by Patricia Bradley, @PTBradley1
Earlier this week I emailed my manuscript for the first book in my Natchez Trace Park Ranger series, and when I received the edits back, one of the things she had caught was my use of there for their. Thank goodness for editors! And proofreaders! When our fingers are flying over the keyboard, it’s easy for the wrong word to slip in, words that are not always caught.
Hear Here are a few of the most common words that are misused in no particular order.
Affect, effect
The law that went into effect did not affect me at all.
Allude, elude
She alluded to the fact that the mouse eluded her for a week.
Gender, genre
This one isn’t used as much as others, and I’m not sure if it’s not the fingers typing faster than the author can think. My genre is romantic suspense and my protagonist’s gender is female.
To, too, two
I think this is another one where the fingers go faster than the brain.
Lay, lie
These two words still bedevil me and I usually avoid them at all cost!
Farther, further
This one is easy for me. Farther is a physical distance and further is a figurative distance. And further can be a verb, as in to further your career. And only further can mean “moreover,” although we don’t use moreover much anymore.
When do you mean floor and not ground? Floor is for inside and ground is for outside. Same with ceiling and roof.
Tow, toe
You toe the mark and tow a barge.
All ready, already
All ready is a phrase that means prepared, already is an adverb and describes something that has happened before a certain time. For example, when I take the cornbread out of the over, dinner will be all ready. And already – I’ve already paid for the tickets.
Compliment, complement
This is another hard one and I usually look it up to make sure I have it used correctly. Compliment as a verb means to praise. Complement as a verb means to complete. For example: The guest complimented the host on her choice of a white wine that complemented the fish.
Who, which, that
WHO-pronoun, referring to a person or persons
For example, Richard wondered how Suzanne, who is so thin, could eat so much.
WHICH- which is used in a non-defining clause. If you can take the phrase out without changing the meaning of the sentence, (although you might lose details) use which. For example: My car, which has a flat tire, is in the garage. The sentence still makes sense if you remove the “which clause.”
THAT is used in defining clauses. For example, “My car that has a flat tire is in the garage.” The implication is that there is more than one car, and that defines which car.
Stationary, stationery
Stationary mean not moving while stationery is writing paper.
The stationary bike wore me out. The stationery was made from recycled paper.
Precede, proceed
Precede means to come before, proceed means to go forward.
Her speech preceded mine in the program. He proceeded to pass the driving test he’d failed before.
These are by no means all of the misused words…
Carly Smith came by her trust issues honestly. A victim of sex trafficking, she’s been at the mercy of merciless men, ignored by law enforcement officers who should have helped her, and seemingly rejected by her family. She can’t even trust herself to do the right thing. Though she escaped her captors and is working hard on building a new life, the past continues to haunt her when she discovers that the man she couldn’t bring herself to report to police for fear of reliving her captivity is still out there, luring vulnerable girls under the guise of being a modeling agent.
When her own niece is kidnapped, Carly must overcome her fears and come forward with the information she has before it’s too late. When that proves to be not enough, she’ll have to go after the perpetrators herself.
Winner of an Inspirational Readers’ Choice Award in Suspense and a 2018 Carol finalist, Patricia Bradley lives in North Mississippi with her rescue kitty, Suzy. Her romantic suspense books include the Logan Point series and the Memphis Cold Case Novels. She also has written sweet romances for Harlequin Heartwarming available as e-books.