I was excited to see there were only two assignments for class this week. The assignment about using words correctly took me a while to complete, though. I couldn't believe how many words are so similar but have very different meanings. The words that opened my eyes the most were principal and principle. I always thought the word principal could only relate to the principal of a school. I was surprised to learn it actually means first in rank or authority. On the other hand, principle means a truth, doctrine or rule of conduct. The rule I had no idea existed was that principal is the adjective form. The example in the PowerPoint helped me understand this concept. It said, "She is the principal researcher on the project." In this sentence, principal is an adjective so it's spelled the same way as the principal of a school.
The editing mistake I found this week was in my own writing. I was adding notes to a Photoshop assignment. The notes explained the techniques I used to change the picture. I wrote, "I used the saturation tool to effect the color of the picture's background." When I was proofreading my notes, I realized affect should be used because I was using the word as a verb.
That is interesting that principal means first in rank and authority. Principle meaning truth, or doctrine, is also interesting. That assignment made me learn a lot.
ReplyDeleteThose were words that I had problems with too. I hadn't ever taken the time to look at the difference before.
ReplyDelete