At the risk of stating the obvious, there is no single, universally accepted set of rules for English usage. Each writer, editor, and publisher must determine which rules make the most sense for a given subject matter, audience, and medium. What works for a novel may be inappropriate for a newspaper; what a literary magazine deems correct may be unsuitable for a technical book.

For Interesting Thing of the Day, we encourage a relaxed, friendly, and non-academic style. We employ no grammar police; on the contrary, we recognize that rules must sometimes be sacrificed on the altar of readability. Nevertheless, sloppy writing does not serve our readers’ interests. Conscious subversion of stodgy grammatical rules is one thing; making an outright mistake is another. Our guiding principle as to which rules may be broken and which may not can be summarized as follows: Avoid distracting the reader. A misspelled word is a distraction, as is a sentence worded awkwardly just to keep a preposition from appearing at the end. Although different readers find different things distracting, we are less concerned with distracting literary critics and English professors than ordinary (if well-educated and sophisticated) readers.

Because our articles also appear in audio form, a second principle is: Write in a way that sounds natural when spoken. Writers of speeches, sermons, and scripts invariably adopt a different style from writers of magazine articles. We aim for a happy medium—writing that appears natural in print without sounding awkward when read aloud.

Given these principles, here are the guidelines—not rules—we ask our authors to follow.

General

active voice

Sentences written in the active voice are usually shorter, clearer, and easier to read than sentences in the passive voice. (Compare “He ate the apple” with “The apple was eaten by him.”) Although we generally prefer the use of active voice, passive voice is a legitimate, important, and often necessary construction, perfectly valid if used carefully and in moderation: “I am relieved to hear that news.” Also, remember that not every instance of a “be” verb signals passive voice—“The cat is on the mat” is active; so is “To be or not to be—that is the question.”

currency

Because the term dollar refers to different amounts of money in different parts of the world, always specify the nationality on its first use: US$500, Can$500, A$500. (And note that in this context, periods are not required after U and S; see initials.) However, when expressing values in currencies other than the U.S. dollar, please include an approximate equivalent: £150 (about US$265), EUR (or €)150 (about US$180).

diacritical marks

Please include all appropriate accents on words of foreign origin: résumé, naïve, façade, and so on. You should omit the diacritical marks, however, on fully anglicized words such as hotel (from the French hôtel).

English variants

Conventions of spelling and usage differ among American English (AmE), British English (BrE), Canadian English (CanE), and other regional forms of the language. For example, BrE and CanE use the spellings colour and favour for what would be color and favor in American English. On the other hand, AmE and CanE both use among and while where BrE uses amongst and whilst. North Americans also tend to use singular verbs for inherently plural subjects such as team, company, or church, whereas speakers of BrE most often use plural verbs. Countless other differences exist, including vocabulary not widely understood outside a particular geographical region.

We encourage writers to use dialect-neutral language where feasible. We do not ask writers outside the United States to conform to AmE spellings and usage. However, to avoid distracting readers with what they may otherwise consider mistakes, we ask that non-AmE writers identify (implicitly or explicitly) the brand of English they’ve chosen to use—for example, “…the colour of the sky over my grandfather’s farm in Saskatchewan…” or “Author J. Smith lives in Melbourne, Australia.”

gender-neutral writing

Some people take offense at the use of masculine pronouns to stand for people of either gender. We wish to avoid offending readers; we also wish to avoid distracting readers by working around the problem with unnatural phrasing. The problem has no single solution. In a few limited contexts, the use of them or they as a makeshift gender-neutral singular pronoun works moderately well: “If anyone calls for me, tell them I’m out.” But in most cases this usage still sounds incorrect to educated ears. Combining pronouns (he or she, his or her) works now and then, but overuse of such phrases impedes readability—as does excessive use of one or one’s. The other usual foils are substituting plural pronouns and antecedents, alternating masculine and feminine pronouns throughout a piece, and rewriting a sentence to avoid pronouns altogether. Do not use exclusively feminine pronouns (substituting one gender bias for another) or employ typographical tactics such as s/he or he/she.

infinitives, split

To religiously avoid splitting infinitives is to blindly follow dubious grammatical advice. In many cases, writing is clearer when infinitives are kept together, but equally often, clarity decreases. Compare “The lawyer was able to fully exonerate the unjustly imprisoned man” with “The lawyer was able fully to exonerate the unjustly imprisoned man,” “The lawyer was able to exonerate fully the unjustly imprisoned man,” and “The lawyer was able to exonerate the unjustly imprisoned man fully.” Only the first example sounds natural.

measurements

When using a unit of length, mass, volume, or temperature, you should generally include both U.S. (or Imperial) and metric/SI measurements. In most cases, use the system you’re most familiar with and follow with the alternative rendering in parentheses, rounding if appropriate: 100°C (212°F); 2 inches (5 cm). We sometimes break this rule (usually with preference to metric measurements) when the context makes the approximate scale clear, or when multiple measurements severely impair readability.

negative statements

Where possible, put statements in positive form—say what something is rather than what it is not. For instance, compare “This is not the right way to do things” with “This is the wrong way to do things.”

numerals

Spell out numbers up through ten; use numerals for 11 and above. However, spell out numbers beginning sentences, and use numerals for units of measure (3 miles).

prepositions, ending sentences with

Prepositions are perfectly acceptable words to end sentences with. The so-called “rule” against ending sentences with prepositions is a superstition we find no merit in.

verbing nouns

The modern trend of using nouns as verbs makes English harder for readers to process. It also betrays laziness or lack of skill in choosing words. Two of the most egregious examples of nouns misused as verbs are dialogue and impact. Bad: “I want to dialogue with you,” “This delay impacts our schedule.” Better: “I want to talk (or have a dialogue) with you,” “This delay affects (or has an impact on) our schedule.” Another way of verbing nouns is to add a suffix such as -ize (dollarize, monetize, incentivize). Avoid using these trendy neologisms.

Conversely, use verbs instead of derived nouns (e.g., use or violate rather than utilization or violation) wherever you can. For example, compare “I’ll explain the utilization of this projector” with “I’ll explain how to use this projector.”

Punctuation

commas

Use a comma before the or or and at the end of a series (paperclips, pencils, and staplers; fold, spindle, or mutilate).

Set off reported speech using a comma (He said, “Stop!”) However, avoid the common error of placing a comma before everything in quotation marks, speech or not. For example, you should not use a comma here: He called his sled “Rosebud.”

dashes

Use an em dash (—) to set off a parenthetical remark. Use an en dash (–) for a numerical range (“ages 25–33”) or as a substitute for the word to or versus (“the HTML–XML conversion,” “the Bush–Kerry debate”). Use a hyphen (-) for compound words or phrasal adjectives (“willy-nilly,” “smog-reduction strategy”). Also use a hyphen after prefixes for newly coined words (non-programmer, out-type)—though not for words that already appear in the dictionary (nonprofit, outwit).

initials

When writing the initials of a proper name, include periods but do not put a space between the initials: J.W. Kissell, J.R.R. Tolkein, U.S. Senate, L.A. Times. See also currency.

quotation marks

Where feasible, typographers’ quotation marks (“ ” ‘ ’) are used. We ask North American authors to follow the convention of placing periods and commas inside quotation marks, while placing exclamation points and question marks outside the quotation marks unless part of the reported speech.

spaces

Use only one space between sentences.

Word Usage

actually

The word actually has become somewhat clichéd; in most cases, it has little or no meaning. If possible, choose a different word.

A.D., B.C.

Use uppercase (or small caps where typographically feasible); always include periods. A.D. precedes dates, whereas B.C. follows them: 1200 B.C., but A.D. 1312. You may use C.E. and B.C.E. in place of A.D. and B.C., respectively, if you prefer.

advance, advanced

When used as an adjective, advance means “ahead of time” or “in front”: “The reviewer received an advance copy of the new book.” The word advanced, on the other hand, means “far along” or “highly developed”: “This is an advanced prototype of a drug to treat advanced stages of cancer.”

affect, effect

The word effect, when used as a verb, means roughly (and paradoxically) “cause,” as in “The new management will effect much-needed policy changes.” The verb affect, on the other hand, means “influence,” as in “Cloudy days affect my mood.”

a lot, alot

Use two words: a lot. But use them sparingly; this expression has little meaning.

already, all ready

Already is an adverb meaning “by this time,” as in “There was nothing we could do, as he was already dead.” The adjective phrase all ready means “completely prepared,” as in “After the soup has simmered for an hour, we’ll be all ready to serve dinner.”

all right, alright

Use two words: all right. (The conflated form is due to confusion with the word already.)

a.m., p.m.

When typographically feasible, use small capitals; otherwise, use lowercase (unlike A.D./B.C., which are uppercase when small capitals are unavailable). Always include periods.

anxious, eager

When you are anxious, you feel anxiety. When you are eager, you are impatient. Although the two feelings often coincide, one can be eager without being anxious: “I’m eager to try out my new running shoes.” Therefore, use anxious only when you want to indicate unease.

author

Use only as a noun. The action an author performs is write, compose, or create. See also verbing nouns.

business jargon

Many of the expressions that have found their way into everyday speech in the context of business make little sense (or, worse, cause confusion) in any other setting. If you would use an expression in a corporate meeting but not when speaking to a family member, chances are it’s business jargon. Some of these expressions, which we urge you to avoid, are:

• actionable: This word has a specific legal meaning, but you frequently hear it misused to mean “able to be acted upon,” as in “He had only vague ideas, not an actionable strategy.”
• around in the sense of “about” or “concerning”: “We did some brainstorming around product names.”
• dollarize: To express in financial terms
• going forward in the sense of “from now on”: “We will be instituting a new dress code going forward.”
• grow in the sense of “expand”: “I hired a new manager to grow our ecommerce business.”
• space in the sense of “sector,” “field,” or “area”: “The publisher wants to focus on the ebook space.”

See also product, verbing nouns.

compose, comprise

Compose means “make up,” while comprise means “include.” Thus, beer is composed of water, malt, hops, and yeast; a BLT sandwich comprises bacon, lettuce, and tomato. (You could also say that bacon, lettuce, and tomato constitute a BLT sandwich or that a BLT sandwich consists of bacon, lettuce, and tomato.) The expression comprised of is always incorrect.

different, differently

The word different usually takes the preposition from, at least in AmE (to is more common in BrE). Thus: “A pomelo is different from a grapefruit,” not “A pomelo is different than a grapefruit.” However, than may be used when the object of the preposition is a clause: “You march to a different drummer than I do.” The same rule applies to differently: “Paolo makes pizza dough differently from stromboli dough,” but “Giulio makes pizza dough differently than Paolo does.”

e.g., i.e.

The abbreviation e.g., for the Latin exempli gratia, means “for example”; i.e. (id est) means “that is.” Be careful not to use i.e. when you mean e.g.—and always follow these abbreviations with a comma. In text that will be read aloud, spell out for example (or for instance) or that is.

enamored

Think of enamored as synonymous with fond; both terms take the preposition of. Never say “enamored with.”

fun

Fun is a noun: “We had fun at the beach.” You may use it as a predicate nominative—“Skiing is fun”—but not as an adjective: “That was a fun party.”

hopefully

Use hopefully only when you mean “with hope,” as in “Upon seeing the test results, the doctor smiled hopefully.” Avoid using hopefully as a sentence adverb to mean “I hope that” or “it is to be hoped that,” as in “Hopefully, the market still has some baguettes.”

infer, imply

To infer is to draw a conclusion; to imply is to suggest. Thus: “She was able to infer the presence of a black hole from the orbital patterns of nearby planets,” but “The orbital patterns of these planets imply the presence of a black hole.”

insure, ensure

To ensure is to make sure; to insure is to provide financial coverage in case of loss. Thus: “Ensure that the door is closed,” but “I want to insure my business against theft (in case someone leaves the door open).”

internet, Internet

The distinction between a private internet (generic) and the public Internet (specific) is all but unknown outside highly technical circles, and in common usage the word has lost all sense of being a proper noun, so use lowercase: internet.

just

Used as an adjective (“fair,” “impartial,” “proper”), the word just is fine. The adverbial sense is overused, especially in certain contexts (the word is just fine). Avoid when possible.

like, such as

Like is a comparative conjunction; use it to indicate similarity: “Hickory is a hard wood like walnut.” If you want to provide examples, use such as, not like: “The salad contained fruits such as apples, oranges, and strawberries.”

loose, lose

That which is not tight is loose; the opposite of win is lose. Use loser, loses, losing when referring to someone or something that is lost; use looser, looses, loosing to refer to that something that is loose.

nauseated, nauseous

Nauseated means “experiencing nausea,” whereas nauseous means “causing nausea”—in other words, offensive or loathsome. If you feel a queasy sensation in your stomach, you are nauseated; only if you cause other people to be ill are you nauseous.

OK, okay

Always use OK—uppercase, no periods. Even granting that the O and K do not individually stand for anything and therefore do not consitute an initialism, okay has an even worse pedigree as a spelling for this term than OK does. The spelling okay amounts to hypercorrection, as well as drawing an unnecessary distinction between the common usage of the term and its use in, for example, software. Exception: Okay is, weirdly enough, the name of a town in Oklahoma: Okay, OK.

only

To avoid confusion, place the word only as close as possible to the word or phrase it modifies. For example, instead of saying, “You only need to press the button once,” say, “You need to press the button only once.”

percent

In reported speech, spell out the word percent; otherwise, use the symbol %, which usually makes the meaning more readily apparent.

product

Businesses and stylists like to use product as a mass noun: “We have a warehouse full of product” or “You need to use some product on your hair.” Instead, use the proper plural products, add a modifier, or substitute a different (preferably, more specific) word: “We have a warehouse full of merchandise” or “We have a warehouse full of widgets” or “You need to use a styling product on your hair” or “You need to use some conditioner on your hair.” See also business jargon.

really

Use really in moderation; if possible, substitute a stronger or more interesting word.

since

Some older style guides decry the use of since to mean “because,” e.g., “Since all men are mortal, Socrates must be mortal.” Not so here: we consider this secondary sense of since perfectly valid. Watch, however, for temporal ambiguities: “Since it stopped raining, I’ve been working in the garden.” See also while.

there are, there is

Use these phrases sparingly. Though not ungrammatical, they tend to weaken (not to mention lengthen) a sentence—compare “There is nothing I wouldn’t give for some chocolate ice cream right now” with “I would give anything for some chocolate ice cream right now.” In some cases, though, there is makes a sentence less awkward: “There is still time to change your mind” sounds odd if reworded as “Time still exists to change your mind.”

US, U.S.

Include periods: U.S.

very

The word very is in the same class as really—an intensifier with little meaning. Find a more interesting alternative, or leave it out altogether.

web/Web, website/Website/web site/Web site

Most major style guides agree that the term Web, used on its own as a shortened form of World Wide Web, should be capitalized. However, things are less clear when it comes to the term for particular collections of content on the Web. Depending on which authority you consult, you may see a compelling case for any of these variants: Website, Web site, website, web site. The coined term website (with or without the capital W) seems to be a lazy conflation, a concession to a trendy habit of running words together. If the two words are going to be separate, though, it seems most consistent to keep Web capitalized all the time. Thus, use Web site; likewise, Web page, Web browser, and so on. On the other hand, use lowercase for the occupation webmaster.

while

While, like since, originally had only a temporal sense (Nero fiddled while Rome burned), but today is commonly used to mean “whereas” or “although,” e.g., “While I love apples, I dislike pears.” Contrary to the proclamations of many style guides, we accept this secondary use of while in moderation. But be careful to avoid temporal ambiguities, e.g., “While I do my own taxes, someone else mows my lawn.” See also since.