Writing is like trying to juggle flaming knives while riding a unicycle – it requires skill, precision, and a healthy dose of madness. But even the most seasoned writers can get a little lost in the word jungle, and typos and grammatical blunders can sneak up on them like ninjas in the night. So, without further ado, let’s take a look at the top 10 most difficult-to-spot writing mistakes that even the sharpest writers sometimes struggle to catch!

1. Misplaced modifiers: These are words or phrases placed too far away from the word they are supposed to modify, leading to confusion or ambiguity. For example,
   

   “He served his guests the meat on silver platters that he inherited from his grandfather.”

   Did he inherit the platters or the meat from his grandfather? We may never know, but we do know that it’s not a good idea to inherit meat – it tends to get a little ripe. To avoid confusion, we can correct the sentence by moving the modifier closer to the word it’s meant to describe:

   “He served the meat on silver platters inherited from his grandfather to his guests.”

   Ah, much better! Now we know that it was the silver platters that were inherited, not the meat. Misplaced modifiers, you may have infiltrated our sentences, but with a little bit of editing, we can show you who’s boss!

2. Wordiness: Wordiness is like a party guest who just won’t stop talking – they drone on and on, taking up space and making you wish you could escape. Writers who are afflicted by wordiness use too many words to express a simple idea, turning a straightforward message into a labyrinthine maze. For example, take this sentence:
   

   “In spite of the fact that he was feeling under the weather, he still managed to make it to the meeting.”

   Geez, that’s like wrapping a present in a hundred layers of duct tape! To cut to the chase, you could simply say,

   “Although he was sick, he still attended the meeting.”

   See? Short, sweet, and to the point – just like we like it. For more examples, check out our comprehensive 330 examples of wordiness.

3. Redundancy: Redundancy is like saying the same joke twice – it might get a chuckle the first time, but by the second, you’re just beating a dead horse. Writers who are guilty of redundancy repeat themselves unnecessarily, turning an already clear message into a broken record. For example, take this sentence:
   

   “The car collided with the truck, and the collision was quite loud.”

   Well, no duh, Sherlock! Instead, you could say,

   “The car collided with the truck, and the impact was quite loud.”

   Boom! No need to repeat yourself – we heard you the first time. So let’s ditch the redundancy and make room for some fresh material!

4. Inconsistent tense: Inconsistent tense is like a high-speed car chase, only instead of thrilling action, it just leaves readers feeling dizzy and disoriented. Writers who switch between past, present, and future tense without a clear reason are like erratic drivers on the road of language, causing confusion and chaos for their passengers. For instance, take this sentence:
   

   “Yesterday, I walk to the store and I see my friend. She tells me she is going to the party tonight, so I decide to go too.”

   Whoa, slow down there, Speed Racer! We’re swerving from past to present to past again like a drunken butterfly. Let’s pump the brakes and get back in control:

   “Yesterday, I walked to the store and saw my friend. She told me she was going to the party tonight, so I decided to go too.”

   Ah, that’s more like it! With consistent tense, we can avoid the linguistic traffic accidents and arrive at our destination with clarity and coherence. So let’s put on our seatbelts and stick to one tense, shall we?

5. Incorrect capitalization: Capitalization errors can make writing look unprofessional and distract readers from the message. For example,
   

   “the President of the united states”

   should be

   “the President of the United States.”

   You can play around with the capitalization feature on wordcounter.net.

6. Confusing prepositions: Prepositions can be tricky to use correctly, especially for non-native speakers. For example,
   

   “I’m looking forward to see you”

   should be

   “I’m looking forward to seeing you.”

   Why? In the first, incorrect sentence, the preposition “to” is followed by the base form of the verb “see,” which is not correct. When the preposition “to” is followed by a verb, the verb should be in its gerund form, which is the “-ing” form.

   Therefore, “seeing” is the correct form of the verb to use after the preposition “to” in this sentence, making it “I’m looking forward to seeing you.”

7. Passive voice Passive voice can be a stumbling block in writing, as it can make sentences longer and harder to understand. For example,
   

   “The cake was eaten by John”

   is in passive voice and makes it unclear who actually ate the cake. To make it clearer and more direct, use active voice:

   “John ate the cake”

   This version clearly states who did the action and is more concise and understandable. Using active voice can make your writing more engaging and effective.

8. Incorrectly spelled homophones: Mixing up homophones can leave your writing in shambles, like a house of cards collapsing in the wind. Don’t let your words blow away your message! For example, if you’re writing an email to your boss, you don’t want to say
   

   “I’m to tired to come in today.”

   That’s just asking for trouble. You meant to say

   “I’m too tired to come in today.”

   See the difference? One little letter can make all the difference between being a professional and being a goofball.

   Other commonly confused homophones include “there/their/they’re,” “here/hear,” and “its/it’s.” But don’t fret – use our spell-check feature.

9. Incorrectly used words: Some words have similar meanings but are not interchangeable. For instance, “imply” and “infer” are two words that are often used interchangeably, but they have different meanings. The speaker implies something to the listener, while the listener infers something from what the speaker said.

   Similarly, “compliment” and “complement” are two words that sound alike but have different meanings. If someone tells you that your outfit looks nice, they are giving you a compliment. If they tell you that your shoes complement your outfit, they are saying that your shoes go well with your outfit.

   Using the wrong word can create confusion or change the meaning of a sentence entirely, so it’s important to use the correct word in the right context. Don’t worry, though, even the best writers make mistakes sometimes. Just make sure to double-check your work.

10. Misuse of commas: Commas can be tricky, like trying to juggle water balloons without getting wet. One little misstep and you’re in for a soggy surprise. For example,
    

    “Let’s eat Grandma!”

    is a far cry from

    “Let’s eat, Grandma!”

    – the former being a proposition that would make Hannibal Lecter blush. To avoid turning your writing into a horror show, make sure to use commas to separate items in a list, clauses in a sentence, and introductory or parenthetical phrases.

While mistakes in writing are as common as a Kardashian on Instagram, that doesn’t mean you can’t avoid them like a paparazzi. Proper grammar and punctuation can help you steer clear of confusion and awkwardness in your writing. So, before you hit that send button, make sure to proofread and review your work. Because let’s face it, even the queen Beyoncé needs a backup dancer to make sure she’s on point.

Writing the English language is just as much an art as it is a science. No doubt, your schoolteachers gave you rules to stick to in class. But out in the real world, there’s more leeway than you may have realized.

Not to worry. You don’t need a master’s degree in publishing to be a good writer. If you follow these four tips anytime you write and edit, you’ll be able to turn out a quality email, report, or article.

1. Be consistent

Some aspects of good writing are rules. Others are style choices. So how can you tell which is which?

The easiest way is to pick and follow a style guide.

There are many style guides for English: AP, APA, CMOS (a.k.a., Chicago), MLA, Oxford … It depends what country you’re writing for and what you’re writing about. If you’re writing within a school or company, you may be asked to follow what’s called a house style guide, that is, a guide created specifically for that entity. Some newspapers like The Economist or The Guardian even stick to their own.

Style guide name (Short form):	Target audience:	Used in:	Notes:
AP	American journalists and reporters	News, media, broadcasting, magazine publishing, marketing, and public relations.	The most popular style for casual writing and anything online. Most bloggers use this style.
APA	Students, academics, professionals	Agriculture, biology, business, chemistry, education, language and linguistics, nursing, psychology, social and behavioral sciences.	Focuses on clarity of communication and “word choice that best reduces bias in language”.
CMOS	Academic publishers, book editors and authors, fiction writers	Humanities, social, historical and political sciences.	Specifically focuses on American English. Turabian follows CMOS.
MLA	Students and researchers	Arts and humanities, especially English, writing, literature, and related subjects like theater or film.	Focuses on brevity and clarity.
Oxford	Oxford University staff, British students and writers.	An in-house guide that has grown into a general writing guide for students and editors.	Also known as “New Hart’s Rules”.

1.1 Which style guide should you pick?

In the best case: the style that your readership considers correct.

Of course, this is not always possible. That’s why it’s important to get into your readers’ heads. For example, if the target audience of your text is teachers or professors, they will prefer the CMOS style to the AP style. For most other people, however, AP is more appropriate. This is true not only for people who write in AP style every day, such as journalists and PR professionals but also for people who don’t care what stylebook you use. Most online articles the average person reads on a daily basis are in AP style. If you stick to that they will most likely consider it “correct.”

1.2 Guidelines evolve

What’s more, some rules and guidelines change with the times. For example, until 2019, “African-American” took a hyphen per the AP Stylebook. Today, you’d write it without the hyphen: “African American.”

That’s why it’s important to keep up with style guide updates, which are sometimes issued as often as annually.

Don’t worry too much if learning the details of a certain style sounds complicated. Once you’re familiar with your style guide, many aspects of the English language are unlikely to change. For example, sentences will always end with one of three punctuation marks: a period, an exclamation point, or a question mark.

By getting a solid grasp of grammar rules as well as familiarizing yourself with style choices, you’ll be on the road to rockstar writing in no time.

For a comparison of AP and Chicago, check out our post here.

1.3 Oxford comma yes or no?

Last but not least, you might wonder, whether you should use the Oxford comma (also called the serial comma).

You can read more about it here.

2. Use the active voice

In English, sentences typically follow the subject–verb–object pattern: “Emilio caught the ball.” This sentence is written in the active voice, meaning the subject is acting on the object.

However, you could also write, “The ball was caught by Emilio.” This sentence conveys the same idea, but it’s written in the passive voice. The object has become the subject.

Although there are cases in which passive voice can work well or even better than the active voice, most of the time, active voice is usually preferable. Why?

For one thing, the active voice takes more words to say the same thing. If you’re keen to keep your readers’ eyes from tiring or save space, active voice rules.

Additionally, passive voice can sound vague. Take, for example, the following sentence: “The vase was smashed.”

Who exactly smashed the vase? We don’t know. That’s why the passive voice is used in certain instances where the writer wants to eliminate tagging a subject with responsibility. Examples include law and science.

3. Punctuate right

Punctuation marks can make a huge difference in meaning when stringing words together in a sentence. But getting punctuation right can be tricky.

Although you probably learned the basics of punctuation in grade school, there’s more to the marks than what you likely learned. That’s because like most aspects of the English language, punctuation is both art and science.

Here’s a list of the basics.

Apostrophes make contractions and show possession.

No, you cant eat Sashas’ pie. (✗)
No, you can’t eat Sasha’s pie. (✓)

Colons introduce important information. They’re a way to say, “Now hear this!”

The reception menu includes: fish, chicken, and a vegetarian dish. (✗)
The reception menu includes fish, chicken, and a vegetarian dish. (✓)

I found the book he wanted: a dusty, leather-bound dinosaur. (✓)

Javier gave me the news: The zombies had taken over. (✓)

Keep in mind that colons are used differently in American and British English, so again, check your style guide.

Commas indicate pauses between words, phrases, and ideas. There’s an ongoing debate between people who prefer serial, or Oxford, commas and people who don’t. The important thing is to pick an approach and stick to it.

I need tape, paper, and markers. (✓)
I need tape, paper and markers. (✓)

The president introduced his wife Janice. (✗ unless the president is a bigamist)
The president introduced his wife, Janice. (✓)

Seo-Jun was born in Seoul, Korea in 1999. (✗)
Seo-Jun was born in Seoul, Korea, in 1999. (✓)

We went out to dinner, then we saw a movie. (✗: a comma splice)
We went out to dinner. Then we saw a movie. (✓)

Dashes come in different styles to serve different purposes. They’re different from hyphens.

That vase—the one in the corner needs more water. (✗)
That vase—the one in the corner—needs more water. (✓)

I found the book he wanted—a dusty, leather-bound dinosaur. (✓)

Hyphens are short lines that, among other things, turn two or more words into one idea.

My brother needs a conditioner for his bleach blond hair. (✗)
My brother needs a conditioner for his bleach-blond hair. (✓)

It wasn’t your run of the mill mill. (✗)
It wasn’t your run-of-the-mill mill. (✓)

Semicolons are usually used to join two related sentences. But the fashion is to avoid them and simply write two separate sentences.

Don’t eat that; because it’ll make you sick. (✗)
Don’t eat that, it’ll make you sick. (✗)
Don’t eat that; it’ll make you sick. (✓)
Don’t eat that. It’ll make you sick. (✓)

4. Separate soundalikes

The English language contains many words that sound like other words but mean something entirely different. These words are called homophones, and even current spellcheckers don’t always know the difference. That’s why you need to be aware of the most commonly confused words.

Here are some commonly confused word pairs. If you dig deeper, you can find many more to watch out for.

1. You’re/Your:
   • You’re is a contraction of “you are.”
     • “You’re such an attentive learner!”
   • Your is the possessive form of you.
     • “Your reading speed depends on your ability to concentrate and process information quickly.”
2. To/Too:
   • To is a preposition.
     • “She went to the gym.”
   • Too means “as well.”
     • “He went to the gym too.”
3. Affect/Effect:
   • “To affect” means to influence or to change in some measure.
     • “Your mood can affect your relationship.”
   • An effect is a result, consequence, or outcome.
     • “Yoga had a positive effect on my mood swings.”
4. Then/Than:
   • Then is used as an adverb, noun, or adjective to show the order of how things happened.
     • “He turned on the mic, then she started singing.”
   • Than is a subordinating conjunction for comparisons.
     • “He’s taller than her.”
5. Accept/Except:
   • Accept is a verb that means “to take” or “to receive.”
     • “He accepted the painting as a gift.”
   • Except is used as a preposition or conjunction to mean but or to form an exception:
     • “They looked at the whole property, except the garden.”
6. Compliment/Complement :
   • “To compliment” means to say something nice about someone or something.
     • “She complimented their effort.”
   • You can also use compliment as a noun to describe “a polite expression of praise or admiration.”
     • “She received a beautiful compliment for her painting.”
   • “To complement” means “to enhance” or “to complete.”
     • “Those red rims complement your car perfectly.”

Again, by following these four simple tips, you can turn out a quality piece of writing every time.

“A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.”
―William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White, The Elements of Style

You’ve probably come across more than one article, blog post, or product description that took way longer to get to the point.

In your frustration, you may have started skimming the piece, missing important information along the way.

Alternatively, you may have turned the page or clicked away.

Either way, you’ve wasted time, and the writer has wasted both their time and yours.

Creative writing offers a little more leeway with the use of language.

Depending on the genre in question, the setting of a story (fictional or real), or the character, flowery phrases may be appropriate to convey authenticity.

Song lyrics require an occasionally awkward turn of phrase to keep a line’s length and beat consistent with the others. The same goes for poetry in general.

Most other writing―be it journalism, business writing, or web writing―lends itself to a spare, even Spartan, style.

Unless a reader wants to be transported to another world, they probably just want you to get to the point. It’s not that they don’t want to hear what you have to say; it’s that they DO want to hear you. Right away.

Sandwiching your message between unneeded verbiage helps no one. It doesn’t make you sound smarter, clearer, or more persuasive. It’s. Just. Noise.

The next time you sit down to write, the burning question running through your mind after each period should be, “Do I really need to tell them this?”

Without further ado, here are 330 examples of common cases of wordiness (as of Nov. 12, 2020), along with shorter alternatives.

BUT: Keep a word or phrase if …

• removing it ruins the grammatical structure.
• it’s a key idea, fact, feeling, or description.

Number	Example	Use instead
1	a little bit	“a bit” or “a little”
2	a number of	some, many
3	a total of 12 items	12 items
4	a variety of different things	a variety
5	accomplish	do
6	accrue	gain
7	add together	add
8	add up	add
9	added bonus	bonus
10	addressee	you
11	advance forward	advance
12	advance planning	planning
13	advance reservation	reservation
14	advance warning	warning
15	after the conclusion of	after
16	all of	all
17	all-time record	record
18	annoyingly frustrating	frustrating, annoying
19	anonymous stranger	stranger
20	any and all	any or all
21	apparently	(Delete)
22	apportion out	apportion
23	are representative of	represent
24	as a matter of fact	in fact
25	as far as [X] is concerned	regarding (or reword the sentence)
26	as of this writing	now, currently
27	as per	per
28	as regards	about
29	ascend up	ascend
30	ask a question	ask
31	at the current time	now, currently
32	at the present time	now, currently
33	at the same time as	as
34	at the time of publication	now, currently
35	at this point in time	now, currently
36	ATM machine	ATM
37	based on the fact that	because
38	basic essentials	essentials
39	basic fundementals	fundementals
40	basic necessities	necessities
41	basically	(Delete)
42	be aware of the fact that	note, understand
43	beat out	beat
44	biography of her life	biography
45	both agree	agree
46	both of them	both
47	brief jaunt	jaunt
48	brief moment	moment
49	brief summary	summary
50	by means of	by, via
51	by way of	by, via
52	cameo appearance	cameo
53	cheaper price	cheaper or “lower price”
54	check and see	check
55	circle around	circle
56	clean up	clean
57	click on	click
58	climb up	climb
59	close intimates	intimates
60	close proximity	near, proximity
61	close scrutiny	scrutiny
62	cluster together	cluster
63	colder temperature	colder or “lower temperature”
64	collaborate together	collaborate
65	collide into each other	collide
66	combine together	combine
67	come to an end	end
68	comes equipped with	includes, comes with, is preinstalled, is preloaded
69	comes with it right out of the box	includes, comes with, is preinstalled, is preloaded
70	commence	start
71	compete with each other	compete
72	completely destroyed	destroyed
73	completely finished	finished
74	completely opposite	opposite
75	completely surrounded	surrounded
76	completely unanimous	unanimous
77	components that make up	components
78	concerning the matter of	about
79	consensus of opinion	consensus
80	consequently	so
81	considering the fact that	because, since
82	continue on	continue
83	cooperate together	cooperate
84	crammed close together	crammed
85	currently at this time	currently, now
86	dark, black sky	black sky
87	debris left behind	debris
88	debut of a new product	product debut
89	deceptive lie	lie
90	decrease in size	shrink
91	Definitely	(Delete)
92	depart from	depart
93	descend down	descend
94	describe in words	describe
95	despite the fact that	although, even though
96	detrimentally affect	harm, hurt
97	dry desert	desert
98	due to the fact that	because
99	during the period	during
100	each and every	each
101	elements that are a part of	elements
102	emit out	emit
103	empty out	empty
104	empty void	void
105	encounter	meet
106	end result	result
107	endure for <length of time>	endure <length of time>
108	ensure the largest amount	maximize
109	ensure the least amount	minimize
110	enter into (buildings)	enter
111	escape from	escape
112	essentially	(Delete)
113	exact same	same
114	exactly the same	the same
115	exactly word for word	exactly or “word for word” (pick one)
116	exit out of	exit
117	expedite	speed up
118	extremely	(Delete)
119	factor that plays a role	factor
120	fade away	fade
121	famous celebrity	celebrity
122	far away from	far from
123	fill up	fill
124	finish up	finish
125	first and foremost	foremost
126	flee from	flee
127	following on	after
128	for all intents and purposes	(Delete)
129	for the purpose of (+ gerund)	to
130	for the reason that	because
131	foreign imports	imports
132	forward progress	progress
133	free gift	gift
134	fundamental basis	basis
135	fuse together	fuse
136	future ahead	future
137	generally	(Delete)
138	give the opportunity to	let, allow
139	glide smoothly	glide
140	good-quality	quality
141	grab onto	grab
142	grow larger	grow
143	has enough space on the inside to fully accommodate	fits
144	has the ability to	can
145	has the capacity to/for	can
146	have an effect on	affect, influence
147	have an impact on	affect, influence
148	have got (e.g., I’ve got)	have
149	have the capability to	can
150	he is a man who is	he is
151	head up	head
152	help out	help
153	high up in	high in
154	hotter temperature	hotter or “higher temperature”
155	how-to tutorials	tutorials
156	human artifact	artifact
157	I believe	(Delete)
158	I feel	(Delete)
159	I think that	(Delete)
160	impacts that result from	impacts, results
161	In a place where	where
162	in a similar manner	similarly
163	in a situation in which	when
164	in advance of	before
165	in an effort to	to
166	in close proximity to	close to
167	in connection with	about
168	in excess of	more than, over
169	in light of the fact that	considering
170	in my own personal opinion	in my opinion
171	in order for	for
172	in order to	to
173	in reference to	about
174	In some ways	(Delete)
175	in spite of the fact that	although or though
176	in terms of	regarding (or recast the sentence)
177	in the amount of	for
178	in the amount of <specific amount>	for <specific amount>
179	in the direction of	toward (U.S.) or towards (UK)
180	in the event that	if
181	in the near future	soon (or be more specific about the time)
182	in view of the fact that	because
183	inadvertent error	error
184	increase in size	grow
185	insist adamantly	insist
186	is able to	can
187	is capable of	can
188	is located in	is in
189	it could happen that	may, might, can, could
190	it is often the case that	often
191	it is possible that	may, might, can, could
192	it is requested	please
193	it’s important to note that	notably
194	Jewish rabbi	rabbi
195	join together	join
196	jump up	jump
197	laptop computer	laptop
198	last for <length of time>	last <length of time>
199	leak out	leak
200	leave from	leave
201	less than great	subpar, mediocre, OK
202	less than spectacular	subpar, mediocre, OK
203	lift up	lift
204	linger around	linger
205	lower down	lower
206	mail out	mail
207	make a choice	choose
208	make a contribution to	contribute
209	make a decision	decide
210	match up	match
211	merge together	merge
212	methodology	method
213	middle ground in between	middle ground
214	minor tweaks	tweaks
215	minute details	minutiae
216	more better	better
217	more often than not	usually
218	more ways than one	multiple ways
219	morph for the worse	deform
220	mutual agreement	agreement
221	new innovation	innovation
222	not too long from now	soon (or be more specific about the time)
223	not very good	subpar, mediocre, OK
224	notification alert	notification or alert
225	notwithstanding the fact that	although, even, though
226	now pending	pending
227	numerous	many
228	on sale for a discounted rate	“on sale,” “on discount,” or discounted
229	on the grounds that	because
230	on the occasion of	when
231	on the part of	by
232	once used to do	did (or used to)
233	one and the same	the same
234	orbit around	orbit
235	over the course of	throughout
236	overexaggerate	exaggerate
237	owing to the fact that	because
238	past history	history
239	period of four days	four days
240	permeate through	permeate
241	pick and choose	pick, choose, select
242	plan out	plan
243	precisely adjust	fine-tune
244	present incumbent	incumbent
245	prior to	before
246	proceed forward	proceed
247	progress forward	progress
248	provide the ability to let, allow	let, allow
249	provided that	if
250	raise up	raise
251	rarely ever	rarely
252	really	(Delete)
253	reconsider again	reconsider
254	reflect back on	reflect on
255	regardless of the fact that	although, even, though
256	regress backward	regress
257	rejected outcast	outcast
258	related to each other	related
259	relative to	about
260	repeat again	repeat
261	retain the same	retain
262	retreat back	retreat
263	return back	return
264	revert back	revert
265	rise up	rise
266	roasting in heat	roasting
267	sad lament	lament
268	safe haven	haven
269	same identical	identical
270	scrutinize very carefully	scrutinize
271	send out	send
272	share in common	share together
273	share the same	share (or have the same)
274	shift around	shift
275	shorter/longer in length	shorter/longer
276	shout out	shout
277	shrink smaller	shrink
278	simultaneously with	as
279	sink down	sink
280	sit down	sit
281	slam forcefully	slam
282	small bits	bits
283	soar up	soar
284	specific details	details
285	specific enough to say exactly	specify
286	specific to your wants and needs	customized
287	spin around	spin
288	start off	start
289	still remain	remain
290	subsequent to	after
291	sudden impulse	impulse
292	tailored to fit	tailored
293	take into consideration	consider
294	tall skyscraper	skyscraper
295	tap on	tap
296	tend to	(Delete)
297	test out	test
298	the fact that	Delete “the fact”” and/or reword the sentence.
299	the fact that it doesn’t have	”its lack of,” “its omission of” or reword the sentence.
300	the majority of	most
301	the place at which	where
302	the reason for	because, since
303	the reason why is that	because
304	the thing is that	(Delete)
305	the time at which	when
306	the truth is that	(Delete)
307	the way in which	how
308	there are times when	sometimes
309	there is a chance that	may, might, can, could
310	tragically sad	tragic
311	trailing behind	trailing
312	true fact	fact
313	two opposites	opposites
314	under circumstances in which	when
315	unexpected surprise	surprise
316	urban city	city
317	used to at one time	used to
318	used to in the past	used to
319	utilize	use
320	various	(Delete)
321	vast majority	majority
322	very	Delete or replace with with a stronger, more accurate adjective.
323	virtually	(Delete)
324	when it comes to	regarding (or reword the sentence)
325	where . . . is concerned	about
326	whether or not	whether (unless it means regardless of whether)
327	which was when	when
328	with regard to	about
329	with the exception of	except
330	yearly annual	annual or annually

This page is constantly updated and further words and phrases are added from time to time.

• If you want to stay in the loop, bookmark or share this page now.
• If you want an example added to the list, feel free to comment below.

Debates among writers, editors, teachers, and others who use English are common. One of the longest-standing debates is that over the Oxford comma, aka the serial comma.

People arguing over a punctuation mark? As silly as it sounds, it’s been going on for decades.

If you’re not aware of this debate, we don’t want you to miss out on the fun and fastidiousness. Here’s an overview of the Oxford comma and why you might choose to use it.

What is the Oxford comma?

Oxford shirt, Oxford shoes … Oxford comma. Nope, the comma’s not related. But like certain fashions, the serial comma is adored by some and hated by others.
In short, the Oxford comma is the optional comma before the final conjunction in a list or series.

Huh?

No worries; we’ll break it down for you.

When listing items in a written sentence, you use commas to separate the items, just as you’d normally pause between the items when speaking. (Note: Commas don’t always represent pauses in speech. To use commas this way is to use them incorrectly. However, in the case of listing items, there’s a parallel between verbal pauses and commas.)

Here’s an example of a sentence that contains a list of two items:

I need to buy wine and toilet paper for the party.

Let’s add one more item to that list:

I need to buy eggs, wine, and toilet paper for the party.

Aside from the odd shopping list (sounds like one crazy party!), did you notice anything unusual about that sentence? If you did, it’s probably because you’re not a supporter of the Oxford comma.

Here’s the same sentence without the Oxford comma:

I need to buy eggs, wine and toilet paper for the party.

This second version of the sentence is neither right nor wrong–just as the first isn’t either, either.

You see, English isn’t like math. The language isn’t governed 100 percent by hard rules. Whereas grammar is the science of English, style is the art of it.

And where serial commas are concerned, there are two schools of thought when it comes to style.

The philosophy of the Oxford comma is that a list should be consistent, with punctuation between each pair of items.

Those who argue against serial commas use this logic: A list of two items has no comma (e.g., I need to buy wine and toilet paper). So that shouldn’t change just because we add an item (e.g., I need to buy eggs, wine and toilet paper). The punctuation is only needed for three or more items.

The problem is that this latter reasoning doesn’t always hold up so well. You can find or come up with many examples of why the Oxford comma is usually the better choice.

Why use the Oxford comma?

Fans of the Oxford comma maintain that skipping it causes confusion in some cases. Let’s say you’re emailing a friend about some photos you took on your last vacation. You might write the following sentence:

I’ll send you some photos of my grandparents, a hitchhiker and a skunk.

The way this sentence is structured, it implies that you have some highly unusual DNA! In other words, using one comma here implies that one of your parents is the offspring of a hitchhiker and a skunk (let’s not picture the details).

But this surely wasn’t your intended meaning. And if you were to come across such a sentence by another writer, it should give you pause (pun intended).

Let’s see what happens when we add an Oxford comma:

I’ll send you some photos of my grandparents, a hitchhiker, and a skunk.

This sentence clearly states that you took photos of at least four subjects (depending on how many grandparents you captured in your shots). The hitchhiker and the skunk aren’t your grandparents.
This example illustrates why many people feel the Oxford comma should be mandatory in writing.

The history of the Oxford comma

The Oxford comma is so named because it was used at Oxford University Press, the largest university press on the planet. Ironically, British writers seem to use the Oxford comma less than Americans do, which is why it stands out in the UK as an Oxford-prescribed guideline.

Many professional writers and editors have opined on the use of the Oxford comma. Some language lovers claim that adding one comma to a sentence can’t hurt and can only help in terms of clarity. Those on the other side of the fence feel that serial commas are prissy and unnecessary.

However, consider that a 2014 lawsuit, O’Connor v. Oakhurst Dairy, revolved around a serial comma ambiguity. A list of labor activities exempt from overtime pay was open to misinterpretation. Hence, the dairy was ordered to pay $5 million in overtime wages to workers who performed the activities in the gray area.

If you’re in doubt, it’s usually worth it to add that comma.

The Oxford comma in popular style guides

So what do the big style guides have to say about such commas? Here’s a quick comparison of two major guides: Chicago and AP.

The Oxford comma according to The Chicago Manual of Style

The Chicago Manual of Style is a trustworthy guide for literature and academic writing. CMOS generally prescribes the Oxford comma, stating that it prevents confusion such as that shown above.

However, in some cases, as CMOS points out, even the Oxford comma can’t clarify a sentence. Recasting may be necessary at times. Look at this example:

I emailed my father, the president, and the director of the FBI.

In this sentence, it’s not clear as to whether your father is the president or a separate individual. In such a case, you can reword the sentence as follows:

I emailed my father as well as the president and the director of the FBI.

or

I emailed the president, the director of the FBI, and my father.

(Reordering works only if the first two items are clearly separate and your readers know that the president doesn’t head the FBI.)

The Oxford comma according to the AP Stylebook

The AP Stylebook, the style bible of journalists and online writers, says not to use the Oxford comma in a simple series unless it’s needed to prevent confusion.

This is because traditionally, printed newspapers had space concerns when it came to adding text to a layout. Eliminating a few commas throughout a story might keep a story from running over into another column or page.

But AP admits that adding a comma before the final conjunction in a list makes sense in many cases.

Oxford commas: the choice is yours

If you’re writing a professional or academic article that must follow a chosen style guide, follow the Oxford comma rule in your guide. Some company style guides even instruct writers to generally follow AP style but to buck AP and use the Oxford comma.

In your personal or general business writing, you’re free to comma as you wish. Just be aware that your friends and colleagues may comment.

As with most style guidelines, when it comes to the Oxford comma, the most important thing is to commit to using it. Anyway you splice it, it’s hard to criticize attentively produced, consistent writing.

Who or whom? The question trips up even grammar-lovers. And in many circles, whom is becoming obsolete, which may sadden grammar purists.

Although who and whom are similar, each serves a distinct purpose. In order to understand how to use these pronouns correctly, you’ll have to refresh yourself on sentence structure.

Once you’ve got this down and compared several examples, you’ll be able to remember how to use who and whom quite easily.

Parts of a sentence: a quick refresher

The basic parts of a sentence are the subject and the predicate. The predicate must include a verb but may also include an object.

The subject is the person or thing that acts. The verb describes the action. The object is the person or thing that’s acted upon by a verb or preposition.

Clearly, sentences can get far more complicated than this. But this is the basic structure of a sentence.

In English, the standard order of a declarative sentence, or statement, is subject—verb—object. For example:

• Tyrone bought the pizza.
• Maria likes Jorge.
• My children are watching TV.
• The Kahdims are my neighbors.
• Our boss called the police.

We’re going to come back to these sentences further along as we explain who versus whom.

Who

Who is a pronoun that replaces or refers to the singular or plural subject of a sentence. Who can be used in a question or a statement.

This famous book title by Stieg Larsson includes who:

“The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest”

Now, look at this headline:

“Couple who missed Royal Caribbean cruise in viral video was celebrating honeymoon”
Fox News

Here are some other examples of how to use who in a sentence:

• Who do you think you are?
• I wonder who’s at the door.
• Who wants to go swimming?
• Tell me who did this.

Now, let’s go back to our original examples and use who to form a question from each statement.

• Who bought the pizza? (Who replaces “Tyrone.”)
• Who likes Jorge? (Who replaces “Maria.”)
• Who’s watching TV? (Who replaces “my children.”)
• Who are your neighbors? (Who replaces “the Kahdims,” the subject—not “neighbors,” the object.)
• Who called the police? (Who replaces “our boss.”)

We’ll take the idea further and develop the original examples into statements that relate to or directly answer the questions above.

• I never found out who bought the pizza.
• I don’t care who likes Jorge.
• You tell me who’s watching TV!
• I didn’t ask who your neighbors are.
• I know who called the police.

To recap, who replaces or refers to the subject of a sentence.

Whom

Whom is a pronoun that replaces the singular or plural object of a sentence. Whom can be used in a question or a statement.

One of the most famous uses of whom is in this classic book title by Ernest Hemingway:

“For Whom the Bell Tolls”

Now, look at this headline:

“A Singer for Whom Words Always Came First”
The New York Times

Right away, you can probably sense a difference between whom and who, even if you can’t put your finger on it.

In these two examples, whom is followed by a preposition, but this isn’t always the case. With a direct object, a preposition isn’t necessary.

You’ll also notice that a clause (a sentencelike phrase including both a subject and a verb) follows whom.

Let’s look at using whom in a sentence. Here are some examples:

• To whom am I speaking?
• Whom are you calling?
• Don’t tell me whom to spend time with!
• With whom did you dance?
• Whom did the factory hire?
• I have no idea whom I’ll marry.
• By whom is he standing?

Let’s go back to our original sentences. We’ll expand one of them:

• Maria likes Jorge.
• My children are watching TV with Nana.

To turn these sentences into questions, note the different uses of who and whom. First:

• Who likes Jorge?
• Whom does Maria like?

And:

• Who’s watching TV with Nana?
• With whom are your children watching TV?

But also:

• Who’s watching TV with your children?
• With whom is Nana watching TV?

To recap, whom replaces or refers to the object of a verb or preposition.

The modern use of who

In casual conversations today, you’ll hear things like:

• Who are your kids watching TV with?
• Who did Tyrone buy the pizza for?

This is one of those lazy-grammar habits that’s become marginally acceptable in speech and even in some writing. But if you want to be taken seriously and to come across smartly in your writing, it’s always better to use whom when it’s called for.

In fact, The New York Times addressed this who–whom laziness, or perhaps ignorance, in a 2015 blog post. You’d do well to follow their lead.

How to use who and whom correctly

Both pronouns can be used in questions or statements.

• Who replaces the subject of a sentence.
• Whom replaces the object of a sentence.

An easy way to determine if you should use who or whom is to see if he or him fits into the sentence. (Of course, she and her work too, but he and him sound more like who and whom, so it’s a simpler test.)

For example:

• He bought this book. > Who bought this book?
• Him bought this book. > Nope!
• I gave the book to he. > Nope!
• I gave the book to him. > To whom did you give the book?

In casual speech and writing, whom is becoming somewhat obsolete. But for formal speech and writing, always use whom when it’s called for.

Note that if you’re developing a story character who’s young or doesn’t have an advanced education, your character likely won’t be throwing whom around in their dialogue.

If you’re writing anything else, stick with whom … so a bell doesn’t toll for your reputation.

Don’t let the difference between affect and effect affect your self-confidence. Learning these two words is a cinch.

You might get away with not knowing the difference when speaking, as these two words are usually homophones (soundalikes). But your basic spell-checker won’t always catch a usage error if you type a correctly spelled version of a word.

In their most common usage, affect is a verb and effect is a noun. But each word can be either part of speech. Don’t worry! We’ll clear up the confusion for you.

Affect

So, is affect a verb or a noun? Well, it can be both.

But the most common definition of affect is “to alter” or “to act upon.”

Look at this headline:

“New Study Examines How Tiny Gas Pockets Affect 3D Printing”
Carnegie Mellon University

If you don’t already know the facts, there’s no way to tell whether the gas pockets make good or bad changes—or both.

Here are some more examples:

• Alcohol affects your ability to drive.
• Both humans and animals affect the climate.
• My brother’s new romance is affecting his work.

Okay, so all three of these examples sound as if affect is only used in the sense of a negative change. That isn’t always true. Check out these sentences:

• Exercise affects your metabolism for hours afterward.
• Pets can affect your mood and physical health.
• My brother’s new haircut is affecting his sales performance.

Did my brother’s haircut turn him into a rock-star salesperson, or did it turn off his leads and prospects? There’s no way to be sure, as affect is a neutral verb.

Of course, most people know that alcohol impairs your ability to drive. But if you want to be super-clear to your audience, you may want to choose a more specific verb than affect.

Again, affect usually means “to alter” or “to act upon.” A great way to distinguish affect from effect is to remember that affect, alter, and act all start with “A.”

Other meanings of affect as a verb

You’re going to run across other cases where affect is a verb, but with a different meaning. In fact, you’ll see several dictionary definitions of affect. Here are a few:

• To feign
• To cultivate
• To tend toward
• To frequent

Luckily, most of these definitions aren’t all that common anymore. Just focus on the primary definition that we’ve explained in detail above.

Affect as a noun

Wait, what? That’s right: Affect can be a noun. But again, don’t worry too much about this, as you’re not likely to confuse this affect with an effect.

For one, affect as a noun is pronounced differently than the verb. The noun form has its stress on the first syllable and a short “A” sound.

Also, this word is more commonly used in the realms of medicine and psychology. The meaning of affect here is “the signs of an emotional state.”

For example, a psychiatric client may be described as having a flat affect. This means that, regardless of the client’s inner experience or feelings, they appeared to the observer to have no emotion at all.

So, if you see affect used this way, you’ll surely be able to understand the difference.

Effect

Now, is effect a verb or a noun? Well, again, it’s both. But we’re going to clarify the word for you.

Look at this headline:

“Peppa Effect: Canadian Kids Are Talking With English Accents Thanks To ‘Peppa Pig'”
HuffPost

An effect is an end or event. Here are some more examples:

• Alcohol has an effect on your ability to drive.
• Both humans and animals have an effect on the climate.
• My brother’s new romance is having an effect on his work.

Do these sentences sound familiar? You got it: They’re almost identical to three of the examples for affect.

This shows that affecting something yields an effect. This pair of words is simply two sides of the same coin.

You may have noticed that using effect instead of affect lengthens these sentences unnecessarily. Choosing strong verbs is a sign of advanced writing, so using affect is theoretically the better choice. But these sentences are still correct.

Here are some more efficient examples of using effect:

• What are the side effects of this medicine?
• It’s a matter of cause and effect.
• Perfumes have a bad effect on my allergies.

Again, effect usually means to an end or event. A great way to distinguish effect from affect is to remember that effect, end, and event all start with “E.”

Effect as a verb

Effect has several other definitions as a noun, but these definitions aren’t the ones that are commonly confused with affect.

The interesting thing, though, is that effect can also be a verb. This is probably the trickiest part of the whole matter.

Because effect means “to cause to exist.”

It’s okay! This isn’t exactly the same meaning as that of the verb affect. Remember, affect means “to alter” or “act upon.” In other words, “to change something,” not to cause or create it.

Look at this headline:

“Never Underestimate the Power of Young People to Effect Change”
HuffPost

Young people aren’t changing change! They’re bringing it about.

Read these other examples, and you’ll notice the difference immediately:

• Pollution effects climate change.

Pollution affects the climate, but it doesn’t effect the climate itself. See?

Now, look at this:

• The Boston Tea Party effected the American Revolution.

This means, as you probably know, that the Boston Tea Party came first. If the tea party had affected the revolution, the revolution would’ve already been underway.

How to use affect and effect correctly

Usually:

• “To affect” means to change, influence, modify, or transform something.
• An effect is a result, outcome, reaction, or product.

We know you’ve got this. Go forth and use affect and effect confidently!

For some more tricks on how to remember the difference, check out our blog post here.