Glossary

Sometimes confused, especially in writing about literature. “Parallelism” is a noun that refers only to sentence structure. Use “parallel” as a noun, verb, or adjective to refer to situations that resemble each other:

WRONG: The Boo Radley subplot is a parallelism to the main plot involving Tom Robinson.

RIGHT (noun): The Boo Radley subplot is a parallel to the main plot involving Tom Robinson.

RIGHT (verb): The Boo Radley subplot parallels the main plot involving Tom Robinson.

RIGHT: The poet uses parallelism in the line “Obscurely wise, and coarsely kind.”

“Parallel” is a count noun; “parallelism” is not. See rule 3 under Art.

WRONG: The poet uses parallelisms. The poet uses a parallelism.

RIGHT: The poet uses parallelism.

WRONG: The novelist creates parallel.

RIGHT: The novelist creates parallels. The novelist creates a parallel.

As a verb, “parallel” is always transitive; it must take a direct object.

WRONG (not transitive): The Boo Radley subplot parallels with the main plot.

WRONG (not transitive): The Boo Radley subplot parallels to the main plot.

As a transitive verb, it can be used in two ways. The two things that are parallel can be the subject and object:

RIGHT: The Boo Radley subplot parallels the main plot.

The other way is to make the person creating the parallelism (namely, an author) the subject of the verb:

RIGHT: Shakespeare parallels the mortals in Athens with the fairies in the forest.

parenting

Although pop psychology has spread the usage of “parenting,” some writers avoid it on the grounds that “parent” is not a verb. They would argue that your dentist does not “dentist” you, your teachers do not “teacher” you, and your parents do not “parent” you. If they did, would it not be logical to call them “parenters”? The noun “parent” refers to someone’s identity as father or mother, not to the activity of raising children. “Parenting” is becoming widely accepted, but the Keables Guide recommends looking for alternatives, especially in academic writing.

NOT RECOMMENDED (gerund): The speaker gave advice on parenting.

RECOMMENDED: The speaker gave advice on raising children.

NOT RECOMMENDED (adjective): Their parenting style is strict.

RECOMMENDED: They are strict parents.

The phrase “parenting style” trivializes the serious task of raising children, as if it were only a matter of whim and vanity, like wearing braided hair or green shoes.

party

Many people consider the use of “party” as a verb to be informal and nonstandard. Its meaning as a verb is vague, ranging from “attending a party” to “using illegal drugs.” The Keables Guide recommends against using it as a verb in formal writing.

passed, past

“Passed” is the past tense and past participle of the verb “pass.” “Past” is an adjective meaning “ago,” a preposition meaning “beyond,” and a noun meaning “the time before the present.”

WRONG: I past the exam.

RIGHT: I passed the exam.

personality, character

Do not confuse “personality” and “character,” especially in essays about literature, in which you may be tempted to write “personality” to avoid repetition. “Personality” is often inappropriate. It has connotations of superficiality; a thoroughly evil person can have a pleasant personality. “Character” implies essential qualities.

REPETITIOUS: The main character in “A & P” has a complex character.

INCORRECT: The main character in “A & P” has a complex personality.

BETTER: The protagonist in “A & P” has a complex character.

BETTER: Sammy is a complex character.

phase, faze

“Faze” is a verb meaning “disturb”; “phase” is a noun meaning “stage” and a verb used mostly in the idiom “to phase out.”

For the last ten years my mother has been saying I am going through a phase.

Setbacks did not faze her.

Do you think it’s time we phased out our old technology?

play an important/major/significant role in

A vague and overused metaphor. “Blood plays an important role in Macbeth.” So what? Commas play an important role in Macbeth too. Define the importance. Taken literally, the sentence about Macbeth is absurd, for it compares a play to a play.

plea, plead

“Plea” is a noun, “plead” a verb.

NOUN: Hear my plea.

VERB: He pleaded guilty.

When it means “to beg,” “plead” is intransitive. You do not plead someone; you plead with someone. It is transitive only in its legal sense, and its direct object is a plea, not a person. When “plead” means “to beg,” its past tense is always “pleaded.” In legal contexts, the past tense can be “pleaded” or “pled,” but “pleaded” is considered more formal.

WRONG (transitive): I pleaded my parents to buy me a bicycle.

RIGHT (intransitive): I pleaded with my parents to buy me a bicycle.

WRONG (legal): I pleaded the judge.

RIGHT: I pleaded guilty.

RIGHT: I pled guilty.

plus

“Plus” does not mean “and,” “also” or “besides.” Do not use it in formal writing.

positive, negative

Overused as vague substitutes for “good” and “bad.” Find more precise words.

VAGUE: When I finally won some matches, I started feeling positive about myself.

BETTER: When I finally won some matches, I gained confidence.

VAGUE: Miss Watson is negative about religion, but the Widow Douglas is positive about it.

BETTER: Miss Watson tries to enforce obedience by instilling fear of eternal punishment, but the Widow Douglas takes a kinder approach to teaching religious concepts.

prejudice

A much-misspelled word which is both a noun and a verb. The correct adjective form is the past participle “prejudiced.” The most common error is omitting the -d suffix from the past participle.

WRONG: The prejudice jury reached an unfair verdict.

RIGHT (past participle): The prejudiced jury reached an unfair verdict.

RIGHT (noun): The defendant was a victim of the jurors’ prejudice.

RIGHT (verb): News reports had prejudiced the jury against him.

There is no such word as “prejudism” or “prejudist.”

presently

“Presently” means “soon,” not “at the present time.”

WRONG: I am presently unemployed.

RIGHT: He will arrive presently.

prideful, pridefulness

Not incorrect, but old-fashioned and a bit cumbersome (as “hungerful” or “beautifulness” would be). “Prideful” once had the advantage of distinguishing the bad sense of “pride” (arrogance) from the good (self-esteem), but nowadays, when people use it for both meanings, it has no advantage to offer. The Keables Guide recommends using “proud” and “pride” and letting the context indicate which sense you intend. “Wise” is another word with good and bad connotations, but we do not need to say “wisdomful” to distinguish Wise Men from wiseguys.

Self-respect: People respect her for being too proud to whine or beg for undeserved favors.

Arrogance: She is too proud to admit that her opponent won the match fair and square.

principal, principle

“Principal” is both an adjective meaning “most important” and a noun meaning “a school head” or “an amount of money.” “Principle” is a noun meaning “rule” or “law.”

Automobiles are the principal cause of smog.

The school hired a new principal.

Dr. King was devoted to the principle of equal justice for all.

proceed, precede

“Proceed” means “to go on”; “precede” means “to go before in time, space or rank”:

If Congress gives its approval, we will proceed with the plan.

We owe a debt to the courageous pioneers who preceded us.

There is no such word as “procede” or “preceed.”

proceed to

Usually unnecessary and often pompous. Even worse when used with “then”:

WORDY: We proceeded to turn left.

WORSE: We then proceeded to turn left.

BETTER: We turned left.

prodigy, progeny, protégé

A “prodigy” is something extraordinary or exceptional; “progeny” is offspring; a “protégé” is a pupil under the protective guidance of a mentor. A protégé is male, a protégée female. The most common error is using prodigy when protégé is intended.

Mozart was a child prodigy.

The karate instructor trains his protégés.

As the head of the convent, the abbess was responsible for her protégées.

The feral pig population is the progeny of animals brought by the original settlers.

purposefully, purposely

Do not use “purposefully” when you mean “purposely.” “Purposely” means “on purpose” or “intentionally,” as opposed to unconsciously or accidentally. It is rarer to have a reason to use “purposefully,” which means “with determination.”

She purposely twisted my words, trying to irritate me.

She spends every minute in the gym purposefully, never wasting time or playing games.