the stage. 3. She waited outside [not outside of] the school.4. What is inside [not inside of] this cabinet?

2. Real– In informal situations, real is often used as an

adverb meaning “very” or “extremely”– In formal situations, very or extremely is preferred

INFORMAL: My mom is expecting a real important phone call.FORMAL: My mother is expecting a very important telephone call.

3. Reason…because– Informal: Reason is used with because– Formal: Reason is used with that

Examples:1. Informal: The reason I did well on the test was because I

studied hard.2. Formal: The reason I did well on the test was that I

studied hard.

4. Special verb problems: Rise and Raise

• Rise: “to go up” or “to get up” (intransitive- no object)

• Raise: “to lift up” or “to cause (something) to rise” (transitive – has a direct object) (like set)

Base form: Present participle: Past: Past Participle:Rise (is) rising rose (have) risenRaise (is) raising raised (have) raised

Rise or Raise?Examples: • My neighbors rise very early in the morning. (no object)• My neighbors raise their shades very early in the morning.

(object = shades)• Sparks rose from the flames of the campfire. (no object)• The breeze raised sparks high into the air. (object = sparks)

The senators have _______ from their seats to show respect.

The senators have _______ a number of important issues.

risen

raised

5. Special verb problems: Sit and set

• Sit: “to rest in an upright, seated position” or “to be in a place” (intransitive- no object)

• Set: “to put something in a place” (transitive – has a direct object)

Base form: Present participle: Past: Past Participle:Sit (is) sitting sat (have) satSet (is) setting set (have) set

Sit or set?Examples: • Let’s sit under the tree. (no object)• Let’s set our backpacks under the tree. (object = backpacks)• The tourists sat on the bench. (no object)• The tourists set their cameras on the bench. (object =

cameras)

We had just _______ down when the phone rang.

We had just _______ down our books when the phone rang.

sat

set

6. Some, somewhat– Don’t use the adjective some for the adverb

somewhat

Examples:1. Nonstandard: My fever has gone down some.2. Standard: My fever has gone down somewhat.

7. Than, then– Than is a subordinating conjunction used for

comparisons– Then is an adverb telling when (note the spelling)

Examples:

1. Great Danes are larger than Chihuahuas.

2. I finished my reading. Then I wrote some letters.

8. Their, there, they’re– Their: possessive– There: location (like here, notice the spelling) or used to

start a sentence– They’re: they + are

Try it:9. __________ team won the game.10. We are planning to go __________ this summer.11. __________ were twenty people at the party.12. __________ the best players on the team.They’re

there

There

Their

9. Theirself, theirselves– Nope. Use themselves instead.

10. Them– Don’t use them as an adjective. Use those instead.

Example: Please put ______ cans in the bin.

11. Try and– Informally, try and is often substituted for try to– In formal situations, use try to

Examples:INFORMAL: Try and be on time for the party.FORMAL: Try to be on time for the party.

those

Sample exercises:Ex: Athletes find their sports (real/very) exciting.A: very1. The ranger discovered new strengths (inside/inside

of) himself while rock climbing.A: inside


Word choice 5

1. Used to, supposed to1. Don’t use of after prepositions such as inside, off, and

outside

Examples:

2. He quickly walked off [not off of] the stage. 3. She waited outside [not outside of] the school.4. What is inside [not inside of] this cabinet?

2. way, ways– When referring to a distance, use way instead of

waysExample: You still have a long way [not ways] to go.

3. when, where– Don’t use when or where to start a definition

NONSTANDARD: An infomercial is where a TV show is actually a long ad.STANDARD: An infomercial is a TV program that is actually a long ad.

4. Where– Don’t use where for that

Example: I read that [not where] Sue won the game.

5. who, which, that– Who refers to people only– Which refers to things only– That refers to either people or things

Try it:1. This is the ring ______ I want to buy.2. My bike, _______ has ten speeds, is for sale.3. Kim is the one ______ got the right answer.

which

that

who/that

6. who/whose– who’s is a contraction for who + is or who + has• Relates to it’s

– Whose is possessive or interrogative (questioning)• Relates to its

Try it:7. I wonder _______ keeping score?8. ______ is this?9. ______ been using my bat again?10.Do you know _______ glove this is?

7. your, you’re– Your is possessive• Relates to its and whose

– You’re is a contraction of you + are• Relates to it’s and who’s

FAILTry it:

1. _______ tattoo is the funniest thing I have ever seen.

2. _______ clearly not too bright.

Your

You’re

Sample exercises:Ex: Billy (use/used) to know all the capitals.A: used1. I read (where/that) some states have the same

state birds.A: that


TEST MONDAY

a glossary of usage about chapter 12 word choice 1 word choice 2

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