identify with	incredible
imagery, images	interesting
imminent, eminent	irony, ironies
impact	irregardless
imply, infer	it
incidence, incident	its, it's

 

G1: write the rule. Do not just write "G" or "Glossary of usage" in your corrections. Find the appropriate section in the alphabetized list below, read it, write the rule (or a short version of the rule), and correct the error.

identify with: vague. As a term in essays about literature, it is often inaccurate too: "The first-person narrator helps the reader identify with the character." In fact, many writers strive to create the opposite effect. If you want to talk about narrative point of view, a useful term is distance: "Jonathan Swift creates ironic distance between his first-person narrator and the reader."

imagery, images: students writing about literature sometimes misuse these terms. Imagery refers to the collective use of images. Imagery is always singular; the word imageries is never correct.

WRONG: the imageries of blood in Macbeth

RIGHT: the imagery of blood in Macbeth; the images of blood; Shakespeare's imagery

imminent, eminent: imminent means "about to occur"; eminent means "outstanding, distin-guished." "The eminent scientist said that a major breakthrough is imminent."

impact: use it as a noun, not as a verb. Use a word like affect instead.

WRONG: The treaty adversely impacted trade.

BETTER: The treaty discouraged trade.

imply, infer: imply means "to give an impression (that)"; it forms the noun implication and the adjective implicit. Infer means "to guess from incomplete evidence"; it forms the noun inference.

Her tone of voice implied that she disapproved.

Her tone implied disapproval.

I inferred from her tone of voice that she disapproved.

I inferred her disapproval.

incidence, incident: do not use incidence ("rate of occurrence," as in "a high incidence of crime") when incident ("occurrence," as in "a trivial incident") is needed:

There is a high incidence of mysterious incidents in the Bermuda Triangle.

incredible: overused as a hyperbole for "good." It means "too improbable to believe":

WRONG: My mother bakes incredible pies.

RIGHT: His UFO story is incredible.

interesting: avoid beginning sentences with it is interesting to note that or interestingly. If what you plan to note is not interesting, don't note it.

irony, ironies: as a literary term, irony is always singular. The plural is seldom used except outside literary criticism, in phrases like "life's little ironies."

WRONG: The story is full of ironies.

RIGHT: The story is full of irony.

irregardless: an erroneous redundancy for regardless.

it: often used vaguely. In the sentence below, all three it's refer to different things:

VAGUE: It made me feel guilty that I would hide something from them, but it didn't matter as long as I didn't have to talk about it.

Supply a clear noun phrase, or rephrase the sentence:

VAGUE: I failed the test, but it did not break my heart.

BETTER (CLEAR NOUN PHRASE): Failing the test did not break my heart.

BETTER (REPHRASED): When I failed the test, my heart did not break.

its, it's: its is a possessive pronoun (like his); it's is a contraction (like he's) meaning it is or it has.

It's unwise to judge a book by its cover.

It's been a while since the car had its last tune-up.

Back to top.