Easy to get wrong. And easy to get right
This post is in partnership with Inc., which offers useful advice,
resources, and insights to entrepreneurs and business owners. The
article below was originally published at Inc.com.
While I like to think I
know a little about business writing, I
often fall into a few word traps. For example, “who” and “whom.” I rarely use
“whom” when I should. Even when spell check suggests “whom,” I think it sounds
pretentious. So I don’t use it.
And I’m sure some people
then think, “What a bozo.”
And that’s a problem, because just like that one
misspelled word that gets a resumé tossed into
the “nope” pile, using one wrong word can negatively impact your entire
message.
Fair or unfair, it happens.
So let’s make sure it doesn’t:
Adverse and averse
Adverse means harmful or
unfavorable; “Adverse market conditions caused the IPO to be poorly
subscribed.” Averse means dislike or opposition; “I was averse
to paying $18 a share for a company that generates no revenue.”
But you can feel free to have an aversion to
adverse conditions.
Affect and effect
Verbs first. Affect means
to influence; “Impatient investors affected our roll-out date.” Effectmeans
to accomplish something; “The board effected a sweeping policy change.” How you
use effect or affect can be tricky. For example, a board can affect changes by
influencing them, or can effect changes by implementing them. Use effect if
you’re making it happen, and affect if you’re having an impact on something
someone else is trying to make happen.
As for nouns, effect is almost
always correct; “Once he was fired he was given twenty minutes to gather his
personal effects.” Affect refers to emotional states so unless you’re a
psychologist, you’re probably not using it.
Compliment and complement
Compliment is to say something
nice. Complement is to add to, enhance, improve, complete, or
bring close to perfection. So, I can compliment your staff and their service,
but if you have no current openings you have a full complement of staff. And
your new app may complement your website.
For which I may decide to compliment you.
Criteria and criterion
“We made the decision based
on one overriding criteria,” sounds pretty impressive but is wrong.
Remember: one criterion, two or more criteria.
Although you could always use “reason” or “factors” and not worry about getting
it wrong.
Discreet and discrete
Discreet means careful,
cautious, showing good judgment; “We made discreet inquiries to determine
whether the founder was interested in selling her company.”
Discrete means individual,
separate, or distinct; “We analyzed data from a number of discrete market segments
to determine overall pricing levels.” And if you get confused, remember you
don’t use “discreetion” to work through sensitive issues; you exercise
discretion.
Elicit and illicit
Elicit means to draw out or
coax. Think of elicit as the mildest form of extract or, even worse, extort. So
if one lucky survey respondent will win a trip to the Bahamas, the prize is
designed to elicit responses.
Illicit means illegal or
unlawful. I suppose you could “illicit” a response at gunpoint… but best not.
Farther and further
Farther involves a physical
distance; “Florida is farther from New York than Tennessee.”Further involves
a figurative distance; “We can take our business plan no further.” So, as we
say in the South, “I don’t trust you any farther than I can throw you.” Or, “I
ain’t gonna trust you no further.”
(Seriously. I’ve uttered both of those
sentences. More than once.)
Imply and infer
The speaker or writer implies.
The listener or reader infers. Imply means to suggest, while infer
means to deduce (whether correctly or not.) So, I might imply you’re going to
receive a raise. You might infer that a pay increase is imminent. (But not eminent unless
the raise will be prominent and distinguished.)
Insure and ensure
This one’s easy. Insure refers
to insurance. Ensure means to make sure. So if you promise an
order will ship on time, ensure it actually happens. Unless, of course, you
plan to arrange forcompensation if the package is damaged or
lost–then feel free to insure away.
Number and amount
I goof these up all the
time. Use number when you can count what you refer to; “The number of
subscribers who opted out increased last month.” Amount refers
to a quantity of something you can’t count; “The amount of alcohol consumed at
our last company picnic was staggering.”
Of course it can still be confusing: “I can’t
believe the number of beers I drank,” is correct, but so is, “I can’t believe
the amount of beer I drank.” The difference is I can count beers, but beer,
especially if I was way too drunk to keep track, is an uncountable total–soamount is
the correct usage.
Precede and proceed
Precede means to come before. Proceed means
to begin or continue. Where it gets confusing is when an “ing” comes into play.
“The proceeding announcement was brought to you by…” sounds fine, but
“preceding” is correct since the announcement came before.
If it helps, think precedence:
Anything that takes precedence is more important and therefore comes first.
Principal and principle
A principle is
a fundamental; “We’ve created a culture where we all share certain principles.”Principal means
primary or of first importance; “Our startup’s principal is located in NYC.”
(Sometimes you’ll also see the plural, “principals,” used to refer to
executives or (relatively) co-equals at the top of a particular food chain.)
Principal can also refer to the
most important item in a particular set; “Our principal account makes up 60
percent of our gross revenues.”
Principal can also refer to
money, normally the original sum that was borrowed, but can be extended to
refer to the amount you owe–hence principal and interest.
If you’re referring to laws, rules, guidelines,
ethics, etc, use principle. If you’re referring to the CEO or the president (or
the individual in charge of the high school), use principal. And now for those
dreaded apostrophes:
It’s and its
It’s is the contraction of
it is. That means it’s doesn’t own anything. If your dog is
neutered (that way we make the dog, however much against his will, gender
neutral) you don’t say, “It’s collar is blue.” You say, “Its collar is blue.”
Here’s an easy test to apply. Whenever you use an apostrophe, un-contract the
word to see how it sounds. In this case, turn it’s into it
is. “It’s sunny,” becomes, “It is sunny.” Sounds good to me.
They’re and their
Same with these; they’re is
the contraction for they are. Again, the apostrophe doesn’t own
anything. We’re going to their house, and I sure hope they’re home.
Who’s and whose
“Whose password hasn’t been
changed in six months?” is correct. “Who is (the un-contracted version of who’s)
password hasn’t been changed in six months?” sounds silly.
You’re and your
One more. You’re is
the contraction for you are. Your means you own
it; the apostrophe inyou’re doesn’t own anything. For a long time a
local non-profit had a huge sign that said “You’re Community Place.”
Hmm. “You Are Community Place”?
Probably not.
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