Grammar Essentials For Dummies

Chapter 9

Choosing the Right Words

IN THIS CHAPTER

Deciding between one word or two

Knowing when you need an apostrophe — and when you don’t

Choosing between similar words

Leaving certain words and phrases out of your writing

This chapter is chock-full of grammar demons that can trip up even the most seasoned writers. None of the rules I explain here are particularly difficult to master; the problem is trying to keep them all in mind when you’re writing a 20-page report.

Here’s what I suggest: Try to commit as much of this information to memory as possible, but also keep this chapter handy as a reference. Pull it out when you’re proofreading your work, and chances are you’ll catch a mistake or two that slipped through. (Better you than your boss or teacher, right?)

One Word or Two?

In this section, I list some common two-word phrases that people like to write (mistakenly) as single words. I also show you some pairs of words that have very different meanings depending on whether they’re ...