91吃瓜网

>

Dealing with Tricky Words

In an effort to make our handouts more accessible, we have begun converting our PDF handouts to web pages.

Download this page as a PDF:聽Dealing with Tricky Words

Return to Writing Studio Handouts

Tricky Words: When and How to Use Them

  • Farther/Further

    Farther usually describes distances. Further usually suggests quantity or degree.

    • San Francisco is聽farther聽from Nashville than Memphis.
    • You should have expanded your argument聽further聽in this paper.
  • Toward/Towards

    Toward and towards are used interchangeably, though toward is preferred in American English.

  • Who/Whom

    Who is used as the subject of a sentence. Whom is either the object of the verb or the object of a preposition.

    • Who聽is my instructor?
    • 罢辞听whom聽should I give this paper?
  • Lay/Lie

    Lie is an intransitive verb. It does not take an object.

    • 滨听lie聽down. [The past tense is lay: 鈥淚 lay down.鈥� The past participle is lain: 鈥淚 have lain down.鈥漖

    Lay is a transitive verb. It must take an object.

    • 滨听lay聽the book down. [The past tense is laid: 鈥淚 laid it down.鈥� The past participle is laid, 鈥淚 have laid it down.鈥漖
  • That/Which

    Strictly speaking,聽that聽is a restrictive relative clause and聽which聽is a non-restrictive relative clause.聽That聽narrows a category or identifies a particular object and in so doing provides necessary information.

    Which聽provides additional information not needed to identify a particular object.

  • i.e. and e.g.

    The Latin abbreviation聽i.e.聽stands for聽id est聽and is roughly equivalent to聽that is, or聽that is to say, or聽in other words. i.e. is used to clarify or provide a definition for a previous part of the sentence.

    • I鈥檓 going to the place where I work best,聽i.e.聽the coffee shop.

    The Latin abbreviation聽e.g.聽stands for聽exempli gratia聽which means 鈥渇or example鈥� (but can also be thought of as 鈥渆xample given鈥�). It is used to provide examples.

    • Humans have several innate abilities,聽e.g.聽language learning, walking, and recognizing faces.
  • Affect/Effect

    The verb聽affect聽means 鈥渢o influence鈥� or 鈥渉ave an effect on.鈥� The noun聽affect聽means feeling or emotion. The noun聽别蹿蹿别肠迟听means outcome or result.

    The verb聽effect聽means 鈥渢o make happen鈥� or 鈥渢o produce.鈥�

    The verb form of聽affect聽and noun form of聽effect聽are more common.

  • Was/Were

    Was听补苍诲听were聽are both the past tense of聽to be.

    Was聽is the first and third person singular form of the infinitive聽to be聽when used in the indicative mood.

    • I was. He was.

    Were聽is the second person and the first and third person plural form of the infinitive聽to be聽when used in the indicative mood.

    • You were. We were. They were.

    贬辞飞别惫别谤,听were聽can also be present tense when it is the first, second, or third person form (both plural and singular) of the infinitive聽to be聽when used in the subjunctive mood.

    One should聽NEVER听耻蝉别听was聽in the present subjunctive: 鈥淚f I was a rich man. I wish I was in Tahiti.鈥� Rather one should use were:

    • If 滨听were聽a rich man. I wish 滨听were聽in Tahiti.

FOR A FULL GLOSSARY OF TROUBLESOME WORDS, SEE THE CHICAGO MANUAL OF STYLE 搂5.202

Last revised: 08/2007 |聽Adapted for web delivery: 05/2021

In order to access certain content on this page, you may need to download聽聽or an equivalent PDF viewer software.