In the academic publishing community, authors of any background must understand that even the smallest details can make or break their manuscript’s chances of acceptance.
Unfortunately, there are common mistakes authors make, such as using incorrect words or phrases, that can quickly impact the progression of their manuscript.
In this blog, you will read about some of the most confused words and phrases in the English language so you can ensure your manuscript is not rejected due to poor writing and grammatical errors.
“Accept” is a verb defined as readily receiving or taking something that is offered; expressing approval or recognition.
Here are some examples:
“Except” is used when something is being excluded or something is an exception to a claim. For instance:
“Affect” is generally used as a verb and means to have an impact on; make a difference. You will use “affect” when you are describing influencing someone or something.
Here are some examples:
“Effect” is typically used as a noun and means a change that is a result or consequence of an action or other cause. You will use “effect” when you are talking about a result.
Here are some examples:
“A while,” written with a space, describes a time and is used as a noun. This is shown by the article “a” coming before the noun of “while.” You can test that you have used this correctly by replacing a while with another “article + noun” combination.
Example #1:
Our second sentence is still correct and still makes sense when we change our “article + noun” combination, so we can tell that we have used the correct version of a while.
Example #2:
Once again, we can see that our second sentence is still correct once we change our “article + noun” combination, so we are sure that we have used the correct version of “a while.”
We can see in our examples above that “a while” is typically more general, whereas our replacement phrase tends to provide a bit more detail, which is something that you should keep in mind when writing, as sometimes being more detailed is necessary for your writing situation.
Written without a space, “awhile” means “for a time” and is an adverb. In sentences where using “awhile” is correct, you will be able to substitute another adverb, which is a word or phrase that modifies or qualifies an adjective, verb, or other adverb or a word group, expressing a relation of place, time, circumstance, manner, cause, degree, etc., in its place.
Example #1:
In this example, the second sentence is still correct when we substitute the adverb quietly.
Example #2:
Once again, our second sentence makes sense once we have substituted the adverb “briefly” in its place, so we can tell that we have used the proper form of “awhile.”
Both of these abbreviations come from Latin phrases: e.g. stands for exempli gratia, which means “for example,” while i.e. stands for id est, which translates roughly to “that is.”
An easy way to remember which phrase means what is to match the letters. To demonstrate, e.g. starts with an “e,” which is the first letter of example, so e.g. means “for example.” You can test this abbreviation by substituting “for example” into your sentence.
Alternatively, i.e. starts with an “i,” which is the first letter of is, so i.e. means “that is.” You can test the use of this abbreviation by substituting “in other words” into your sentence.
Example of the use of i.e.:
Example of the use of e.g.:
The terms “former” and “latter” denote the place of two things. “Former” refers to the first item, whereas “latter” refers to the second item. It is important to note that you cannot use these terms when discussing more than two things.
Here are some examples:
“Farther” refers to distance. For example:
You should only use “further” to mean “more.” For example:
“Its,” spelled without the apostrophe, is used to show possession of an item. You do not need the apostrophe to show possession with this word as it is a possessive pronoun, similar to hers, his, our, yours, and theirs. Here are a few examples:
“It’s,” spelled with the apostrophe, is the contraction, or the shorthand way, of writing “it is.” Here are a few examples:
“Loose” is an adjective that describes something as being not firmly or tightly secured in place. For example:
It can also refer to a garment that is not tight-fitting. For example:
“Loose” can also be used as a verb, meaning “set free” or “release.” For example:
On the other hand, “lose” is a verb with two definitions: to be deprived of or no longer have something and to become unable to find something or someone.
Here are some examples:
“Than” is a conjunction used to make comparisons. It is the word that follows other, rather, less, and more. Additionally, it is the word to choose in phrases such as the following:
Here are a few examples of when to use “than” in a sentence.
“Then” is typically used as an adverb or adjective, and it is often used when referring to time. “Then” is also used in the following situations:
“Then” usually comes after words such as since and until.
“Then” often fits into phrases such as the following:
Below are a few additional examples of “then” in a sentence.
You will want to use “that” when your sentence contains a restrictive clause, which is a clause that cannot be removed from your sentence without changing your intended meaning.
Example:
In this example, it would change the meaning of the sentence if we removed the highlighted phrase, because not all cars have excellent safety ratings. Also, please note that our restrictive phrase is not set off by commas, as restrictive clauses do not require commas.
You will want to use “which” when your sentence contains a nonrestrictive clause, or a clause that can be left out of your sentence without changing your intended meaning. This clause simply contains additional information to add to your sentence.
Example:
You can see that if we were to remove the highlighted phrase in the sentence above, our sentence would still make sense. We could say, “My car is new,” and our sentence would still make sense, but you wouldn’t know that the car is in the garage.
It is important to note that nonrestrictive phrases are usually surrounded by commas. If a nonrestrictive clause comes at the end of the sentence, you will want to be sure to include a comma before beginning the clause.
“Their” is used to show possession of an item. Here are a few examples:
“There” is used to refer to a location, place, or existence of something. Here are some examples:
“They’re” is a contraction, or shortened form of writing, for “they are.” Here are some examples:
“To,” “too,” and “two” are homophones, which means that they sound the same but are spelled differently and have different meanings.
“To” can be used as a preposition with several functions.
“To” can signify motion:
“To” can signify that someone has been affected by something.
“To” can identify relationships:
“To” can indicate when things are attached to one another:
“Too” is an adverb that means “also” or “excessively.”
Here are some examples:
“Two” is a number that designates an amount of something.
Here are some examples:
“Who’s” is a contraction of “who is” or “who has.” A way to test that you have used this correctly is to substitute these phrases into your sentence.
Example #1:
We can see that in our test sentence above, “who is” can be inserted for “who’s” without causing any problems, so we have used the correct form of this word.
Example #2:
Again, our test sentence still makes sense once we substitute the extended version of the contraction into it, so we can tell that we have used the correct word.
Example #3:
In this example, we can see that our second sentence no longer makes sense once we substitute “who is” in place of “who’s,” so we can tell that “whose” would be the correct choice for this sentence.
“Whose” is the possessive form of the pronoun “who.” It shows the person that an item belongs to or is associated with. You would use “whose” in all cases where “who’s” is not correct.
Examples:
In these sentences above, we can test that we have used the correct version of “whose” by substituting “who is” in the sentences. If the sentences do not make sense once we make the substitution, we know that we have used the correct form of “whose.”
Test:
We can see that once we made our substitution to test the accuracy of our choice for “whose,” the sentences no longer made sense, which tells us that “whose” is the correct choice.
A possessive adjective is an adjective that is used to show ownership. It lets us know to whom the noun belongs, and it comes before a noun in the sentence. “Your” is a second person possessive adjective that is used as both the singular and plural form. Basically, “your” is a possessive form of you.
For example:
“You” own the scarf in this situation. It lets us know to whom the noun belongs and comes before a noun in the sentence.
Here some additional examples:
“You’re” is a contraction. or short way of writing, for “you are” and has no other uses. Here are a few examples:
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