What's The Difference? - Grammar

What's The Difference?
GRAMMAR

AFFECT vs. EFFECT
*AFFECT = ACTION (verb)
*EFFECT = END RESULT (noun)

ANNOYING vs. IRRITATING vs. OBNOXIOUS vs. BOTHERSOME
ANNOYING - rude person or situation that is not malicious but makes one mildly upset, like a pet peeve
*examples: poor service at a restaurant, listening to someone chew loudly
IRRITATING - something that is usually persistent and causes noticeable anger
*examples: a leaky faucet dripping, a co-worker constantly asking the same question
OBNOXIOUS - something offensively unpleasant
*examples: a horrible smell, a person being unnecessarily loud
BOTHERSOME - something that disrupts but is generally not serious
*examples: stomach-aches, spam telephone calls
*a nuisance is a person or thing that can be any or all of the above

CAN vs. COULD
*using these words interchangeably is fine but there are technical differences and exceptions
CAN - informal verb used in the present tense to ask/grant permission or express ability
*one can (has permission to) leave some nice comments on this website
COULD - formal verb used in the past tense to propose a possible outcome
*one could have left some nice comments on this website

COINCIDENCE vs. IRONY
COINCIDENCE - two things that seem related but are simply happening at the same time
*example- somebody wearing the same shirt you have on
IRONY - when a result is the opposite of what was intended
*example- a mother calling her son son-of-a-bitch to insult him actually does so to herself
situational irony - something shockingly different from what is expected
*example- a dentist having really bad teeth
sarcasm - an ironic statement spoken in a derogatory tone
*example- saying you would love to attend a young relative’s Little League game when you would rather be (almost) anywhere else

CONDESCENDING vs. PATRONIZING
CONDESCENDING - the speaker is trying to insult the other person
*example: ‘You know what condescending means, right?’
PATRONIZING - craftier and more subtle, such as how a boss might talk to an employee
*example: ‘You finished those reports, right?’

FARTHER vs. FURTHER
FARTHER - when something is physically more distant, like California being farther from New York than Ohio is
FURTHER - figurative term used to progress something, such as furthering a plan
*how to remember: think of the word ‘far’ and if the thing being described is in terms of distance or cannot physically be measured; if the former, it is farther

FRAUD vs. DEFRAUD
FRAUD - noun describing deception for personal gain, or the individual who is doing so
DEFRAUD - verb pertaining to the action described above

GENIUS vs. INGENIOUS
GENIUS - noun describing a person with great intellectual ability
*example: someone who can solve complex math problems in their head
INGENIOUS - adjective referring to a person or thing that is very clever
*example: MacGyver using everyday objects to escape situations

IDIOM vs. PROVERB/ADAGE/MAXIM vs. AXIOM vs. CLICHÉ
IDIOM - describes something in an unrealistic way
*example: Raining cats and dogs
*to remember, only an idiot would think an idiom was true
PROVERB/ADAGE/MAXIM - short, true statement used to explain a situation
*example: A penny saved is a penny earned
AXIOM – a statement that does not require further proof
*example: 2 + 2 = 4
CLICHÉ - noun describing any of the above or another word or phrase that is overused to the point of meaninglessness and/or annoyance
*to make the word an adjective, simply add a ‘d’- clichéd (French for ‘to click’)

INFAMOUS vs. NOTORIOUS
*fun fact- Notorious B.I.G.’s initials stood for Business Instead of Game
INFAMOUS - person or thing that is known because of bad reasons
*examples- serial killers, a restaurant with foul-tasting food
NOTORIOUS - can have a positive, negative, or even a neutral tone, though common usage leans toward the darker side but not quite bad enough for ‘infamy’
*think of notorious beginning with the same letters as noteworthy and use it more like a quirk
*example: actor Jack Nicholson is famous for starring in films such as Chinatown and The Shining but notoriously wears sunglasses indoors at awards shows, which is neither good nor bad but simply something he is known for

SHALL vs. WILL
SHALL should be used after first-person pronouns, such as I shall and we shall
WILL should be used after second- and third-person pronouns, such as you will and they will
*the contraction of will not is won’t instead of willn’t because an Old English phrase was woll not and (for an unknown reason) that has stuck through the centuries

THAN vs. THEN
THAN - used for comparison
*example: Eating a sandwich is more rewarding than murder
THEN - refers to time, specifically an event following another
*example- I am going to kill you in the face, then I will eat a sandwich

THAT vs. WHICH
THAT - used to define something, add necessary information to a sentence, and supply additional details; should be substituted with who or where whenever possible
*example- ‘The books that have blue covers are on the table’
*all the information in that sentence is relevant; those specific books are on the table
WHICH - can be removed from a sentence without affecting its meaning and is usually preceded by a comma
*example: ‘The books, which have blue covers, are on the table’
*knowing the colors of the covers was not necessary to understand the books are on the table

THERE vs. THEIR vs. THEY’RE
THERE refers to a location; over there, in there, up there
THEIR is possessive, because it belongs to them
THEY’RE is a contraction of the words ‘they’ and ‘are’
*if you see an apostrophe (‘), it must replace letters or signify ownership
*never use an apostrophe to pluralize something, including surnames

TYPICAL vs. STEREOTYPICAL
TYPICAL- a familiar and comfortable behavior, such as updating a blog
STEREOTYPICAL- a behavior someone assumes another partakes in, which may not be accurate
*from the Greek words ‘stereos’, meaning ‘firm’, and ‘typos’, meaning ‘impression’

USE vs. USAGE
USE - verb referring to the way something is employed
*example- you might use a pencil to stab someone in the face
USAGE - noun that describes how something works
*example- the common usage of a pencil is writing, not stabbing people in the face

YOUR vs. YOU’RE
YOUR is possessive, because it belongs to you
*example- I did it my way; you did it your way
YOU’RE is a contraction of ‘you’ and ‘are’
*example- when calling someone an idiot, use this one, or you’re gonna look like the idiot