9 common writing puzzlers

Even with all our experience, sometimes we’re not sure we are using the correct word (or punctuation mark) in the right way, and there isn’t always a handy automated feature to come to our rescue.

Here are nine linguistic challenges with which we sometimes grapple—and suggestions from renowned sources for getting them right:

1. Affect or effect? “Choosing between affect and effect can be scary,” writes Vocabulary.com. which offers a mnemonic device to help you use the two words correctly. “Think of Edgar Allen

3. A part or apart? “When you are saying that one thing belongs to another, you use a part,” writes Odyssey. “When you are saying that something is away from something else, you use apart. If you think about it, a part and apart are kind of opposites!”