Yes, who and whom, affect and effect I must always stop and think about. In school, no problem. I guess that I would lose on "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader".

In class, I use "toward" often and, although it's taken a while, I've finally grown accustomed to say it rather than "towards."

to and too.

people usually get that two is a number, but it still baffles me that people don't know that too means also. and to is used for directional purposes.

I am going TO the store.
I am going there TOO.

grrr.

Grate toppic, Dream_chaser! How about "choose" and "chose?" e.g. "Will you please CHOOSE your costumes today?" [present tense] vs. "I CHOSE them yesterday!" [past tense]

Also "further" and "farther" give me cause to pause. I was taught that "farther" refers to more physical distance; eg. "He rode his bike FARTHER than I did today." And "further" is for everything else. But I see these used interchangeably all the time. Perhaps I need to explore this further...

NDow wrote:

Grate toppic, Dream_chaser! How about "choose" and "chose?" e.g. "Will you please CHOOSE your costumes today?" [present tense] vs. "I CHOSE them yesterday!" [past tense]

Also "further" and "farther" give me cause to pause. I was taught that "farther" refers to more physical distance; eg. "He rode his bike FARTHER than I did today." And "further" is for everything else. But I see these used interchangeably all the time. Perhaps I need to explore this further...

Further/Farther... yes, another mind boggler.

i before e icon Affect (verb) To influence something without causing it to happen.

i before e icon Effect (noun) Is the result that was accomplished or to directly cause something.


Affected vs Effected

When to use Affected vs Effected. Let's now apply usage so that it makes sense.

Winning the lottery Affected me
The Effect was exhilarating!

In that example Affect was the influence on Effect the result.

Here is an example when Effect means to cause something directly.

Can the president Effect such great change without Affecting the middle class?



When all else fails..

Affect is an Action

Effect is an End result

----
Two words often confused are farther and further. Is it farther down the road or further? Do you have to read further in the book or farther? Do you further your education? Yes! Let's take a look at the meanings for these two words.

FARTHER denotes physical advancement in distance.

FURTHER denotes advancement to greater degree, as in time.



The correct answers to the above examples follow:

It is farther down the road. (For distance physically traveled.)

You read further in the book. (To a greater degree than where you are now.)

You further your education. (To a greater degree than what you have now.)

theoatmeal.com . . .

saw this and thought of this thread

Oh! Oh! And breath/breathe! It's not that hard!

I had eggs! Lol, makes me laugh.

Except the Oxford Comma is a choice, not an error. In the style guide for the magazine I write for, we are forbidden to use it. I've actually grown quite accustomed to NOT using it. It looks cleaner to me.

Yes, writing for certain publications is different. I have seen my work edited and thought, "But I wrote it properly."

Ah yes, the Oxford comma. I, too, saw this website allday.cc . . . that cheerspirit was referring to. I have a mini debate in my head all the time when it comes to this. Most of the time I do not use it, but sometimes it makes more sense to do so. Definitely a stylistic choice.

Sooooooo.... I found this on Facebook, today. Speaking of fitting. LOL

I'll just throw my "Two Bob's" worth in now. (That's Australian slang by the way).
My pet hates are:
bought & brought - So may Aussies say this incorrectly
weather, whether
"H" - correctly spoken as aitch but come down under & you will hear "Haitch" - don't ask me why - I actually correct most people who say it & tell them to look up the dictionary for the correct spelling.
There are others as well but most have been mentioned before.

snot85 wrote:

And don't forget:

Your vs. You're
Its vs. It's
Then vs. Than

And my current biggest pet peeve: REDiculous. Rediculous is not a word, but RIDiculous is. People all over the Internet are suddenly using rediculous like it's a real word. It's like an epidemic!

I hate the REDiculous thing. So many people write that to me on a daily basis and I feel the need to correct every last one of them! I was an English Language and Literature major in college so things like this bother me as well. I do have to say though the misspelling of "ridiculous" tops all others for me.

Not in writing, but people saying "Libary" for "LIbrary".

Has anyone ever seen "prolly" written? That drives me crazy...

"Yes, I'll prolly be there a little later".

Where did the B's go?

I just wrote this line in a topic.

In the end it's not different than/then we already know and do.

Is it than or then?

Rose wrote:

I just wrote this line in a topic.

In the end it's not different than/then we already know and do.

Is it than or then?

Than.

Rose wrote:

I just wrote this line in a topic.

In the end it's not different than/then we already know and do.

Is it than or then?

Than is a conjunction used in comparisons:

Tom is smarter than Bill.

This is more important than you might think.

Is she taller than you?

Yes, she is taller than I.

hen has numerous meanings.

1. At that point in time

I wasn't ready then.

Will you be home at noon? I'll call you then.

2. Next, afterward

I went to the store, and then to the bank

Do your homework and then go to bed

3. In addition, also, on top of that

He told me he was leaving, and then that I owed him money

It cost $5,000, and then there's tax too

4. In that case, therefore (often with "if")

If you want to go, then you'll have to finish your homework.

I'm hungry!
Then you should eat.

Like "Libary" instead of "Library" we have (very soon!) "Febuary" instead of "February."

Rose wrote:

In the end it's not different than/then we already know and do.

This may be a matter of age (mine...), but as I learned it, neither "than" nor "then" is appropriate here. I believe it would be: "In the end it's not different FROM what we already know and do."

NDow wrote:

Like "Libary" instead of "Library" we have (very soon!) "Febuary" instead of "February."

Rose wrote:

In the end it's not different than/then we already know and do.

This may be a matter of age (mine...), but as I learned it, neither "than" nor "then" is appropriate here. I believe it would be: "In the end it's not different FROM what we already know and do."

Good catch!

Dream_chaser, I like your Top Ten Grammar Peeves. Number 8, however, is either incomplete or incorrect:

"Affect" is a verb. "Effect" is a noun.

"Affect" can be a noun, too. For example, if you are describing someone's mental state, you might say: "His affect was flat."

As already discussed, "effect" can be a noun or a verb!

Curiouser and curiouser...

NDow wrote:

Dream_chaser, I like your Top Ten Grammar Peeves. Number 8, however, is either incomplete or incorrect:

"Affect" is a verb. "Effect" is a noun.

"Affect" can be a noun, too. For example, if you are describing someone's mental state, you might say: "His affect was flat."

As already discussed, "effect" can be a noun or a verb!

Curiouser and curiouser...

Yes and I stand corrected...

When used as a descriptor or adjective, affect means to change, and usually refers to an emotion or symptom. Affected, when used in a description, refers to fake or intentionally assumed behaviour (a changed behaviour), i.e., an affected accent. Affect can refer to facial expression or demeanor.

In general, to affect refers to the influence a change has on something else. In this sense, it is often confused with to effect, which generally means either "to cause/make/create a change" or to the result of a change. When used as a verb, "effect" refers to the cause of a change, or as a synonym for "created" or "made" ("The governor effected a change in policy"); while "affect" refers to the consequences of that change ("The new policy really affected our family").

As a noun, "affect" may refer to an emotion or to a psychological/psychiatric state (see below). As an adjective, it may refer to an assumed pretense: "Her affected accent really had an effect on me"; "Her affected accent really affected my view of her".

NDow wrote:

This may be a matter of age (mine...), but as I learned it, neither "than" nor "then" is appropriate here. I believe it would be: "In the end it's not different FROM what we already know and do."

Well the sentence itself is not great. "Than" is the word she's looking for, but the sentence would be better if you changed it to something like, "In the end, it's NO different FROM what we already know and do." or "In the end, it's the same as what we already know and do."