February 16, 2017
Affect ~ A verb: “The cold weather really affects me.”
Effect ~ A noun: “Dry coughs are one effect of cold weather .”
Ensure – To make sure, like a guarantee
Insure – Always used as insurance => The policy you pay for but may never use.
Hone ~ Always a verb: What we do to knives & sharp edges to make them sharper.
Home ~ Sometimes a verb or a noun:
Home in on is how we get closer to something, (“She’s homing in on the answer.”),
while Home is also where the heart is
Farther ~ A physical distance.
Further ~ Additionally, everything else.
Accept ~ To receive or agree with
Except ~ To exclude
and my personal favorite:
Number – Things that can be counted or was counted
Amount – A quantity of something that can’t be counted or wasn’t counted.
“The number of Yucalandia readers has increased each & every year for the last 9 years.”
“Colin drank a staggering amount of alcohol.”
…
and yes, there’s always there, their & they’re … to, two & too … then & than … Your, yore & you’re …
Your favorites?
Happy Trails,
steve
* * * *
Feel free to copy while giving proper attribution: YucaLandia/Surviving Yucatan.
© Steven M. Fry
Read-on MacDuff . . .
Surviving Yucatan 
It’s and its, of course, and accept/except.
That was awesome!
Nancy Tabeling Nbeimages.com 949 294-7847
Sent from my iPhone. Excuse the spelling in case I’m texting and driving. Just kidding, I don’t do that.
>
“Fewer” vs “Less”
SUZY swans007@aol.com
That’s a fun one, because the old-school rule for ‘fewer’ vs ‘less’ has some exceptions.
The Chicago Manual of Style and other modern sources have shifted to a new definition~rule:
Use ‘less’ for singular nouns
Use ‘fewer’ for plural nouns.
because the old rule about things you can count breaks down in some examples.
FUN !
I and me. Drives me nuts when people say “…me and so-and-so did…” Maybe I am old school, but “I” should always be used when the subject of an immediately following verb; “me” can and should be used in other positions, but never as the subject of an immediately following verb.