Visual Grammar E-Book

Giacomo Giammatteo

• Herausgeber: Inferno Publishing Company
• Kategorie: Bildung
• Serie: No Mistakes Grammar
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017

Seitenzahl: 329

Beschreibung

This book is a combination of No Mistakes Grammar volumes I, II, and III. But it’s so much more. It has some new material, but it also has about 200 pictures. That’s right—pictures.

This is one of the world’s first, if not the first, Visual Grammar book. Most people learn better with pictures. With Visual Grammar, you get images that show examples of the words you’re learning. Not every word has a picture but a lot of them do.

This book includes misused words, redundancies, absolutes, flat adverbs, eponyms, idiomatic expressions, Latin phrases, and more.  

Leseprobe

Visual Grammar

No Mistakes Grammar I, II, andIII

Giacomo Giammatteo

Inferno Publishing Company

© 2017 Giacomo Giammatteo. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.

Inferno Publishing Company

Houston, TX

For more information about this book visit my website.

Edition ISBNs

Trade Paperback ……

E-book ……

Cover design by Natasha Brown

Book design by Giacomo Giammatteo

This edition was prepared by Giacomo Giammatteo [email protected]

Created with Vellum

Contents

Introduction

No Mistakes Grammar, Volume I

1. The Beginning

2. The Words

No Mistakes Grammar, Volume II

I. Idiomatic Expressions

1. He’s Going Downhill

2. Eat, Shit, and Die

3. Hunger Pangs

4. Thumbs-Up or Thumbs-Down?

5. Shoo-in or Shoe-in

6. An Axe to Grind

7. First Come, First Serve

8. Whet your appetite

9. Toe the Line

10. Going to Hell in a Handbasket

1. Words

II. Redundancies and Sayings

11. Business Redundancies and Other Problems

III. Miscellaneous

12. Capitalization

13. Compound Modifiers

14. Wordiness

15. How to Use Dates and Times

16. Very

17. Communication or Communications

IV. Pronunciations

18. Words Difficult to Pronounce

19. More Mispronounced Words

No Mistakes Grammar, Volume III

1. Words

2. More Common Redundancies

3. Redundancies

4. Absolutes

5. Words We Don't Need

6. Eponyms

7. Flat Adverbs

8. Initialisms and Acronyms

9. Latin Abbreviations

10. Lie, Lay, and Laid, and Lain

11. Poisonous or Venomous?

12. Plurals of Compound Words

13. Time-Consuming Words

14. Punctuation, (:!-*%;--@''–#,) and Other Things

15. I'm Afraid of ;;;;;;

16. Closing

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Also by Giacomo Giammatteo

Introduction

I struggled with the best way to present this, as the work is combined from three books. At first, I thought of simply separating the book into three volumes, each one representative of the respective book, and that’s the idea I eventually settled on (sortof).

I was going to combine all word examples and all redundancies, idiomatic expressions etc; but after giving it thought, I came to the conclusion that this way may be better. So, for better or worse, here itis.

I hope this works foryou.

Where appropriate, I have also included a few pictures. Since this is one of the world’s first visual grammar books, I thought it would help. As we all know, pictures help in the learning process.

No Mistakes Grammar, VolumeI

After we reach a certain age, communication becomes second nature. It's a given that people will understand what you say and, because of that, few people worry about specifics. Face it, even people with a minor command of the language typically communicate well enough to getby.

And if “getting by” is your goal in life, no problem. But if you are aiming higher. If you need to pass an SAT or other test, or if you need to rely on communication skills in your job, then you will need a lot more than “gettingby.”

When you're speaking to someone who has a keen understanding of words, they will assume you do too. So when you misuse a word, it may have devastating consequences. When you suggest to a colleague that they take the alternate choice instead of saying choose the alternative, there is a major difference. You don't want to be blamed forthat.

So whether you're an English-as-a-second-language student who is studying for a test, or a business person who needs to brush up on word usage, find a quiet spot, put on your reading glasses if you need them, and settle in for somefun.

The Beginning

Misusing words when you speak gives an impression that you probably don't want togive.

Misusing words when you write is even worse, because it's permanent. Someone might forget what you said, but if it's written, well...it's there to refer to forever. With that thought in mind, let's try to get it straight.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not here to tell you how to write. I have a difficult enough time myself. When I send a manuscript to my editor, I get it back with more editing marks than you can imagine.

So what is my goal? To see if I can help even one person improve their writing or speech enough for them to be happy with it. If I sell a few books in the process, my animals will be happy. (All proceeds go to the animals on my sanctuary.)

This book is split it into three sections—one for the ordinary people, the ones who only want to see what they’re doing wrong; one for people who rely on words for business communication (and who need to get it right); and one for the maniacs—like me—who simply want to get things right for the sake of being right.

The first section consists mostly of misused words and sayings (and a few redundancies)—the things you'd encounter in everyday life. It covers almost 200 everyday misused words (187).

The second section covers similar points (not the same words) as the first, but also includes sections on Absolutes (words that shouldn't be modified) Business Redundancies, Capitalization, (a horrible misuse in business) Compound Modifiers, Mispronunciations, Punctuation, Sayings, and Times and Dates. it's not a complete grammar book, but it does cover a lot of territory.

The third section covers more redundancies, more absolutes, capitals, eponyms, flat adverbs, initialisms and acronyms, Latin phrases, plurals of compound words, andmore.

Let's face it, the last thing you want anywhere—but especially in business writing—is to have the meaning of your words taken the wrong way. So whether you write cover letters, résumés, business proposals, or only emails to colleagues, get the book and learn to do it right.

It's a sin, but if you read enough blogs, and you know what you're looking for, you’ll see hundreds—if not thousands—of mistakes every week. I have even caught grievous errors on grammar sites.

If you're going to write about grammar, you should make all efforts to get it right. I would never think of correcting someone's grammar in public, and yet one of the few TV shows I watch features a character who does just that. I wouldn't object, except he makes grammar mistakes—obviousones.

My theory is that if you're going to have a character correct grammar, he better damn well be free of grammar mistakes.

Anothernote:

I thought about using definitions from dictionaries, but half of them I couldn't understand, so I made my own definitions. I hope that works outokay.

In some cases, quotes of famous people were used. I got these from Brainy Quote, which can be found here. http://www.brainyquote.com

Throughout the book I used 🐗 as a symbol for a tip, or a way to remember how to tell the difference between words.

🐗 Dennis is my pet wild boar. We rescued him when he was only a few days old, and he's been with us for five years now. Of course, he's a little bigger, weighing in at about 400 lbs. When we first got him, he was twelve pounds.

In any case, I used an image of a wild boar to draw attention to a particular section/tip. I hope it will help you rememberit.

Misused Words

In the "old days" the written word was not only the preferred method of long-distance communicating, it was the only method. Marriages were arranged, business partnerships discussed, terms decided upon, and deals concluded. Heads of state negotiated treaties and settled territory disputes using "words."

Then came the telephone, and the airplane, and other forms of modern transportation and communication, and things changed. Emphasis shifted from the written word to the spokenword.

Transportation made getting together in person much easier and less expensive and, if that wasn't possible, the telephone sufficed as a backup. The result was that the written word faded into near obsolescence, and the generation that embraced this new technology couldn't have been happier; grammar had never been more than a necessary evil anywaysanyway.

And then something strange happened. Technology advanced so rapidly that the planes and phones that had pushed writing and grammar into the background, and damn near buried them, became catalysts for bringing them back. Well at least one aspect of the technology.

According to Mashable, there were about 145 billion emails per day being sent as of November 2012. That's billion not million. No matter how you look at it, that's a lot of email.

Email single-handedly pushed writing back to the forefront of communication. Thanks to email, writing made a resurgence. The problem was, it didn't bring grammar withit.

For some reason many people seem to think they don't have to "write right" when using email. They view it like a trip to the corner store late at night, when it's okay to go wearing a T-shirt, or with your hair in curlers, or unshaven.

Corner store aside, it is not okay to send your emails, or any other communication, out that way. Don't do it—even if you're sending a message to friends or family; it will get you into a habit of being sloppy. And trust me, you might think it's okay. Your friends might think it's okay. Even your colleagues might say it's okay. But it's not. And it never willbe.

Draft a sales proposal that has sloppy wording and your prospect will take notice. They’ll wonder if that same sloppiness will show up in your company's products or customer service.

Hit the “send" button on an email with your résumé attached, and the person evaluating it will notice a mistake—trust me. I have spoken to a lot of human resource people who told me that mistakes were one of the first things they looked at. In fact, I published a book—No Mistakes Résumés—that deals with that subject.

I don't blame you. I understand how difficult grammar is and, even worse, how boring it is if you aren't interested in it. But it doesn't mean you shouldn't learn, or that you can't learn.

Don't worry; I'm here tohelp.

Vocabulary

Depending upon which study you read, the average person has a vocabulary of somewhere between 8,000 and 20,000 words. The writing vocabulary would be slightly less. Let's assume for a minute that we’re talking the lower end of this—say 7,500 words. That's still a lot of words to remember, or, to mix up. But this list I'm providing you is much shorter. It's about 200 words (187), and these constitute the majority of the mixed up and misused words in every day everyday usage.

So without further adieu ado, we’ll get started.

Special note: Throughout all my books, I use gender-neutral pronouns instead of continually referring back to the subject as he/she. It is an accepted practice and has been for decades.

Another note: I use strikeout to emphasize that it is not the word to use. I hope this will help things sinkin.

The Words

A/an:

A mistake I often see is the misuse of the indefinite articles “a” and “an.” The rules are simple, yet people often get them confused.

A—You use “a” in front of a word beginning with a consonant sound, regardless of spelling. So it would be: a fox, a dog, a university (the “u” makes a “y” sound), and yes, it would be a historic event. (Historic is pronounced with an “h” sound.)

An—You use “an” in front of words beginning with a vowel “sound,” again, regardless of spelling. So, it would be an elephant, an ostrich, an antelope, and an honor. (In the word honor, the “h” is not pronounced.) Words beginning with “h” and “u” seem to be the ones that confuse most people. (It doesn’t help that British and US pronunciations oftenvary.)

A lot/alot:

This is an easy one. Alot is not a word. It is always a lot, spelled as separate words.

A while/awhile:

This distinction is primarily a usage problem. When used as a noun phrase—a while—it typically follows a preposition.

Example: I think I'll stay for a while.

When it is used as an adverb it takes the one-word format and follows verbs, never a preposition.

Example: If it's all right with you, I'll stay awhile.

🐗 If the word you're looking for follows a preposition, such as “after, for, in…” use the two-word format, “a while.” If it follows a verb, use “awhile.”

Accede/exceed:

Accede—means to agree or approve of something. It can also mean to assume an office or title.

Note: accede is usually followed by the word “to.”

screenshot of resume

Exceed—means to excel or be greater than. (On a résumé you might see this under the accomplishments section—sales exceeded quota for region by 45%. Or, I plan to exceed the sales of my predecessor.) The screenshot to the left shows exactlythat.

🐗 Try to think of “exceed” as excelling. They both begin with “ex.”

Accept/except: I have accepted the fact that everyone is incompetent—exceptme.

accepted, all is okay

Accept=to receive a gift, to agree, accept an invitation, accept your responsibilities, accept a package, accept something asokay.

I accepted responsibility for doing the project; no one else was doing it right.

except

Except=exclusion. (In most cases, you could substitute “but” for except. Try it out in the examples below.)

All the soldiers, except one, died at the Alamo.

I would go to Italy, except I have no money.

🐗 Try to remember accept is associated with agree, like if your spouse tells you it was your fault, and you wisely say, “Okay, I acceptthat.”

Agree and Accept both begin with “A.”

And except means exclusion. Both begin with “ex,” same as exceed.

Quote:

“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinitehope.”

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Accidently/accidentally: This mix up is simply a spelling error. Accidently is not a word, it's simply how many people mispronounce—accidentally.

Accommodate: This is another spelling mix up. Many people spell it with one “m.” The easy way to remember this is that both “c” and “m” are doubled.

ad for beer

Ad/add: An “ad” is an advertisement and to “add” is to increase in number, or find the sum of. Like adding a room to your house, or adding items to the grocerylist.

calculator

Or remembering that in the “old” days calculators were not around for use with adding numbers.

🐗 This one is simple to remember. The one with two “d's” is the one meaning increase in number—you've added a “d.”

Adapt/adept/adopt: I adopted a policy of flexibility long ago, and as a result, I am adept at adapting to almost any situation. People use the words adapt and adopt all the time. Adept, not so much, but it’s still used frequently. If you do a search on Google for the differences, you’ll see about half a million other people searched for the same thing.

adaptor

Adapt=to change things. To learn to live with changes in life. My grandfather, who was from Italy, had to learn to adapt to the new lifestyle he adopted. it's where we get the word adaptor as in the image to the left. An adaptor is a connective device that allows something to work in a different circumstance.

I mentioned above about the number of people who searched for the difference between these words. That’s not nearly as many as some of the words, but it’s still a lot. To give you an idea of the confusion surrounding some words, then and than shows 275 million Google searches.

card sharp

Adept=an expert, a skilled person. The guy with the silk suit was an adept card player. He was adept at manipulating cards. (As the image shows.) The word does not have a negative connotation. It is not always associated with card sharps. You could say he was adept at repairing watches or fixing computers. It simply means proficient.

dog needs home

Adopt=to choose or take on as your own. The newlyweds couldn't have children so they adopted one. The baby was adopted. The puppy needed a new home, so we adoptedit.

My wife and I have an animal sanctuary, so we have adopted many animals, including a crazy wild boar which I use as my symbol for a hint orclue

🐗 Distinguishing these words from one another is also an easy task. Look at the middle vowels in the three words: “a, e, ando.”

Adapt has an “a,” think of adjust.

Adept has an “e,” think of expert.

Adopt has an “o,” think of orphan.

Quote:

Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.

Stephen Hawking

Adverse/averse: I am averse to adverse reactions.

you may have adverse reactions to drugs

Aside from the pharmaceutical company ads where they mention over and over and over again the adverse effects you might experience from taking their drugs, not a whole lot of people use these words. And that is why it is even more important that you get them right. If there's anything worse than using two-dollar words when they're not needed, it's using two-dollar words the wrong way. It makes it appear as if you were specifically trying to use two-dollar words and failed.

Adverse is an adjective meaning unfavorable, like the example of adverse reactions to drugs. Or perhaps you went hiking and a storm moved in, presenting you with adverse conditions, as in, the storm presented us with adverse conditions while climbing Mt. Shasta.

willing to roll up his sleeves

Averse means opposed to/against. On a résumé you might see someone say they are not averse to rolling up their sleeves, or not averse to doing hands-onwork.

🐗 Try to remember an adverse reaction to drugs, and that both drugs and adverse contain the letter “d.”

And in almost every case, averse is followed by the word “to.” I can't think of a case where adverse would be followed by “to.” Also, think of averse as having a similar meaning as against, as in, I'm not against rolling up my sleeves.

Quote:

I'm not averse to helping Wall Street when it helps Main Street.

Ben Nelson

Advice/advise: I advise you to take my advice. The headhunter advised Jane to take the job offer, but she ignored his advice and stayed where she was. She regrettedit.

Advice is a noun, and normally reflects someone's opinion or suggestion. Advice is something you give (ortake).

Advise is a verb, and represents the giving of advice. You might find the following on a résumé listed as “advised board on strategy for acquisition candidates.”

Advise is something youdo.

🐗 You give or take advice, and you advise someone.

Quote:

When your mother asks, “Do you want a piece of advice?” it is a mere formality. It doesn't matter if you answer yes or no. you're going to get it anyway.

Erma Bombeck

I have found the best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise them to doit.

Harry S. Truman

Affect/effect: These words are often confused because both of them function as nouns and verbs.

Affect as a verb means to have an influence on, or to stir ormove

The company layoffs affected the moral morale of the employees.The president's speech on foreign policy affected the listeners, stirring emotions.

Affect is seldom used as anoun.

Effect as a noun means the result of something or the consequence of some action. (The effect of the layoff was a drop in morale.)

Effect as a verb means to bring about. The president's speech effected a change in policy.

🐗Although these words can both function as nouns/verbs, and both share the “influence” meaning, there is a way to get it right most of thetime.

Affect is almost always used in the verb form, so think of action, which also starts with an “A.”

Effect is typically used in the noun form. Think of the “end result.” (Even though “end result” is redundant.)

Quote:

To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest ofarts.

Henry David Thoreau

Aid/aide/ade: The politician, along with his aide, aided the sick and injured by giving them ade. Some dictionaries do not list ade as an acceptable word, but as a noun suffix, similar to how you’d see with leomonade or blockade. There are others, however, that list it as a fruit drink. To be safe, I wouldn’t use the word unless it trailed the end of an appropriate word, such as lemonade or limeade, etc.

aid

Aid means to provide help or assistance, as in what the Red Cross does. The United States is known for providing aid to many countries. The Red Cross is known for providing aid to disaster victims.

Example sentence—he stopped when he saw the accident and provided first aid to the injured.

doctor’s aide

Aide is an assistant or a helper, like “the general's aide.” The general’s aide had his jeep ready to go. The doctor’s aide bandaged up the patient. The teacher’s aide had to instruct the class when the substitute didn’t show, and the class was ecstatic.

The politician’s aide was adept at keeping her boss’s calendar free from unwanted visitors.

This is the an easy one to remember, as aide has an “e” on the end, and an aide is an employee.

A general’saideA teacher’saideA doctor’saide

lemonade

Ade is a fruity drink, like a lemonade. Children are often seen selling lemonade from stands on their frontlawn.

🐗As already mentioned, try to remember that the difference between aid and aide is that the one with the “E” is an employee, a person. The confusion comes because the past tense of aid is aided. Also remember that ade is just like lemonade.

Afterward/afterwards

This rule applies to “afterward, anyway, (despite what NYPD Blue says) backward, forward, onward, toward, untoward, and all the others.” It is “afterward”—no “s.” Using the “s” is good in the United Kingdom, but in the United States, the preference is no “s.”

So anyways anyway, when you're writing, check your work afterwards afterward and take out the trailing “s” on each of the words mentioned.

All together/altogether:

Altogether is an adverb. It means entirely or completely.

The Wi-Fi service went out altogether. (Went out completely.)

All together is a phrase that means in a group.

Mrs. Johnson's fifth-grade class sang all together. Or Mrs. Johnson's fifth-grade class all sang together.

🐗 If you can replace altogether with completely or utterly without losing any meaning, then you are probably using the right word. And note that all together can be separated in the sentence and not lose its meaning, as in the example above with Mrs. Johnson’s class.

Quote:

If I play hard to get, soon the phone stops ringing altogether.

Mason Cooley

Aloud/allowed: First he thought it, and then he said it aloud. Smokingis not allowed on campus.

Aloud means to speak outloud.

Allowed has many meanings, but the majority of usage deals with permission or making provisionsfor.

We run an animal sanctuary, but we don't allow the animals in certain parts of our house.

Monica's schedule was tight, but she allowed herself half an hour a day for reading.

🐗The easiest way to remember this is that aloud contains the wordloud.

Quote:

A child who is allowed to be disrespectful to his parents will not have true respect for anyone.

Billy Graham

Already/all ready: Are you all ready, because we're already late? Already is an adverb. It means prior to, or previously, or so soon. It almost always impliestime.

Bob got to the meeting five minutes early, but his boss was already there.

All ready is a phrase that means you are prepared.

🐗Remember that all ready consists of two words, and the phrase all ready refers to more than one person. You wouldn't say, I'm all ready to go. If it's just you, you'd say, I'm ready to go (or you should saythat).

Quote:

There cannot be a crisis next week. My schedule is alreadyfull.

Henry A. Kissinger

Alright or all right: Some people still think that “alright” is “all right” but the majority of grammarians think that using “alright” is similar to using “ain't.”

Many others disagree, and alright is listed in most dictionaries as acceptable, but when consulting the AP Stylebook, its advise advice is, never use “alright.” So even though it is becoming more accepted as a standard word, why bother? My suggestion is to use “all right.”

🐗 When you're thinking of which word to use, remember that “alright” ain't “all right.”

Quote:

It is all right for the lion and the lamb to lie down together if they are both asleep, but if one of them begins to get active, it is dangerous.

Crystal Eastman

Note: I have to say, when researching the quotes for this one, the majority of quotes were by people who used alright and not all right. (What a shame!) With that said, just because someone uses the word improperly, or even because a lot of people use the word improperly—it is no excuse for you to do so. Lots of people misuse words. It doesn’t make it right. If it did, words like ain’t and irregardless, and alot would be right up there with alright.

Thank God they’renot.

Altar/alter:

Altar is a noun, meaning a table, structure, platform, etc... used for religious rites.

The groom got nervous and the bride was left at the altar.

The priest stood before the altar and said his prayers. The serial killer had constructed an altar to his victims.

Alter is a verb, meaning to change or make different. To modify in someway.

The tailor rushed to alter the groom's tuxedo.

You can alter the document by clicking the edit button.

🐗 The second vowel in the words are “e and a.” Remember that altar and aisle both have an “a.”

Quote:

Human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes ofmind.

William James

I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind ofman.

Thomas Jefferson

Altercation: A quick note about the word altercation. I have seen many writers use it to mean a physical fight, when its definition is “a heated or angry dispute; a noisy argument or controversy.” It has been misused so often that it is in danger of becoming standard, and I blame this on TV more than anything.

Example: My wife and I have had many altercations, but we've never laid a hand on one another.

Alternate/alternative:

Alternate can function as a verb, an adjective, or anoun.

A person suffering from bi-polar disease might alternate between highs andlows.

A chessboard has alternate black and white squares. A checkerboard pattern is so named for the alternating squares reminiscent of a checkerboard.

An understudy for a Broadway play might get their big break if they are the alternate, and they are required to fill in for the star one night.

Alternative can function as a noun or an adjective. Definition— being one of a number of possible choices.

If you don't like buying books from Amazon, you have plenty of alternatives.

When diagnosed with cancer, my friend looked for alternative treatments.

If the freeway has an accident on it, try alternative routes. (Not alternate routes.)

🐗 Try to think of alternate as a back and forth between two things, as in the examples above: “highs and lows,” “black and white,” and “understudy andstar.”

On the other hand, alternative deals usually with multiple options— all of Amazon's competitors, multiple choices for treatment, many options on which roads to take. It can usually be substituted with other or another.

So the way to remember it is that alternate usually deals with two, and it is a shorter word than alternative, which usually deals with multiple options.

Quote:

For every failure, there's an alternative course of action. You just have to find it. When you come to a roadblock, take a detour.

Mary Kay Ash

Among/between: As he prepared to address the crowd, the politician leaned toward his aide, and said, “Between you and me, there is a spy among our group.”

among

Among means more than two, as the picture shows. There is a party game where one of the guests is supposed to be a mystery criminal.

The introduction states “No one knows who it is, but among the guests is a murderer. It’s up to you to determine who itis.”

Between—there can be onlytwo.

between

Remember the movie Highlander, where the “immortal” men had to fight until death. The tagline of the movie was “there can be only one.” This is similar but with the word between, there can be onlytwo.

Between is used only for sentences involving two items, and among for sentences involving more thantwo.

🐗 Remember the “t” in between stands fortwo.

Note: And yes, for any of you wondering, the correct form is between you and me, not between you andI.

Amoral/immoral: Some people live normal lives, but are still judged immoral, while others embrace religion to conceal their amoral philosophy.

Amoral means having no moral standards. An amoral person might be indifferent to the fact that his neighbor is a thief.

Immoral means not conforming to the norm. An immoral person might aspire to becoming a thief.

🐗 An amoral person has no standards, and an immoral one has bad standards.

Quote:

About morals, I know only that what is moral is what you feel good after and what is immoral is what you feel bad after.

Ernest Hemingway

I would never stoop so low as to claim Ernest Hemingway was wrong, so I’m forced to agree with him. When a person does something immoral, they usually know it, feel it deep inside them. Like a betrayal of a friendship. And the reverse is also true. If you stand up and do what’s right, you usually feel good regardless of the consequences.

anxious about interview

Anxious/eager: Some people use anxious and eager as if they were the same word, with similar meanings. It is becoming more acceptable in common usage (which is a damn shame) but there are differences, meaningful differences.

“Anxious” stems from the word anxiety. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines anxietyas:

an abnormal and overwhelming sense of apprehension and of fear often marked by such physical symptoms as tension, tremor, sweating, palpitation, and increased pulserate.

Puppy eager to welcome you home

I am anxious about meeting my fiancé fiancée's father, but eager to meet her mother. He was eager as well as anxious to meet the president. He was anxious about hearing the results of his lab work, wondering if the tumor had dissipated.

Dictionary.com defines anxiousas:

full of mental distress or uneasiness because of fear of danger or misfortune; greatly worried.

Dictionary.com defines eageras:

keen or ardent in desire or feeling; impatiently longing.

🐗 Notice that eager is usually coupled with “to,” and anxious goes with “about.”

So you wouldn't tell the hiring manager that you are anxious to come for an interview. You might be anxious about interviewing, but tell them you are eager to come for an interview. It will mean more to them. (There are times when anxious to will work, but it’s still better to stick to about.)

Quote:

No one is more arrogant toward women, more aggressive or scornful, than the man who is anxious about his virility.

Simone de Beauvoir

When a man is willing and eager the gods joinin.

Aeschylus

Any time/anytime:

Anytime is an adverb.

Any time is used as two words can be an adverbial phrase or an adjective (The word any) modifying a noun (time).

Example:

I like restaurants that serve breakfast at any time ofday.

Considering the state of the economy, it's doubtful I’ll be finding a job anytimesoon.

Any one/anyone:

Definition:

Anyone is a term meaning any person.

Any one as the two-word form means one specific person.

Example:

In this day and age, anyone might be aspy.

Any one of your friends might be a traitor.

Any way/Anyway/anyways:

If you used to watch the TV show, NYPD Blue, you probably thought anyways was a word. It isn't. The word is anyway—without the “s.”

Definition:

Suppose you're interrupted in the middle of telling a story. In that case, you might continue by starting with the phrase, anyway...as in, anyway, as we were driving to Dallas...

Any way (two words) means, in any manner, as in, “Get it done any way you can,” the frustrated teacher told his students.

We were late for the movie, but we bought the tickets anyway.

Ascent/assent:

stairs

Ascent is to climb, go up, advance in status.

Example: Her ascent into high society was a foregone conclusion. He carefully climbed the stairs.

bride

Assent: Agree to, concur.

The bride's father assented to the marriage.

Example: Obama gave his assent to put more troops in the Middle East. (You could also say “Obama put more troops in the MiddleEast.”)

Quote:

Do not despise the bottom rungs in the ascent to greatness.

Pulilius Syrius

🐗 Remember that ascent, the word with the letter “c,” means to climb.

Assume/presume:

Assume: Means to take for granted, or to take on a duty, or a persona.

Example:

He assumed they would finish the project on time (took for granted).

He assumed the role as head of the family, when his father passed away (took on as aduty).

In mythological tales, the gods often assumed human forms (Tookon).

Definition: Presume (verb) To assume something istrue.

Example:

He presumed the project was completed because everyone went home early.

A defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Note: Assume and presume are close in meaning, but presume comes with a stronger conviction.

Quote:

I shall assume that your silence gives consent.

Plato

🐗 Remember that presume is the stronger of the two, and that if you assume, you might make an ass of yourself. The old saying is: If you assume, you make an ass of u and me (ass-u-me).

Attendance/attendants:

teacher taking attendance

Attendance is a noun, but doesn't refer to a person. An example would be; class attendance was at a record level.

Or, the teacher took attendance every day at the beginning of class.

Or, Judy missed attendance, so she got detention and had to stay after school for threedays.

The key to remembering the difference between these words, is attendance is a noun, but it it not a person.

And attendant is also a noun but it is a person. An attendant may be a lot of things: a parking-lot attendant, a valet attendant, a bathroom attendant, an attendant for the corridors.

Attendant:

parking attendant

The primary use of attendant (as stated) is as a noun, meaning one who waits on another, or one who is present. The parking attendants were all females. Or, the attendant did not look trustworthy. Or, I gave the attendant my keys but worried the whole night.

🐗 The best way to remember the difference is that attendance has the letter “c” in it. Remember “class attendance.” Also, an attendant almost always deals with a person. Try to remember female parking attendants, and it mighthelp.

Backward/backwards:

This is an easy one to remember. In the U.S., you always use backward, without the “s.” In the U.K., you use backwards. (It's like all the other “ard” words—afterward, forward, inward, onward, toward, etc.)

Bad/badly:

Bad is almost always an adjective, but the confusion comes from people thinking it is sometimes used erroneously when combined with feel, as in, “Ever since I got this cold, I've been feelingbad.”

patient in hospital

Most everyone thinks that sentence should read, “…feeling badly.” The reason you use bad is because the word feeling, in that context, is a linking verb, which means the adjective—bad—is modifying the subject, not the verb. The same reasoning applies to “I feelgood.”

See the write-up under good for a more detailed explanation.

Band/banned: This iseasy.

rock band

Band is a group of people or animals or things functioning together, like a musical group. The Beatles were a 1960s band that became a phenomenon. Many of the black bands of the 1950s were banned from performing in all-white venues.

When I visited San Francisco, I went and saw my cousin perform in theband.

no dogs allowed

Banned means to be barred or prohibited.

🐗 Remember that banned is similar to “canned” and in most cases if you're canned from a job, you're banned from the premises.

🐗 Also remember that if you enjoyed the performance, you would give the band ahand.

Bare/bear:

Bare Means without clothing, or naked. It can also refer to the bare walls, etc. Anything unadorned.

It can also mean to reveal, as in, the woman bared her soul to the psychiatrist. She bared her mind or her soul, meaning she let down her natural defenses/walls.

Bear: There are far too many definitions to list, but I've listed a few of the more commonones.

orange tree

As a verb, it means to stay firm, as in, he could not bear the financial burden. (He could not stand it, could not weather the storm.)

Or to bring forth, as in to bear a child. A tree (or a person) bears fruit. (As in, she would eventually come to bear three children.)

As a noun, a bear, as in a black bear or a polar bear. (The bear was huge. It weighed 1,500lbs.)

🐗 This is a crude way to remember it, but it works. In the word, bare, the a comes before e, and it means naked. Think of your ass being exposed. (“A” before “e.”)

In the other bear, the e comes before the a. Think of a hungry beareating your ass. (“E” before “a.”)

Teachers might not be able to use that tip for their students, but for the rest of us it works.

Beside/besides:

Beside: Alongside, next to, as in, she sat beside me on the bus. Or, I sat beside her at the speech/movies/theater, etc.

Besides: Means also, furthermore, in addition to, etc.

Example: We're going to the wedding because we accepted the invitation; besides, I'm the best man. Or, besides the towels, bring an umbrella.

She's a blonde

Blond/blonde:

Definition: A golden, or yellowish-brown color. As an adjective, it is used to describe a person, as in the often seen and heard phrase— the blonde bombshell.

As a noun, it refers to a person who has such color hair, such as the sexist phrase, the dumb “blonde.”

Since English doesn't use word-endings to distinguish the male/female attributes of a word—as in blond/blonde or brunet/brunette—the distinction between the versions soon gotlost.

Blond-haired man

Now, it is accepted to use “blonde” as a female noun, and “blond” as its male counterpart; however, “blond,” when used as an adjective, is often found used for both genders (especially in the U. S.), and no one seems to make a fuss about it. Example—he has blond hair, or he is a blond. On the contrary, it could be she has blonde hair, or she is a blonde. Some people refuse to give up the “e” when using blonde as a female noun or adjective. For the time being, I don't think it matters.