Words to Write By Part 9

The Words to Write By series is a quick reference to help explain the differences between commonly misused words. In this installment of Words to Write By, I’ll review penultimate vs. ultimate, whether vs. weather, verses vs. versus, and then vs. than.

Penultimate vs. ultimate: I have not had the occasion to use the word penultimate that often, but I really like the word. Over my life though, I have heard and read it misused more often than I’ve ever seen it used correctly. Penultimate means second to last in a series or line. I always forget that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the penultimate book in the series. I can never remember the order. I most frequently see this word used when a person means ultimate or pinnacle. For clarity, I’ll add the definition of pinnacle in this explanation. Pinnacle means the highest (or most successful) point or culmination. Ultimate means the final in a series or the best of its kind. When I added this to the list, I had seen it misused twice in less than a week. Coincidentally, that is true for the next set of words as well.

Whether vs. weather: Homophones tend to make it tricky to choose the correct spelling of a word, which happens to be the case for the rest of the words in today’s list. Weather has to do with the atmospheric conditions outside. Do you know what the weather is supposed to be like today? Whether is the correct spelling when you mean having a choice or decision between alternatives. He must decide whether to stay or go.

Verses vs. versus: Frequently versus is abbreviate to vs. (also, v. or vs), and this may explain why there’s confusion on how to spell it out. Versus means to be against something or someone else. Muhammad Ali vs. George Foreman. Verses means metrical language or a body of metrical writing with a rhythm, such as a poem or lyric.

Then vs. than: Than is used to compare two items. My word count for today is greater than it was yesterday. Or, Perhaps Tim was troubled by our conversation more than I realized. Then is a later point in time.  I will wash the dishes and then we can make dinner.

Look for future installments of “Words to Write By.” You can find links to the rest of the series below.

Part 1: Peak vs. peek vs. pique, further vs. farther, blonde vs. blond, and gray vs. grey.

Part 2: Alleged, hung vs. hanged, a vs. the, and bring vs. take.

Part 3: Who’s vs. whose, whet vs. wet, compliment vs. complement, fazed vs. phased.

Part 4: Fiancé vs. fiancée, insure vs. ensure, alright vs. all right, and simultaneous vs. contemporaneous.

Part 5: Use vs. utilized, bear vs. bare, shuttered vs. shuddered, and breath vs. breathe.

Part 6: Maya vs. Mayan, hole vs. whole, libel vs. slander, patients vs. patience.

Part 7: A vs. an, cite vs. site vs. sight, i.e. vs. e.g., and that vs. who.

Part 8: Taking vs. taken, quiet vs. quite vs. quit, advise vs. advice, regardless vs. irregardless.