Who and Whom

This one opens a big can of worms. Who is a subjective or nominative pronoun, along with "he," "she," "it," "we,"
and "they." t!s used when the pronoun acts as the subject of a clause. Whom is an objective pronoun, along with "him,"
"her," "it", "us," and "them." t!s used when the pronoun acts as the object of a clause. "sing who or whom depends on
whether you!re referring to the subject or object of a sentence. When in doubt, substitute who with the subjective
pronouns he or she, e.g., Who loves you# cf., $e loves me. %imilarly, you can also substitute whom with the
objective pronouns him or her. e.g., consulted an attorney whom met in &ew 'or(. cf., consulted him.
Which and That
This is one of the most common mista(es out there, and understandably so. That is a restrictive pronoun. t!s vital to the
noun to which it!s referring. e.g., don!t trust fruits and vegetables that aren!t organic. $ere, !m referring to all non)
organic fruits or vegetables. n other words, only trust fruits and vegetables that are organic. Which introduces a
relative clause. t allows *ualifiers that may not be essential. e.g., recommend you eat only organic fruits and
vegetables, which are available in area grocery stores. n this case, you don!t have to go to a specific grocery store to
obtain organic fruits and vegetables. Which *ualifies, that restricts. Which is more ambiguous however, and by virtue
of its meaning is fle+ible enough to be used in many restrictive clauses. e.g., The house, which is burning, is
mine. e.g., The house that is burning is mine.
,ay and ,ie
This is the crown jewel of all grammatical errors. ,ay is a transitive verb. t re*uires a direct subject and one or more
objects. ts present tense is lay -e.g., lay the pencil on the table. and its past tense is laid -e.g.,'esterday laid the
pencil on the table.. ,ie is an intransitive verb. t needs no object. ts present tense is lie -e.g., The /ndes mountains
lie between 0hile and /rgentina. and its past tense is lay -e.g., The man lay waiting for an ambulance.. The most
common mista(e occurs when the writer uses the past tense of the transitive lay -e.g., laid on the bed. when he1she
actually means the intransitive past tense of lie" -e.g., lay on the bed..
2oot
0ontrary to common misuse, moot doesn!t imply something is superfluous. t means a subject is disputable or open to
discussion. e.g., The idea that commercial 3oning should be allowed in the residential neighborhood was a moot point for
the council.
0ontinual and 0ontinuous
They!re similar, but there!s a difference. 0ontinual means something that4s always occurring, with obvious lapses in
time. 0ontinuous means something continues without any stops or gaps in between. e.g., The continual music ne+t
door made it the worst night of studying ever. e.g., $er continuous tal(ing prevented him from concentrating.
5nvy and 6ealousy
The word envy implies a longing for someone else!s good fortunes. 6ealousy is far more nefarious. t!s a fear of rivalry,
often present in se+ual situations. 5nvy is when you covet your friend!s good loo(s. 6ealousy is what happens when
your significant other swoons over your good)loo(ing friend.
&or
&or e+presses a negative condition. t literally means "and not." 'ou!re obligated to use the nor form if your sentence
e+presses a negative and follows it with another negative condition. &either the men nor the women were drun( is a
correct sentence because nor e+presses that the women held the same negative condition as the men. The old rule is
that nor typically follows neither, and or follows either. $owever, if neither either nor neither is used in a
sentence, you should use nor to e+press a second negative, as long as the second negative is a verb. f the second
negative is a noun, adjective, or adverb, you would use or, because the initial negative transfers to all conditions.
e.g., $e won!t eat broccoli or asparagus. The negative condition e+pressing the first noun -broccoli. is also used for the
second -asparagus..
2ay and 2ight
2ay implies a possibility. 2ight implies far more uncertainty. 'ou may get drun( if you have two shots in ten minutes
implies a real possibility of drun(enness. 'ou might get a tic(et if you operate a tug boat while drun( implies a
possibility that is far more remote. %omeone who says may have more wine could mean he1she doesn4t want more
wine right now, or that he1she might not want any at all. 7iven the spea(er!s indecision on the matter, might would be
correct.
Whether and f
2any writers seem to assume that whether is interchangeable with if." t isn!t. Whether e+presses a condition where
there are two or more alternatives. f e+presses a condition where there are no alternatives. e.g., don!t (now whether
!ll get drun( tonight. e.g., can get drun( tonight if have money for boo3e.
8ewer and ,ess
,ess is reserved for hypothetical *uantities. 8ew and fewer are for things you can *uantify. e.g., The firm has fewer
than ten employees. e.g., The firm is less successful now that we have only ten employees.
8arther and 8urther
The word farther implies a measurable distance. 8urther should be reserved for abstract lengths you can4t always
measure. e.g., threw the ball ten feet farther than 9ill. e.g., The financial crisis caused further implications.
%ince and 9ecause
%ince refers to time. 9ecause refers to causation. e.g., %ince *uit drin(ing !ve married and had two
children. e.g., 9ecause *uit drin(ing no longer wa(e up in my own vomit.
:isinterested and "ninterested
0ontrary to popular usage, these words aren!t synonymous. / disinterested person is someone who!s impartial. 8or
e+ample, a hedge fund manager might ta(e interest in a headline regarding the performance of a popular stoc(, even if
he4s never invested in it. $e!s disinterested, i.e., he doesn!t see( to gain financially from the transaction he!s witnessed.
6udges and referees are supposed to be "disinterested." f the sentence you!re using implies someone who couldn4t care
less, chances are you!ll want to use uninterested.
/n+ious
"nless you!re frightened of them, you shouldn!t say you!re an+ious to see your friends. 'ou!re actually eager, or
"e+cited." To be an+ious implies a looming fear, dread or an+iety. t doesn!t mean you!re loo(ing forward to something.
:ifferent Than and :ifferent 8rom
This is a tough one. Words li(e rather and faster are comparative adjectives, and are used to show comparison with
the preposition than, -e.g., greater than, less than, faster than, rather than.. The adjective different is used to draw
distinction. %o, when different is followed by a preposition, it should be from, similar to separate from, distinct from,
or away from. e.g., 2y living situation in &ew 'or( was different from home. There are rare cases where different than
is appropriate, if than operates as a conjunction. e.g.,:evelopment is different in &ew 'or( than in ,os /ngeles. When
in doubt, use different from.
9ring and Ta(e
n order to employ proper usage of bring or ta(e, the writer must (now whether the object is being moved toward or
away from the subject. f it is toward, use bring. f it is away, use ta(e. 'our spouse may tell you to ta(e your clothes
to the cleaners. The owner of the dry cleaners would say bring your clothes to the cleaners.
mpactful
t isn4t a word. "mpact" can be used as a noun -e.g., The impact of the crash was severe. or a transitive verb -e.g., The
crash impacted my ability to wal( or hold a job.. "mpactful" is a made)up bu33word, colligated by the modern mar(eting
industry in their endless attempts to decode the innumerable nuances of human behavior into a string of mindless
metrics. %eriously, stop saying this.
/ffect and 5ffect
$ere!s a tric( to help you remember; /ffect is almost always a verb -e.g., 8aceboo( affects people!s attention spans.,
and effect is almost always a noun -e.g., 8aceboo(4s effects can also be positive.. /ffect means to influence or
produce an impression to cause hence, an effect. 5ffect is the thing produced by the affecting agent< it describes the
result or outcome. There are some e+ceptions. 5ffect may be used as a transitive verb, which means to bring about or
ma(e happen. e.g., 2y new computer effected a much)needed transition from maga3ines to Web porn. There are
similarly rare e+amples where affect can be a noun. e.g., $is lac( of affect made him seem li(e a shallow person.
rony and 0oincidence
Too many people claim something is the former when they actually mean the latter. 8or e+ample, it!s not ironic that
9arbara moved from 0alifornia to &ew 'or(, where she ended up meeting and falling in love with a fellow 0alifornian.
The fact that they!re both from 0alifornia is a "coincidence." "rony" is the incongruity in a series of events between the
e+pected results and the actual results. "0oincidence" is a series of events that appear planned when they!re actually
accidental. %o, it would be "ironic" if 9arbara moved from 0alifornia to &ew 'or( to escape 0alifornia men, but the first
man she ended up meeting and falling in love with was a fellow 0alifornian.
&auseous
"ndoubtedly the most common mista(e encounter. 0ontrary to almost ubi*uitous misuse, to be nauseous doesn!t
mean you!ve been sic(ened; it actually means you possess the ability to produce nausea in others. e.g., That wee()old
hot dog is nauseous. When you find yourself disgusted or made ill by a nauseating agent, you are actually nauseated.
e.g., was nauseated after falling into that dumpster behind the =lanned =arenthood. %top embarrassing yourself.
Jon Gingerich is editor of >4:wyer4s maga3ine in &ew 'or(. $is fiction has been published in literary journals such
as The Oyez Review, Pleiades, Helix Magazine, as well as The New York Press, ,ondon!s Litro maga3ine, and many
others. $e currently writes about politics and media trends atwww.odwyerpr.com. 6on holds an 28/ in creative writing
from The &ew %chool. %ome of his published fiction can be found at www.jongingerich.com.
List of commonly confused words:
aberrant vs abhorrent
aberrant means abnormal or untypical
abhorrent means repugnant or loathsome
accept vs e+cept
accept means ta(e, receive, or tolerate
e+cept means other than< apart from
adduce vs deduce
adduce means mention something as evidence or proof
deduce means reach a conclusion by reasoning or evidence
adapt vs adopt
adapt means alter for new use
adopt means ta(e on or assume something
advice vs advise
advice means recommendation or counsel
advise means offer advice to someone
affect vs effect
affect means influence or change something
effect means result< produce a result
afflict vs inflict
afflict means give pain or grief to
inflict means impose something unpleasant on
affluent vs effluent
affluent means rich
effluent means li*uid waste
allude vs elude
allude means refer to indirectly
elude means escape from, especially by cleverness
allusion vs illusion
allusion means passing reference
illusion means false appearance< mista(en belief
alternate vs alternative
alternate means occurring by turns
alternative means thing done or had instead of something else< choice
amend vs emend
amend means change or correct
emend means edit or correct a te+t
among vs between
among means in the midst of
between means in the middle of two points
amoral vs immoral
amoral means without moral standards, principles or rules
immoral means transgressing moral rules
ante) vs anti)
ante) means before
anti) means against
appraise vs apprise
appraise means assess the value, *uality or worth of something
apprise means ma(e someone aware of something
assure vs insure
assure means promise or guarantee
ensure means ma(e certain
aural vs oral
aural means of or relating to the ears or hearing
oral means spo(en< -of a drug. ta(en by mouth
biannual vs biennial
biannual means twice a year
biennial means every two years
blatant vs flagrant
blatant means glaringly obvious
flagrant means openly outrageous
climactic vs climatic
climactic means pertaining to a clima+
climatic means pertaining to climate
complacent vs complaisant
complacent means self)satisfied
complaisant means willing to please
conscience vs conscious
conscience means sense of right or wrong
conscious means alert and awa(e
defuse vs diffuse
defuse means remove tension -from.< calm
diffuse means spread out< scattered
desert vs dessert
desert means dry or lifeless region
dessert means sweet food served after a main course
disinterested vs uninterested
disinterested means detached or impartial< unbiased
uninterested means indifferent< unconcerned< apathetic
ensure vs insure
ensure means ma(e certain something happens
insure means ta(e cover against loss or damage of something
envelop vs envelope
envelop means cover or surround something
envelope means paper covering a letter
flaunt vs flout
flaunt means show off< boast< brandish
flout means defy< disregard< spurn
flounder vs founder
flounder means falter, struggle or ma(e mista(es
founder means sin(< brea( down or fail
glance vs glimpse
glance means loo( rapidly or briefly
glimpse means brief, incomplete view
historic vs historical
historic means important or significant
historical means pertaining to history
ingenious vs ingenuous
ingenious means s(ilful< clever< original
ingenuous means honest or sincere< naive
intense vs intensive
intense means of great strength or degree
intensive means using concentrated effort or resources
intensely vs intently
intensely means in an intense way
intently means closely or attentively
lay vs lie
lay means put, place -something somewhere.
lie means recline, rest, or lounge
lightening vs lightning
lightening means becoming less dar(
lightning means electrical discharge in the s(y
loath vs loathe
loath means unwilling, opposed to, averse
loathe means hate, despise, abhor
loose vs lose
loose means not firmly held
lose means misplace something< be defeated
lu+uriant vs lu+urious
lu+uriant means rich and abundant or elaborate. t is mostly used in reference to hair or vegetation?
lu+urious means something that is e+pensive, comfortable, and sumptuous
personal vs personnel
personal means belonging to a particular person
personnel means people who wor( for an organi3ation
practicable vs practical
practicable means possible< feasible
practical means sensible< pragmatic< realistic
precede vs proceed
precede means happen before something else
proceed means start or continue to do something
prescribe vs proscribe
prescribe means order something< write a prescription
proscribe means ban or forbid something
rout vs route
rout means overwhelming defeat
route means road or path chosen to reach a destination
sceptic vs septic
sceptic means person who doubts what others believe
septic means infected with poison
there vs their vs they4re
there is used to say that something does or does not e+ist, to show position or direction
their is used to indicate that something belongs to a group of people or things
they!re is a contraction of they are
tortuous vs torturous
tortuous means curved, twisted or winding< deceptive
torturous means causing pain or torment< pertaining to torture
venal vs venial
venal means easily bribed< mercenary< corrupt
venial means easily forgiven< pertaining to a minor sin
weather vs whether
weather means the condition of the atmosphere in one area at a particular time, i.e. what it is li(e outside
whether is a word you use when you are tal(ing about a choice or doubt between two or more alternatives
wander vs wonder
wander means wal( around in a casual way
wonder means be ama3ed at something