English is indeed a funny language; a word that is correct in one sentence may be incorrect in another. Two similar looking words can have entirely different meanings, whereas some words we use might not be words at all!

That’s what one can learn after going through the immaculately compiled Grammar Girl’s 101 Misused Words You’ll Never Confuse Again by Mignon Fogarty.

What this book does is help you in the most animated manner and remove all confusion you have in your mind about certain words. It not only proves that you are ‘not’ the only one with such doubts, but that there are many out there with the same problem. In this book you get a clear concept of when to use ‘affect’ and ‘effect’.

This guide tells you, which one is correct — ‘purposely’ or ‘purposefully’; what the difference between ‘hilarious’ and ‘hysterical’ is, or when to use ‘lie’ and when to use ‘lay’. The examples from Hollywood movies and TV shows as well as from quotations of renowned people make the tasks easier to understand.

So if you want to beat confusion and know more about definitions (and examples) of the correct way to use the words, this should be your stop. Even I didn’t know what the difference between ‘hoard’ and ‘horde’ was, or when was the best time to use ‘due to’ and ‘because of’! The “Quick & Dirty Tip” in most of the chapters also helps you remember the difference between the words.

We use English in our daily lives, and most of the time the usage is incorrect. So if you didn’t know when best time to use ‘fewer’ or ‘less’, ‘historic’ or ‘historical’, ‘carat’ or ‘carrot’, don’t blame your English teacher.

Grammar Girl’s 101 Misused Words You’ll Never Confuse Again and is your one-stop solution that will not only rectify your mistakes but also rescue you from the common grammar quandaries we don’t even know are false. — S. F.