spelling

‘Dependant’ and ‘dependent’

Hannah McCall 5 Comments

The use of dependant and dependent is a very good example of the constant changes taking place in the English language. Fellow users of British English are probably aware of the traditional distinction.

Dependant

  • a person who depends on someone else for financial support

Cat and moneyDependent

  • requiring a person or thing for aid or support; unable to do without
  • [dependent on] conditioned, influenced or determined by; contingent on

However, you might be surprised to learn that you can also use the spelling dependent for the noun. Dependent has recently muscled its way to the status of a standard variant spelling of dependant; dependent is now as common as dependant in the Oxford English Corpus (according to Fowler’s and the Oxford Dictionary online).

Dependent was already the standard spelling in American English. And dependent is the only standard spelling for the adjective.

‘Climactic’ and ‘climatic’

Hannah McCall 2 Comments

The similar spelling here makes it so easy to use the wrong word, accidentally type the wrong word, or miss the incorrect usage when you are reading over your own work.

Climactic means ‘forming a climax’:

  • The viewers gasped during the climactic final fight scene
  • Mounting tension gave way to a climactic resolution

ClimateClimatic means ‘relating to climate or weather’:

  • My hair doesn’t react well to these climatic conditions
  • The researchers are worried about climatic change

My advice is to try to remember there is no extra c in climatic because climate does not have an extra c. Or there’s a more complicated association with climactic and cinema (because that’s where you often watch films with big climactic scenes).

‘Practice’ or ‘practise’?

Hannah McCall 8 Comments

Confusion over the use of practice and practise is common. For most varieties of English, practice is the spelling for the noun and practise is the spelling for the verb.

DeskVerb:

I practise every day.

Noun:

It is my practice to write every day.

If it is a thing, use practice. If it is an action, use practise. I find it helpful to link them to advice and advise. Most English speakers instantly know the difference:

Verb:

I advice advise you to stop.

Noun:

I gave you some advise advice.

The word with the -ice ending is a noun. The word ending with -ise is a verb. And you can apply that to practice and practise.

In American English, practice is the dominant spelling for the noun and the verb. However, the distinction is sometimes observed.

‘Pair’, ‘pare’ and ‘pear’

Hannah McCall Leave a comment

Pair, pare and pear are homophones. I sometimes see pair used when pare or pear would be appropriate. It depends on the context, but it can be very confusing when these words are used incorrectly.

Pair

  • a set of two
  • a thing with two joined parts (e.g. a pair of shorts)
  • to put together to form a pair

PearsPare

  • to trim by cutting away the outer edge or layer
  • to reduce something

Pear

  • the edible fruit and its tree

 

‘Ingenious’ and ‘ingenuous’

Hannah McCall 5 Comments

These two words are easily confused, and often wrongly selected by autocorrect when you aren’t paying attention to the keys you are hitting.

LightbulbIngenious

  • clever, inventive and/or original
  • displaying cleverness or originality; well suited for its intended purpose

Ingenuous

  • innocent, trusting or unsuspecting; unsophisticated
  • honest and straightforward

You can work out which word you need by remembering that a genius is often ingenious.

‘Burger’ and ‘burgher’

Hannah McCall 9 Comments

I can’t claim that incorrectly spelling burgher as burger is a common, everyday mistake. But the mix-up does occur, especially in student essays.

BurgerBurger and beer

  • a flat round of meat or other food that is fried or grilled and often served in a bread roll

Burgher

  • a (typically wealthy) citizen of a town or city
  • (in southern Africa) an Afrikaans citizen of a Boer republic; a civilian member of a local militia
  • (in Sri Lanka) a descendant of Dutch or Portuguese colonists

The spelling of burgher does vary in historical texts – the versions include burger, bourger and burgar. This is because the word was adopted from the original German or Dutch burger (meaning ‘citizen of a fortified town’) and only later assimilated to the English burgh (meaning ‘borough’).

‘Affect’ and ‘effect’

Hannah McCall 20 Comments

EffectAffect and effect are often used incorrectly, particularly in student essays. In most contexts, affect is a verb and effect is a noun. When you affect something, it produces an effect – and I think that is where some of the confusion stems from.

Affect

Affect as a verb means ‘to influence or change’ or ‘to make a difference to’, and it is the most common use of affect.

The new rules will affect thousands of people.

It can sometimes mean ‘to pretend’ or ‘to take on or adopt something pretentiously’.

I affected a happy disposition.
He was known to affect an American accent.

It has limited usage (usually related to psychology) as noun referring to an emotion or feeling.

His reaction displayed a happy affect.

Effect

Effect as a verb means ‘to do’ or ‘to bring about’.

I will effect change.

But the most common usage of effect is as a noun meaning ‘a result’.

It had an immediate effect.

The a, an or the test

If you struggle to work out which word you need to use, this simple test might help. Does a, an or the appear in front of it? Or if you inserted a, an or the would the sentence make sense?

The effect was insignificant.
It could an affect your lifestyle.

If the answer is yes, you probably need effect (the noun). If the answer is no, you probably need affect (the verb).

‘Aisle’ and ‘isle’

Hannah McCall 5 Comments

It is fairly common to see isle used where aisle would be appropriate, but the different meanings are straightforward to grasp.

Aisle:

  • a passage between rows of seats or seating areas
  • a passage between rows of cabinets and shelves (containing goods)
  • a lower part in a church parallel to but divided from (by pillars) the nave or chancelIsland

Isle:

  • an island

The similarity between isle and island is a useful indicator of which word to use. If the thing you are writing about is not an island, you know that you need to use aisle.

‘Mold’ and ‘mould’

Hannah McCall 2 Comments

The difference between mold and mould is the u. The meanings are the same. If you use American English, the spelling is mold. If you use British English, the spelling is mould.

Mold/mould:

  • a shaped hollow container into which liquid is poured so it sets in a particular shape
  • Cheesea shape, form, nature, character or type
  • a framework around which something is constructed or shaped
  • something made using a mould (usually a foodstuff)
  • to make something in a mould
  • to shape, form, influence, change or direct
  • a growth of fungi or bacteria that typically develops in a warm, damp atmosphere
  • soft loose soil (often rich in organic matter)

‘Cue’ and ‘queue’

Hannah McCall 4 Comments

The first homophones of the year are cue and queue. The order of the vowels in queue is also a source of confusion for some writers.

Cue:

  • a signal for action
  • a signal for an actor to enter or begin
  • a hint or signal about how to behave
  • a reminder
  • a long, straight, tapering wooden rod used to strike the ball in games such as billiards and snooker; to hit a ball with a cue
  • to act as a prompt or reminder
  • to set audio or visual equipment in readiness to play
  • on cue – at the right moment

Queue:

  • Queuea line or sequence of people or vehicles awaiting their turn; to form or remain in a line while waiting
  • (in computing) a list of data items, commands, etc.,  stored so they are retrievable in a particular order; to arrange such items in a queue
  • a plait of hair or braid worn at the back
  • to be keen to do or have something (e.g. they were queuing up to hire him)

Cue jokes about British people in a queue.