amateur [noun]: a person considered contemptibly inept at a particular activity
{Common misspelling: amature}
Category: Daily Fix
Grammar Bomb: FORBEAR vs FOREBEAR
“His forebears had been
original settlers in the valley;
he could not forbear a laugh when
asked if he knew his way around.”
forbear {v} [THINK: refrain…from writing that middle e]
forebear {n} [THINK: ancestor…came beFORE]
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WordHit: Advisable [adjective]
advisable [adjective]: to be recommended
{Common misspelling: adviseable, advizable}
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Grammar Bomb: LOATHE vs LOATH
“She was loath to tell him that he was free
to loathe homework, but he still had to do it.”
loathe verb [THINK: dislike (e)]
loath adj [THINK: unwilling (no e)]
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WordHit: Apex [noun]
apex [noun]: the top or highest part of something
{Common misspelling: apecks}
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WordHit: Acceptable [adjective]
acceptable [adjective]: able to be agreed on
{Common misspelling: acceptible}
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WordHit: Piece [noun]
Grammar Bomb: Earth VS earth
The earth was removed from around the tree; Earth is the third planet from the sun.
Earth [THINK: specific planet, like Saturn; no “the”]
earth [THINK: ground, soil, planet we live on; “the”usually required]
“In English, proper nouns (nouns which signify a particular person, place, or thing) are capitalized.
Following this rule, when Earth is discussed as a specific planet or celestial body, it is capitalized…When Earth is a proper noun, the is usually omitted.”
“When you are talking about the ground or soil as a surface or stratum, then you must lowercase the word…It is acceptable to leave earth lowercase and use the with earth if you are talking about it as the planet we live on: The earth rotates on its axis.”
[read more about it on blog.dictionary.com]
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WordHit: Vigilant [adjective]
vigilant [adjective]: watch for possible danger
{Common misspelling: vigilent}
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Grammar Bomb: That VS Which
I like to read books that you like. I read the books you told me to, which you left on the table.
That [THINK: restrictive; limits meaning; no comma]
Which [THINK: nonrestrictive; supply extra info; comma required]
“In formal American English, that is used in restrictive clauses, and which in used in nonrestrictive clauses.”
“A restrictive clause contains information that limits the meaning of the thing being talked about….Note that in restrictive clauses, sometimes that can be omitted.”
A nonrestrictive clause…is used to supply additional information that is not essential to understanding the main point of the sentence…it adds extra information, almost like an aside. You could delete the details…and the sentence would still make sense.”
[read more about it on blog.dictionary.com]
Editing Addict, LLC 