Beautiful English Online

Collaborate and Corroborate

Michael Gilleland has a post on the confusion between collaborate (meaning to assist) and corroborate (meaning to verify). Here is the example he provides -- from an appellate court decision:

It is abundantly clear that Doe's confession of shop-lifting liquor from Albertson's store was collaborated by other substantial circumstantial evidence.

Rein and reign

Probably because we modern urbanites spend so little of our time on horseback, the word rein has begun to cause confusion, particularly when used as a verb in an idiomatic expression such as "rein it in" or "keep a tight rein on it."

In both of these cases, the reference is to reining a horse, as illustrated above. Neither expression has anything to do with "reigning," which means ruling a country as a monarch. In the jubilee postcard below, Queen Victoria is reigning, not reining.

Now, can anyone tell me why the e is before the i in both rein and reign?

Stalactite Rhyme

From the ceiling the stalactite
Has to hang on very "tite";
On the ground, though, the stalagmite
Stands up tall with all its "mite".

A rhyme with help from Ann. See previous stalactite post.

Its and It's

Everyone confuses these two words, yet very few people confuse his and he's, which are their grammatical equivalents. If you are unsure whether to use its (the possessive) or it's (the contraction of it is), just substitute his for its and he's for it's. If it works grammatically, your choice is correct. If it doesn't, switch.

Example: How many of its feathers did you find?
Test: How many of his feathers did you find? Makes sense! Use its.

Example: It looks as if its going to rain.
Test: It looks as if his going to rain. Doesn't make sense. Use it's.
Correct: It looks as if it's going to rain.

Example: It's almost time to go.
Test: He's almost time to go. Ugh. Sounds funny. Let's try this: His almost time to go. That's worse. He's makes more sense than his! It's is correct.

Example: There is the car. Where are it's keys?
Test: There is the car. Where are he 's keys. Doesn't make sense. Use its.
Correct: There is the car. Where are its keys?

Led and Lead

The verb lead, as in "Lead me not into temptation," is pronounced leed. The past tense of this verb is led, as in "You led me astray."

There is also a metal called lead, which is pronounced led. People so frequently confuse lead, as in "Get the lead out," with led, as in "He led her on," that I truly fear for the survival of the latter form. People even write mislead (improperly leaded?) for misled (deceived). Shocking! Please don't contribute to this wanton destruction of a perfectly good past tense verb. Keep the led in.

Stalactite and Stalagmite

A stalactite comes down from the ceiling of the cave. Remember the c in ceiling and you'll remember how to spell stalactite.

A stalagmite comes up from the ground of the cave. Remember the g in ground and you'll remember how to spell stalagmite.

A rhyme, with help from Ann:

From the ceiling the stalactite
Has to hang on very "tite";
On the ground, though, the stalagmite
Stands up tall with all its "mite".

Stationary and Stationery

If something is stationary, it is stable. Remember the a in stable, and you'll remember how to spell stationary.

You write a letter on stationery. Remember the e in letter, and you'll remember how to spell stationery.

Affect and Effect

Affect and effect have common uses and slightly less common uses.

Let's take the common ones first.

Most of the time, affect is used as a verb meaning "to influence" or "to have an effect on," whereas effect is used as a noun meaning "result" or "outcome." Let the e in effect remind you of the phrase end result. If end result will work in the sentence, effect will be correct. If it won't, use affect instead.

Example: What was the effect of the tragedy?
Test: What was the end result of the tragedy? Makes sense! Use effect.

Example: Mozart had a significant affect on Handel.
Test: Mozart had a significant end result on Handel. Makes sense! Use effect.
Correct: Mozart had a significant effect on Handel.

Example: The tragedy affected her deeply.
Test: The tragedy end result her deeply. Doesn't make sense! Effect wouldn't work.

Example: Mozart effected Handel.
Test: Mozart end result Handel. Doesn't make sense! Use affect.
Correct: Mozart affected Handel.

Read no further if you are easily confused! Here are the exceptional, and sometimes confusing, uses of the words affect and effect.

The verb affect can also mean to behave in an affected (phony) manner; to take on a posh mannerism; or to use something in an effort to appear or sound posh, as in "When Roger wants attention, he affects an English accent." This usage rarely causes confusion.

In psychological jargon, the noun affect refers to an outward display of emotion, as in "The serial killer had a flattened affect." This is pronounced AFFect, not affECT, so it should not cause difficulties.

Probably the most confusing use of either of these terms is the verb form of effect, meaning to initiate an action, to cause something to happen, as in "We would like to effect a change in procedure." Remember to use this only if you are talking about cause and not about influence. If the procedure causes change, you can use the verb form of effect. If the procedure influences the way a change happens, use the more common verb form of affect, as in "Our procedures greatly affected the rate of change."

That and Which (Easy)

Here are a couple of quick and easy ways to get that and which straight without having to think about grammar:

You can assume that if the word group you are introducing feels like it needs to be set off by a comma, you should use which -- and if it doesn't, you should use that.

The online Guide to Grammar and Style by Jack Lynch provides an excellent test:

Use "by the way" after that or which. If it makes sense, which is correct. If it doesn't make sense, that is correct.

Example: Of all my cats, this is the one that is on the table
Test: Of all my cats, this is the only one that [by the way] is on the table.
Doesn't make sense! The naughtiness of this specific cat distinguishes it from the other cats who are not at the moment being naughty. That is correct.

Example: My cat that is white is on the table.
Test: My cat that [by the way] is white is on the table.
Does make sense! Color is not essential to understanding naughtiness. Which is correct. And put in your commas -- one before which and one after white. It should look like this: My cat, which is white, is on the table.

That and Which (Hard)

The relative pronouns that and which have caused considerable pain to people who are subject to the red pen of the English teacher or the copy editor. This discomfort is easily avoided, but first you need to know what "relative" pronouns are.

A relative pronoun like that or which introduces a relative clause, a group of words with a subject and predicate that attaches itself to a word the writer wishes to explain within a larger sentence. For instance, in the sentence "A relative pronoun is one that introduces a relative clause," the relative clause "that introduces a relative clause" is attached to the word one and provides information about it.

Fussy grammarians claim that there is a hard and fast rule distinguishing that from which. In real life, however, writers at the highest level of skill will happily interchange that and which on the basis of sound alone. There is nothing wrong with this, but many people -- like English teachers and editors --  look down their noses at this sort of thing. If you want to please them, you need to know what they think the hard and fast rule is.

Unfortunately writers often have a hard time figuring out what is expected of them because fussy grammarians use unnecessarily difficult jargon to explain their rule. They will tell you that that rules a restrictive clause and which rules a nonrestrictive clause without telling you what restrictive and nonrestrictive mean.

A restrictive clause is one you absolutely have to have in order to understand what is being discussed. If you have ten cats and only one cat is on the table, you would say "the cat that is on the table" to distinguish it from all the other cats.

A nonrestrictive clause is one you don't have to have in order to understand what is being discussed. It provides extra information, but not essential information. If you have only one cat, and that cat is on the table, you would say "the cat, which is on the table," because you don't need to define which cat you're talking about.

So here at last is the "hard and fast rule," which isn't really all that hard and fast:

The relative pronoun that introduces a restrictive relative clause. Simply translated:

that defines something that needs defining

The relative pronoun which introduces a nonrestrictive relative clause. Simply translated:

which gives extra information about something that doesn't need defining

Here are a couple of quick and easy ways to get that and which straight without having to think about grammar:

You can assume that if the clause is set off by a comma, it should take which and if it's not, it should take that.

The online Guide to Grammar and Style by Jack Lynch provides an excellent test:

Use "by the way" after your relative pronoun. If it makes sense, it should be which. If it doesn't, it should be that.

Example: Of all my cats, this is the one that is on the table
Test: Of all my cats, this is the only one that [by the way] is on the table.
Doesn't make sense! The naughtiness of this specific cat distinguishes it from the other cats who are not at the moment being naughty. That is correct.

Example: My cat that is white is on the table.
Test: My cat that [by the way] is white is on the table.
Does make sense! Color is not essential to understanding naughtiness. Which is correct.