UWF WRITING LAB RULES

OF THUMB FOR DICTION

from Grammar Shots by

Mamie Webb Hixon

Created by April Turner

 DICTION
A—used before words and
letters with an initial consonant
sound
Ex: a CPA, a historical event
AN—used before words and
letters with an initial vowel
sound
Ex: an MBA, an honorable
man
ALOT—incorrect spelling for A
LOT
ACCEPT—verb: to take
Ex: I graciously accept your
invitation.
EXCEPT—verb: to omit;
preposition: but
Ex: Mothers of small children
are excepted from jury duty.
Ex: Everyone was excused
except Joe.
ADVICE—noun
Ex: Most good advice falls
on deaf ears.
ADVISE—verb
Ex: The protestors were
advised to submit a list of
their grievances.
AFFECT—verb: to
influence or to alter
Ex: The noise affects my
concentration.
EFFECT—noun: result;
verb: to bring about
Ex: His speech had a
positive effect on me.
Ex: The President has
effected a new tax law.
ALRIGHT—incorrect spelling
for ALL RIGHT
ALMOST—adverb
Ex: We sold almost all the
tickets.
MOST—adjective or pronoun
Ex: We sold most of the
tickets.
AMONG—used for
relationships involving MORE
THAN TWO people or things
Ex: There is a silent closeness
among the family members.
BETWEEN—used for
relationships involving ONLY
TWO people or things
Ex: Lois and Hattie had only
fifty cents between them.
AMOUNT—used with
singular (mass) nouns
Ex: amount of work,
amount of credit
NUMBER—used with
plural (countable) nouns
Ex: number of classes,
number of mistakes
AS, AS IF, AS THOUGH—used before
clauses
Ex: It looks as if (not like) it’s going to rain.
Ex: He acts as though (not like) he has
Alzheimer’s disease.
LIKE—preposition used to introduce a
phrase, not a clause
Ex: His features are unique like a fingerprint.
Ex: It looks like rain.
BE SURE AND—misused for BE
SURE TO
TRY AND—misused for TRY TO
COULD OF—misused for COULD
HAVE
SHOULD OF—misused for
SHOULD HAVE
MIGHT OF—misused for MIGHT
HAVE
WOULD OF—misused for WOULD
HAVE
DIFFERENT THAN—used
only when a clause follows
Ex: The old plantation is
different than it used to be.
DIFFERENT FROM—used
always except when a
clause follows
Ex: Her hairdo is different
from yours.
DUE TO—used to
introduce ADJECTIVE
phrases; means “caused
by”
Ex: His mistakes were due to
carelessness.
BECAUSE OF—used to
introduce ADVERB
phrases; means “as a
result of”
Ex: He was dismissed
because of his dishonesty.
DUE TO THE FACT
THAT—misused and
wordy for BECAUSE
ENTHUSE/ENTHUSED
—colloquialisms for
ENTHUSIASTIC
FEWER—used with
countable nouns
Ex: fewer cigarettes,
fewer people
LESS—used with
mass nouns or
general amounts
Ex: less time, less
money
HOPEFULLY—used 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.
IRREGARDLESS—misused for
REGARDLESS
IS WHEN/IS WHERE—should 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 OF—correctly 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.
LEAD AND LED—Lead (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.
LEND—verb: 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.
LOAN—noun: something lent for
temporary use
Ex: I need to establish credit so that I
can be eligible for a loan.
LIE—verb: 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.
LAY—verb: to put (LAYING, LAID,
[have] LAID)
Ex: Where did he lay my brush?
Ex: I must have laid it down
somewhere yesterday.
Ex: I’m always laying things down and
forgetting where I laid them.
PRINCIPAL—noun: chief
official; adjective:
foremost, major
PRINCIPLE—noun:
axiom, rule
Ex: Her principal reasons
for resigning were her
principles of right and
wrong.
REASON IS BECAUSE/REASON
WAS BECAUSE—misused for
REASON IS THAT/REASON WAS
THAT
Ex: The reason he was promoted is that
(not because) he worked exceptionally
hard.
RISE—verb: to go up
(RISING, ROSE, [have]
RISEN)
Ex: She must rise early in the
morning to get to work on time.
RAISE—verb: to push up
(RAISING, RAISED, [have]
RAISED)
Ex: The landlord must raise the
rent to cover an increase in
taxes.
SIT—verb: to be
seated (SITTING,
SAT, [have] SAT)
Ex: Good students
usually sit on the front
row.
SET—verb: 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.
SUPPOSE TO/USE TO—incorrect
spellings for SUPPOSED TO and
USED TO
THAN—conjunction
Ex: Amy is a better tennis player than I.
THEN—adverb of time (often
misused for THAN)
Ex: The cashier rang up our sale; then
he gave us our change.
 LET’S 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
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
My students act like they have acute
mental disorders.
AS IF
Whenever you’re 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
Due to the Presidents’ Day celebration, the library
will be closed.
BECAUSE OF
Due to the fact that her car wouldn’t 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
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
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
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