Writer's Craft 2 Flashcards
Grammar, commonly misused words
Six common quotations mistakes
- Starting a new paragraph for a quotation when it should lead directly from your introduction.
- Letting Quotations Float
- Using quotations that are too long
- Not putting quotation marks around a word as a word
- Putting commas and periods outside of quotation marks.
- Forgetting to put quotation marks around the title of a short story, article, or personal essay.
Every day vs Everyday
- Every day: describes things that occur each day
* Everyday: something is ordinary or commonplace
Apart vs A part
- Apart: Two or more people or things separated by some distance; separation (adverb)
- A part: piece or segment of something; union (noun)
Weary vs Wary
- Weary: physically or mentally fatigued
* Wary: to be on guard against something; to be watchful or cautious
Practise vs Practice
- USA: Practice is a noun and a verb
* UK (and outside USA): Practice is a noun. Practise is a verb.
Licence vs License
Same rules as practice/practise
• Licence is the noun, license is a verb
Affect vs Effect
• Affect: to produce a change or influence something (verb)
• Effect: indicates an event where a change has occurred (noun)
Trick: A is for action (affect); E is for end result (effect)
Amount vs Number
- Amount refers to to mass nouns (uncountable)
* Number refers to count nouns (countable…duh)
Fewer vs Less
- Fewer: things you count (like number)
* Less: things you don’t count (like amount)
Imply vs Infer
- Imply: indicates the truth or existence by suggestion rather than explicit reference
- Infer: to deduce or conclude from evidence and reasoning rather than from explicit statements
Lie vs Lay
- Lie: to rest recline or rest on a surface (intransitive– it does not take a direct object)
- Lay: to put or place something (transitive – it takes a direct object)
Lie vs Lay tenses
Past tense | Past participle | Present participle
Lie (recline): Lay, Lain, Lying
Lay (put): Laid, Laid, Laying
Slash
Generally, avoid it. Can be used to show pairs. (actor/director)
Quotation marks
- Capitalize the first word of the second part of an interrupted quote only if it begins a new sentence.
- Capitalize the first word of any mid-sentence quote that constitutes a sentence
- Put each new speaker’s quotes on a new line
- Put periods and commas inside quote marks
- Question marks and colons depend on what it refers to
- Setting off words as words
- Introing a new term
What SHOULDN’T you use quotation marks for?
- usually not when showing irony
- slang
- emphasis
Italics
- Excessive use is annoying and distracting
- Italicize the names of most works of art: books, movies, albums, plays
BUT use quotes for titles of shorter works: short stories, articles, songs, episode titles - Don’t use italics for sacred texts or software programs (obviously the same thing)
- Use italics for foreign words not part of standard English
Capitalization
- Capitalize proper nouns, not common nouns
- Don’t capitalize to make something sound important
- Capitalize months, holidays, days of the week – not seasons
- Don’t capitalize school subjects unless they’re a language
- Capitalize family names as names, not as roles
Pronoun Case
- Subjective: pronoun is in subject/subject complement position
- Objective: Pronoun is in object position
- Possessive: Pronoun is in possession
I.E. vs E.G
- i.e. –for the sake of example (several examples)
* e.g. – in essence (restatement)
Among vs Amongst
They mean the same thing, but amongst is kinds pretentious (check your style guide)
Verb moods
- Th indicative: facts, opinions, questions
- The imperative: commands, orders, advice
- The subjunctive: wishes, conditions contrary to fact (were, not was)
Simple vs Simplistic
- Simple: plain, ordinary
* Simplistic: same, but more negative/offensive
Explicit vs Implicit
- Explicit: stated directly, clear
* Implicit: hinted at or implied
Further vs Farther
- Further: metaphorical measurements, unknown distances
* Farther: quantifiable measurements
Fictional vs Fictitious
- Fictional: something in literature (“a fictional character”)
- Fictitious: Something in real life (“a fictitious lie”)
Anxious vs Eager
- Anxious: worried, uneasy (negative)
* Eager: full of keen desire (positive)
Peek vs Peak vs Pique
Peek: quick glance
Peak: High Point
Pique: feeling of anger, irritation, curiosity
Could care less
YES YOU CAN!
It’s couldn’t care less
Could of/Might of/Should of
NO. Use “have”
Disinterested vs Uninterested
• Disinterested: objective, unbiased
• Uninterested: not interested, not engaged
You want a disinterested judge, not an uninterested one.
Elicit vs Illicit
- Elicit: to evoke
* Illicit: illegal
Data
Basically, your life is a lie. Data is actually plural.
• the data show that…
• the data are inconclusive.
If you want to barf, it’s probably right.
Precede vs Proceed
- Precede: to come before something in time
* Proceed: to take action or move forward
Try and/try to
NOT “try and”
• I’ll try to call Emily
