I can play the guitar

I am able to play the guitar.

Ability

In these examples, they can be used in exactly the same way. And that is because, to all intents and purposes, ‘can’ and ‘be able to’ are both used, primarily, to express ability. Of course, both of these examples above are in the present tense, so matters get a little more complicated when we change that tense.

In the past

The past form of ‘can’ is ‘could’. ‘Be able to’, because it is using the verb ‘be’, can be easily adapted into any tense. So, therefore,

I could play the guitar when I was younger.

I was able to play the guitar when I was younger.

So, again, when talking about ability in the past, ‘could’ and ‘be able to’ operate in the same way. But only if we are talking about general abilities. In the case of a single action, ‘could’ is not possible.

Yesterday, I was able to meet lots of interesting people at the meeting.

Yesterday, I could meet lots of interesting people at the meeting.

However, if that single event involves a stative verb, then it would be possible.

Yesterday, I was able to see the screen really clearly from where I was sitting.

Yesterday, I could see the screen really clearly from where I was sitting

In the future

There is no future form of ‘can’ (‘will can’ is an absolute impossibility). Therefore, if you want to express a future ability, ‘be able to’ is your best friend here

In the future, I will be able to play the guitar.

You could also make a more complicated sentence, such as:

In the future, I will have the ability to play the guitar.

However, when talking about future plans and arrangements, you can use ‘can’ (as well as ‘be able to’):

I can attend the appointment next Monday.

I am able to attend the appointment next Monday.

These two sentences have exactly the same meaning.

So, in summary, when talking about ability, ‘be able to’ is a much more flexible option.

Semantics

We may also choose to use these two forms a little differently to emphasize the difference between a permanent ability, and the ability to do something at the moment. Here is another example:

I am able to play the guitar, but I can’t play the guitar at your wedding because I am unavailable that day.

In theory, you could invert those two terms to produce the same meaning in context, but the preference would be to use ‘be able to’ in order to talk about a permanent skill, rather than the ability to do something on any given day.

Talking about permission

‘Can’ and ‘be able to’ are not only about ability but are connected to permission too. Look at these examples:

My teacher says I can use a dictionary in the classroom.

My teacher says I am able to use a dictionary in the classroom.

In these instances, ‘can’ and ‘be able to’ are the same.

However, when it comes to talking about permission, even in the present tense, you cannot always use both options. Here’s another example:

My teacher says I can bring a dictionary to the exam tomorrow.

My teacher says I am able to bring a dictionary to the exam tomorrow.

In this case, ‘be able to’ would not be used to express permission in a specific, once-off event.

My teacher says I am allowed to bring a dictionary to the exam tomorrow.

This would be correct and has the same meaning as ‘can’ in the sentence above.

However, in one last twist, you could (or you are able) to use ‘be able to’ in this situation, if you are talking about your ability to do something:

My teacher says I can bring a dictionary to the exam tomorrow. = permission

My teacher says I am able to bring a dictionary to the exam tomorrow. = ability

Although the second sentence doesn’t really make any sense, it focuses more on the ability to do something, rather than the giving of permission.

In conclusion

‘Be able to’ definitely offers more flexibility than ‘can’ in terms of conjugating to verb tenses. However, the meanings are not always the same, and there are certain circumstances where either ‘can’ or ‘be able to’ are not logical.

Always consider this question: am I talking about ability or permission? Once you have ascertained this, and then you have decided upon the correct verb tense, making the right decision in terms of ‘can’ and ‘be able to’ should be achievable.

The post Can VS Be Able To appeared first on Linguix Blog.

English has more than its fair share of all three of these things. Let’s have a look at some of the most troublesome examples of tricky words and punctuation in English, and look at ways to avoid making those mistakes in the future.

Apostrophe plus ‘s’, or no apostrophe plus ‘s’?

This is an age-old concern, when do I use the apostrophe plus an ‘s’, and when do I not use the apostrophe?

Think carefully about what apostrophes do. Most of the time they replace a missing letter, or they express possession.

About the only exception to that rule that you need to know is when you are using ‘its’ for possessions. As you will see here, there is no apostrophe.

Why?

Because if you did, it would be confused with the abbreviation of ‘it is’, when the apostrophe represents the missing ‘i’. Hence. ‘it’s’.

What is its name?

It’s really nice.

It’s true, then, that you would use an apostrophe plus ‘s’ in all other cases where there is a missing letter or a case of possessive. For example:

Mum’s coming over later.

That is mum’s car.

Now, of course, in context there is no way that you could confuse the meaning of the first ‘mum’s’ = ‘mum is’, and the second = the car belongs to mum.

Who or whom?

This one can cause a few issues, but it all boils down to whether you what to use a subject pronoun or object pronoun.

In short, if the word is replacing a subject pronoun (I, you, he, she, it, we, they), then the correct word is ‘who’. If the word is replacing the object pronoun (me, you, him, her, it, us, them) then the word you are looking for is ‘whom’. Here are some examples:

He is the man who lives next door. (Who is he?)

He is chatting to a girl whom he knows from work. (He is chatting to her)

But in reality, whom is nearly always replaced with ‘who’, and this is accepted practice, so the second sentence above could be:

He is chatting to a girl who he knows from work.

Affect or effect?

This is a really easy one to solve. ‘Affect’ is the verb, and ‘effect’ is the noun. That’s it! Here are some examples:

How does working there affect your health? (verb)

Working there has had many negative effects on my health. (noun)

Can I start a sentence with ‘and’ or ‘but’?

Yes, of course, you can. Even in formal writing. It’s interesting that this seems to have become a rule, because it has never, in fact, been a rule. Don’t start every other sentence with these words, but every now and again it’s fine. It’s also quite literary too, so outlawing it would basically deny nearly every great writer there has ever been in the English language.

‘And what are you reading, Miss –?’ ‘Oh! It is only a novel!’ replies the young lady: while she lays down her book with affected indifference or momentary shame.

Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey

‘But the Emperor has nothing on at all!’ cried a little child.

Hans Christian Anderson, The Emperor’s New Clothes

Should I use an ‘Oxford comma’?

An ‘Oxford comma’, so-called because it is a rule of the Oxford University Press, is when you use a comma before the final ‘and’ in a list. Here is a simple example:

I like to eat pizza, pasta, fish, and chips.

Here the Oxford comma is seen after the word ‘fish’. The other commas in the list are known as serial commas and are always correct.

The problem with omitting the Oxford comma is that it can change the meaning of what you are trying to say.

I like to eat pizza, pasta, fish and chips.

So, is that three different types of food (pizza, pasta, fish and chips), or four different types of food (pizza, pasta, fish [on its own] and chips [on their own])?

The point is that, by omitting the Oxford comma, you can make a sentence ambiguous. So it is always much better to use it because it leaves no doubt that those items are separate. And it is far from only the Oxford University Press that prescribes this comma. The vast majority of style guides do that.

So, should you use an Oxford comma? Yes!

When do I use a hyphen?

A hyphen should be used to connect two words that are acting together as one word.

That is nearly always true in adjectives that are comprised of two words. For example:

Easy-going person, self-respecting professional, old-fashioned shirt etc.

However, do not use the hyphen when the first word is an adverb:

Highly prized award, rarely seen animal.

However, when it comes to nouns, there are just no rules. The tradition is that these words tend to start out as two words, slowly evolve to include a hyphen over time, and eventually become one word. Who makes this decision? That’s a complicated question: too complicated to answer here.

The best advice with nouns? Check a dictionary. But even then you may find some differences of opinion

But here are some more examples of when you should use a hyphen:

He is a 23-year-old. (to express ages)

Twenty-one, fifty-seven (numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine)

Anti-inflammatory, self-absorbed, ex-girlfriend (with some prefixes, including always with self and ex)

My uncle had a concealed-weapons permit. (to avoid ambiguity. Removing the hyphen here could change the meaning)

The post Confusing English Words and Punctuation Rules appeared first on Linguix Blog.

Hint: you can use our free online grammar check tool or paraphrasing app to fight those grammar issues.

1. conscience (Wrong: conscence)

First of all, remember that conscience is a noun denoting a person’s “inner feeling acting as a guide to rightness or wrongness of the behavior.” It is not conscious, an adjective, meaning that the person is awake and able to respond to surroundings. To write ‘conscience’ right, remember to put a ‘science’ inside this word as well.

2. maintenance (maintainence)

The tricky part here is that the word ‘maintenance’ which often directly connecting to maintaining something, does not have the ‘maintain’ part in it.

3. recommend (reccommend, reccomend)

Words with doubled letters are often hard to spell and write because it may be unclear what letter to double. In this word, you may have the feeling that ‘c’ is worthy of duplicating, however, this is wrong.

4. deductible (deductable)

Another confusing thing in English is -ible/-able twist. It is so easy to confuse the endings in such words, and you’d better be very careful with them. In this example, the word ‘deductible’ has ‘i’ inside it.

5. weird (wierd)

The word that breaks the spelling rule (‘i’ before ‘e’ except after ‘c’) which is totally weird, but you have to accept it.

6. accommodate (acommodate, accomodate)

Again, doubled letters are confusing. In this particular word, however, you can solve this puzzle by remembering that the word ‘accommodate’ literally ‘accommodates’ a lot of letters.

7. pronunciation (pronounciation)

Here the source of the mistakes lays in the fact that the verb form of this word is ‘pronounce’. But the noun does not have an ‘o’ in the middle! You need to remember it.

8. supersede (supercede)

This word has a Latin origin. Also, many words in Engish were influenced by words like ‘intercede’, so you may think this one belongs to this group. It is not, and you should use ‘s’ instead of ‘c’ in the end.

9. handkerchief (hankerchief)

To spell and write this word right, you need to remember that these pieces of cloth fit in one’s hand! So there is a letter ‘d’ inside it.

10. rhythm (rythm)

The word with only one vowel should be tricky, and it is! Things get even more complicated with a couple of h’s which are spread throughout the word.

11. embarrass (embarass, embaress)

Here we have a good-old double letter puzzle! Also, vowels in this word are also tricky.

12. liaison (liason)

You can easily spot French roots in this word thanks to this amazingly hard to spell triple vowel!

The post 12 Confusing English Words And How To Spell Them Right appeared first on Linguix Blog.