Page 96 - Improve_Your_Written_English [Marion_Field]

82 / P ART ONE: THE B AS ICS

Stationery/stationary
1. A stationer (noun) sells writing paper so stationery
(noun) is writing paper and envelopes.
I ran out of stationery (noun) so I had to buy some.
2. Stationary (adjective) means fixed in one place.
The train was stationary (adjective) at the platform.

Looking at common mistakes
A mistake that is frequently heard is the following:

He is very different to his brother.

This is wrong. It should be:

He is very different from his brother.

If you differ, you move away from.
If you are similar, you are similar to.

Checking apostrophes and abbreviations
◆ Do not put an apostrophe every time there is a plural
word ending in ‘s’.

◆ The abbreviation of ‘could have’ is ‘could’ve’ not ‘could
of’.

◆ Do not put a full stop after a contraction:

Doctor – Dr
Mister – Mr