| This note is intended to benefit all of us. A part of our professional
image is portrayed to the rest of Digital through our skills in written
communications. This first entry addresses our grammar and choice of
words, specifically word usage errors.
I'm not going to attempt to address punctuation (my use is limited to
periods and an occasional, usually misplaced, comma), or spelling (mine
is frequently wobbly). Just a quick aside on spelling, keep a dictionary
handy and use it. If you are unsure of the spelling of a word, look it up.
If you are writing something where spelling is very important, use a
spelling checker program, such as DECspell.
The improper usages that I have listed below are either common, or ones
that I have seen recently. Many of these words have multiple definitions,
so I have tried to provide the most common definition.
1 - When they're ready to move over there, will their space be ready?
Which "there/their/they're" to use is one of the most common errors.
There - is a place
Their - denotes something that 'they own or possess'
They're - is a contraction of 'they are'
2 - I can't accept your reason for wanting to except that item.
This error is another very common one. The confusion seems to stem
from the fact that the two words sound almost identical.
Except - means 'to exclude' or 'leave out'
Accept - means 'to receive'
3 - If the knot is too loose you might lose your boat.
This mistake can sometimes be blamed on fat fingers, you get carried
away and type an extra 'o' in your woord. Anyway ...
Loose - is the opposite of tight
Lose - is when have misplaced something or don't win
4 - We are happy that this is our notes conference.
Recently I received a memo that began like this, 'We started are
meeting with ...'.
Are - is a form of the verb construction 'to be'
Our - is the possessive form of the pronoun 'we'
5 - Too many two's can lead to confusion.
This set of words is also subject to 'fat finger syndrome'. But, just
to clear the air ...
Two - is the integer that follows one (I hope you knew this)
Too - means 'also' or 'more than enough'
To - has many definitions, but usually means 'in the direction of'
The words 'to' and 'too', in addition to being subject to the 'fat finger
syndrome', are also subject to the 'typing too fast and skipping letters'
trick.
6 - I know we met yesterday, but can we meet again today?
This can be another fat finger problem, but just for the sake of
clarity ...
Meet - to encounter, as for a conference
Met - this is the past tense of 'meet', as in 'we met yesterday'
7 - We are taking our wares to the place where people wear them.
Beware of this one! (Where puns are not intended you need to be
wary.) Sorry, I just couldn't resist.
Ware - refers to things of the same general kind, 'software' or
'silverware'
Where - generally refers to a place
Wear - means to put something on
8 - If you remember that verbs affect nouns, you can usually get the
effect you want.
Affect - A verb meaning to have an influence on
Effect - A noun indicating something that is caused or the
ability to achieve a specific result
That's all for now. I hope this bit of elucidation (50 cent word
supplied free of charge) is helpful. Please add your own comments and
clarifications on common usage, punctuation, and spelling problems. The
English/American language is a great deal of fun, but can oft times
be confusing.
Have fun and keep on writing,
Eric
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| Another frequently mis used pair are advice/advise.
Could some one give me some advice about my problem with my bird.
Would you please advise me as to what to do.
advice - opinion about a course of action, counsel.
advise - to offer advice to, to recommend, suggest,
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| To invoke the spelling checker for your notes and replies do the
following:
- First be sure that DECspell is installed on your system.
You do this by typing 'HELP SPELL' at the DCL command
prompt. If you get information of SPELL then you have
DECspell installed.
- When you are finished entering your note, but before you post
it using F10 or CTRL/Z hit the 'DO' on your keyboard. NOTES
will then display the prompt 'Command:'. You now enter the
word 'SPELL' and DECspell will be run to check your entry.
If you have trouble making this work, give me a call and I will
try to help you out.
Eric
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| RE: .7
This works great on a terminal with a DO key.
If you're back in the dark ages with a VT100 (I'm only an engineer, so I
don't rate new equipment), instead of hitting DO, you hit PF1 and then
7 on the keypad.
I also suggest you try DECspell outside of notes first, so you get used
to the way it works. Create some test file, say, TEST.FIL, and
enter "SPELL TEST.FIL". It's not hard to figure out.
-Steve
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