I hope you find my writing and business tips and observations useful. My business and blog are dedicated to helping businesses communicate clearly and reach their potential.
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Can you see the site?
Cite: to reference something and identify that source, especially in academic and legal papers
The lawyer decided to cite John’s affidavit but not Mary’s.
Site: a location or area
They had to clear the site before they could build on it.
Sight: being able to see; what is seen
She lost her sight after staring at the eclipse.
“What a sight!” said the hikers when they reached the mountain top.
The word cite is used less often in general conversations and probably doesn’t suit most business documents. But I do see site and sight being misused.
Think of site as a place where you can sit and it may help you remember which is which.
Capitals change the meaning
It’s Monday but I’m going to do the Monday Meanings post a little differently today in honour of Anzac Day on Saturday.
Sometimes, a capital letter can change the meaning or significance of a word.
Digger: an Anzac soldier
The Diggers proudly walked off the ship in Melbourne.
digger: someone who is digging or regularly digs
Sitting in the sandpit, the digger created a moat around his castle.
The general rules for the use of capital letters obviously still apply, as does the annoyance of over using capitals. For the above example, I added a capital letter to a regular noun to make it a proper noun as I could also do for words such as Mother/mother, Father/father, Nurse/nurse and Captain/captain.
Cavalry and Calvary
Cavalry: a group or fighters (soldiers, warriors, etc) mounted on horses
The foot soldiers will follow the cavalry into the valley.
The foot soldiers will follow the cavalry into the valley.
Calvary: the Crucifixion place for Jesus; also used to refer to crucifixion crosses and sites in general or to describe intense pain
The pilgrims went to Calvary in Jerusalem.
Unless you write or read a lot of Christian materials, you probably won’t come across Calvary so learning to spell cavalry alone may be enough!
Just breathe
Breath: the process of taking in air to get oxygen into the lungs; the air taken in or pushed out during breathing; small amount of air or wind
Taking a deep breath, she gave her manuscript to the printer
Breathe: the act of taking air into or out of the lungs. Also refers to letting air through a material (e.g. letting red wine breathe or choosing a fabric that can breathe)
It can be harder to breathe at high altitudes.
Put your angel on an angle
Angel: a heavenly being, often depicted in white with wings and a halo; a person with admirable qualities, possibly above most people’s
She was an angel, visiting us everyday for hours while I was bedridden.
Angle: the difference in position of two intersecting lines
The Leaning Tower of Pisa is on an unusual angle for a building.
Verses vs. Versus
Verses: a section of words in a poem or song, similar to a paragraph in text
The third verse in that song was sung a bit out of tune.
Versus: a term to link two things being compared against each other.
It’s Richmond versus Collingwood in the footy this weekend.
vs: The abbreviated version of versus.
It’s Richmond vs. Collingwood in the footy this weekend.
Not sure how to remember which is which? Just remember the us in versus relates to us against them!
How summery is your summary?
Summary: an outline or overview of something
He gave a quick summary of the lecture to date.
Summery: relating to the summer season
The coconut oil and filmy curtains gave the room a summery feel.
What an appropriate pair of words to define this week as they are predicting 37 plus degrees (Celsius of course) tomorrow and Wednesday – summer has certainly reached Melbourne!
Remembrance tip – summer heat is summery.
It’s reigning outside
Reign: period of leadership and power, especially for royalty.
During the reign of Henry VII, people mostly travelled on foot.
Rein: a tie to maintain control over another being
The horse rider kept tight hold of the rein in each hand.
Rain: water falling from clouds in the sky – a form of precipitation
The farmers are hoping for a lot of rain this month.
Bought or brought?
In speech it isn’t always clear whether someone says brought or bought, but I really hate seeing them written in the wrong context so here are definitions to help people get them right…
bought: to have purchased something. It is the past tense of the word buy.
They bought their car from a registered dealer
brought: to have carried or taken something/someone with you. It is the past tense of the word bring.
She brought a friend with her to the conference.
‘After you bring something you’ve brought it’ is a handy reminder of which is which as many people get confused over these two words.
If you are not confident you are getting words like bought and brought in the correct places, get a second opinion before you make your writing public. Ask a friend to read your work for you (not just to catch a brought/bought error) or get a professional to edit your work for you, especially if it is something important like your website content or product manual.
Ants or -ance?
Assistants: two or more people who are helping
His assistants were busy preparing the report.
Assistance: the help being provided
I really appreciated your assistance yesterday.
The use of -ants and -ance is often confused because they sound exactly the same despite the very different spelling. The easiest way to remember which is which is to think of ants (yes, the insects!) as doers and use that ending when you are writing about people doing something.
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