I know when I first started writing, I had a lot of problems with certain words and constantly confusing them. Here are a few of the more common words I constantly mixed up:
than/then
affect/effect
further/farther
There are a few tricks to keep them straight in your mind. When needing to use than or then, the first is a comparison and the second is a point in time. If you need to compare two different things, always use than:
I like her better than him.
If the object of your sentence is a dealing with a specific point in time, always use then:
It was then that I realized I could never go back home.
Using affect and effect can be a bit tricky, since under some circumstances, they can be swapped. But the safest bet to using either is effect is a noun and affect is a verb.
I'm not sure I like the final effect.
Cutting the wood wrong will affect the final outcome.
The main thing I can say about using further and farther is that while they both mean distance of some kind, only farther is used when that distance can be measured.
Push yourself further than you ever thought you could go.
Just a few blocks farther and you'll be done.
I'll try to post these types of helpful hints every week. More often if there is interest.
than/then
affect/effect
further/farther
There are a few tricks to keep them straight in your mind. When needing to use than or then, the first is a comparison and the second is a point in time. If you need to compare two different things, always use than:
I like her better than him.
If the object of your sentence is a dealing with a specific point in time, always use then:
It was then that I realized I could never go back home.
Using affect and effect can be a bit tricky, since under some circumstances, they can be swapped. But the safest bet to using either is effect is a noun and affect is a verb.
I'm not sure I like the final effect.
Cutting the wood wrong will affect the final outcome.
The main thing I can say about using further and farther is that while they both mean distance of some kind, only farther is used when that distance can be measured.
Push yourself further than you ever thought you could go.
Just a few blocks farther and you'll be done.
I'll try to post these types of helpful hints every week. More often if there is interest.
--
Jude
Jude