What is the Difference Between “Hear” and “Listen”?

To “hear” means to receive sounds through our ears (without effort) while to “listen” means to make an effort to hear something. Hearing is involuntary and mechanical (it just happens); listening  is voluntary (a choice) and requires skill, practice and commitment. Check out how hear and listen are used correctly:

A: Did you hear what Vanessa told Feona? B: Not a word. I was too far from them to hear anything.

A: Can you hear me? B: Please turn up your microphone. I can’t hear you from here.

A: Listen to Cecille. She has a point. B: I won’t listen to her lies anymore.

When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.

Listen is often followed by the preposition “to“; hear is never followed by this preposition. Examine more examples:

A: Did you hear that? Cely is leaving Mar. B: Ohh.. That’s horrible. Do you often listen to their conversations?

A. Did you hear them play Celine’s new song on 99.9? B. No. I don’t listen to radio programs.

What is the Difference Between “Elicit” and “Illicit”?

“Elicit” is always a verb meaning to bring about or deduce; “illicit“ is an adjective that means unlawful. These two words sound very similar that even professional journalists incorrectly interchange them, as shown below:

Incorrect: The citation of contempt against private prosecutor Vitaliano Aguirre has illicited debates among the spectating public.
Correct: The citation of contempt against private prosecutor Vitaliano Aguirre has elicited debates among the spectating public.

Remember to use “elicit” if you intend to evoke something.  Meanwhile, use “illicit” to describe something illegal. Carefully observe how these words are used in the following sentences:

The teacher’s questions elicited no response from her sleepy students.
Tina was confident that her proposal will elicit a positive response.
His distrustful attitude often elicits disagreement.

The global illicit drugs market is enormous, estimated at some $320 billion.
Many Irish seek illicit encounters through online dating sites.
He made a documentary film about illicit antiquities trade.

How to Use “Majority” Correctly?

‘Majority‘ is a noun that can be either singular or plural. Use a plural verb after ’majority’ when you mean a collection of individuals; use a singular verb after ‘majority’ when you refer to it as a group. Here are some examples:

Majority as Singular

In the trial of all capital offences a majority of the court, at least, is required to be present.
Any majority holds to the right of direct State interference at State discretion.
A majority of the people elects the House of Representatives, but it does not elect the Senate.

Majority as Plural
The vast majority of prostitutes have been driven to that terrible fate by economic causes outside their control.
That a great majority of her people are opposed to the tariff laws, is doubtless true.
A great majority of the people are satisfied with the bank as it is, and desirous that it should be continued.

Remember that ‘majority‘ should only be used to refer to a number of things or people (i.e. countable nouns), but not to an amount (i.e. uncountable nouns). Examine these sentences:

Incorrect: Vicky ate majority of the cake I bought for Ana.
Correct: Vicky ate most of the cake I bought for Ana.

How to Report a Speech Clearly?

Good writers are careful about how they use the third person (i.e.  he, she, & they). The use of he or she applying to different persons often causes ambiguity. Note these examples:

Ms. Gram said she had never undermined Ms. Reyes when she was CEO and had never been disloyal. (It’s unclear who was the CEO.)

“I had never undermined Ms. Reyes when I was CEO and I had never been disloyal”, said Ms. Gram.

Mr. Romney said while he was fighting to save the Olympics, he was fighting to save the ‘Bridge to Nowhere’.

“While I was fighting to save the Olympics, you were fighting to save the ‘Bridge to Nowhere,’ ” Mr. Romney said.

As the foregoing examples pointed out, it is clearer to report a speech in the first, not the third person. However, when the writer cannot know the exact words or if the exact words are unimportant, or lengthy and uninteresting, the third person is preferable. Check out these sentences:

 He explained that he had done so because of its importance to the general manager. (The exact words are uninteresting.)

She said she was doing a story and she wanted to finish it and it was important and she would come out” on Wednesday. (Maybe the exact words are not known or they are lengthy.)

 

When Is It Wrong to Use “Above”?

Above is commonly used as a preposition but there is very little authority for using this word as an adjective. Despite this fact, above is still inelegantly used to refer to something previously mentioned in writing. It is better to use foregoing in these instances:

Inelegant: Name any particular cause of failure from which you have suffered that has been included in the above list.
Better: Name any particular cause of failure from which you have suffered that has been included in the foregoing list.

Inelegant: Knowledge may be acquired from any of the above-mentioned sources.
Better: Knowledge may be acquired from any of the foregoing sources.

Inelegant: The above sentence is worth reading a second time, a third and a fourth!
Better: The foregoing sentence is worth reading a second time, a third and a fourth!

It is also a common sin to use above for more than and beyond. Check out below examples:

“The round traveled above a mile.” should be “The round traveled more than or over a mile.”

“Some stocks are worth above a thousand dollars per share.” should be “Some stocks are worth over a thousand dollars per share.”

“It’s above my strength” can be cured by using beyond instead of above.

How to Use “Only” Correctly?

The modifier “only” should be carefully used. To speak or write clearly, “only“ must be placed before the word it affects.  According to the position of only, the same words may be made to express very different meanings. Check out below sentences.

1. Only Mike beat five. (It means nobody else beat five but Mike.)

Only Martha could solve the chess puzzle.
 Only Sidney is able to unlock the computer.
Only Jill came to my birthday party last night.

2. Mike only beat five. (He did not do anything else (i.e. kill) but beat.)

He only checked his emails and left.
Thelma only said “hi” and went straight to her room.
We were only looking at the accessories.

3. Mike beat only five. (He beat no more than five persons.)

Sandy reads only magazines.
Mark played only badminton.
Please pay only in coins.

Meanwhile, only at the beginning of a sentence has the same meaning as alone. This structure can be ambiguous so make sure to put emphasis or explain further what you meant. Consider below examples:

Only Clara approved the motion. (Stress the word ‘Clara’ as you say this to emphasize that she alone agreed with the motion.)
Only eleven came to her bridal shower. (A few more guests would have been better.

At times, only is improperly used for except or unless. Carefully look at below statements:

Incorrect: The trains will not stop only when the bell rings.
Correct: The trains will not stop except when the bell rings.
Incorrect: Knowledge will not attract money, only it is organized and intelligently directed.
Correct: Knowledge will not attract money, unless it is organized and intelligently directed.

How to Use “For”?

For is a preposition mainly used to express one’s purpose, as shown in the following examples:

Yoruzuya will do anything for money.
He has been training rigorously for the tournament.
Each kid has their own back pack containing their food for the trip.

When for is followed by persons or animals, it means they are the intended recipient. Consider these sentences:

Susie bought a trap for the pesky mice.
Thelma made a gorgeous wedding gown for her sister.

At times we see for after verbs like run, set out, start, head, and leave, to express intended destination. Examine below sentences:

My boss left for Canada.
The band set out for their Asian tour at the start of April 2011.

Less frequently,  for is used to express a motive or psychological cause, similar to the meaning of the phrase out of. Check out below sentences:

She broke up with her boyfriend, for fear of what her parents would say.
Unpaid Sri Lankan cricketers were playing for love of the game.

Expressions like for nothing and for free are commonly used in informal conversations. See more examples:

A gentleman offered to fix my car for nothing.
He gave me a pair of shoes for free.

 

Can You Replace ‘Of Which’ with ‘Whose’?

In possessive relative clauses involving people and objects , choosing between ‘of which‘ and ‘whose‘ seems tricky. Do not hesitate to use ‘whose‘ to replace ‘of which‘. They have the same function if we take the idiomatic meaning of ‘whose’.  Check out below sentences:

Of Which 

Australia is one of those countries of which capital is not their largest city. (lengthy)
Like a city of which walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control.
He knows how to ignore an error of which effects are minor.

Whose

Australia is one of those countries whose capital is not their largest city. (concise)
Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control.
He knows how to ignore an error whose effects are minor.

As seen above, ‘whose’ even sounds clearer, shorter and more natural than ‘of which‘. Do not be hampered by the rule that whose cannot refer to things. Here are more examples:

It’s a telephone company whose lines extended from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
Belgium was one quaking peril, an inferno, whose torturers were Spaniards.

What is the Difference Between ‘Impractical’ and ‘Impracticable’?

If a project, a task or a plan is ‘impractical‘, it can be done but it is not certain if it is worth the time or effort. Meanwhile, we say that something is ‘impracticable‘ if it cannot be carried out at all, no matter how hard you try. Take a look at below examples:

Underwater cities are impracticable because human beings are incapable of living like fish.
Nature dislikes impracticable constructions such as underwater and sky-floating cities.
Some researchers believe that it was impractical to teach oral language skills.
A 45,000-tonne ship would require at least 150 anchors for support, making it impractical to work around it.

A person can be described as impractical, but he can never be called impracticable. If someone cannot deal efficiently or effectively with practical matters, especially finances, he is impractical. Check out the following sentences:

Incorrect: Stella is a dreamy and impracticable teenager who thinks of nothing but dating the hottest boy in her class.
Correct: Stella is a dreamy and impractical teenager who thinks of nothing but dating the hottest boy in her class.

When to Use ‘Say’ Instead of ‘Tell’?

‘Say‘ and ‘tell‘ are both used as reporting verbs.  It is common to use “tell” if we want to mention the speaker and the listener. It is not common to name the listener when we use “say.” Remember to use to after ‘say‘ when naming the listener but never use this preposition after ‘tell‘. Look at below examples:

She (speaker) told us (listeners) that she’s turning 20 next month. [frequent]

She (speaker) said to us (listeners) that she’s turning 20 next month.[rare]

‘Say‘ is often used for greetings, farewells, polite phrases and giving yes-no responses. Meanwhile, we use ‘tell‘ for facts, and information. Check out below sentences:

Say

She said goodbye first.
He moistened his lips once and said yes.
He distinctly said that I was to come alone and be prompt.

Tell

I’ve told the boss that something ought to be done.
Eric told us what he had learned during the morning session.
Our professor told us that Socrates died by drinking a hemlock-based liquid.