Effective
writing requires the correct use of words, which sometimes may be
confusing to writers.
PUNDIT / PUNT
Pundit: a
scholar; a learned person.
e.g.
My neighbor is a pundit he
seems to know everything.
Punt: a
flat-bottomed boar, moved by a long pole.
e.g.
In Venice, people move around in punts.
COMMON / COMMONPLACE
Common: shared or used by many; commonplace: ordinary, not unusual.
e.g. English is a common language used in Europe .
e.g. Nowadays, carrying a gun is commonplace.
RIGHT /
RIGHTLY
Right:
immediately; rightly: justly, correctly.
e.g.
Do it right now.
e.g.
Do it right away.
e.g.
I rightly canceled
the trip.
e.g.
We refused the offer, and rightly so.
DEFER / INFER
Defer: give way or yield to; infer: conclude.
e.g. He is a good kid: he always defers to his parents' wishes.
e.g. We can infer from your statement that you don't
like this policy.
MEDIATE / MEDITATE
Mediate means
to act as a peacemaker; meditate means
to think deeply.
e.g.
The Secretary of State is trying to mediate between
the two warring nations.
e.g.
He meditated revenge
after he was insulted by his coworkers.
POTENT / POTENTIAL
Potent:
strong, powerful; potential: power that could be, but is not yet.
e.g. He
is a potent politician.
e.g. He
has great potential in American politics.
COMPARE
TO / COMPARE
WITH
Compare
to: state a resemblance to; compare with: put side by side to find out the
similarities and differences.
e.g. The poet compares living in this modern world to riding on a bullet train.
e.g. If you compare Plan A with Plan B, you will know that Plan B
is much better than Plan A.
REVEREND / REVERENT
Reverend: worthy of respect; reverent: showing respect.
e.g. Have you met the Rev. Mr. Johnson?
e.g. He gave a reverent speech on drug addiction.
IN
REGARD TO / AS REGARDS
Both
mean with reference to.
e.g. As
regards your performance, I think you did a good job (no “to”).
e.g.
She is very generous in regard to charity donation.
WET / WETTED
Wet is the present, past, and particle of “wet”; wetted, as the past and participle of “wet”, means something done deliberately and purposely.
e.g. The heavy rain last night wet the balcony completely.
e.g. He wetted the cloth in the hot water before putting it on his body.
e.g. They wetted the appetite of the guests with a fragrant soup.
DEFER / DEFER TO
Defer means to delay or postpone; defer to means to give way or show respect for.
e.g. I wish to defer my trip.
e.g. I defer to your request to cancel my trip.
PURPOSELY / PURPOSEFULLY
Purposely means deliberately; purposefully means in a determined way.
e.g. That guy purposely left the trash on the sidewalk.
e.g. The student purposefully worked on his project to get a better score for further advancement.
COMMON SENSE / COMMONSENSE
Common sense is always put in two words. Use a hyphened compound work ass an adjective, and not as one single word.
e.g. Use your common sense when you do this.
e.g. This is just a common-sense approach to the problem.
ALLOW / ALLOW OF
Allow means permit; allow of means leave room for.
e.g. The new regulation will not allow you to do this.
e.g. The procedure is so precise that it will not allow of any variation.
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