Troublesome Words
A
Affect/effect |
Injecting ascorbic acid may affect his recovery In the drug-treatment group, constipation, headache and nausea were the most commonly reported adverse effects |
Among / between |
There were no differences among the three treatments studied |
B
Both |
Patients reported both headaches and nausea ‘Patients reported both headaches, nausea and dizziness’ would be wrong |
C
Compared with / compared to |
Shall I compare thee to a bunch of grapes? Oasis have often been compared to Blur The low-fat diet was compared with the high-fat diet Plasma glucose levels in Quartile 1 were comparable to those in Quartile 2 |
D
Due to |
|
Case, patient |
|
Dependant / dependent |
|
F
Fewer / less |
|
Former / latter |
|
I
Included |
|
L
Led / lead |
|
Licence / license |
|
M
May / might |
|
N
Neither / nor |
|
P
Practice / Practise |
|
T
That / which |
|
U
Utilise / usage | In its strictest sense, utilise means to make the best use of something that wasn’t intended for the job (‘He utilised a coat hanger to repair his car’). It can be legitimately extended to mean making the most practical use of something (‘Although the hills were steep, the rice farmers utilised every square inch of the land’), but in all other senses ‘use’ is better |