UWF WRITING LAB RULES OF THUMB FOR DICTION

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UWF WRITING LAB RULES OF THUMB FOR DICTION

• from Grammar Shots by Mamie Webb Hixon

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DICTION

• Aused before words and letters with an initial
  consonant sound
• Ex a CPA, a historical event
• ANused before words and letters with an initial
  vowel sound
• Ex an MBA, an honorable man
• ALOTincorrect spelling for A LOT

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• ACCEPTverb to take
• Ex I graciously accept your invitation.
• EXCEPTverb to omit preposition but
• Ex Mothers of small children are excepted from
  jury duty.
• Ex Everyone was excused except Joe.

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• ADVICEnoun
• Ex Most good advice falls on deaf ears.
• ADVISEverb
• Ex The protestors were advised to submit a list
  of their grievances.

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• AFFECTverb to influence or to alter
• Ex The noise affects my concentration.
• EFFECTnoun result verb to bring about
• Ex His speech had a positive effect on me.
• Ex The President has effected a new tax law.

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• ALRIGHTincorrect spelling for ALL RIGHT
• ALMOSTadverb
• Ex We sold almost all the tickets.
• MOSTadjective or pronoun
• Ex We sold most of the tickets.

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• AMONGused for relationships involving MORE THAN
  TWO people or things
• Ex There is a silent closeness among the family
  members.
• BETWEENused for relationships involving ONLY TWO
  people or things
• Ex Lois and Hattie had only fifty cents between
  them.

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• AMOUNTused with singular (mass) nouns
• Ex amount of work, amount of credit
• NUMBERused with plural (countable) nouns
• Ex number of classes, number of mistakes

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• AS, AS IF, AS THOUGHused before clauses
• Ex It looks as if (not like) its going to rain.
• Ex He acts as though (not like) he has
  Alzheimers disease.
• LIKEpreposition used to introduce a phrase, not
  a clause
• Ex His features are unique like a fingerprint.
• Ex It looks like rain.

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• BE SURE ANDmisused for BE SURE TO
• TRY ANDmisused for TRY TO
• COULD OFmisused for COULD HAVE
• SHOULD OFmisused for SHOULD HAVE
• MIGHT OFmisused for MIGHT HAVE
• WOULD OFmisused for WOULD HAVE

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• DIFFERENT THANused only when a clause follows
• Ex The old plantation is different than it used
  to be.
• DIFFERENT FROMused always except when a clause
  follows
• Ex Her hairdo is different from yours.

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• DUE TOused to introduce ADJECTIVE phrases means
  caused by
• Ex His mistakes were due to carelessness.
• BECAUSE OFused to introduce ADVERB phrases
  means as a result of
• Ex He was dismissed because of his dishonesty.

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• DUE TO THE FACT THATmisused and wordy for
  BECAUSE
• ENTHUSE/ENTHUSEDcolloquialisms for ENTHUSIASTIC

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• FEWERused with countable nouns
• Ex fewer cigarettes, fewer people
• LESSused with mass nouns or general amounts
• Ex less time, less money

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• HOPEFULLYused as an adverb meaning in a HOPEFUL
  MANNER, not as a sentence modifier
• Ex The children waited hopefully for the
  packages to arrive.
• WRONG Hopefully, the team will win.
• IRREGARDLESSmisused for REGARDLESS

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• IS WHEN/IS WHEREshould NOT be used to introduce
  an explanation or a definition
• Ex Plagiarism occurs when (not is when) a writer
  presents the thoughts and ideas of another author
  as his own.
• KIND OF/SORT OFcorrectly used preceding NOUNS,
  NOT ADJECTIVES
• Ex I enjoy reading this kind of magazine.
• WRONG The movie was kind of boring.
• CORRECT The movie was rather boring.

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• LEAD AND LEDLead (pronounced leed) means to
  go first. Its principal parts are lead, leads,
  led (rhymes with red), and (have) led.
• Ex Priests lead lives of celibacy.
• Ex The man led a life of celibacy before he
  became a priest.
• The homonym for led is a noun.
• Ex The lead in this pencil is broken.

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• LENDverb to allow the use of (lending, lent,
  have lent)
• Ex The credit union lends (not loans) money to
  members only.
• Ex I lent (not loaned) my book to her last week.
• LOANnoun something lent for temporary use
• Ex I need to establish credit so that I can be
  eligible for a loan.

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• LIEverb to rest (LYING, LAY, have LAIN
• Ex I lie on the couch every day.
• Ex I lay on the couch for hours yesterday.
• Ex The sweater is still lying on the couch.
• LAYverb to put (LAYING, LAID, have LAID)
• Ex Where did he lay my brush?
• Ex I must have laid it down somewhere yesterday.
• Ex Im always laying things down and forgetting
  where I laid them.

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• PRINCIPALnoun chief official adjective
  foremost, major
• PRINCIPLEnoun axiom, rule
• Ex Her principal reasons for resigning were her
  principles of right and wrong.

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• REASON IS BECAUSE/REASON WAS BECAUSEmisused for
  REASON IS THAT/REASON WAS THAT
• Ex The reason he was promoted is that (not
  because) he worked exceptionally hard.

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• RISEverb to go up (RISING, ROSE, have RISEN)
• Ex She must rise early in the morning to get to
  work on time.
• RAISEverb to push up (RAISING, RAISED, have
  RAISED)
• Ex The landlord must raise the rent to cover an
  increase in taxes.

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• SITverb to be seated (SITTING, SAT, have SAT)
• Ex Good students usually sit on the front row.
• SETverb to put, to place (SETTING, SET, have
  SET)
• Ex Please set the paperwork on my desk.
• Ex Try to set a positive example for young
  people to follow.

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• SUPPOSE TO/USE TOincorrect spellings for
  SUPPOSED TO and USED TO
• THANconjunction
• Ex Amy is a better tennis player than I.
• THENadverb of time (often misused for THAN)
• Ex The cashier rang up our sale then he gave us
  our change.

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LETS PRACTICE!!!

• I took the advise of my counselor and dropped the
  class.
• ADVICE
• A employee with a MBA earns more than an
  internist.
• AN employee, AN MBA
• Alot of students come to college with no clear
  notion of what they want to do.
• A LOT
• Medical schools except fewer than half the
  students who apply.
• ACCEPT

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• At noon, we runners were already to start. When
  I reached the halfway mark, my body did not feel
  alright.
• ALL READY ALL RIGHT
• Most all the Republicans stood all together to
  give their support to the proposed amendment.
• ALMOST all
• Among the two girls, Madison ran faster.
• BETWEEN
• The amount of people in the hall was
  extraordinary.
• NUMBER

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• My students act like they have acute mental
  disorders.
• AS IF
• Whenever youre depressed, you should try and
  lose yourself in science fiction.
• TRY TO
• I should of backed out of the agreement.
• SHOULD HAVE
• Why is your copy of the book different than mine?
• DIFFERENT FROM

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• Due to the Presidents Day celebration, the
  library will be closed.
• BECAUSE OF
• Due to the fact that her car wouldnt start,
  Charlotte was late for class.
• BECAUSE
• This drink contains less calories than the
  sparkling water.
• FEWER
• She was enthused about entering the contest.
• ENTHUSIASTIC

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• Hopefully, his pains will subside.
• I HOPE THAT
• Irregardless of the objections, all students in
  Comp I classes are required to do Lab work.
• REGARDLESS
• An honorarium is when a professional receives a
  fee for services rendered.
• An honorarium IS a fee paid to a professional
  for
• When I got off the roller coaster, I felt sort of
  sick.
• RATHER, SOMEWHAT

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• Joanne lead her sister into a sad world of crime.
• LED
• The bank will not loan me the money until I
  establish credit.
• LEND
• He laid on the floor, wondering why stupid people
  should be allowed to vote.
• LAY
• You are my principle problem.
• PRINCIPAL

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• The reason she left the office is because she
  forgot something in her car.
• IS THAT
• The curtain was about to raise on the last act of
  the senior play.
• RISE
• Do set down and tell me all about your summer
  vacation.
• SIT
• Dick is suppose to be interviewed by the governor
  for a position at the state level.
• SUPPOSED TO
• The trail went farther into the bush then the
  hunter expected.
• THAN