A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | W
                      
A

A or an before h? Use an only if the h is silent: an hour, an heir, an honourable man, an honest woman; but a hero, a hotel, a historian.

Affinity is by definition mutual. It can exist between or with things, but not to or for them.

Alibi: The proven fact of being elsewhere, not a false explanation.

All right is right; alright is not all right.

Alternative: A choice between two courses of action. If there are more than two, option or choice may be preferred.

Amid, not amidst.

Among, not amongst.

Among or between? Contrary to popular myth, between is not limited to two parties. It is appropriate when the relationship is essentially reciprocal: fighting between the many peoples of Yugoslavia, treaties between Asian countries. Among belongs to distributive relationships: shared among, etc.

Anticipate means to take action in expectation of; it is not synonymous with expect.

Artist, not artiste.

B

Bail out a prisoner, a company or person in financial difficulty; the noun is bail-out.

Bale out: A boat, from an aircraft.

Beg the question means neither to invite the question nor evade the answer. To beg the question is to base a conclusion upon an assumption that is as much in need of proof as the conclusion itself. A tricky one; best avoided since it is almost invariably misused.

Beside means by the side of. Besides means apart from.

Biannual is twice a year; biennial every two years. Alternatives: twice-yearly or two-yearly.

Biceps is singular and plural; there is no such thing as a bicep (also pancreas; there's no pancrea).

Bored with or by, not bored of.

Both: Unnecessary in most sentences that contain 'and'. "Both men and women" says no more than "men and women", and takes longer.

Burned, not burnt.

Buzz words and phrases quickly become bore words and phrases, so use with care (see also cliches).

C

Case: "There is perhaps no single word so freely resorted to as a trouble- saver," says Gowers, "and consequently responsible for so much flabby writing." Often you can do without it. There are many cases of it being unnecessary is better as It is often unnecessary. If it is the case that simply means If. It is not the case means It is not so.

Cassandra's predictions were correct but not believed.

Catch-22 is not just any problem or dilemma; it is when A is a precondition for B, but B negates A. An illustration from the book defines the meaning best: Yossarian wants to leave the army, but the only way he can is to be certified insane. But when he applies to leave the army, it automatically means he is sane, because only a sane person would want to leave the army.

Centred on, not around or in.

Circumstances stand around a thing, so it is in, not under, them.

Cliches: As H.W. and F.G. Fowler point out, "Hackneyed phrases become hackneyed because they are useful in the first instance; but they derive a new efficiency from the very fact that they are hackneyed." Use a familiar phrase if it expresses your meaning clearly, but not simply because it is familiar. Overused words and phrases to avoid include: back burner, boost (massive or otherwise), bouquets and brickbats, but hey..., drop-dead gorgeous, insisted, major, massive, political correctness, politically correct, special, to die for, upsurge (surge will do). Verbs overused in headlines include:
bid, boost, fuel, hike, signal, target, set to.

Come up with: Try suggest, originate or produce.

Compare: A is compared with B when you draw attention to the difference. A is compared to B when you want to stress their similarity ("Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?")

Comprise means to consist of; do not use comprise of.

Contemporary: Of the same period, though often wrongly used to mean modern. A performance of Shakespeare in contemporary dress would involve Elizabethan costume, not 21st-century clothes.

Continual refers to things that happen repeatedly but not constantly. Continuous indicates an unbroken sequence.

Contractions: The rash of contractions such as aren't, can't, couldn't, hasn't, don't, I'm, it's, there's and what's has reached epidemic proportions. While they might make a piece more informal or easier to read, they can be an irritant and a distraction, and make a serious article sound frivolous.

Convince or persuade? You persuade someone to do something, but convince them of the facts.

Collective nouns (group, family, cabinet, etc) take singular or plural verb according to meaning: the family was shocked, the family were sitting down, scratching their heads.

Crescendo means a gradual increase in loudness or intensity. Musically or figuratively, it is the build-up to a climax, not the climax itself. We frequently get this wrong.

D

Data takes a singular verb. It is, strictly speaking, a plural, but the battle has been lost.

Decimate means to destroy a proportion (originally a tenth) of a group of people or things, not to destroy them all or nearly all.

Dependant is the noun, dependent the adjective.

Different from, not different to or than.

Dilemma: This is not just any problem. It is a choice between alternatives, each with equally nasty consequences.

Discomfit means thwart. Do not confuse with discomfort.

Disinterested means impartial; uninterested means bored.

Divorcee: A divorced person, male or female.

Dreamed, not dreamt.

E

Effectively is not a synonym for in effect. "The Vajpayee campaign was launched effectively in 1992" means the intended effect was achieved. "The Vajpayee campaign was in effect launched in 1992" means this was not the official launch, but the event described did have the effect of launching it, whether intended or not.
The word effectively, usually misused, is also overused, and can often be omitted.

Emigrate means to leave a country; immigrate means to arrive in one.

Enamoured of, not by or with.

Enormity: Something monstrous or wicked, not synonymous with large.

Epicentre means that point on the earth's surface above the centre of an earthquake. To say that Mr Joshi was at the epicentre of the dispute suggests that the argument took place underground.

Ex: Be careful with this one: a Congress ex-member has lost his seat; an ex-Congress member has lost his party.

Execution: The carrying out of a death sentence by lawful authority; so a terrorist, for example, does not 'execute' someone.  

F

Fatwa: An edict, not necessarily a death sentence.

Fed up with, not fed up of.

Focus, focused, focusing.

Forego, forgo: Forego means to go before; forgo means to go without.

Former: Avoid wherever possible use of the former and the latter. It usually causes confusion.

Forthcoming, not upcoming.

Fortuitous means by chance, accidental; not by good fortune, lucky. A word that is almost always misused.

Flaunt means display; flout means disdain. If you flout this distinction you will flaunt your ignorance.

Fulsome means "cloying, excessive, disgusting by excess"; so "fulsome praise" should not be used in a complimentary sense.

G

Gambit: An opening strategy that involves some sacrifice or concession; so to talk of an opening gambit is tautologous - an opening ploy might be better.

Graffiti are plural; graffito is the singular.

H

Hijack can be of movable objects only, not of schools, embassies, etc.

Hobson's choice is not the lesser of two evils; it is no choice at all.

Hopefully: Sadly, this battle has been lost and hopefully is now widely used to mean it is to be hoped. Happily, you may avoid ambiguity by using full of hope instead of hopefully in sentences such as "India will begin their second innings full of hope."

Hospitalised: There is no such word; use taken (never "rushed") to hospital.

Hyphens: This is to some extent a matter of style, but use one word wherever possible. Hyphens tend to clutter up text (particularly when the system breaks already hyphenated words at the end of lines). Inventions, ideas and new concepts often begin life as two words, then become hyphenated, before finally becoming accepted as one word. Why wait? 'Wire-less' and 'down-stairs' were once hyphenated.
Never use hyphens after adverbs, eg genetically modified, politically naive. But do use them to form compound adjectives, eg two-tonne vessel, three-year deal.

I

Impractical: Possible in theory but not in reality.

Impracticable means not workable; a plan that has been put into practice and has failed.

Inchoate: Just beginning or undeveloped, not chaotic or disorderly.

Ironically: Avoid when what you mean is strangely, coincidentally or amusingly. There are times when ironically is right but too often it is misused.

Investigations of, not into.

J

Judgment, not judgement.

L

Less or fewer? Less means less in quantity, eg less money; fewer means smaller in number, eg fewer coins. So the next time you write, please make fewer grammatical errors. Keep in mind that when you have less love, you can expect fewer kisses.

Licence is the noun, license the verb.

Light year is a measure of distance, not time.

Like/as if: Never use like to mean as if: "It looks as if he's finished" not "It looks like he's finished".

Like/such as: Like excludes; such as includes: "Cities like Mumbai are wonderful" suggests the writer actually means "cities such as Mumbai".

M

Massive: Massively overused; avoid.

Masterful means imperious. Masterly means skilled.

May and might are not always interchangeable, and you may want to use may more often than you think. If in doubt, try may first.

Mega: Horrible; try not to use.

Militate/mitigate: To militate against something is to influence it (his record militated against his early release); to mitigate means to lessen an offence (in mitigation, her lawyer argued that she came from a broken home).

Minimise means to make as small as possible; you cannot slightly minimise something.

Mistakes: Correct versions of some of our most common mistakes include:
no one, not no-one
rebut or deny, not refute
seize, not sieze
siege, not seige
supersede, not supercede
targeted, targeting, not targetted, targetting
under way, not underway

N

Naught means nothing; nought the figure 0.

O

Obtuse means "mentally slow or emotionally insensitive" (Collins); often confused with abstruse (hard to understand) or obscure.

Only: Put only as close as you can to the word it qualifies. Thus these animals mate only in June. They only mate in June implies that in June they do nothing else.

Over or more than? Over and under answer the question "how much?";
more than and fewer than answer the question "how many?": she is over 18, there were more than 20,000 at the game, etc.

P

Patients are discharged from hospital, not released (that they are from prisons).

Percentage rises: An increase from 3% to 5% is a 2 percentage point increase or a 2-point increase, not a 2% increase.

Persons: No! They are people (can you imagine Abraham Lincoln saying "Of the persons, for the persons, by the persons.").

Practice is the noun, practise the verb.

Presently means soon, not at present.

Program (computer); otherwise programme.

Q

Quiz: A suspect is questioned, never quizzed (however tempting for headline purposes).

R

Radiographer takes x-rays; radiologist reads x-rays.

Refute: Use this much-abused word only when an argument is disproved; otherwise, contest, deny, rebut

S

Seacoast, seaplane, seaport, seashore, seaside and seaweed are all one word. Sea change, sea level, sea serpent and sea sickness are two words.

Siamese twins: It's offensive; they are conjoined twins.

Span of years: 1995-99; but between 1995 and 1999, not between 1995-99.

Stalemate: Do not use to mean deadlock or impasse: a stalemate is the end of the game, and cannot be broken or resolved.

T

Tidal wave is just what it says it is; a tsunami is a massive wave caused by an underwater earthquake.

Tortuous: A tortuous road — one that winds or twists. Torturous means a torturous experience — one that involves pain or suffering.

W

Which informs, that defines. This is the house that Ram built. But This house, which Ram built, is now falling down.

Who or whom? If in doubt, ask yourself how the clause beginning who/whom would read in the form of a sentence giving he, him, she, her, they or them instead. If the who/whom person turns into he/she/they, then "who" is right; if it becomes him/her/them, then it should be "whom".
In this example: "Vajpayee was attacked for criticising Sonia, whom he despised" - 'whom' is correct because he despised 'her'.
But in "Vajpayee criticised Sonia, who he thought was wrong" - 'who' is correct because it is 'she' not 'her' who is considered wrong.

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