CORRECT WORD CHOICES
For a better understanding of adverbs from a cite called English Zone, click here.
For a better understanding of how to put multiple adjectives together, scroll down to the "Adjective Order" chart via this link from English Zone: click here.
For a brief explanation of plurals (goose/geese versus moose/moose) from Merriam Webster, click here.
Circa according to Dictionary.com
preposition, adverb
Circa means about: (used especially in) approximate dates: The Venerable Bede was born circa 673.
Abbreviation: ca, ca., c., c, cir., circ.
Circa dates back to 1856.
In Latin circa means "around, round about, near; in the region of; about the time of," alternative form of circum "round about" (see circum- ).
Example from YourDictionary:
Lactantius (circa 300 A.D.), for example, roundly declares that Plato and Aristotle, referring everything to this earthly life, " made virtue mere folly "; though himself maintaining, with pardonable inconsistency, that man's highest good did not consist in mere pleasure, but in the consciousness of the filial relation of the soul to God.
Examples from Wikipedia:
BELOW YOU WILL FIND COMMONLY CONFUSED WORDS AND WAYS TO DIFFERENTIATE THEM. Some parts to this page come from eLearnEnglishLanguage.com. The numbering is for discussion purposes and presents no sense of order or hierarchy.
1. Further / Farther:
Farther refers to a physical distance; whereas, further expresses a nonphysical distance, expanding or moving toward a goal. Think of looking far to see the person who is walking farther away from you as he marches away.
I will move farther from home to the big city where I can further my career goals.
2. Everyday / Every day:
Everyday is an adjective that means informal, as in something for everyday use. Your everyday clothes are clothes you can get dirty as opposed to dress up clothes. Your everyday dishes are used every day as opposed to the fine china you use for dressy occasions.
I wear everyday clothes almost every day.
3. Fewer / Less:
Fewer is something you can count. Less has to do with mass.
I weigh less because I have consumed fewer calories.
I weigh fewer pounds because I have eaten less food.
4. Then / Than:
Then is for time sequence. What happened next? And then . . .
Than is for comparison. I would rather have an A than a B.
I will study hard and then I will get an A, which I would rather have
than a B.
5. Lie / Lay:
mnemonic: I will lay the blanket on the beach so I can lie down. Lay comes before lie alphabetically, and you must place the blanket before getting on top of it.
Present Tense: Lay is something done to something.
I will lay the baby down now.
Kindergartners lay down after lunch.
Lie is not done to something else.
I will lie down.
You look tired. Please lie down and rest.
Past Tense: Unfortunately, lay is also the past tense of lie, so this can be confusing.
I lay down for an hour. NOT I laid down.
The past tense for Lay is Laid, which pertains to something done to something else:
She had already laid the money down before the salesperson gave her the total.
He laid down his cards and won the game.
Present Past Present Participle (uses a helping verb) Past Participle (uses a helping verb)
lie lay lying -- I was lying down when he called. lain -- I had lain down for an hour.
lay laid laying -- She was laying the baby down at 3:00. laid -- She had laid the baby at 3:00.
She intends to lie here until the news arrives.
She lay there for hours yesterday.
She is lying there again now, waiting.
She has lain there too long.
He lay the money down to buy the horse.
He laid the money down, but the seller didn't pick it up.
He was laying down the money to buy the horse when someone else began bidding.
He had laid the money down, but the seller changed her mind.
6. Their / There
Think of their as being two words the-ir. A person owns his own "ir" - right? Don't you own your ears? So the-ir is possessive. The word there is a location word. It has the word here in it: T H E R E.
Their cars were all lined up over there, so we had to move all the way around to get in line.
7. Where / Were
Just like the word there, the word where has the word here in it: W H E R E ; therefore, it is a location word. Were is a verb.
We were in a hurry to be where they expected us.
8. Here / Hear
If you get confused and don't remember that here is a location word, consider that the word hear has the word ear
in it: H E A R . You hear with your ears, right?
I can hear the noise because the horn sounded right here next to me.
9. Its / It's
It's with an apostrophe is a contraction; it means it is. Its without an apostrophe is singular possessive.
Give the dog its bone because it's been a long time since he has had a treat.
10. Accept / Except:
Accept is a verb that means "to receive, admit, regard as true, say yes."
I can't accept this gift.
He was accepted to Harvard.
Do you accept this theory?
My offer was immediately accepted.
He asked me to marry him, and I accepted.
The noun acceptance refers to the "act or process of accepting, approval, or agreement."
Except is a preposition that means "excluding."
He bought a gift for everyone except me.
I know everyone here except the children.
Except is also a conjunction that means "if not for the fact that" or "other than."
I would help you, except I'm too busy.
He never calls me except to borrow money.
Except is a fairly uncommon verb that means "to leave out, exclude."
I hate lawyers, present company excepted.
11. Affect / Effect:
Affect is a verb with several different meanings.
To have an influence on, contribute to a change in
What you do affects all of us.
This decision will affect the outcome of the elections.
Inflation is affected by natural disasters.
To touch, move; to act on the emotions of
I was profoundly affected by this movie.
His actions were not affected by her pleas.
To simulate
He likes to affect a British accent.
She always affected her eccentricity.
In psychology, affect is a noun which refers to a "feeling" or "emotion" (the stress is on the first syllable):
Your son's lack of affect explains why you find it difficult to gauge his moods.
Effect is most commonly used as a noun, and has three meanings.
Result, something brought about by someone or something
What was the effect of her decision?
Side effects include nausea and fatigue.
I don't think it will have any effect on the outcome.
The law will go into effect tomorrow.
You can clearly see the cause and effect.
Something that gives the impression/sense of something else
The special effects were amazing.
Mirrors will give the effect of a larger space.
He said that just for effect.
Effects can refer to belongings
Did you bring any personal effects?
As a verb, to effect means "to bring about, lead to a result"
The only way to effect change is to participate.
What is the best way to effect these improvements?
This should effect a whole new way of thinking about it.
The Bottom Line
The confusion between affect and effect comes out of the fact that affecting something leads to an effect. The two questions "How were you affected?" and "What was the effect on you?" mean almost exactly the same thing.
When you want to use one of these words as a noun, the one you want is probably effect. When you want a verb, most of the time you want affect. Effect is used as a verb only when it has a direct object and only when you mean "to bring about, lead to."
The difference between to affect and to effect can be seen here:
To affect the results - To influence, have an impact on the results
To effect the results - To bring about, lead to the (desired) results
12. Abbreviations / Acronyms
Acronyms are abbreviations, but not all abbreviations are acronyms. An acronym is an abbreviation that presents or suggests a word. Some acronyms have actually become words: NASA, scuba, sonar and snafu.
Abbreviations do not make or sound like a word when they are prounounced. USA is not pronounced “Oosah” and boulevard is not pronounced “blivvid.” The following abbreviations, for example, are not acronyms: VP, HR, Fos, Rom, YMCA, or CEO. And even though Missing in Action (MIA) makes a name, no one pronounces the abbreviation as a name/word.
SONAR: originally an acronym for SOund Navigation And Ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, communicate with or detect objects on or under the surface of the water, such as other vessels.
NASA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration
SCUBA: Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus
SNAFU: Situation Normal: All Fucked Up This acronym has become a word and originated in the early 1940’s
13. Semi- / Bi-
Semi- mean twice during any time period. A semiannual meeting occurs twice a year.
Bi- is ambiguous. Some dictionaries will say that bi-annually means twice a year and some will say that bi-annually mean every other year.
14. Good / Well
Good, the adjective modifies a noun: She wrote a good essay. He has a good attendance record.
Describing someone’s health requires the word well: She is well enough to return to school.
But does one do well or do good?
Use well when describing how something is done: She did well on the final.
Use good when describing an act of goodness. It is almost like good is short for good work(s): Foundations do a lot of good by giving grants to worthy organizations. He will be rewarded for the good he did in his lifetime.
15. That / Which
That introduces essential information that readers must have to understand the sentence:
This is the movie that was made in only six months. That also signals a dependent clause.
Which introduces information that may be of interest but is not essential:
The Wizard of OZ, which was made in 1939, is still extremely popular.
The word which is parenthetical and can, therefore, be removed without damaging the sentence.
Also, always use who or whom when referring to people.
16. Who / Whom
Who is a subject word and whom is an object.
Subjects Objects
I me
we us
he him
she her
they them
who whom
When in doubt, replace the who/whom word with one that makes more sense and then pick the who/whom word in that same category.
For example: I should give this money to who/whom?
I should give this money to he/him? Since the correct answer is him, and since him belongs to the Object column, you would use whom. I should give this money to whom?
OR This woman, who/whom is late yet again, should not get a raise.
Test the diction this way:
This woman, she/her is late yet again, should not get a raise. Since the correct answer is she, and since she belongs to theSubject column, you would use who.
17. Cannot / Can not
One of the most common explanations for the difference between “cannot” and “can not” is that, with the former word, there is no chance someone can carry out an activity, no matter what.
Jane cannot jump 50 feet in the air.
We cannot go to Pluto.
By contrast, when a person uses “can not,” the ability to do the action still exists.
Elizabeth can not study anymore.
Sam can not have a drink.
Which word is can’t?
With the contraction representing “cannot,” technically, people should only use it when they actually mean that the subject of their sentence does not have the ability to do something. In common speech, however, people frequently use it incorrectly. A person might say, "I can't cook tonight," for example.
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-difference-between-cannot-and-can-not.htm
All that being said, most writers would simply use cannot unless they wish to emphasize the word not.
18. Maybe / May Be
Maybe is an adverb, meaning “perhaps.” Maybe she will return tomorrow.
May be is a verb phrase. She may be returning tomorrow.
19. Compliment / Complement
Compliment is praise. I appreciated the compliment when she mentioned how much she liked my class.
Complimentary also means free. Please accept this gift with our compliments. The newspapers in the lobby are complimentary, so go ahead and grab one on your way out the door.
Complement means something enhances something else. The color of her new blouse complemented her blue eyes. Interior decorators use a color wheel in order to help clients choose complementary colors.
20. Misinformation / Disinformation
Misinformation and disinformation both mean wrong information. The slight difference between the two words comes from the intent.
Misinformation does not suggest intent at all. The misinformation could have been intentional or it could have been an accident.
Disinformation presents not doubt about intent. If someone presents disinformation he/she intends to be deceptive.
21. BC / BCE
B.C. is short for "Before Christ"
BCE is short for a more modern day understanding of the same year but means Before the Common Era.
Since there is no agreement on when time began, Europeans adopted the convention of recording dates in terms of whether they occurred before or after the birth of Jesus Christ, by assigning the Year One to the year of Jesus' birth. (Muslims do the same thing, only they use a different year for their YEAR One, the year of Mohammed's return to Mecca.) Nowadays, historians believe that Europeans of the Middle Age not the date of Jesus' birth wrong, but nevertheless, we continue to use the system they devised.
Assuming that our starting point is the YEAR ONE (there is no YEAR Zero), then BC, meaning "before Christ" is the abbreviation used for years that occurred before the YEAR ONE. AD means "anno Domini" (Latin for "year of our Lord") and is used on all dates that come after YEAR ONE.
Another understanding of the BC / BCE from TheAnswerBag:
BC means “Before Christ”, and refers to years before the year in which Jesus Christ is assumed to have been born. Thus, “500 BC” is a short way of saying “500 [years] before Christ”.
AD stands for “Anno Domini”, which is latin for “Year of our Lord”, and refers to years after the birth of Christ. Thus, “AD 2005” is a short way of saying “Year of our Lord 2005”.
Grammatically, BC comes after the year number, and AD comes before.
CE and BCE are the politically-correct counterparts to BC and AD, a way of continuing to use the birth of Jesus Christ as the time reference, without actually saying so.
CE stands for “Common Era”, and refers to years beginning with an unnamed event which we all know (even though nobody will openly say it) is the birth of Jesus Christ. This is done to avoid offending non-Christians.
BCE stands for “Before Common Era” and refers to years before a particular unnamed event which — as with CE — is the birth of Jesus Christ, but nobody will say so.
Grammatically, both BCE and CE come after the year number.
22. May / Might (from OxfordDictionaries)
May and might both express possibility. Some people insist that you should use may (present tense) when talking about a current situation and might (past tense) when talking about an event that happened in the past. For example:
I may go home early if I’m tired. (present tense)
He might have visited Italy before settling in Nuremberg. (past tense)
In practice, this distinction is rarely made today and the two words are generally interchangeable:
I might go home early if I’m tired.
He may have visited Italy before settling in Nuremberg.
But there is a distinction between may have and might have in certain contexts. If the truth of a situation is still not known at the time of speaking or writing, either of the two is acceptable:
By the time you read this, he may have made his decision.
I think that comment might have offended some people.
If the event or situation referred to did not in fact occur, it's better to use might have:
23. On to / Onto (from OxfordDictionaries)
The preposition onto meaning -- to a position on the surface of -- has been widely written as one word (instead of on to) since the early 18th century, as in the following sentences:
He threw his plate onto the floor.
The band climbed onto the stage.
Nevertheless, some people still don’t accept it as part of standard British English (unlike into) and it’s best to use the two-word form in formal writing.
In US English, onto is more or less the standard form: it seems likely that this will eventually become the case in British English too. Remember, though, that you should never write on to as one word when it means onward and towards. For example:
✓ Let’s move on to the next point.
✗ Let’s move onto the next point.
✓ Those who qualify can go on to university.
✗ Those who qualify can go onto university.
24. In to / Into (from GrammarBook)
One of the main uses of the preposition into is to indicate movement toward the inside of a place.
The children jumped into the lake for a swim.
Mom drove the car into the garage.
In to is the adverb in followed by the preposition to.
He turned his paper in to the teacher.
The administrators wouldn’t give in to the demands of the protesters.
Use this link for more GrammarBook examples.
Much / Many [from dictionary.cambridge.org]
Much, many with a noun
We use much with singular uncountable nouns and many with plural nouns:
[talking about money]
I haven’t got much change. I’ve only got a ten euro note.
Are there many campsites near you?
Questions and negatives
We usually use much and many with questions (?) and negatives (−):
Is there much unemployment in that area?
How many eggs are in this cake?
Do you think many people will come?
It was pouring with rain but there wasn’t much wind.
There aren’t many women priests.
Affirmatives
In affirmative clauses we sometimes use much and many in more formal styles:
There is much concern about drug addiction in the US.
He had heard many stories about Yanto and he knew he was trouble.
In informal [conversational] styles, we prefer to use lots of or a lot of:
I went shopping and spent a lot of money.
Not: I went shopping and spent much money.
Using a lot of is extremely conversational, so here is a better option:
I went shopping and spent an extraordinary amount of money.
For a better understanding of how to put multiple adjectives together, scroll down to the "Adjective Order" chart via this link from English Zone: click here.
For a brief explanation of plurals (goose/geese versus moose/moose) from Merriam Webster, click here.
Circa according to Dictionary.com
preposition, adverb
Circa means about: (used especially in) approximate dates: The Venerable Bede was born circa 673.
Abbreviation: ca, ca., c., c, cir., circ.
Circa dates back to 1856.
In Latin circa means "around, round about, near; in the region of; about the time of," alternative form of circum "round about" (see circum- ).
Example from YourDictionary:
Lactantius (circa 300 A.D.), for example, roundly declares that Plato and Aristotle, referring everything to this earthly life, " made virtue mere folly "; though himself maintaining, with pardonable inconsistency, that man's highest good did not consist in mere pleasure, but in the consciousness of the filial relation of the soul to God.
Examples from Wikipedia:
- 1732–1799: both years are known precisely.
- c. 1732 – 1799: only the end year is known accurately; the start year is approximate.
- 1732 – c. 1799: only the start year is known accurately; the end year is approximate.
- c. 1732 – c. 1799: both years are approximate.
BELOW YOU WILL FIND COMMONLY CONFUSED WORDS AND WAYS TO DIFFERENTIATE THEM. Some parts to this page come from eLearnEnglishLanguage.com. The numbering is for discussion purposes and presents no sense of order or hierarchy.
1. Further / Farther:
Farther refers to a physical distance; whereas, further expresses a nonphysical distance, expanding or moving toward a goal. Think of looking far to see the person who is walking farther away from you as he marches away.
I will move farther from home to the big city where I can further my career goals.
2. Everyday / Every day:
Everyday is an adjective that means informal, as in something for everyday use. Your everyday clothes are clothes you can get dirty as opposed to dress up clothes. Your everyday dishes are used every day as opposed to the fine china you use for dressy occasions.
I wear everyday clothes almost every day.
3. Fewer / Less:
Fewer is something you can count. Less has to do with mass.
I weigh less because I have consumed fewer calories.
I weigh fewer pounds because I have eaten less food.
4. Then / Than:
Then is for time sequence. What happened next? And then . . .
Than is for comparison. I would rather have an A than a B.
I will study hard and then I will get an A, which I would rather have
than a B.
5. Lie / Lay:
mnemonic: I will lay the blanket on the beach so I can lie down. Lay comes before lie alphabetically, and you must place the blanket before getting on top of it.
Present Tense: Lay is something done to something.
I will lay the baby down now.
Kindergartners lay down after lunch.
Lie is not done to something else.
I will lie down.
You look tired. Please lie down and rest.
Past Tense: Unfortunately, lay is also the past tense of lie, so this can be confusing.
I lay down for an hour. NOT I laid down.
The past tense for Lay is Laid, which pertains to something done to something else:
She had already laid the money down before the salesperson gave her the total.
He laid down his cards and won the game.
Present Past Present Participle (uses a helping verb) Past Participle (uses a helping verb)
lie lay lying -- I was lying down when he called. lain -- I had lain down for an hour.
lay laid laying -- She was laying the baby down at 3:00. laid -- She had laid the baby at 3:00.
She intends to lie here until the news arrives.
She lay there for hours yesterday.
She is lying there again now, waiting.
She has lain there too long.
He lay the money down to buy the horse.
He laid the money down, but the seller didn't pick it up.
He was laying down the money to buy the horse when someone else began bidding.
He had laid the money down, but the seller changed her mind.
6. Their / There
Think of their as being two words the-ir. A person owns his own "ir" - right? Don't you own your ears? So the-ir is possessive. The word there is a location word. It has the word here in it: T H E R E.
Their cars were all lined up over there, so we had to move all the way around to get in line.
7. Where / Were
Just like the word there, the word where has the word here in it: W H E R E ; therefore, it is a location word. Were is a verb.
We were in a hurry to be where they expected us.
8. Here / Hear
If you get confused and don't remember that here is a location word, consider that the word hear has the word ear
in it: H E A R . You hear with your ears, right?
I can hear the noise because the horn sounded right here next to me.
9. Its / It's
It's with an apostrophe is a contraction; it means it is. Its without an apostrophe is singular possessive.
Give the dog its bone because it's been a long time since he has had a treat.
10. Accept / Except:
Accept is a verb that means "to receive, admit, regard as true, say yes."
I can't accept this gift.
He was accepted to Harvard.
Do you accept this theory?
My offer was immediately accepted.
He asked me to marry him, and I accepted.
The noun acceptance refers to the "act or process of accepting, approval, or agreement."
Except is a preposition that means "excluding."
He bought a gift for everyone except me.
I know everyone here except the children.
Except is also a conjunction that means "if not for the fact that" or "other than."
I would help you, except I'm too busy.
He never calls me except to borrow money.
Except is a fairly uncommon verb that means "to leave out, exclude."
I hate lawyers, present company excepted.
11. Affect / Effect:
Affect is a verb with several different meanings.
To have an influence on, contribute to a change in
What you do affects all of us.
This decision will affect the outcome of the elections.
Inflation is affected by natural disasters.
To touch, move; to act on the emotions of
I was profoundly affected by this movie.
His actions were not affected by her pleas.
To simulate
He likes to affect a British accent.
She always affected her eccentricity.
In psychology, affect is a noun which refers to a "feeling" or "emotion" (the stress is on the first syllable):
Your son's lack of affect explains why you find it difficult to gauge his moods.
Effect is most commonly used as a noun, and has three meanings.
Result, something brought about by someone or something
What was the effect of her decision?
Side effects include nausea and fatigue.
I don't think it will have any effect on the outcome.
The law will go into effect tomorrow.
You can clearly see the cause and effect.
Something that gives the impression/sense of something else
The special effects were amazing.
Mirrors will give the effect of a larger space.
He said that just for effect.
Effects can refer to belongings
Did you bring any personal effects?
As a verb, to effect means "to bring about, lead to a result"
The only way to effect change is to participate.
What is the best way to effect these improvements?
This should effect a whole new way of thinking about it.
The Bottom Line
The confusion between affect and effect comes out of the fact that affecting something leads to an effect. The two questions "How were you affected?" and "What was the effect on you?" mean almost exactly the same thing.
When you want to use one of these words as a noun, the one you want is probably effect. When you want a verb, most of the time you want affect. Effect is used as a verb only when it has a direct object and only when you mean "to bring about, lead to."
The difference between to affect and to effect can be seen here:
To affect the results - To influence, have an impact on the results
To effect the results - To bring about, lead to the (desired) results
12. Abbreviations / Acronyms
Acronyms are abbreviations, but not all abbreviations are acronyms. An acronym is an abbreviation that presents or suggests a word. Some acronyms have actually become words: NASA, scuba, sonar and snafu.
Abbreviations do not make or sound like a word when they are prounounced. USA is not pronounced “Oosah” and boulevard is not pronounced “blivvid.” The following abbreviations, for example, are not acronyms: VP, HR, Fos, Rom, YMCA, or CEO. And even though Missing in Action (MIA) makes a name, no one pronounces the abbreviation as a name/word.
SONAR: originally an acronym for SOund Navigation And Ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, communicate with or detect objects on or under the surface of the water, such as other vessels.
NASA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration
SCUBA: Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus
SNAFU: Situation Normal: All Fucked Up This acronym has become a word and originated in the early 1940’s
13. Semi- / Bi-
Semi- mean twice during any time period. A semiannual meeting occurs twice a year.
Bi- is ambiguous. Some dictionaries will say that bi-annually means twice a year and some will say that bi-annually mean every other year.
14. Good / Well
Good, the adjective modifies a noun: She wrote a good essay. He has a good attendance record.
Describing someone’s health requires the word well: She is well enough to return to school.
But does one do well or do good?
Use well when describing how something is done: She did well on the final.
Use good when describing an act of goodness. It is almost like good is short for good work(s): Foundations do a lot of good by giving grants to worthy organizations. He will be rewarded for the good he did in his lifetime.
15. That / Which
That introduces essential information that readers must have to understand the sentence:
This is the movie that was made in only six months. That also signals a dependent clause.
Which introduces information that may be of interest but is not essential:
The Wizard of OZ, which was made in 1939, is still extremely popular.
The word which is parenthetical and can, therefore, be removed without damaging the sentence.
Also, always use who or whom when referring to people.
16. Who / Whom
Who is a subject word and whom is an object.
Subjects Objects
I me
we us
he him
she her
they them
who whom
When in doubt, replace the who/whom word with one that makes more sense and then pick the who/whom word in that same category.
For example: I should give this money to who/whom?
I should give this money to he/him? Since the correct answer is him, and since him belongs to the Object column, you would use whom. I should give this money to whom?
OR This woman, who/whom is late yet again, should not get a raise.
Test the diction this way:
This woman, she/her is late yet again, should not get a raise. Since the correct answer is she, and since she belongs to theSubject column, you would use who.
17. Cannot / Can not
One of the most common explanations for the difference between “cannot” and “can not” is that, with the former word, there is no chance someone can carry out an activity, no matter what.
Jane cannot jump 50 feet in the air.
We cannot go to Pluto.
By contrast, when a person uses “can not,” the ability to do the action still exists.
Elizabeth can not study anymore.
Sam can not have a drink.
Which word is can’t?
With the contraction representing “cannot,” technically, people should only use it when they actually mean that the subject of their sentence does not have the ability to do something. In common speech, however, people frequently use it incorrectly. A person might say, "I can't cook tonight," for example.
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-difference-between-cannot-and-can-not.htm
All that being said, most writers would simply use cannot unless they wish to emphasize the word not.
18. Maybe / May Be
Maybe is an adverb, meaning “perhaps.” Maybe she will return tomorrow.
May be is a verb phrase. She may be returning tomorrow.
19. Compliment / Complement
Compliment is praise. I appreciated the compliment when she mentioned how much she liked my class.
Complimentary also means free. Please accept this gift with our compliments. The newspapers in the lobby are complimentary, so go ahead and grab one on your way out the door.
Complement means something enhances something else. The color of her new blouse complemented her blue eyes. Interior decorators use a color wheel in order to help clients choose complementary colors.
20. Misinformation / Disinformation
Misinformation and disinformation both mean wrong information. The slight difference between the two words comes from the intent.
Misinformation does not suggest intent at all. The misinformation could have been intentional or it could have been an accident.
Disinformation presents not doubt about intent. If someone presents disinformation he/she intends to be deceptive.
21. BC / BCE
B.C. is short for "Before Christ"
BCE is short for a more modern day understanding of the same year but means Before the Common Era.
Since there is no agreement on when time began, Europeans adopted the convention of recording dates in terms of whether they occurred before or after the birth of Jesus Christ, by assigning the Year One to the year of Jesus' birth. (Muslims do the same thing, only they use a different year for their YEAR One, the year of Mohammed's return to Mecca.) Nowadays, historians believe that Europeans of the Middle Age not the date of Jesus' birth wrong, but nevertheless, we continue to use the system they devised.
Assuming that our starting point is the YEAR ONE (there is no YEAR Zero), then BC, meaning "before Christ" is the abbreviation used for years that occurred before the YEAR ONE. AD means "anno Domini" (Latin for "year of our Lord") and is used on all dates that come after YEAR ONE.
Another understanding of the BC / BCE from TheAnswerBag:
BC means “Before Christ”, and refers to years before the year in which Jesus Christ is assumed to have been born. Thus, “500 BC” is a short way of saying “500 [years] before Christ”.
AD stands for “Anno Domini”, which is latin for “Year of our Lord”, and refers to years after the birth of Christ. Thus, “AD 2005” is a short way of saying “Year of our Lord 2005”.
Grammatically, BC comes after the year number, and AD comes before.
CE and BCE are the politically-correct counterparts to BC and AD, a way of continuing to use the birth of Jesus Christ as the time reference, without actually saying so.
CE stands for “Common Era”, and refers to years beginning with an unnamed event which we all know (even though nobody will openly say it) is the birth of Jesus Christ. This is done to avoid offending non-Christians.
BCE stands for “Before Common Era” and refers to years before a particular unnamed event which — as with CE — is the birth of Jesus Christ, but nobody will say so.
Grammatically, both BCE and CE come after the year number.
22. May / Might (from OxfordDictionaries)
May and might both express possibility. Some people insist that you should use may (present tense) when talking about a current situation and might (past tense) when talking about an event that happened in the past. For example:
I may go home early if I’m tired. (present tense)
He might have visited Italy before settling in Nuremberg. (past tense)
In practice, this distinction is rarely made today and the two words are generally interchangeable:
I might go home early if I’m tired.
He may have visited Italy before settling in Nuremberg.
But there is a distinction between may have and might have in certain contexts. If the truth of a situation is still not known at the time of speaking or writing, either of the two is acceptable:
By the time you read this, he may have made his decision.
I think that comment might have offended some people.
If the event or situation referred to did not in fact occur, it's better to use might have:
23. On to / Onto (from OxfordDictionaries)
The preposition onto meaning -- to a position on the surface of -- has been widely written as one word (instead of on to) since the early 18th century, as in the following sentences:
He threw his plate onto the floor.
The band climbed onto the stage.
Nevertheless, some people still don’t accept it as part of standard British English (unlike into) and it’s best to use the two-word form in formal writing.
In US English, onto is more or less the standard form: it seems likely that this will eventually become the case in British English too. Remember, though, that you should never write on to as one word when it means onward and towards. For example:
✓ Let’s move on to the next point.
✗ Let’s move onto the next point.
✓ Those who qualify can go on to university.
✗ Those who qualify can go onto university.
24. In to / Into (from GrammarBook)
One of the main uses of the preposition into is to indicate movement toward the inside of a place.
The children jumped into the lake for a swim.
Mom drove the car into the garage.
In to is the adverb in followed by the preposition to.
He turned his paper in to the teacher.
The administrators wouldn’t give in to the demands of the protesters.
Use this link for more GrammarBook examples.
Much / Many [from dictionary.cambridge.org]
Much, many with a noun
We use much with singular uncountable nouns and many with plural nouns:
[talking about money]
I haven’t got much change. I’ve only got a ten euro note.
Are there many campsites near you?
Questions and negatives
We usually use much and many with questions (?) and negatives (−):
Is there much unemployment in that area?
How many eggs are in this cake?
Do you think many people will come?
It was pouring with rain but there wasn’t much wind.
There aren’t many women priests.
Affirmatives
In affirmative clauses we sometimes use much and many in more formal styles:
There is much concern about drug addiction in the US.
He had heard many stories about Yanto and he knew he was trouble.
In informal [conversational] styles, we prefer to use lots of or a lot of:
I went shopping and spent a lot of money.
Not: I went shopping and spent much money.
Using a lot of is extremely conversational, so here is a better option:
I went shopping and spent an extraordinary amount of money.