"Emigrate" vs. "Immigrate"?

To emigrate is to leave your country to settle in another.

To immigrate is to enter a new country and settle there.

An example of how these words are used

My grandmother emigrated from France. She immigrated to the United Kingdom.

A couple of tricks to remember the difference

To immigrate is to enter a new country, and both “immigrant” and “in” start with the letter “i.”

To emigrate is to exit your country, and both “emigrate”and “exit” start with “e.”

What Do I.e. and E.g. Mean?

What Do I.e. and E.g. Mean?

I.e. and e.g. are both abbreviations for Latin terms. I.e. stands for id est and means roughly "that is." E.g. stands for exempli gratia, which means “for example.”

Great How am I supposed to remember all that Latin?

Fortunately you won’t have to, all you’ll need to remember is a simple memory trick.  

Don’t get hung up on what i.e. means in Latin, just concentrate on the letter i.e. starts with i and take this to mean “in other words.”

Use the same trick with e.g., which starts with e, means “for example.”

Another good trick is to use sound to help  your memory, e.g stands for  “egg sample” which sounds like “example.”  

How do I use i.e. and e.g. in a sentence?

E.g. means “for example,” so you can use it to introduce an example.

I like graphic novels, e.g., the walking dead and Y: the last man. I don’t have to provide an exhaustive list of every graphic novel I like, it’s a few examples.

I.e. means “in other words,” and is used to introduce  further clarification.

I love participating in triathlon sports, i.e., running, cycling and swimming. By using i.e., introduces a clarification, you know that these are the three sports in a triathlon.

Still confused? There’s no rule that says you must use the abbreviations. You can always write out “for example” or “in other words.”   

Dos and Don'ts

 

Do	Don’t
Use a period after each letter	Italicize i.e. and e.g., they’ve been used for so long that they’re consider English words, even though they are abbreviations of Latin words.
Put a comma after i.e. and e.g. (even if your spell checker disagrees) In British English a comma can be omitted after i.e. Fowler's Modern English Usage Speaking as Brit the comma seems to be gaining the upper hand, and using the comma is by far the safest option.

 

Affect vs. Effect

Affect vs. Effect

Whether to use affect or effect causes more confusion than almost any other point of grammar.  Luckily the rules are simple and the exceptions few. So I have cartoons and mnemonics to help you remember.

What is the difference between affect and effect?

It’s simple really.   Most of the time you use affect with an a as a verb and effect with an e as a noun.

Here is a mnemonic to help you remember that affect with an a is a verb and effect with an e is a noun; a very easy noun.

When should affect be used?

There are two ways in which affect with an a is used:

1.       Where it means “to change,” as in, “the arrow affected the mammoth.”

2.       Affect can also be used to mean “fake  behaviour,”  “She affected a southern accent.”

When should effect be used?

Effect with an e has a lot of  meanings as a noun, however the two most common meaning are, “a result” and  “belonging”

1.       The most frequent meaning of effect with an e is “a result.”  For example “The effect was eye-popping.”

2.       The next most frequent meaning of effect with an e is “belonging,” this is usually plural as if you only had one thing it would most likely be named. For example “Please gather your personal effects.”

 

Exceptions?

In Psychology you can’t tell what someone else is feeling, you can only observe what they appear to feeling. So Psychologist find it useful to use affect with an a as a noun.

Effect with an e can be used as a verb where it can be taken to mean,  "to bring about," or "to accomplish." For example, "The mayor hoped to effect change within the city."

Loose or lose?

Lose

Lose is a verb.

Lose has three possible meanings:

• to "misplace" something,
• to "fail to win," or
• to "be deprived of" something.

The past tense of lose is lost.

A memory aid for Lose

• The single "o" isn’t enough to win.

 Loose

Loose, is an adjective.

Loose has two possible meanings:

• "not fastened," or
• "not tight fitting."

A memory aid for Loose

• The two "o's" of loose hold too much space as when a shirt is a few sizes too large.

 

It's or is it Its?

It's or is it Its?

Many are confused by these two little words, I hope you find the guide below helpful. 

 

What to remember

It's is a contraction for it is or it has.

Its is a possessive pronoun meaning, more or less, of it or belonging to it.

What to avoid

There is no such word as its'.

Guide it’s vs. its

Examples

It's been good. Contraction: it has
Look, up in the sky! It's a bird. It's a plane. It's Superman! Contraction: it is

Alot, a lot and Allot

Alot, a lot and Allot 

The words alot, a lot and allot cause a great deal of confusion.

What is the difference between a lot, alot  and allot?

It’s simper really. ‘alot’ the word does not exist.

'A lot' means a large amount or many things.

'To allot' means to distribute something or assign a task.

 

 

When should a lot be used?

There are two ways that “a lot” can be used:

As an noun, 'a lot' means a large amount. For example “I have a lot of potatoes to peel.”

As an adverb, ‘a lot’ means many things or much. For example “A lot depends on the condition of the pitch.”

When should allot be used?

The verb 'to allot' means 'to give out', 'to distribute', or 'to assign'

Other forms of the verb you will come across are allots, allotted and allotting.

·         I will allot one map to each group.

·         One map will be allotted to each group.

·         I will be allotting the new uniforms to you, starch will not be allotted in future and will not be used.