style

Question 1

lay / lie

Answer 1

lay (vt) [laid/laid; laying); lie (vi) [lay/lain; lying)

You lay down the book you’ve been reading, but you lie down when you go to bed. In the present tense, if the subject is acting on some other object, it’s “lay.” If the subject is lying down, then it’s “lie.” This distinction is often not made in informal speech, partly because in the past tense the words sound much more alike: “He lay down for a nap,” but “He laid down the law.” If the subject is already at rest, you might “let it lie.” If a helping verb is involved, you need the past participle forms. “Lie” becomes “lain” and “lay” becomes “laid”: “He had just lain down for a nap,” and “His daughter had laid the gerbil on his nose.”

Question 2

a.m.

Answer 2

use periods (same with p.m.)

Question 3

months with 30 days

Answer 3

April, June, September, November

(other months have 31, expect for Feb. 28)

Question 4

everyday, every day

Answer 4

Every day, I deal with everyday problems.

Everyday is an adjective used to describe things that (1) occur every day, or (2) are ordinary or commonplace.

In the two-word phrase every day, the adjective every modifies the noun day, and the phrase usually functions adverbially.

For example, every day you eat breakfast. You brush your teeth every day. Maybe you go for a walk every day. These are everyday activities.

Question 5

comprised and composed

Answer 5

The whole comprises the parts, but the parts compose the whole.

To comprise is “to be made up of, to include” (the whole comprises the parts).

To compose is “to make up, to form the substance of something” (the parts compose the whole).

The phrase comprised of, though increasingly common, is poor usage. Instead, use composed of or consisting of.

Question 6

evident

Answer 6

easily seen or understood; obvious (A is ~ in B); as evident from A

Question 7

reoccurrence (recurrence)

Answer 7

Sunrises recur, earthquakes reoccur.

Something that recurs happens repeatedly, perhaps at regular intervals. Something that reoccurs happens again, but not necessarily repeatedly or at regular intervals. For example, the sunrise recurs, and an unpredictable event that happens to occur more than once—such as an earthquake or a financial crisis—reoccurs.

Question 8

affect/effect

Answer 8

When you affect a situation, you have an effect on it.

affect: (1) to have an influence on (The million-dollar donation from the industrialist did not affect my vote against the Clean Air Act.); (2) to make a display of or deliberately cultivate (Speaking with a borrowed French accent or ostentatiously wearing a large diamond ear stud might be an affectation.); (3) emotion.
effect: (1) impact (When I left the stove on, the effect was that the house filled with smoke); (2) to create (I’m trying to effect a change in the way we purchase widgets.)

Note especially that the proper expression “take effect”—become effective.
The stuff in your purse? Your personal effects.
The stuff in movies? Sound effects and special effects.

Question 9

drink (conjugation)

Answer 9

drink

drank

drunk

Question 10

however synonyms

Answer 10

however synonyms:

nevertheless, nonetheless, still, even so, though, yet, howbeit, still and all, withal