English Usage - any.

When used as a pronoun, any can be used with either a singular or a plural verb, depending on the context. If any refers to a singular uncountable noun, the verb is always singular: we needed more sugar but there wasn’t any left. Uncertainty occasionally arises, however, when the noun referred to is plural, especially in questions and hypotheses: are any of the above suitable? If any of them escape, notify the police. The general tendency is to use the verb in the singular, you are presupposing that only one person or thing is being referred to, as in if any of them inspires the public . . . Otherwise, use with a singular verb is likely these days to sound stilted or affected.
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English Usage - anxious.

Anxious and eager both mean ‘looking forward to something’, but they have different overtones. Eager suggests enthusiasm about something and a positive outlook: I’m eager to get started on my vacation. Anxious implies worry about something: I’m anxious to get started before it rains. This is a useful distinction to maintain.
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English Usage - antidisestablishmentarianism.

Antidisestablishmentarianism is almost never found in genuine use and is most often merely cited as an example of a very long word. Other similar curiosities are floccinaucinihilipilification and pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis, the second being generally reckoned to be the longest word in any dictionary. The longest word to be encountered in Britain is the Welsh place name Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, which is generally abbreviated to Llanfair PG; this name was created in the 19th century.
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English Usage - and.

1.Many people believe that conjunctions such as and, but, and because should not be used to start a sentence. They argue that a sentence starting with a conjunction expresses an incomplete thought and is therefore incorrect. Writers down the centuries, from Shakespeare to David Lodge, have ignored this advice, however, typically for rhetorical effect: What are the government’s chances of winning in court? And what are the consequences?
2.On the expression try and do something, See TRY AND.
3.For information about whether it is more correct to say both the boys and the girls or both the boys and girls, See BOTH.
4.Where items in a list are separated by and, the following verb needs to be in the plural: See OR.
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English Usage - analogous.

Strictly speaking, analogous should not be used merely as a supposedly stylish synonym for similar. It means ‘comparable in certain respects’, especially where the analogy makes the nature of the things compared clearer: they saw the relationship between a ruler and his subjects as analogous to that of father and children. As in the example just shown, the preposition to use with analogous is to, rather than with.
Analogous is pronounced with a hard g.
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English Usage - American Indian.

The term American Indian has been steadily replaced in the US, especially in official contexts, by the more recent term Native American (first recorded in the 1950s and becoming prominent in the 1970s). Some people prefer Native American as being a more accurate and respectful description as well as avoiding the stereotype of cowboys and Indians in the stories of the Wild West. American Indian is still widespread in general use even in the US, however, perhaps at least partly because it is not normally regarded as offensive by American Indians themselves. Nevertheless, since the category American Indian is very broad, it is preferable, where possible, to name the specific people, e.g. Apache, Comanche, or Sioux.
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English Usage - a.m.

As an abbreviation of Latin ante meridiem, meaning ‘before noon’, a.m. is pronounced as two letters and written with two full stops in the form 8.15 a.m. (in American English 8:15 a.m.). Note that 12.00 a.m. is midnight and 12.00 p.m. is midday, but because of the uncertainty these designations cause, the explicit forms 12 midnight and 12 noon or 12 midday are clearer. The abbreviation is sometimes used informally as a noun: I arrived here this a.m., but this use is not acceptable in any kind of formal writing.
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English Usage - Alzheimer's disease.

This condition is often incorrectly spelled with a letter t inserted before the z, reflecting its pronunciation. Some German names used in English expressions do contain tz, such as Hertz and Helmholtz, but z in Alzheimer’s is pronounced /-ts-/ anyway: /alts-hy-muhz/.
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English Usage - alumnus.

In the singular, alumnus is used to refer to either a male or a female ex-student of a particular university. The feminine alumna also exists, used when only a female is meant. The plural form alumni is the one most generally used to refer to ex-students of either sex, though occasionally alumnae is used to refer to females only.
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English Usage - altogether.

Note that altogether and all together do not mean the same thing. Altogether means ‘in total’, as in there are six bedrooms altogether, whereas all together means ‘all in one place’ or ‘all at once’, as in it was good to have a group of friends all together; they came in all together.
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English Usage - alternative.

The adjective alternate is sometimes used in place of alternative, especially in American English. In British English the two words continue to be quite distinct: alternative means ‘available as another possibility or choice’, as in some European countries follow an alternative approach, while alternate means ‘every other or every second’, as in they meet an alternate Sunday, or, when referring to two things, ‘each following the other in a regular pattern’, as in alternate layers of potato and sauce. The use of alternate to mean alternative, as in we will need to find alternate sources of fuel, is common in North America, and many US dictionaries now record it as equivalent in this meaning to alternative, but in British English it is not yet considered good style.
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English Usage - alright.

There is no logical reason for insisting that alright is incorrect and should always be written as all right, when other single-word forms such as altogether have long been accepted. The fact that alright is not recorded until the end of the 19th century, while other similar merged spellings such as altogether and already date from much earlier, is no reason for denouncing it, but it is still considered by many people to be unacceptable in formal writing.
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English Usage - alibi.

The word alibi, which in Latin means ‘elsewhere’, has been used since the 18th century to mean ‘an assertion by a person that he or she was elsewhere’. In the 20th century a new meaning arose, originally in the US, of ‘an excuse’. This is a fairly common and natural extension of the core meaning, but, though widely accepted in standard English, it is still regarded as incorrect by some people.
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English Usage - albeit.

1.Albeit is not an archaic word, although it may sound like one. It is used as a conjunction with the meaning ‘though’, to make a contrast with or to modify a preceding expression: It is an unwelcome, albeit necessary, piece of legislation.
2.It should not be written as the three words ‘all be it’ in modern Standard English.
3.Even though most conjunctions are used with verbs, e.g. you just keep going because you have no choice, it is not good style to use albeit with a verb, as in Mr Gaunt is as culpable as the others, albeit he was not involved in any of the incidents. The explanation for this is that albeit derived from the phrase from the phrase ‘all be it that’, which already contained a verb.
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English Usage - aggravate.

Aggravate in the sense ‘to annoy or exasperate’ dates back to the 17th century and has been so used by respected writers ever since. This use is still regarded as incorrect by some traditionalists on the grounds that it is too radical a departure from the etymological meaning of ‘to make heavy’. It is, however, comparable to meaning changes in hundreds of other words which have long been accepted without comment.
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English Usage - African American, Afro-American.

African American is the currently accepted term in the US for Americans of African origin, having first become prominent in the late 1980s. It has largely replaced Afro-American, which was first recorded in the 19th century and became widespread in the 1960s and 1970s. In Britain, black is the standard term.
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English Usage - affect.

Affect and effect are quite different in meaning, though frequently confused. Affect is primarily a verb meaning ‘make a difference to’, as in their gender need not affect their career. Effect, on the other hand, is used both as a noun and a verb, meaning ‘a result’ as a noun (move the cursor until you get the effect you want) or ‘to bring about a result’ as a verb (growth in the economy can only be effected by stringent economic controls). The two verbs have very similar meanings, so it often pays to think carefully which one you want.
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English Usage - adverse.

The two words adverse and averse are related in origin but they do not have the same meaning. Adverse means ‘unfavourable or harmful’ and is normally used of conditions and effects rather than people, as in adverse weather conditions. Averse, on the other hand, is used of people, nearly always with to, and means ‘having a strong dislike or opposition to something’, as in I am not averse to helping out. A common error is to use adverse instead of averse, as in he is not adverse to making a profit.
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English Usage - admission, admittance.

Admission traditionally referred to the price paid for entry or the right to enter: admission was 5 pound. Admittance more often referred to physical entry: we were denied admittance by a large man with a forbidding scowl. In this sense of ‘permission or right to enter’, these words have become almost interchangeable, although admittance is more formal and technical.
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English Usage - addenda, addendum.

Addenda is a Latin plural form meaning ‘a list of additional items’; if there is only one item, addendum is the traditional form to use. Addenda should therefore only ever be used as a plural, not as a singular. So, you may well be perceived as incorrect if you use addenda as a singular, as in a new edition with an invaluable addenda, instead of a new edition with invaluable addenda, or if you use addendas.
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English Usage - AD.

AD is normally written in small capital letters and should be placed before the numerals, as in AD 375 (not 375 AD). The reason for this is that AD is an abbreviation of anno domini, which means ‘in the year of our Lord’, which should logically come before the year. However, when the date is spelled out, it is normal to write the third century AD (not AD the third century). It is not written with full stops after the letters.
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