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Author: Jan K
It is no surprise that the English language (at least, as spoken by we Americans) is crammed full of words that turn our brains to mush when it comes to figuring out which word spelling to use, how to spell them, or just when exactly to use them.
Our school systems have long since abandoned the "readin', writin', and 'rithmetic"
days when kids were given vocabulary lists and made to memorize spellings
and learn definitions ("Class, there will be a quiz on Friday"...). And
now that most people simply say "I'll run spellcheck," copies of
Webster's Collegiate Dictionary lie untouched and collecting dust.
Well...it's time to dust off the dictionary---and time to consider the
sound-alike words wave and waive (these are also called homonyms or
homophones). These words are not interchangeable (unlike some words like
forego and forgo that so many people have misused for so long that
Webster's finally gave in and list that "forego" is a variant of
"forgo").
Wave or Waive---Which Do I Use?
In the spirit of "dust off your Webster's" I'll leave it to you to thumb
the pages to locate each word and read its formal definition. However,
here's a quick review:
Wave can be a noun or a verb. As a noun a wave is ripple or cyclic
cresting, usually of water (Surf's up, dude! Remember it: Surfers crAVE a
wAVE). As a verb, it means "Bye-bye!"
Waive, as a verb, means to set aside or pass over some kind of
requirement (such as asking the bank to waive a set-up fee when you open
a new account; remember it: If you want someone to forgIVE the fee, then
you ask them to waIVE it).
Waive is rarely a noun (you'd really have to stretch your sentence
structure to force this to be a noun).
Waver or Waiver---OK, now my head hurts...
We do like to complicate things, don't we?
Waver is a verb that means "to modulate" (like a tone that goes up and
down. A waiver, which is a noun, is a formal acknowledgment (sometimes an
actual document) that some requirement has been forgiven or forgone.
"My voice wavered while saying thank you when the bank manager gave me
the waiver for the late fees on my boat payment."
You can easily improve your command of the English language, and the
myriad of colorful and distinctive words that can be used oh so
appropriately in just the right place, by simply opening up your
Webster's once daily to a random page, blindly pointing to a spot, and
then looking at what word you've selected.
Remember the motto taught to me by my fourth grade teacher:
"Use a new word three times a day, and it's yours for life."
For help with other sound-alike words, and for more writing and grammar
help, go to Jan's Reading Room, and check out the "Grammar and Writing"
and "Tutorials" sections (
http://readingroom.janktheproofer.c om/ReadingIntro.htm ).
Article Source:
http://www.todays-woman.net
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| Posted on Monday, June 25 @ 17:48:02 EDT by Rose |
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