In honor of National Grammar Day we asked some NCRA members this question, “Is there something that you always end up looking up, no matter how often you see it?”
Here are some of the answers:
Principle/principal
Celena Davis, RPR, a freelancer in Highland, Ill.
Fiancé vs fiancée
Doreen Sutton, FAPR, RDR, a freelancer in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Hyphens. Always and forever hyphens. And I can’t just look one place. I have to check several places to be sure I got it right.
Taylor Conley, a student in North Aurora, Ill.
A while and awhile
Carlina Gallegos, RPR, an official in Monument, Colo.
Affect and effect. Also, back in the day when our CSRs and RPRs were typewritten, I always had to look up the word “across.” We were allowed to have one sheet of paper in the dictionary we brought into the transcription room. The sheet of paper was taped to the inside of the back binder of my dictionary. The top of my list was “across.” I’m sure if I found that dictionary in my office today, some 30 years later, that sheet of paper is still there.
Starlette Soniega-Armijo, RPR, CMRS, an official in Lake Forest, Calif.
The dreaded affect/effect
Serafina Zinckgraf, RPR, a freelancer in Hazlet, N.J.
Passed/past
Yolanda Walton, FAPR, RPR, an official in Norwalk, Ohio
Effect/affect
Danielle Henshue, RPR, an official in Saylorsburg, Pa.
