It never fails. After you send an email newsletter, you inevitably catch a typo or someone makes you aware of one. “You used the wrong word,” your boss says. It’s frustrating, but it’s Murphy’s Law. It always happens.*
word usage
Write Right: Averse and Adverse
“Averse” and “adverse” actually mean the same thing. They both are words that mean “opposed” or “hostile.” The two words, however, can’t be used interchangeably because they are meant for different purposes.
Write Right: If, Were, Was
Sentences that begin with “if” tend to be speculative. That is, they guess about what might happen in the present or future or suggest that something was impossible in the past. Such sentences often require specific verbs such as “were.” They do, however, sometimes necessitate the use of “was.”
Write Right: Than and Then
As seems to be the case with most troublesome words, “than” and “then” have a problem: they differ from each other by only one letter. They are, of course, entirely different from each other in terms of usage, yet they’re some of the trickier typos to catch. They don’t shout a warning with red squiggly lines, and they appear and sound so similar to one another that they’re easily mistaken for one another.
Write Right: Continually and Continuously
“Continually” and “continuously” are two words I never can keep straight. I always have to revisit their definitions and rules of usage. Because of that, I’ve decided to write a Write Right post about the two words if only so that I’ll have a resource in the future.
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Write Right: Pique, Pick, Peek, and Peak
A reader asked on “Write Right: Complement versus Compliment” that I talk about pique, peek, and peak. I’m happy to comply. I’ve added “pick” both because of its similarity in sound to the other three words and because I need the word to make this post work. Thus is the life at Write Right. Words are added or subtracted because of need or creative direction.