41 Little Grammar Rules to

Follow to Sound Smarter

What’s the difference:
“Hopefully” vs. “I Hope”

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Hopefully means “in a hopeful manner.” “I hope the boss lets us out early” and
“Hopefully, the boss lets us out early” aren’t the same thing. On the other hand, these
are grammar “rules” you can safely ignore.

What’s the difference:

“Importantly” vs.
“Important”
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More or most important is probably what you want. Only if you’re a pompous blowhard
do you say things importantly.

What’s the difference:

“Their” vs. “His or her”
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Everyone, everybody, and close cousin each are singular, so words that refer to them
should also be singular. Or, since we all have our grammar hang-ups, you could just
rephrase the sentence. Don’t misplace your modifiers! Check out this strange
grammar rule.

What’s the difference: “I” vs.

“Me”
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Between you and I sounds fancy, and therefore right, but don’t be so quick to belittle
Cookie Monster (“Me want cookies!”). In this case, me is correct because it’s the object
of the preposition between. Find out the 12 grammatical errors that even smart
people make––we’ve all been there.

What’s the difference:

“Assessable” vs. “Accessible”
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A library is wheelchair-accessible. Your house is assessable by the county that taxes it.
Nothing’s “funner” than grammar–but is “funner” a word? Join the debate.

What’s the difference:

“Badly” vs. “Bad”
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Is your sense of touch physically impaired (almost never) or are you feeling some guilt
after screwing up (almost always)? In the former, you feel badly; the latter, you feel
bad. These grammar rules have changed a lot in the last decade, but not too badly.

What’s the difference:

“Equally as” vs. “Equally”
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The as isn’t necessary. “I speak Latin and pig Latin equally well.” Have you been lied
to? Check out the 14 grammar myths that your English teacher wasn’t telling the
truth about.

What’s the difference:

“Because” vs. “That”
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You never mean “the reason is because”; you mean “the reason is that.” Why? The
word reason implies because. Likewise, why say “the reason why” when you can say
“the reason”?

What’s the difference: “Lay”

vs. “Lie”
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This is another case where people think (wrongly) that a particular word sounds more
“educated.” Lay and lie are not interchangeable. Lie doesn’t require an object: “I need
to lie down.” But lay does: “I need to lay my head down.” Confusion kicks in because
of the past tense of both verbs—lie becomes lay; lay becomes laid—but the usage stays
the same.

What’s the difference:

“Lounge” vs. “Longue”
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Chaise lounge is actually incorrect, and people have been getting this wrong for at least
a century. The proper phrase is French and translates as “long chair.” Read the 24
things you’ve been saying wrong this whole time because we know you’re guilty of
saying “chaise lounge”.