“To set off” or “to set out”?
To set off and to set out are often interchangeable: We set off on a journey We set out on a journey She set off across the river She set out across the river...
Graham's Grammar Posts
“To approve of” or “to approve”?
To approve of usually means to like something, to think something is good, and – perhaps – to recommend it. I approve of his shoes. I approve of this book. You ought to read...
“Exceedingly” or “Excessively”?
Exceedingly and excessively are both adverbs. They have related but different meanings: Exceedingly means “very”. For example: “She wrote an exceedingly good essay”. Excessively means something like “too”: “The children were excessively noisy”.
What is the plural of mother-in-law?
A mother-in-law is the mother of someone’s wife or husband. So a father-in-law, son-in-law or daughter-in-law is the father, son or daughter of someone’s wife or husband. “Mother-in-law is an example of a “compound...
“While” or “whilst”?
There is a great deal of discussion and even disagreement about these words. The safest approach is to always use “while”.
“Effect” or “Affect”?
Examples: It might help to think of a raven: Of course, there are exceptions and other meanings:
“Audience” or “spectators”?
In their literal senses: An audience listens Spectators watch That’s because “Audience” comes from the Latin verb: “audire”, meaning to hear “Spectator” comes from the Latin verb “spectare”, meaning to watch In normal use:...
We can say “Three times as big as”. Can we also say “Three times as small as”?
It’s possible, but it’s better to say “a third the size of” or possibly “a third as big as” In everyday conversation people might say – and would certainly understand – “three times as...
“A lot of” of “lots of”?
“A lot of” and “lots of” are interchangeable Both mean “a large number of” or “a large amount of” Both expressions can be used with countable and uncountable nouns Some people say that both...
“In the beginning” or “at the beginning”?
There seems to be no strict rule “At the beginning” is often used to refer to the actual point when something starts. In this case it is usually used with “of”. For example: “At...