Universal English Institute

20/10/2015

Does one accept an invitation or except it? If someone is left off of an invitation list, has she been excepted or accepted? What’s the difference between these two terms, and how can we keep them straight? Accept means, most broadly, “to take or receive (something offered)” or “receive with approva…

24/09/2015

Is the head of a school called a principal or a principle? These two words are frustratingly similar, leaving even the most experienced English speakers to second-guess which word means what. Today, we’ll discuss the distinct meanings between these easy-to-confuse terms and a little trick to help di…

02/09/2015

In parts of the US, supper and dinner are used interchangeably to refer to the evening meal, but elsewhere dinner is the midday meal, akin to lunch, and supper, the evening meal. What do these words really mean? The word dinner does not necessarily imply the time of day. Depending on where you are,…

20/08/2015

When do you presume, and when do you assume? These two words are often used interchangeably, likely because they come from the same Latin root and are used in similar contexts. However, there are subtle differences in meaning between the two. Today we put all assumptions aside, and get to the bottom…

11/08/2015

Word of the week
PSEPHOLOGY
E.g.: "Erin is a political science major with a particular interest in PSEPHOLOGY."

20/07/2015

HAPPY FRIENDSHIP DAY!

19/07/2015

Is there a difference between acronyms and abbreviations? Yes. An abbreviation is any shortened or contracted form of a word or phrase. An acronym is a specific type of abbreviation formed from the first letters of a multi-word term, name, or phrase, with those letters pronounced together as one ter…

01/07/2015

Much debate and change surrounds the terms fiancé and fiancée in the recent past. English speakers borrowed these gendered terms from the French in the mid-19thcentury, importing both the masculine (fiancé) and feminine (fiancée). This term ultimately derives from Latin, fidare literally meaning “to…

21/06/2015

"...style guides are continually published, but the language is continuously changing."

Today we're going to explore the meanings and uses of the adverbs continually and continuously. These terms, along with their adjective forms continual and continuous, are often used interchangeably in speech and writing, but style guides urge writers to practice discernment when using continually a…

15/06/2015

Google and Vocativ recently paired up to investigate which words people have trouble spelling. They released a list of the most problematic terms by state based on search data, and the word grey appeared a staggering twelve times. So is grey incorrect? Grey and gray are both accepted in the English…

02/06/2015

Word of the week
RUBBERNECK
E.g. "Pay attention while driving. Don't RUBBERNECK and focus on the road".

07/05/2015

To understand when to use that vs. which, it’s important to keep in mind the difference between and restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses. In formal American English, that is used in restrictive clauses, and which in used in nonrestrictive clauses. A restrictive clause contains information that lim…