Have you ever wanted to become an expert on alliteration? If nothing else, it's such a beautiful word! Seriously, when one uses alliteration properly--especially in publications--it is subtly effective.
If you work on Web sites, e-zines, or print newsletters, this may be a good time for you to brush up on the amazing world of alliteration.
Principal means first in authority; main participant, or amount of a debt minus the interest. It can be a noun or an adjective.
Examples: He is the principal stockholder....She is the principal speaker....The amount of principal is $200,000.
Principle means a basic truth or assumption. A lot of people think of principles in relation to ethics, rules, standards, morals, guidelines, etc. It is a noun.
Examples: The book revealed 20 principles for success in writing ....The country was founded upon those principles....She told her friend she wouldn't cheat, since it was against her principles.
Perhaps the only time you can say, "I have my principals," is if you are the parent of two or more school principals. Sorry. Couldn't resist.
Ever seen a word in a group followed by a hyphen and a space that looks strange? Like this:
ABC Mortgage Company offers special rates and handling of fifteen- and thirty-year mortgages.
OR
Studies have determined the distinctions between right- or left-brain functions.
Welcome to the world of suspended hyphens. When one or more hyphenated adjectives** has a common basic element and this element is shown only with the last term, insert a suspending hyphen after each of the incomplete adjectives to indicate a relationship with the last term.
Here are more examples:
* A three- or four-color glossy cover
* Two- and four-wheel drive
* Pre- and post-war
* First-, second-, and third-graders
* 25-, 35-, 45-, and 55-year-olds
If you don't like using suspended hyphens, why not re-cast their sentences to avoid them? Example: using the heading of this article, you could recast to say, "There will be a delay of between two and six days."
** Adjectives: Word that describes what kind, how many, or which one. Adjectives can be single words or a group of words. Modifies the meanings of nouns and pronouns.
A lot of people get confused when the plural of a word doesn't end in an "s." What's going on?
CRITERIA OR CRITERION?
"Criteria" is plural (like "phenomena"), while "criterion" is singular, like "phenomenon." You have one criterion or many criteria. It's easy to be confused, since some words (e.g., "data" and "media") are the same whether singular or plural.
Examples: Angela Allen Parker detailed the six basic criteria for accepting a client...The restaurant has one criterion for entry: every customer must wear shoes or sandals.
Criteria: plural
Criterion: single
COMPLIMENT
"Compliment" is more commonly used. It means saying something nice about someone.
Examples: Mari Bontrager complimented Bob McElwain on his latest book...Jackie McCutcheon complimented Terence Kierans on his technical support tips...My compliments to the chef.
COMPLEMENT
"Complement," much less common than "compliment," has a number of meanings associated with matching, completing, or perfecting. If you're not giving someone praise, the word is usually "complement."
Examples: My new yellow socks complement my orange shoes...His purple hair complements his green eyes...The Air Force base has a full complement of pilots.
IMPLY
Imply means that someone wants to make something understood without expressing it directly. It is safe to say that this technique is used often by politicians.
Synonyms: hint, suggest, insinuate, point toward.
INFER
Infer means that the hearer perceives or concludes something.
Synonyms: assume, deduce, judge, suppose, gather, conjecture, surmise, understand, extrapolate, reckon, and reason.
Examples: The jurors listened carefully, and all inferred that the witness was lying...I listened to Dan Rather's interview and inferred that the politician would never be forthcoming.
One university writing lab says, "You imply things through your own words. You infer things from someone else's words." The speaker implies. The listener infers.
Have you ever found the solution to a pithy problem, and said, "Bingo!"? These days, there's another word dazzling the world of language: Tingo.
Have you ever written, "We will do everything in our power to insure that your shipment arrives before Friday"? Was this correct? It's not incorrect, but there's a better way to use it.
There are three words that confuse people: insure, ensure, and assure.
What's the proper way to display the title of a book on a Web page? The traditional method of underlining makes it confusing for Web users, who expect an underlined word or phrase to be a hyperlink. Should the title be bolded? Italicized?
Do you spend a lot of time searching for the right descriptive word? Do you enjoy the world of synonyms? If so, you'll want to investigate The Visual Thesaurus. It's amazing.
Recently I received (from a visitor to my Webgrammar website) this question, and wonder if you can help:
I am a TA for a Special Ed basic English class. We are teaching grammar and parts of speech and I would like to find a source of humorous sentences, lyrics to popular songs, lines from poetry, anything interesting for the students to circle the verbs, underline the nouns, punctuate etc. Is there a source of such sentences or paragraphs?