Troublesome Words and Spellings

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Troublesome Words and Spellings
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• Especially vs. Specially
• Especially means particularly, more than others.
  (Roger is an especially capable negotiator.)
• Specially means for a specific purpose. (The
  house was specially planned for an invalid.)

• Everyone vs. Every one
• Always use two words (every one) unless
  everybody is meant. Then use everyone.
• (Since everyone is here, we will catalogue every
  one of those books.)

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• Off
• Dont use Off of!
• Two prepositions next to each other (off of)
  seldom make for good English. The of is
  superfluous and should be omitted.
• (Todd jumped off the roof.)

• Passed v. Past
• Try using passed as a verb only, the past tense
  and past participle of the verb pass.
• (Lane passed his drivers test.)
• Use pass in all other nonverbal functions.
• (I knew him in the past.)

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• Acknowledgment vs. Acknowledgement
• The preferred spelling is acknowledgment.
• Idiosyncrasy
• The plural form of this word is idiosyncrasies.
  
• Real vs. Really
• Real is an adjective
• Really is an adverb.
• (She played the piano really well.)

• Sure vs. Surely
• Sure is an adjective. Surely is an adverb.
• (We surely swam fast today.)
• Words that are often misspelled
• gauge and siege

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• Affect vs. Effect
• Affect means to influence or to feign, and in
  general usage is only a verb.
• Effect is almost always used as a noun meaning
  result or impression.
• Effect can be a verb, meaning to complete, to
  accomplish, or to bring about. But, effect is
  usually used as a noun.

• Example Her new hairstyle had an electric
  effect on him.
• The engineers illness affected the trains
  schedule.
• Effect as a verb He effected a change in the
  scheduling.

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• Different from or Different than
• Different from is preferred. (It is different
  from anything I have ever seen.)
• Different than can be used in this way Todays
  style of dancing is different than it was in
  Grandmas day.

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• All right or Alright
• All right is two words.
• Allright, all-right, and alright are WRONG!
• All together/Altogether
• All together means all at once. (Well now sing
  all together.) Altogether means completely. (My
  supervisor is altogether pleased.)

• Accept vs. Except
• Accept (verb) to take or receive. (We shall
  accept your offer.)
• Except (preposition) leaving out, omit, with
  the exclusion of. (There is no one here except
  me.)

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• Anyone vs. Any one
• Anyone Anybody
• (Anyone could follow those directions.)
• Any one Any person of a group
• (Any one of us could have made the error.)

• Anyway vs. Any way
• Anyway (adverb) in any case. (We cant spare him
  now anyway.)
• Any way (way is a noun) (If we can help in any
  way, please call.)

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• Capital vs. Capitol
• Capital sum of money or city which is the seat
  of the government.
• Capitol building

• Compliment vs. Complement
• Compliment expression of praise. (That was a
  nice compliment you gave her.)
• Complement that which completes (Your
  personality complements his.)

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• Counsel vs. Council vs. Consul
• Counsel (noun) advice, one who gives advice.
  (What counsel can you give me on this matter? Mr.
  Smith is my counsel in this case.)
• Counsel (verb) to advise. (He counseled me
  through my divorce.)

• Council (noun) a body of people who come
  together for deliberation. (The city council
  meets tonight.)
• Consul (noun) a person sent by a government to
  look after its business interests in another
  country. (This report is from the American
  consul in Spain.)

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• Every time is always two words.
• Mailbox is always one word.
• Maybe vs. May be
• Maybe (adverb) mean perhaps (If we dont
  receive a letter, maybe we should write him.
• May be (verb) (Mr. Brown may be in his office
  tomorrow.

• Mix up vs. Mix-up
• Mix up (verb) means confuse
• Mix-up (noun) means confusion
• Past vs. Passed
• Past time gone by gone by. (That is past
  history. He ran past me.)
• Passed moved along, transferred (past tense of
  pass) (I passed her house.)

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• Paycheck, payday, payroll, percent, postcard are
  each always one word.
• Principal vs. Principle
• Principal chief official of a school main or
  leading amount of money. (What is your
  principal objection to the plan? Dont draw on
  the principal that you have saved.)
• Principal a general truth a rule. (Did you
  follow the principles of good etiquette?)

• Certain words are notoriously imprecise. Try to
  qualify what you really mean instead of using
  these words, if possible
• Good
• Bad
• Thing
• Something
• Interesting