"Which" or "That"

There is a tendency these days for people to use the word "which" in place of "that". This is another grammatical mistake that comes about because schools are not teaching sentence structure. Some of the worst offenders are BBC news reporters and announcers. Is it also more prevalent in the the South of England? It does seem to me to be the case. I don't know whether or not the people who make this mistake in speech make the same mistake when writing.

The word "which" is used after a comma to start a phrase or a clause that is supplementary to the sentence. The phrase or clause also ends with a comma. If the whole phrase or clause is removed from the sentence, the sentence still makes sense.

An example: "The house, which is soon to be demolished, is unoccupied." This is referring to a specific house.

The word "that" is used to start a phrase or clause to complete a description of a noun. There is no comma before "that". If the phrase or clause that follows "that" is removed, the sentence is broken and makes no sense.

An example: "The house that is to be demolished is unoccupied." This also refers to a specific house but implies that there are occupied houses that are to remain.

This is incorrect: "The house which is to be demolished is unoccupied."

This is incorrect: "The house, that is to be demolished, is unoccupied."

Use Online Resources for Grammar and Spelling Help

If you are confused by English grammar and spelling, once you appreciate the importance of getting it right in published material, you will find there are endless resources available online to help you. If you are not sure about something, enter a Google search and you are sure to find the answer. Some Tips: To check the spelling or meaning of a word, just enter define: before the word in a Google search. For example define:compliment. If you are not sure whether to use "compliment" or "complement", just search for "compliment or complement".

"Anyway" or "Any way"

This is another example - like "every day" and "everyday" - where both are correct when used in the right context.

These are correct:

He would try to fix it in any way he could.

It didn't matter much anyway.

Anyway, let's get on with the job in hand.

Any way you choose to travel will get you there in the end.

Anyway, if you choose to travel by bus, it will be a slower journey.

More joined up words that shouldn't be

Some more words that seem to be creeping into the language.

We've already covered "alot", which should always be "a lot".
"alittle" - yes, I've just seen that one! - should be "a little".

"Lose" or "Loose"?

There seems to be increasing confusion about which word to use. I have seen "loosing time" and similar phrases used. It should be "losing time". The word "loose" should only be used for the opposite of "tight". The confusion comes about because of the way the word sounds. Like many English words, the spelling is not phonetic: it isn't spelt the way it sounds.

Incorrectly joined up words

"Every day / Everyday" is just one of many examples of words that are often joined up when they shouldn't be. Others are joined together when they should never be. You will not find these words in any English dictionary:

"aswell" should be "as well"
"incase" should be "in case"
"alot" should be "a lot"

The dreaded apostrophe s

The apostrophe s ('s and s') is a big problem area for an increasing number of people. There is so much misuse of it that even people who have previously been comfortable with it are starting to doubt themselves. It seems to be used incorrectly almost as often as it is used correctly!

There are two purposes of the apostrophe s:

1. to replace the words is or has

The man's going to work
The man's had a bad day

2. to denote possession

When something belongs to one person or thing (singular):

The boy's coat
The town's mayor
The car's engine
The tenant's garage

When something belongs to two or more people or things (plural):

The boys' coats (More than one boy, each with a coat)
The cars' tyres (The tyres on more than one car)
The tenants' garages (More than one tenant; more than one garage)

Or when a single item belongs to more than one person or thing:

The boys' boat (More than one boy; one boat)
The tenants' garage (More than one tenant; one garage)

To be continued...

It's or Its?

This seems to be the one that confuses more people than any other. Many people seems to guess at which one to use and are often not even consistent within a document they are writing.

It's is used to replace It is or It has.

There is no other use for it so, if you can't replace It's with It is or It has, it's its!

It's a lovely day is correct.

Its a lovely day is incorrect.

Its coat was shiny is correct.

It's coat was shiny is incorrect.

Everyday or Every day?

I get quite upset by the incorrect use of words and phrase in written English these days so I thought I'd try to do something to bring attention to the errors and possibly encourage people to raise their standards.

I'm not talking about changing to a more academic style of language but just cutting out the common errors that are increasingly creeping in.

The first example is the use of everyday in place of every day and vice versa.

Like most of the errors I will be covering here, the rule for deciding on which to use is simple:

Everyday as one word means "common or garden" or things we use every day such as bread and milk. In technical terms it is an adjective - a word that adds further meaning to a noun.

"I buy everyday items at the corner shop."

For any other use the correct version is every day.

"I buy my milk from the corner shop every day."


So, usage such as "The best prices everyday" is incorrect; it should be "The best prices every day."

I'm sure a lot of people don't have the slightest concern about this but I believe it is important. Please feel free to submit your comments of support or ridicule!