Conventions of Composition Rule 220

Rule: You haven't used the most effective word to express your idea. As a paraphrase of the great thinker and swordsman, Inigo Montoya, I do not think this word means what you think it means.

Note: The word unique means one of a kind, individual. It cannot take modifiers.

Note: The word literally means actually, in fact, physically true.

Note: People often confuse the following verbs. The first in each pair is intransitive, the second transitive: lie/lay, sit/set, wait/await.

Examples:

Wrong: I really hope I get excepted at my first choice college.

Better: I hope I get accepted at my first choice college.

Wrong: He could feel the affects of the hike on his very first day on the trail.

Better: He could feel the effects of the hike on his first day on the trail.

Wrong: I literally am drowning in homework.

Better: I have more homework to do than I have time to do it all.

Practice:

1. My teacher found alot of mistakes in my paragraph, but she read farther then I thought she would.

2. Hopefully, he didn't just infer something mean to me.

3. We have less hours to get threw this activity, but if you loose track of time, than we can explain how we use to do things.

4. I just need to jump in the shower then lay down for ten minutes before I'll be ready to go.

5. I should of told Caleb and Sophie about the mistake I made rather then try and cover it up.

Resources for further explanations of commonly confused words:

Grammarly's Top 30 Commonly Confused Words

Oxford Living Dictionary's Commonly Confused Words