5 Commonly Abused Words and How to Respect Them
1. only — It’s known as a modifier. How you place it in a sentence affects its meaning:
- I watched only the nightly news. (The nightly news was the only program I watched.)
- I only watched the nightly news. (I watched the nightly news, and didn’t do anything else during the program.)
2. that/who — Sometimes, when referring to other people, some people use that in place of the pronoun who. Use that when you refer to objects.
- The girl that drives the Porsche honked at me yesterday. — incorrect
- The girl who drives the Porsche honked at me yesterday. — correct
3. what/which — It’s more grammatically correct to use what in sentences about something that needs to be identified. Use which when you refer to something that involves making a choice from a limited number of options, and what if you have several choices.
Examples:
- What time is it? — correct
- Which time is it? — incorrect
What color do you like? — You can use what, but it’s not as exact; “What colors…” or “Which colors…” work better. Which color do you like? This is a more specific, and more correct form.
4. affect/effect — These two words sound the same and can easily be misused. Affect often refers to how something has influenced something else.
High humidity and low pressure affect my arthritis.
In most cases, effect is more about the accomplishments or the results of something:
Larry’s “can do” attitude has had a positive effect on his employees.
Grammar Girl offers a trick to remember their differences: The arrows affected the aardvark. The effect was eye-popping.
5. impact — Some people use this word as a verb rather than as a noun. An example from the National Weather Service (NWS) website: “Severe weather is possible in the Great Plains and critical fire weather conditions continue to impact portions of the southwest.”
According to The Oxford English Dictionary, as a noun, impact means “The action of one object coming forcibly into contact with another.” Its meaning as a verb changes:
- “To come into forcible contact with another object.”
- “To have a strong effect on someone or something.” (have an impact on) A meteor can “impact” or “have an impact on” something, but not every word can be used as a noun and as a verb in that context.
Grammarians suggest that affect is a shorter and better word choice. A correction to the NWS prediction: “Severe weather is possible in the Great Plains and critical fire weather conditions continue to affect parts of the southwest.”
See below for more information about nouns being used as verbs.
Quotes
“Verbing weirds language.” ~ Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes
“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter — it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” ~ Mark Twain