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A LOT
You write a note to your crush, saying you like her alot.
She doesn’t look impressed.
She takes a red pen and circles alot. She tells you that, "alot" is not a word. It should be "a lot", with a space in between. Its two words, not one.
And here’s another tip, comparable is pronounced as com-pre-ble, not com-pare-re-ble.
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A OR AN
Why is it an honest man, not a honest man?
Just remember, when deciding whether to use "a" or "an", it is not how the following word is spelt, but how it sounds!
If the following word starts with a vowel sound, that is, an aeiou sound, use "an". So it’s an umbrella, an hour, an extreme incident.
If the following word starts with a consonant sound, use "a". So, it’s a hotel, a university, a dog.
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Feelings For or Feelings About
You’ve just met the boy or girl of your dreams! Do you say that you have “feelings for” or “feelings about” him or her?
Well, the correct phrase to use is “feelings for” because this is usually used with a message that is positive. For example, “My feelings for her are strong and true.”
If the message can either be positive or negative, we would use the phrase “feelings about”. For example, “My feelings about her are mixed.”
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Accept or Except
An HR manager once told me about how many candidates would reply an email to say that they “except” the job offer!
Avoid this embarrassing mistake by keeping this tip in mind.
Use “accept” when you want to take or receive something. For example, “I am pleased to accept this job offer.”
On the other hand, the word “except” means to exclude. For example, “I am pleased to accept the terms of this job offer, except I am unable to start next month.”
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Adapt or Adopt
Your friend excitedly tells you that she’s “adapted” a new puppy from the animal shelter.
The words “adapt” and “adopt” are often used interchangeably but they have different meanings.
What your friend meant was that she “adopted” a new puppy as to “adopt” means to take something or someone, including things like ideas and methods, and make it one’s own.
When we “adapt”, we are changing something that already exists into something that suits a new purpose. For example, “My friend had to train his puppy to adapt to its new environment.”
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Affect and Effect
There are many factors that can affect our performance at work.
"Affect" is often used as a verb to mean "have an effect" or "make a difference to".
This is not to be confused with "effect", which is often used as a noun to mean "a result" or as a verb to mean "to bring about a result".
So while there are many factors that "affect" your performance at work, we must be resilient to avoid any negative "effects"!
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Scared or Afraid
There’s a sudden blackout and your friend squeezes your hand tightly and whispers “I am scared of the dark!”
While we understand what your friend means, the grammatically correct way to express it is to say “I am afraid of the dark” or “the dark scares me”.
This is because you can be afraid of things but not scared of things.
We also use the word “afraid” to talk about feelings, for example, “I am afraid of spiders.” But we would say “I was scared by a spider that suddenly jumped on me.” as we would use “scared” when talking about a specific situation.
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Repeat Again
When you didn’t catch something your friend was saying, you might say, “Could you repeat again?”
It is redundant to say, "repeat again". Repeat already means saying something again. The same thing goes for other words like "reprint", "reuse". So just say, “could you repeat that, or reprint and reuse that.”
And here’s another tip, envelope is pronounced as en-ver-lope, not on-ver-lope
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I eat finish already
“Have you eat finish your dinner?”
“Yes mom, I eat finish already.”
This is quite a common conversation between a parent and child. However, both the question and response are not in standard English.
Here’s how the conversation would sound in grammatically correct English:
“Have you finished eating your dinner?”
“Yes mom, I have already finished eating my dinner.”
If you’ve been saying it the wrong way, try to consciously correct yourself and your child so that both of you will be learning and improving together.
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Among or Between
You were having a discussion with your friends when one of them said, “Can we keep this between the four of us?”
‘Between’ is actually used when referring to two people, places or things.
When referring to three or more people, places or things, use ‘among’.
And here’s another tip: Baroque is in again, fashion wise. Say ber-roq, instead of ba-roque.
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Among or Between
Should I be sharing my sweets between or among my two friends Sally and Simon?
Well, since there’s three of you, you would be sharing your sweets among yourselves. The three of you may also be choosing your favourite candy among the four types available.
If Sally decided she didn't want any candy because of a tooth ache, then you would be sharing your sweets between you and Simon because there are only two of you.
In summary, use “between” when you’re talking about two distinct items but use “among” if there are three or more items.
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Amount or Number
Your colleague exclaims, “The number of work I have is unbelievable!” Well, it’s actually not a bad thing if she uses the word “number” because “number” usually refers to individual things that can be counted.
However, the correct word to use in this context would be the “amount” of work because “amount” usually refers to something that cannot be counted. For example, water, sand and in this case, work.
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Amused or Bemused
"Bemused" and "amused" sounds similar. But that do not mean they have the same meaning. In fact, "amused" and "bemused" mean two completely different things.
"Amused" means entertained or made to laugh while "bemused" means to find something confusing or puzzling.
For example, "Sarah was amused by his antics and enjoyed his company", in comparison to "she was bemused by his sudden decision to quit as she thought he enjoyed working for the organization".
As a simple tip, just remember that you are amused at an amusement park and bemused when you don’t understand.
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In Time and On Time
"On time" and "in time" sound similar but they are actually different.
"In time" means with time to spare, before the last moment. They got to the train station just in time to catch the last train.
"On time" means at the planned time, neither early nor late. The movie will start on time, please do not be late!
And here’s another tip, material is pronounced as "mer-tee-real" not "mare-tee-real’. Just "mer-tee-real"
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Photography and Film
Your friend whips out his DSLR camera and asks you along for a foto-graphy trip.
It’s photo but photographer (fer-tor-gre-pher) and photography (fer-tor-gre-fi).
You agree to go but you say you prefer the old school flerm cameras.
It’s film, pronounced film not flerm.
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Redundancies ATM and PIN
Do you often hear complaints that the queue for the “ATM Machine” is very long? Or that someone is always forgetting his or her “PIN Number”?
We may not realise it, but we are actually saying the words “machine” and “number” twice respectively.
This is because “ATM” stands for “Automatic Teller Machine” and the abbreviation for “PIN” stands for “Personal Identification Number”.
So the next time you’re stuck in the queue, you only need to say “I’m waiting in a long queue to use the ATM but I’m glad I remember my PIN!”
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Withdraw and Draw
Your colleague tells you he needs to draw money from the ATM.
If only we all have the power to "draw" money. The correct word to use should be "withdraw".
We withdraw money from the ATM or bank, not draw.
And here’s another tip, it’s dee-vorce, not die-vorce.
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Between... and
You see a sign hanging outside a clinic which says "We are open between 9am to 2pm."
When using "between", the correct preposition to go with it should be "and".
So, the correct phrasing is "between 9am and 2pm".
When we use "from", we pair it up with "to". For instance, "You can collect the prize from 10am to 6pm."
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Continuous and Continual
Continuously and continually is another one of those word pairs that are commonly confused.
Something that is "continuous" happens without stopping. So, you might say: "It rained continuously for two days."
Something that is "continual" happens again and again. An example of its usage would be: "Ever since the scandal happened, the phone has been ringing continually."
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Further and Farther
While both words refer to distances, farther and further are used in different situations.
Use “farther” when referring to physical distances. For example, “Jane kept asking her mother how much farther it was before they reached Kuala Lumpur.” Here, Jane is whining about how far Kuala Lumpur is from Singapore.
On the other hand, use “further” when talking about metaphorical or figurative distances. Jane’s mother would probably reply, “The journey would probably be a lot shorter if you stopped complaining further.” In this case, Jane’s mother used “further” because she was referring to the extent of Jane’s constant complaining throughout the journey.
Remember, when you’re talking about a “far” distance, use the word “FARther”. Everything else would be “further”.
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Former and Latter
Rather than repeating ourselves, it’s sometimes easier to use the terms “former” and “latter”.
But how should you use these terms correctly?
Let’s say your colleague asks if you prefer to drink coffee or tea.
If you prefer drinking coffee, you would say you prefer “the former”.
If you rather have tea, you would say you prefer “the latter”.
Remember, use these terms only when distinguishing between two choices.
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Further and Farther
Someone might ask if Bedok or Tampines is further from Paya Lebar.
Further or farther might sound similar, but they are used in different ways.
When referring to physical distance, you should use farther. For example, ‘She ran farther than you’.
Use ‘further’ for figurative description. For example, ‘Danny is going to further his studies’.
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E.g. and Etc.
Short forms are very useful when we take notes, are in a hurry to craft an email or have limited space in an SMS.
Here are two quick tips on how to use e.g. and etc.:
1. When using "e.g.", there is no need to add the word "for" in front of it as "e.g." already means "for example".
2. It is redundant to use "etc." at the end of a sentence that uses "e.g." as "e.g." already means to list out other similar items.
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E.g. and I.e.
The abbreviations “e.g.” and “i.e.” are often used interchangeably. However, their uses are very different.
“E.g.” means “for example” whereas “i.e.” means “in essence” or “in other words”. So, if you are giving examples, you would say “he enjoys eating fruits, e.g. apples, oranges and pears”.
If you are giving further explanations, you would say “he dislikes eating fruits, i.e. he won’t eat any type because he doesn’t like eating fruits.”
Here’s an extra tip: when writing formally, it’s better to express their full meanings rather than use these abbreviations as they may be viewed as informal.
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Deadline and Dateline
When we are planning timelines, it is important to set deadlines.
In this context, it is spelled as "d-e-a-d-l-i-n-e" and refers to the date or time a task needs to be completed.
On the other hand, dateline, spelled as "d-a-t-e-l-i-n-e", is a line in a newspaper article that gives the date and place of origin.
Thus, remember that these two words cannot be used interchangeably!
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Everyday and Every Day
Using the right word is important in effective communication, even if the wrong word sounds exactly the same as the appropriate word to use.
One example is "every day", as two words, and "everyday" as one word.
"Every day" as two words, means "each day". Thus you would say "I water the plants every day."
"Everyday", as one word, is used to describe something commonplace or mundane. Thus you would say "One of my everyday tasks is to water the plants."