Word Choice Errors

American English has many word pairs and trios that are alike enough to be confusing. Word Choice Errors provides a novel way to empower writers of all levels to cut through the confusion to understand which word to use and why that's the word to use. Written in a user-friendly style, grounded in descriptive linguistics methods, and eschewing memorization, this book trains writers to detect, interpret, and act on language clues - with exercises, "wild idea" analytical tricks, and additional resources throughout. It is an excellent resource for instructors and students of grammar or writing/rhetoric, as well as for individuals looking to develop their language and writing skills.

Gül-at Aygen is Professor of Linguistics and a Distinguished Teaching Professor at Northern Illinois University, USA. Sarah Eastlund is Assistant Professor of English at Brescia University, USA.

Preface Acknowledgements Chapter 1. Introduction: Inaccurate Word Choices and Linguistic Criteria 1.1. Morpho-Syntactic Criterion 1.2. Syntactic Criterion 1.3. Semantic Criterion Review Exercises: Linguistic Criteria Chapter 1 Recap Chapter 2. Commonly Confused Words: Affect/Effect - Cue/Queue 2.1. Affect/Effect 2.2. Allude/Elude 2.3. Breach/Breech 2.4. Cache/Cachet 2.5. Capital/Capitol 2.6. Censor/Censure/Sensor 2.7. Cite/Sight/Site 2.8. Colombia/Columbia 2.9. Complement/Compliment 2.10. Confident/Confidant/Confidante 2.11. Conscience/Conscientious/Conscious/Consciousness 2.12. Cue/Queue Review Exercises: Affect/Effect - Cue/Queue Chapter 2 Recap Lesson Learned Chapter 3. Commonly Confused Words: e .g./i.e - Hail/Hale 3.1. e.g./i.e. 3.2. Either ... or/Neither ... nor 3.3. Elicit/Illicit 3.4. Emulate/Imitate 3.5. Emigrate/Immigrate/Migrate 3.6. Ensure/Insure/Assure 3.7. Envelop/Envelope 3.8. Everyone/Every one 3.9. Farther/Further 3.10. Gild/Guild 3.11. Grill/Grille 3.12. Hail/Hale Review Exercises: i.e./e.g. - Hail/Hale Chapter 3 Recap Lessons Learned Chapter 4. Commonly Confused Words: It's/Its - Right/Rite/Write 4.1. It's/Its 4.2. Lay/Lie 4.3. Less/Fewer 4.4. Let's/Lets 4.5. Loose/Lose 4.6. Moral/Morale 4.7. Onto/On to 4.8. Quiet/Quite 4.9 Principal/Principle 4.10. Raise/Raze 4.11. Rational/Rationale 4.12. Right/Rite/Write Review Exercises: It's/Its - Right/Right/Rite Chapter 4 Recap Lesson Learned Chapter 5. Commonly Confused Words: Setup/Set up - Your/You're 5.1. Setup/Set up 5.2. Shear/Sheer 5.3. Sic/Sick 5.4. Their/There/They're 5.5. Than/Then 5.6. To/Too/Two 5.7. Vain/Vane/Vein 5.8. Well/Good 5.9. Weather/Whether 5.10. Were/We're/Where 5.11. Wet/Whet 5.12. Which/Witch 5.13. Whose/Who's 5.14. Your/You're Review Exercises: Setup/Set up - Your/You're Chapter 5 Recap Lesson Learned Chapter 6. Cumulative Application Summary Points Chapter 7. Conclusion Answer Key for Fill-in-the-Blank Exercises Consulted Works Glossary Index