Tag: writing (Page 1 of 3)

Adopt, adapt and adept

2023-07-16 / admin / 0 Comments

The similarity of these three words can be confusing. Adopt and adapt are verbs, while adept is an adjective or a noun.

ADOPT

Adopt means to take or acquire as your own. This can refer to adopting a child (which usually involves legal formalities) or adopting an animal as a pet.

It didn’t take long before they regretted having adopted a Great Dane.

You can also adopt, for example, a certain lifestyle, a strategy or a habit.

She had adopted a vegetarian diet.

Adopt is also used to say that one language has borrowed a word from another language.

From Swedish, English has adopted the word smorgasbord, meaning a buffet of hot and cold dishes.

ADAPT

Adapt means to modify, to adjust or become adjusted to new conditions, to make something suitable for a new use.

The spare room had to be adapted into a small office.

The film was adapted from a Pulitzer-winning novel.

Our dog quickly adapted to the new environment.

The corresponding nouns are adoption and adaptation.

ADEPT

As an adjective, adept means skilled, talented, good at doing something difficult, and as a noun it refers to an expert, somebody who is skilled or talented.

To everybody’s surprise, Grandma turned out to be adept at using a computer.

We all considered him an adept at cooking.

A man in a kitchen preparing dinner. The image is meant to illustrate the word adept. — We all considered him an adept at cooking

In Swedish, adept means pupil, disciple or novice, beginner. Thus, in spite of the word having the same Latin background as the English one, the Swedish word has the opposite meaning.

What’s the difference between different and various?

2023-04-24 / admin / 0 Comments

In my job as copyeditor I notice that writers tend to overuse different when they should write various instead.

Different, as you know, means that something is not the same as something else. One thing is different from another thing, or two or more things are different, not alike.

A young man and a middle-aged man wearing different models of sunglasses. The image illustrates the difference between different and various. — They have different models of sunglasses

Various implies that there is a variety among things; there are several different variants of something. Various is used before a plural noun about things that are of the same type but not all of exactly the same kind.

A display of various models and colours of sunglasses. The image illustrates the difference between different and various. — Various models and colours of sunglasses

Usually, the preposition from comes after different: Her latest novel is very different from anything she has written before. However, some writers prefer than after different. I would use than only with the comparative form: These two are more different than those. Different than is common in US English. Sometimes I also see different to, which seems to be more common in British English, but you should avoid using different to in writing.

I recommend that you write different when you want to emphasise that there really is a difference. And write from instead of than or to! Write various to indicate that there are several types that are different from each other, that there is a variety of things.

Content or contents?

2022-11-29 / admin / 0 Comments

Both content and contents refer to something contained in something else. So, what’s the difference between them?

Content is uncountable; you cannot have it in the plural. It’s about the whole of something in something else.

The content of her speech really touched the audience.
He has carried out research on the fat content of frozen food.

Content providers supply material such as text, images or music, for use on websites.

In a book, content refers to all the text in a book, but contents is the list, usually at the beginning of the book, that presents the chapters of the book and what page each chapter starts at.

Obviously, contents is a countable noun – we use the plural form. We can identify the separate parts or at least understand that they are there.

He put the flask to his mouth and drank the contents.

The nouns content and contents have the stress on the first syllable.

Content pronounced with the stress on the last syllable is an adjective. This content means happy, satisfied, pleased.

He seemed very content with his new job.

Content with the stress on the last syllable can also be a verb:

I was terribly hungry but realized that I had to content myself with some wine and a small canapé or two.

Rows of small canapés with soft cheese and olives, ham, salami, etc. The image is meant to illustrate Content or contents? — A small canapé or two…

About brothers-in-law and runners-up

2022-07-27 / admin / 0 Comments

In an earlier blog post we looked at compounds and and noted that some are written with one or two hyphens. Here are a few examples:

Brother-in-law (your sister’s husband or your wife’s or husband’s brother)
Runner-up (one who finishes in second place)
Cul-de-sac (a street that is closed at one end)
Editor-in-chief (the manager of an editorial staff)

How should you write the plural form of such compounds? The answer is fairly logical: add the plural -s to the main part of the compound, the significant part.

Brothers-in-law
Runners-up
Editors-in-chief

Cul-de-sac has two plural forms: culs-de-sac or cul-de-sacs

When we write the genitive form, the -s comes at the end when we talk about people:

My brother-in-law’s new car
The editor-in-chief’s wife

However, you can also write

The wife of the editor-in-chief

When we talk about things, we use the genitive form with of:

The end of the cul-de-sac

Email or e-mail? Or perhaps E-mail?

2022-06-29 / admin / 0 Comments

This word is a combination of electronic and mail.

Should you write it with a hyphen or not?

Some compunds have started as two words, then they have been hyphenated and finally combined into one word. Here are a couple of examples:

Proof reader – proof-reader – proofreader
Living room – living-room – livingroom

(You can read more about compounds here.)

If we follow that trend, we should write email. This form was more common in American English but is now also used in British English.

A young girl on a balcony is writing on a laptop. The image illustrates the concept of emails. — Writing an email

However, we write e-commerce and e-business, so there is a reason to use the form with a hyphen, e-mail.

Of course, if the word begins a sentence, we should write E-mail.

Other compunds with a single letter as the first part start with an uppercase letter also in the middle of a sentence:

T-shirt
U-turn
X-ray

Read more about how to write compounds here.

Re: re

2022-05-28 / admin / 0 Comments

Re: (with a colon) means regarding, on the subject of. Often we can find it in the subject line of an email.

Re: Your enquiry for USB cables

With the same meaning, re can be used in informal language:

We need to have a meeting re the latest sales report.

You can read more about regarding here.

In many words the prefix re means again:

Two years later he remarried.
The votes had to be recounted.
After the installation you have to restart your computer.
All components are reusable.

Since re here means again, you must avoid writing He remarried again or The votes had to be recounted again (that would mean that he married at least three times or that the votes were counted three times). You can read more about unnecessary words here.

Re can also mean a change in the position or state of something:

relocate = locate in a new place
rearrange = arrange in a different way

The image shows a room with bookshelves. There are many book on the floor, on a desk and on a step-ladder. The purpose is to illustrate the verb rearrange in a post about the prefix re.. — He decided it was time to rearrange his book collection

Some words with re have two versions, one with a hyphen and one without, and there is a difference in meaning.

recollect	remember	re-collect	collect again
recover	get back health, ability, possession, etc.	re-cover	cover again
reform	change or improve something	re-form	create again
repress	subdue, not allow feelings, etc., to be expressed	re-press	make a new copy of a recording
resent	dislike or be annoyed at someone or something	re-sent	as in 'He re-sent the parcel'
reserve	arrange for something to be kept for your future use	re-serve	serve again

Use a hyphen if re means again and if omitting the hyphen would cause confusion with another word.

You can read more about using a hyphen here and about the difference between a hyphen and a dash here.

With respect to and in respect of

2021-09-27 / admin / 0 Comments

The two phrases with respect to and in respect of both mean regarding, concerning. While both are used in British English, in respect of is seldom used in American English.

With respect to your enquiry we can deliver the items by Friday.
The two novels are very different in respect of the development of their respective characters.

Both these expressions are used in formal writing. When we speak, we have other ways of expressing regarding, as you can see here.

To a non-native English writer, the use of prepositions in English is often confusing. In the phrases we are looking at here, we cannot change the prepositions and say, for example *in respect to (for the use of the asterisk see the comment at the end of this text).

To have respect for someone is to show consideration or respect towards a person or admire someone for their qualities, ideas, actions, etc.

She has great respect for her grandfather’s long experience.
I have no respect for people who keep interrupting others.

Overuse of the -ing form

2021-07-11 / admin / 0 Comments

As we have seen in another blog post, the -ing form, the present continuous, indicates that something is going on just for the moment.

I’m writing an email on the balcony (momentarily).
He writes articles for monthly magazines (a regular activity).

He is living in France (temporarily).
I live in Sweden (Sweden is my home country).

To say that someone is only temporarily in a place, the verb stay is often used.

He is staying at a small hotel in Lyon.

Man on a balcony is writing on a laptop — I’m writing an email on the balcony

Non-native speakers of English whose mother tongue only has the present simple sometimes tend to overuse the present continuous when they speak English, since they believe that to be the common form. Even if they intend to convey a permanent state, they may say or write sentences such as the following (for the use of the asterisk read at the end of this text):

*I’m travelling to work by bus every morning all year round. (Since this is what happens regularly you should say I travel to work by bus every morning.)

*He is designing cars. (This is his permanent job, hence the correct sentence would be He designs cars.)

*They are playing golf every weekend. (This is a habit, so it should be They play golf every weekend.)

*That book is costing nine dollars. (That is a fixed price, so the correct version is That book costs nine dollars.)

*They are making washing machines. (Unless this is a temporary production and they normally make refrigerators, we must write They make washing machines.)

You should think twice before using the -ing form in English!

Acronyms and initialisms

2021-02-22 / admin / 0 Comments

Acronyms are a type of abbreviation. They are formed by the first letter of each word in a phrase and usually, but not always, written in capital letters. An acronym is pronounced as a word:

ASAP	As soon as possible
HIRC	Human–industrial robot collaboration
NASDAQ	National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations
NATO	North Atlantic Treaty Organization
PIN	Personal identification number
POTUS	President of the United States
SARS	Severe acute respiratory syndrome
SWOT	Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats
UNESCO	United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
WADA	World Anti-Doping Agency

Some words created as acronyms have become so common that people do not know they are acronyms. Some examples:

laser	light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation
radar	radio detection and ranging
scuba	self-contained underwater breathing apparatus
sonar	sound navigation and ranging
taser	Thomas A Swift's Electric Rifle

There are other abbreviations formed by the first letter of each word, but they are pronounced as individual letters. These abbreviations are called initialisms. Some examples:

B2B	Business-to-business
BMX	Bicycle motocross
CEO	Chief executive officer
CIA	Central Intelligence Agency
DIY	Do-it-yourself
FAQ	Frequently asked questions
FBI	Federal Bureau of Investigation
IPO	Initial public offering
NHL	National Hockey League
RFID	Radio frequency identification
WWW	World Wide Web

An RFID tag. — Detail of an RFID tag used on a garment

The most common initialism is probably OK. It is such a popular abbreviation that it deserves its own blog post.

Communicating on the internet has created many abbreviations:

2F4U	Too fast for you
AFK	Away from keyboard
BBS	Be back soon
LOL	Laughing out loud
KISS	Keep it simple, stupid
ROFL	Rolling on the floor laughing
YOLO	You only live once

How the first letter in an abbreviation is pronounced determines whether the indefinite article should be written a or an. Compare the following:

A UNESCO spokesperson	An unknown person
An FBI agent	A federal agent
An HR manager	A human resources manager

In my next blog post you can read about backronyms.

Abbreviations

2021-01-27 / admin / 0 Comments

The word abbreviation comes from the Latin verb abbreviare with the adjective brevis, which means short. When you abbreviate something, you make it shorter.

Many abbreviations are formed by leaving out all except the first few letters of a word. These abbreviations often end with a full stop.

abstr.	abstract
ad., advert.	advertisement
admin.	administration
approx.	approximately
betw.	between
cont.	continue, continued
doc.	document
esp.	especially
est.	estimated
etc.	et cetera
exam	examination
fig.	figure
fut.	future
info	information
intro	introduction
lab.	laboratory
lang.	language
memo	memorandum
min.	minimum, minute
misc.	miscellaneous
mod.	modern
obs.	obsolete
orig.	origin, original(ly)
pop.	popular
St.	Street
tel.	telephone
temp.	temperature, temporary
vol.	volume

Names of the months are abbreviated according to this general principle of just shortening words.

Jan.	January
Feb.	February
Mar.	March
Apr.	April
May	May
Jun.	June
Jul.	July
Aug.	August
Sep. or Sept.	September
Oct.	October
Nov.	November
Dec.	December

There is more variation in how the days of the week are abbreviated.

Mon.	Monday
Tu., Tue. or Tues.	Tuesday
Wed.	Wednesday
Th., Thu., Thur. or Thurs.	Thursday
Fri.	Friday
Sat.	Saturday
Sun.	Sunday

Many abbreviations leave out letters in the middle of a word and end with the last letter of the word. Here are some examples:

apt.	apartment
attn.	attention
atty.	attorney
dept.	department
fwd	forward
govt.	government
hr.	hour
Jr.	junior
Ltd.	Limited
mfg.	manufacturing
mgmt.	management
qty.	quantity
tsp.	teaspoon
yd.	yard
yr.	year

Some titles also follow this principle:

Dr.	Doctor
Messrs	Plural of Mr
Mr	Mister
Mrs	Mistress
Msgr	Monsignor
St.	Saint

You can read more about titles here.

Geographical names are often abbreviated:

Cambr.	Cambridge
E. Afr.	East Africa
Scand.	Scandinavia
TX	Texas
Victoria Rd.	Victoria Road

Names of the states in the USA are abbreviated to two uppercase letters. You can find them here. The capital Washington is in the District of Columbia, abbreviated DC.

Abbreviations can also become words in their own right and we no longer realise that they are abbreviations.

Hankie (or hanky) is short for handkerchief.

The American colloquialism nabe comes from neighborhood.

Pram is short for perambulator, a carriage for a baby.

Soccer is an abbreviation of association football, which is different from American football.

Two girls lying on the grass watching a soccer game. — The girls were watching a soccer game

In American English abbreviations are usually followed by a full stop. In British English this generally applies to abbreviations that are formed by the first letter or the first few letters of a word as in the first table above.

There are many Latin abbreviations in the English language, which you can read about here and here.

Acronyms and initialisms are also abbreviations. Read about them here.