Et al vs. Et als vs. Et al’s – Which is Correct?

“Et al” is the correct spelling and is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase et alia meaning “and others”. Whilst you can use et al’s in certain situations, it cannot be pluralized by adding “-s” since it is already a plural noun. Et al is relatively common in formal writing but you may see it … Read more

Should I use “Translate To” or “Translate Into”

Technically speaking, both “translate to” and “translate into” are grammatically correct. However, you’re far more likely to hear a native speaker use “translate into” than “translate to”. This largely comes down to the nature of the verb and the prepositions but, at the end of the day, you can use both. English prepositions are words … Read more

Quality of Lives or Qualities of Life

Most of us have heard of the phrase “quality of life”, it’s commonly used in medical or legal terminology and increasingly in daily life when attempting to measure general happiness and wellbeing. When it comes to phrasal nouns, though, it can sometimes be difficult knowing how to pluralize them. Is it “qualities of life” or … Read more

“Send to Me” or “Send Me” – Which is Right?

Prepositions can be one of the hardest grammar points to wrap your head around, but a preposition is simply a word that indicates when or where something is, such as; under, over, after, before, in, on, out, etc. Sounds fairly straightforward, right? True. However, prepositions are often overly specific to certain verbs or can be omitted entirely. For instance, … Read more

Logging In To or Logging Into – Which is Correct?

Should it be logging in to or logging into or is it log in or login or any other permutation. I used to work in web development for various financial services companies, where the terms log in, logging in etc. are used frequently, and you would not believe the countless hours of my life I’ve … Read more

Year’s Experience or Years’ Experience

Whether to use year’s experience or years’ experience can be pretty confusing! Here’s how to tell them apart, and when you should use each one in a sentence. Thanks to the way the English language works, there are some things that are very complicated, or just needlessly difficult. Apostrophes are one of them and confuse … Read more

Disfunction vs Dysfunction – What’s The Difference?

The English language contains hundreds of words with spelling variations. Dysfunction is one of those words, with its common spelling variation of disfunction. Neither spelling has a different meaning in the English language. Both Dysfunction & Disfunction are correct but Dysfunction is the generally accepted preferred spelling that most people use. The Meaning of Dysfunction … Read more

Flys or Flies – What’s The Difference

Using Flys or Flies incorrectly is a common grammatical mistake that is made even by native English speakers. Flies – Is the plural of a fly the insect or something that flies through the air (planes, birds, Superman, frisbees, etc.). It’s also used colloquially to mean something that moves quickly. Flys – Is normally wrong … Read more

“Per Se” or “Per Say”

It’s always Per Se. Per Say is wrong, even though it may sound and look right. Derived from Latin, ‘per se’ means ‘in and of itself’. It is used to distinguish between something in its narrower sense and something larger which it represents. Yes, it’s confusing, and yes I see per se spelled wrong all … Read more

Let’s vs Lets – When Does It Need An Apostrophe

Let’s vs lets – do you find it difficult to know which one you should be using in your writing? ‘Let’s’ and lets are different verb forms from the same root word: ‘let’. ‘Let’ can refer to one of several nouns or several verbs which sound the same but have different meanings. The structure and … Read more