{"id":22406,"date":"2014-04-03T09:38:08","date_gmt":"2014-04-03T14:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/?p=22406"},"modified":"2014-04-03T09:38:08","modified_gmt":"2014-04-03T14:38:08","slug":"more-commonly-confused-words","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/2014\/04\/more-commonly-confused-words\/","title":{"rendered":"More Commonly Confused Words"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nearly two weeks ago, I posted<\/a> about some commonly confused words and how to choose the right one. Since then, I\u2019ve had a few people ask about other commonly confused words, so I\u2019ve compiled another list with suggestions for choosing the right word.<\/p>\n

A\/An\/The<\/span> \u2013 These three little words are called articles.\u00a0 Some languages do not have articles, so when speakers of those languages learn to write in English, they also need to learn when to use each of these articles.\u00a0 \u201cA\u201d and \u201can\u201d are indefinite articles; that is, the noun that appears after them could refer to any ol\u2019 thing, nothing definite. \u201cThe,\u201d on the other hand, is a definite article. When a noun appears after \u201cthe,\u201d the writer means for you to know that that noun is something specific.\u00a0 For example, if I write, A court would hold the defendant liable<\/i>, I\u2019m saying any court, not a specific court, would hold the defendant liable. But if I write, The court would hold the defendant liable<\/i>, I mean that a specific court would hold him liable, and which court that is would likely be clear from the context of the sentence in a larger document. As well, in both examples above, I\u2019ve used the defendant<\/i>, meaning a specific defendant about whom I am writing.<\/p>\n

One other thing to note: \u201cAn\u201d is used before nouns that begin with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u<\/i>) or words that sound like they begin with a vowel, even if they don\u2019t. An example would be: An honest person would return an item she found that didn\u2019t belong to her. <\/i>In that sentence, \u201chonest\u201d gets an \u201can\u201d before it, even though it doesn\u2019t begin with a vowel, but it sounds like it does. \u201cItem\u201d does begin with a vowel and gets an \u201can.\u201d Conversely, some words that begin with vowels get \u201ca\u201d before them because they sound<\/i> like they begin with consonants. E.g., There\u2019s a one-hour delay for my flight.<\/i><\/p>\n

Counsel\/Council<\/span> \u2013 In short, law students will become \u201ccounsel\u201d when they become lawyers. This is because they will counsel their clients. They may also be called \u201cCounselor.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cCouncil\u201d is a governing body of some sort, like a city council. A member of that governing body would be a councillor.<\/p>\n

E.g.\/I.e.<\/span> \u2013 \u201cE.g.\u201d means \u201cfor example\u201d and \u201ci.e.\u201d means \u201cthat is.\u201d In the \u201ca\/an\/the\u201d paragraph above, I offered an example of when a word that begins with a vowel gets the article \u201ca.\u201d I set up that example using \u201cE.g.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cI.e.\u201d is used not to list specific examples, but to further define or clarify. The best way to make your writing better is to do a hard copy edit; i.e, print your paper and read each line.<\/i> (See also my example of \u201ci.e.\u201d in It\u2019s\/Its below.)<\/i><\/p>\n

It\u2019s\/Its<\/span> \u2013 One way we use apostrophes is to form contractions; i.e., contract two words into one.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s\u201d is one such contraction.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s\u201d means one thing and only one thing:\u00a0 It is. When you\u2019re writing, if you mean to say \u201cit is,\u201d then use \u201cit\u2019s.\u201d In all other cases, which is in most cases, you\u2019ll use \u201cits,\u201d which is the possessive form of \u201cit.\u201d\u00a0 For example, It\u2019s hard to believe the court still has not issued it\u2019s decision<\/i> is wrong because for the second \u201cit\u2019s\u201d I do not mean \u201cit is.\u201d That would make no sense.\u00a0 It is hard to believe the court still has not issued it is decision.<\/i>\u00a0 Thus, the correct sentence would be, It\u2019s hard to believe the court still has not issued its decision.<\/i><\/p>\n

Principal\/Principle<\/span> \u2013 As some of us learned in grade school to remember the distinction, the principal was your \u201cpal.\u201d But \u201cprincipal\u201d has other meanings besides the person who is in charge of a school. \u201cPrincipal\u201d can also mean, in financial terms, the capital sum (as opposed to the interest). It can also mean \u201cfirst,\u201d \u201cmost important,\u201d main,\u201d or \u201cprimary.\u201d As in, The principal reason I picked Marquette Law School is because of its friendly and intelligent faculty. <\/i>\u201cPrinciple\u201d means \u201ca fundamental truth or rule or proposition.\u201d Thus, The court based its decision on two guiding principles of tort law.<\/i><\/p>\n

Then\/than<\/span> \u2013 \u201cThen\u201d has a time element to it, while \u201cthan\u201d is about comparisons. I researched the issue, then I wrote the brief. <\/i>The time element is clear; I did one task (researching) before the other (writing). But if I want to compare the research and writing, I would write, But I like writing more than I like researching.<\/i> (Sorry, Professor Behroozi<\/a>!)<\/p>\n

Utilize\/Use<\/span> \u2013 Both of these words mean pretty much the same thing. But for some reason, lawyers tend to favor \u201cutilize.\u201d While a lawyer might write, The court will utilize six public policy factors in this case<\/i>, that same lawyer would likely not write, When you eat soup, utilize your spoon. <\/i>Maybe because \u201cutilize\u201d is longer and sounds more \u201clawyerly,\u201d lawyers think they need to utilize it in formal writing. Nonsense. It\u2019s much more concise\u2014in both sentences\u2014to just use \u201cuse.\u201d<\/p>\n

You\u2019re\/Your<\/span> \u2013 \u201cYou\u2019re\u201d is a contraction for \u201cyou are\u201d and \u201cyour\u201d is the possessive of \u201cyou.\u201d If you mean \u201cyou are,\u201d then use \u201cyou\u2019re.\u201d You\u2019re going to graduate in May <\/i>means You are going to graduate in May.<\/i> \u201cYour\u201d would not be appropriate in that previous sentence. It is appropriate, however, when you need a possessive, such as in, Are you wearing your suit to the graduation ceremony?<\/i><\/p>\n

I hope this post, and its predecessor, help writers choose the right word.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nearly two weeks ago, I posted about some commonly confused words and how to choose the right one. Since then, I\u2019ve had a few people ask about other commonly confused words, so I\u2019ve compiled another list with suggestions for choosing the right word. A\/An\/The \u2013 These three little words are called articles.\u00a0 Some languages do […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,122],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-legal-writing","category-public","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22406"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22406\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}