Problem Words and Phrases

If you are working on trying to improve your writing - or are helping someone else improve his writing - this list can be really useful. Daily Writing Tips lists 50 Problem Words and Phrases. The nice part about this list is that it includes short examples that are easy to understand.

Here are the first 5:

1. a while / awhile: “A while” is a noun phrase; awhile is an adverb.

2. all together / altogether: All together now — “We will refrain from using that two-word phrase to end sentences like this one altogether.”

3. amend / emend: To amend is to change; to emend is to correct.

4. amount / number: Amount refers to a mass (“The amount saved is considerable”); number refers to a quantity (“The number of dollars saved is considerable”).

5. between / among: The distinction is not whether you refer to two people or things or to three or more; it’s whether you refer to one thing and another or to a collective or undefined number — “Walk among the trees,” but “Walk between two trees.”

Check out the link above for the rest of the list.

If you are learning English as a foreign language, this list can be really helpful, as well - especially since English speakers themselves struggle with these.