1. Who/Whom
Use who with he/she
Use Whom with him/her
2. Nor
Nor follows neither and
or follows either.
3. Affect/Effect
Affect is mostly used as a verb and
Effect is mostly used as a noun.
“An affect (verb) causes an effect (noun).”
4. Hanged/Hung
Hanged only refers to the type of execution that strangles and breaks someones neck.
Hung is the past participle of Hang.
“I hung a picture on my wall.”
5. Me/I
Should I use “Him and I,” or “Him and me.”
A good rule is that the sentence should still make sense if you take the other person out of the sentence.
“He doesn’t care much about my brother and me.” This still works as:
“He doesn’t care much about me.”
6. Loose/Lose
I don’t like the spelling of these words as they seem backwards to me.
Loose means not tight.
Lose means you don’t know where it is at the moment.
7. Fewer/Less
If you can count it then use fewer, although if it is uncountable then use less.
“I have less tea in my cup and fewer biscuits.”
8. Alright/All Right
Alright—THIS IS NOT A WORD, DO NOT USE IT.
I have used Alright in an assignment and got the response that it’s archaic.
9. Ultimate
If you take the word to the letter “Ultimate,” it actually means the last one. So—”The ship Titanic sank on its ultimate voyage.”
Advice—Do not call big events in anyones life “An ultimate day in ones life,” unless of course it was the last day of someones life and a tragedy.
10. Then/Than
Use Than when comparing
“My home is warmer than yours.”
With everything else use ‘Then.’
Crime Fiction: Hardboiled Detective 