RIGHT AND WRONG USE OF WORDS IN SPEAKING AND WRITING
A and An.—a is used before a consonant sound; an, before a vowel sound; as, “a boy;” “an eye;” when a vowel has a consonant sound, as in the word eulogy, a, and not an, is required. In the case of words beginning with h, an is always required when h is silent; as, “an heir;” when h is aspirated, a is required, unless the accent is on the second syllable, when an is used; as, “a history;” “an historian.”
Abbreviations.—Such abbreviations or contractions as e’er, ne’er, o’er, e’en, ’tis, ’mid, and ’neath, are legitimate in verse, but should not be used in prose.
Ability for capacity.—Ability is the power of doing; capacity the faculty of receiving. “The ability is in me to do him good.” “Man’s capacities have never been measured.”
Abortive.—That is abortive which is premature, not brought to completion. A plan may be abortive but not an act. We may speak of an abortive effort.
About.—Not to be used as almost. “The day is almost gone,” not “The day is about gone.”
Above is an adverb, not an adjective. Say “The address given above,” not “The above address;” the “foregoing section,” not the “above section.”
Accept of.—Never use the preposition after this verb. We accept invitations, presents, hospitality, and the like.
Accept and Except.—Accept means to take when offered; except means to leave out, to exclude. I accepted the gift. All except two will go.
Accord.—To accord means to render or bestow upon another, as honor: therefore one should never say, “The information he desired was accorded him.”