Writing Tips
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Index A
- a
- a- (1)
- a- (2)
- AB
- ab-
- abbreviations: acronyms and initialisms
- abbreviations: ampersand
- abbreviations: business terms and symbols
- abbreviations: capitals and hyphens
- abbreviations: corporate names
- abbreviations: days and months
- abbreviations: degrees and distinctions
- abbreviations: general guidelines
- abbreviations: geographical names
- abbreviations: imperial system
- abbreviations: International System of Units (SI)
- abbreviations: latitude and longitude
- abbreviations: military abbreviations
- abbreviations: monetary units
- abbreviations: netspeak
- abbreviations: number symbols
- abbreviations: parts of a book or document
- abbreviations: periods
- abbreviations: plurals
- abbreviations: scientific and technical terms
- abbreviations: time zones
- abbreviations: titles with personal names
- abeyance
- abide
- abide by
- about
- above-mentioned
- abreast
- absolutely essential
- absolute phrases
- abstain
- abstain from
- abstain in
- abstain on
- accede to
- accordance
- according to
- according to our records
- accord (of one’s own)
- accountable for
- accountable to
- accuracy
- accurate
- acquiesce in
- acquiesce to
- acquiesce with
- action verbs
- active voice
- act on
- act upon
- acu-
- addresses: official languages
- addresses on envelopes and parcels (Linguistic recommendation from the Translation Bureau)
- adequate amount of
- adequate number of
- adjective
- adjective clause
- adjective comparison
- ADT
- adverb clause
- adverb comparison
- adverbs
- adverse
- adverse to
- advice
- advise
- aero-
- a few
- affect
- Afghan
- afghani
- aforementioned
- Afro-
- after
- again
- ageing
- agenda
- agendas
- aggravate
- aging
- agreeable
- agree on
- agree to
- agree with
- agro-
- Alberta
- Albertan
- alliteration
- allo-
- all over again
- allow for
- allow to
- all ready
- all right
- all-time record
- all together
- allude
- allusion
- almost without exception
- along these lines
- already
- alright
- Alta.
- alternate(ly)
- alternative(ly)
- altogether
- alumna
- alumnus
- a.m.
- a mari usque ad mare
- ambi-
- American dollar (symbol) (Linguistic recommendation from the Translation Bureau)
- Americo-
- amount
- an-
- an
- an abundance of
- analyse
- analyze
- and
- and/or
- and so as a result
- Anglo-
- Anglophone
- anniversary
- answer for
- answer to
- ante-
- anti-
- anticipate
- anxious about
- anxious at
- anxious for
- anxious to
- any
- apostrophe: contractions
- apostrophe: plurals
- apostrophe: possession
- apparent
- appear
- appositives
- appraise
- apprise
- approval of
- approval to
- approve
- approve of
- approximately
- approximately about
- apt
- aqua-
- aqui-
- Arabo-
- arch-
- Armeno-
- Armistice Day
- around (1)
- around (2)
- as a consequence of
- as a matter of fact
- as a result of
- as a result of the fact that
- ascend
- ascent
- as far as
- aspire after
- aspire to
- as regards
- assent
- associate to
- associate with
- as soon as
- assume
- assure
- AST
- asterisk at end of sentence
- astro-
- as well as
- Atlantic Daylight Time
- Atlantic provinces
- Atlantic Standard Time
- attention
- attentive
- attentiveness
- at that point in time
- at the present time
- at this point in time
- at variance among
- at variance with
- audit and derived terms (Linguistic recommendation from the Translation Bureau)
- Austro-
- authentic
- autumn
- auxiliary verbs
- avenge
- averse to
- avocation
- awards
- aware of
- Azerbaijani
- Azeri
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Search and Functionalities Area
affect, effect
Affect and effect are easily confused. The guidelines below will help you to choose the right word.
Use affect if you mean
- to influence
- Budgetary constraints have seriously affected our grants and contributions.
- to feign, to simulate
- Jerome affected a British accent when recounting his travels abroad.
- to move, to touch
- The Smiths were deeply affected by the loss of their pet cockatoo.
- to pretend
- Jackie affected to despise science fiction, yet she was avidly reading all of Isaac Asimov’s robot novels.
- to hinder; to hurt
- How does low literacy affect the health of Canadians?
Use effect if you mean
- to bring about
- Can you effect those improvements by the end of the first quarter?
- Jessie became involved in her community and effected many changes.
- to carry out
- We need the support of all stakeholders before we can effect health care reform.
- an impact
- The Supreme Court ruling will have a lasting effect on official languages services
- an impression
- The artist stood back to take in the overall effect of his painting.
- an outcome; a result
- The committee members hoped the measures would produce a positive effect.
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