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C O M M O N L Y M I S U S E D W O R D S A N D P H R A S E S , M - Z

nauseated / nauseous

Nauseated means sick at the stomach.
Nauseous means sickening to contemplate.

To say "I feel nauseous," therefore, can be used only in the colloquial or informal sense.

preventive / preventative

The correct word is preventive.

proved / proven

Proved is the past participle of prove.

Proven should be used as an adjective only.

For example:
Although Sam claims that Pittsburghpalooza is a proved success, we have proved it to be an abject failure, as well as a perversion of the English language.

quotation / quote

Quotation is a noun.
Quote is a verb. Quote may also be used as a noun in the colloquial or informal usage of the word. This usage would be acceptable, for example, in dialogue.

For example:
The quotation he quoted was, "Live a little."

rebut / refute

When you rebut a statement, you contradict or deny it, but that does not mean you have done so successfully.
When you refute a statement, you conclusively prove that you are correct.

For example:
I must refute your rebuttal, I saw you take the last donut.

reluctant / reticent

A reluctant person is unwilling to do something.
A reticent person is unwilling to speak readily or is
uncommonly reserved.

For example:
The reluctant father remained reticent concerning his wife's news.

renown / renowned

Renown, the noun, means fame or eminence.
Renowned, the adjective, means famous or celebrated.

For example:
Renowned stripper Christmas Package won renown for her creative use of tissue paper.

tortuous / tortorous

A winding road is tortuous, meaning full of twists and turns or crooked.
A painful ordeal is tortorous.

For example:
The bite of tortuous snake was torturous.

toward / towards

Use toward. Towards is considered to be archaic.

try and / try to

Use try to.

For example:

She will try to avoid the swimsuit competition in all beauty contests she may enter.

whether [or not]

Just use whether; the or not is implied. Whether or not is redundant.

For example:
Whether 2000 is a leap year is meaningless, providing that the summer Olympics are not affected.

who's / whose

Who's is the contraction of who is.
Whose is the possessive pronoun.

For example:
Who's asking about the prisoners whose gruel was scalding hot?

(Camera-ready Copy)

(Commonly Misused Words and Phrases, E-L)