Grammar!

[Kale]

Commonly confused words!

illusive - producing, produced by, or based on illusion; deceptive or unreal. See illusory

elusive - difficult to capture or remember. See elude.

WRONG: The Imperials searched for the Jedi, but he remained illusive.
RIGHT: The Imperials searched for the Jedi, but he remained elusive.
RIGHT: The Imperials searched for Akkrabim, but he remained illusive, and they mistook him for a tree.

????: After months of fighting, victory proved illusive/elusive.

Either word could work, but the meaning would be different. Do you mean they still can't find a way to win after months of fighting? Use "elusive." Do you mean they believe they have won, but they've been deceived? You could use "illusive," but, to avoid confusion, why not "illusory"?




reign - a period of sovereign rule; to hold sovereign power. Intransitive.

rein - a part of a harness used to control an animal; to control using such a harness. Transitive.

Most people can separate the literal meaning easily enough; the most common problem is when you're using a metaphor: She reigned/reined in her anger, meaning she took control of her anger.

The metaphor is one of using reins to bring a powerful animal under control - like reining in a wild horse. To reign in your anger would be to rule over a country while angry.

RIGHT: Ever the calm Jedi Master, Navaria Tarkin reined in her anger.
RIGHT: Ever the maniacal despot, Tear reigned in his uncontrollable rage.


This has been your daily recommended dose of pedantry! If you experience stomach pain, swelling around the eyes, or the urge to kill someone with a dictionary, please consult a doctor immediately.

[Drin Kizael]

I know I screw up reign and rein all the time, since I catch it in editing. I didn't even know there was such a word as "illusive", though. Now that I do I'll bet I start screwing that one up too. Thanks. :P ;)

[Kale]

Always glad to help! ;)

As with most commonly confused words, it helps to think of the roots, or of related words. To elude is to escape, hence "elusive." A sovereign reigns, a reindeer is controlled by reins.

But whatever works for you is fine, should these illusory allusions prove elusive.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Grammar is important: Capitalization is the difference between helping your Uncle Jack off a horse & helping your uncle jack off a horse.

[Zeven Ekkel]

Wow, never heard that one before. :lol

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Intents and purposes, not intensive purposes :p




And I'm so guilty of the reign/rein problem too ^_^;

[Hugo Montegue]

Since we're raising the topic of linguistic nitpicking - is it worth pointing out that the rein/reign disparity is "semantics", not "grammar"? :mneh

Grammar is the study of sentence structure and so forth, whereas semantics is the study of meaning ...I think. :uhoh

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Oh you cheeky little bastard :p :hug

[Karl Valten]

Grammar is important: Capitalization is the difference between helping your Uncle Jack off a horse & helping your uncle jack off a horse.

Jenny, you have made my day. :lol

[Dasquian Belargic]

Well, in that case, it's a matter of syntax: how we combine and order words, correctly or otherwise, to form a sentence!

[Captain Untouchable]

Is it a matter of combining and ordering words, though, or just simply a case of using a word in the incorrect manner?

Your quote is certainly a syntax issue (with the capitalisation and all), but like with the infer/imply, illusive/elusive, affect/effect type examples, would that not be an issue relating to what the word means, rather than how it is being used?

There's a reason I didn't do A-Level English.

:cyduck

[Tear]

Is it a matter of combining and ordering words, though, or just simply a case of using a word in the incorrect manner?

Your quote is certainly a syntax issue (with the capitalisation and all), but like with the infer/imply, illusive/elusive, affect/effect type examples, would that not be an issue relating to what the word means, rather than how it is being used?

There's a reason I didn't do A-Level English.

:cyduck

|I

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

My brain is mush now >_<

[James Prent]

You used da wrong words dere. *points*

[Tionne Thanewulf]

Kale gave a perfectly good example over AIM today.

Vedrana(me) wishes to use another word for the verb touch, so she can be all snazzy as you native speakers. Vedrana abuses thesaurus.

Entry: touch
Part of Speech: verb
Definition: make physical contact
Synonyms: abut, adjoin, be in contact, border, brush, butt on, caress, come together, communicate, contact, converge, dab, examine, feel, feel up, finger, fondle, frisk, glance, graze, grope, handle, hit, impinge upon, inspect, join, kiss, lay a finger on, lick, line, manipulate, march, massage, meet, neighbor, osculate, palm, palpate, partake, pat, paw, percuss, pet, probe, push, reach, rub, scrutinize, sip, smooth, strike, stroke, suck, sweep, tag, tap, taste, thumb, tickle, tip, toy, verge

Wow, the diversity of English language... :lol
Instead of

bla bla bla Tionne touched Drin bla bla bla

She uses

1)bla bla bla Tionne fondled Drin bla bla bla

or

2)bla bla bla Tionne palpated Drin bla bla bla

I mean, you fondle your partner...and a doctor palpates your tonsils. :lol
So ------> http://www.merriam-webster.com/
=WIN

[Kale]

Since we're raising the topic of linguistic nitpicking - is it worth pointing out that the rein/reign disparity is "semantics", not "grammar"? :mneh

This is precisely the sort of pedantry up with which I shall not put.


Speaking of which: in English it's perfectly okay to end sentences with prepositions and to split infinitives!

Generations of English teachers have enforced these rules, which are based on Latin. The thinking goes that, since Latin was the language of scholars throughout much of Europe's history, we can elevate our language by making it more like Latin.

In Latin, like in all the Romance languages, infinitives are one word, so they're impossible to split. Similarly, the way Latin sentences are structured, it's impossible to have a preposition at the end.

But English has enough rules of its own without tacking on extras from dead languages. And to follow slavishly the Latinate rules can end up giving you some very awkward-sounding sentences.

Thus, unless you're trying to sound ultra-formal, it's perfectly okay to sometimes split infinitives, and as long as their object is understood, prepositions are perfectly good words to end sentences with!

[Captain Untouchable]

Richard Dean Anderson disagrees.

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