A lot or Alot? ppsx

A lot should be written as two words.. Although a lot is used informally to mean "a large number" or "many," avoid using a lot in formal writing.. According to The Oxford Dictionary of

A lot or Alot?

A lot should be written as two words Although a lot is used informally to

mean "a large number" or "many," avoid using a lot in formal writing Example: "The crook had many (not a lot of) chances to rob the stranger."

A or An?

According to The Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style, "The

indefinite article a is used before words beginning with a consonant sound, including /y/ and /w/ sounds The other form, an, is used before words

beginning with a vowel sound Hence, a European country, a Ouija board, a uniform, an FBI agent, an MBA degree, an SEC filing Writers on usage formerly disputed whether the correct article is a or an with historian,

historic, and a few other words The traditional rule is that if the h- is

sounded, a is the proper form Most people following that rule would say a

historian and a historic e.g.:'Democrat Bill Clinton appears within reach of

capturing the White House in Tuesday's election, but Republicans hope that

late momentum, can enable President Bush to win a historic upset' (Dallas

Morning News) Even H.W Fowler, in the England of 1926, advocated a

before historic(al) and humble (MEU1)

The theory behind using an in such a context, however, is that the h- is very

weak when the accent is on the second rather than the first syllable (giving

rise, by analogy, to an habitual offender, an humanitarian, an hallucinatory image, and an harassed schoolteacher) Thus no authority countenances

an history[emphasis added], though a few older ones prefer an historian

and an historical

Today, however, an hypothesis and an historical are likely to strike readers

and listeners as affectations As Mark Twain once wrote, referring to

humble, heroic, and historical: 'Correct writers of the American language do

not put an before those words' (The Stolen White Elephant,1882) Anyone who sounds the h- in such words should avoid pretense and use a (Garner 1)

Accept or Except?

Accept is a verb meaning "to receive" or "to approve." Example: "I accept

your offer of the book." Except is a verb meaning "to leave out" or "to

exclude." Example: "He excepted all Corvettes from his list of favorite cars." Except can also be a preposition meaning "excluding" or "leaving out." Example: "He liked everything on the plate except the liver."