Rein, Reign Or Rain?

Rein, reign, and even rain! Those pesky homophones are at it again, causing havoc and confusion in the English language. In true ProCopyTips style, let me take you through the meaning behind each word, how and when to use it, and how to remember the difference. Let’s look at the spelling, use, and meaning behind … Read more

Advice or Advise: Which Should I Use?

Advise and advice look and sound very similar, however, understanding which is the right word to use can be confusing.  The good news is it’s straightforward once you get the hang of it. First, you need to understand the basic difference between the two words, then I’ll explain how to use them, so you can … Read more

The Former vs The Latter: Our Guide To Getting It Right

The ‘former’ and the ‘latter’ are words used in English to refer to the position of something in a sequence. It sounds simple, but getting it right every time can be tricky. Here’s our quick guide to getting it right every time. What Does The Former Mean? The ‘former’ is a term used to describe … Read more

Splatter or Spatter: Which is Right and When?

Splatter or Spatter

The two words are very similar, so in the spatter vs splatter debate, which should you use and when? If you spill, spray or drop a liquid is the resulting mess spatter or splatter? For those of us who love a good police drama, you may already be familiar with the word spatter and its … Read more

Lay or Lie – What’s the Difference?

Lay Or Lie, Laid Off Or Layed Off, Lay-In Or Lie In Bed – Which Is Right? Words such as lay, lie, laid, lay, and lied might sound alike but that doesn’t mean they mean the same thing. Here’s how to use each one with confidence and get it right every time. English is seemingly … Read more

Goes Into Effect or Goes Into Affect

They sound the same but mean different things. Do things go into effect or go into affect? Here’s my explanation. It’s a commonly used phrase, but an easy one to get confused when writing – does the policy, law, or contract go into “effect” or into “affect?”. The answer is “Goes into effect”. Things go … Read more

These Data Or This Data?: How To Get It Right

To answer the question of whether we should use “these data” or “this data”, we first need to consider what we are referring to. Data is any factual information, such as figures, statistics, or measurements that are grouped for calculation, analysis, or reasoning. The word data is the plural form of the Latin word ‘datum’, … Read more

Eyeing or Eying – Which is the Correct Spelling?

The English language can be frustrating, as it has many rules with exceptions. For example, you’ve likely heard the phrase, “drop the -e and add -ing”. It’s catchy, it rhymes, and—for the most part—it’s true. But what about when it’s not? You may end up looking for errors where there are none, i.e., is it … Read more

Laid off or Layed off

Lie and lay are a pair of words that constantly confuse writers and speakers, particularly when it comes to phrases like laid off or layed off. Let’s figure out which one is correct once and for all! Laid off or Layed off In this case, if you lost a job and wanted to know whether … Read more