UWF WRITING LAB
RULES OF THUMB
FOR DICTION
from Grammar Shots by
Mamie Webb Hixon
PowerPoint Created by April Turner
Revised by Mamie Webb Hixon
June 1, 2010
an a
ab
ac
ad
an e
an f
ag
an h
an I
aj
ak
an l
an m
an n
an o
ap
aq
an r
an s
at
au
av
aw
anx
ay
az
“May I have (a, an)
please.”
,
DICTION
A—used before words and
letters with an initial consonant
sound
 Ex: a CEO, a historical event
 AN—used before words and
letters with an initial vowel
sound
 Ex: an MBA, an honorable
man, an expert
 ALOT—incorrect spelling for A
LOT

READ THIS STATEMENT
ALOUD
a UPS guy
 an UPS guy

BOTH ARE CORRECT.

a UPS guy
a
U-P-S guy


Use “a” before an
initial consonant
sound.
an UPS guy
 An

“ups” guy
Use “an” before an
initial vowel sound.
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.
 Thank you for your helpful advice.
ADVISE—verb
 Ex: The protestors were advised to

submit a list of their grievances.
On the advice of legal counsel, I am
dropping the charges.



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.
 EXCEPTION: Air Force One landed
somewhere between Atmore, Brewton,
and Pensacola.
 EXCEPTION: Use transitions between
paragraphs in a multi-paragraph essay.

AMOUNT—used with
singular (mass) nouns
 Ex:
amount of work, amount
of credit

NUMBER—used with plural
(countable) nouns
 Ex:
a number of classes, a
number of mistakes

AS, AS IF, AS THOUGH—used before clauses
It looks as if (not like) it’s going to rain.
 Ex: He acts as though (not like) he has Alzheimer’s
disease or some other form of dementia.
 Ex:

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

LESS THAN—used
before a plural noun that
denotes a measure of
time, amount, or
distance: less than three
weeks, less than sixty
years old, less than $400
dollars

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.
The ________ expelled the
(1)
student for three ________
(2)
reasons.
1 – principal, principle
2 – principal, principal
3 – principle, principle
4 – principle, principal


PRINCIPAL—noun: chief
official; adjective: foremost,
major
PRINCIPLE—noun: axiom,
rule


Ex: Her principal reasons for resigning
were her principles of right and wrong.
Her principal source of income is her
technical editing job.

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.
 The reason he was fired is that (not because)
he is incompetent.


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