Choosing the correct word or phrase to convey your thought is vital. Choosing the wrong word or phrase not only shakes a marker's confidence in your essay, it can also completely change your meaning. The best way to improve your ability to choose exactly the right word or phrase for the context is to read good writing.
There are two kinds of mistakes: word/phrase confusions and poor word/phrase choice.
Word confusion:
It is all too easy to confuse words that sound the same but have different meanings, or words that subtly differ in verb and noun form.
Common word confusions include:
- except / accept (except: excluding; accept: to take something offered)
- effect / affect (an effect: a changed state as a direct result of somebody's action; to affect: to act upon, i.e. to have an effect on somebody or something)
- altar / alter (an altar is a table used in religious ceremonies; to alter is to change something)
- lose / loose (lose: to mislay, to fail to win; loose: to untether or untighten
- less/fewer (less is for things that are uncountable, e.g. fighting; fewer is for things that are countable, i.e. battles. So - less fighting, fewer battles; less salt, fewer grains of salt; less wordiness, fewer words; less arguing, fewer arguments.
Common phrase confusions include:
due to / owing to:
- 'Due to' is adjectival, i.e. it is attached to a noun: The emperor's survival was due to the weakness of the senate. (The noun is 'the weakness')
- 'Owing to' is adverbial, i.e. it tells us something about, or adds something to, the verb. The emperor survived, largely owing to the fact that the senate was weak. (The emperor's survival and the weakness of the senate are linked.)
Poor word/phrase choice:
Poor word or phrase choice can have seriously misleading consequences.
'This essay concurs' does not mean the same as 'this essay concludes'. 'Concur' means to agree. 'Conclude' means to deduce, or to bring to a close.
To stop something happening is not the same as preventing something from happening. To stop something happening implies that the action has already begun. To prevent something implies that whatever it is hasn't yet begun.
Wrongly used prepositions
Prepositions are short words such as in, at, with, on, over, through, between. Prepositions indicate place, time or relationship. Students often choose the wrong preposition, hence:
- different with instead of different from
- aspects in instead of aspects of
- according with instead of according to
- the question of whether it was right or wrong' should be 'the question as to whether it was right or wrong' ('as to' is nearly always correct before 'whether' 'why' 'where' 'how')
- 'in regard to' should be 'with regard to'
- 'The Persians were in the opinion that' should be 'The Persians were of the opinion that'
If you aren’t sure about the meaning of a word, or what preposition to use, consult a dictionary, ask somebody or think of an alternative. Never just guess.