APA style and citations for dummies - Joe Giampalmi 2021

Reducing confusion: problem pairs
Creating a foundation: the principal parts of speech, structure, and usage
Earning applause: APA writing for the academic audience

“The difference between the right word and the almost-right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug.” This quote, attributed to American literary legend Mark Twain, references a myriad of similar word usage that challenges college writers.

From my teaching experience dating back to The Beatles’ arrival in America, the following usage issues appear regularly in writing that I evaluated.

Problem pairs

APA highlights usage issues with the following pronoun pairs:

· A lot, allot: A lot (adjective and noun) means plentiful; allot (verb) means allocate. A lot is frequently misspelled as one word. Remember, a lot is used to build a house. Earning a college degree requires a lot of perseverance. Administrators were asked to allot resources equally.

· Accept, except: Accept (verb) means to receive or agree to; except (preposition) means other than. We graciously accepted the award. Everyone except Jacob drove to the concert.

· Affect, effect: Affect (verb) means to influence; effect (noun) means the result. The effect on participants was minimal but affected test results.

· An, a: Use an to precede words beginning with a vowel sound: an honor, an apple, and an earful. Use a to precede a word beginning with consonant sounds: a decision, a backpack, and a water bottle. Participating in research was an educational experience. Lunch was provided at a local restaurant.

· Continual and continuously: These two time-sequence words affiliate with your two favorite parts of speech. Continual describes nouns: continual texts, continual red flags. Continuously describes verbs: complains continuously, works out continuously. Remember, ly indicates an adverb, and adverbs describe verbs. After continual blue screens, Alexia bought a new tablet. His phone also shuts down continuously.

· Farther, further: Farther references a measurable distance; further references a comparable degree. Jayne lives farther from campus than Laticia. Vijay is further advanced in biology.

· Fewer, less: Fewer references a countable quantity; less references a noncountable quantity. Maine has fewer residents than Missouri. The less time spent on worksheets, the better for education.

· However: However used as a conjunction is punctuated with a semicolon (; however,). However used as a parenthetical expression is punctuated with a comma (, however,). The study was completed before deadline; however, it was over budget. The study, however, lacked validation.

· It’s, its: It’s, a contraction, represents it is or it has; its is a possessive adjective. (Its’ is not a word.) It’s time for new solutions to old problems. The puppy injured its paw.

· Then, than: Then (adverb) represents time; than (conjunction) indicates comparison. We then studied another student population. The final study revealed more problems than the first.

Problem pronouns

APA highlights usage issues with the following pronoun pairs:

· That, which: That introduces clauses that are essential (restrictive) to sentence meaning. Which introduces clauses that are nonessential (nonrestrictive) to sentence meaning. Nonessential which clauses are marked off with commas. The partition that separates the library was opened for the speaker. The library, which was built in 2000, was updated with a new sound system.

· Who, that: Who refers to people; that refers to objects and ideas. The man who returned the gift was appreciative of the customer service policy. Businesses promote policies that preserve resources. That can also refer to a group of people such as an organization. I belong to an organization that supports amusement park safety.

· Who, whom: Who is a subject pronoun; whom is an object pronoun. If he, she, or they can be substituted, who is the correct pronoun; if him, her, or them can be substituted, whom is the correct pronoun. Who compiles results of the control group? Whom should I speak with about receiving survey results?

· Who’s, whose: Who’s, a contraction, is short for who is. Whose shows possession. Who’s going to the library Saturday night? Whose backpack was left in the gym?

Misplaced description

Logical word order in a sentence is as important as letter sequence in spelling. Misplaced description, the illogical order of words in a sentence (We saw a bear driving through Alaska), is as serious an error as misspelling your name on your resume. The following strategies correct misplaced description:

· Position the performer of the action, the subject, as one of the first few words of the sentence.

· Misplaced: To complete the assignment, two nonfiction books must be read.

· Revised: Students are required to read two nonfiction books to complete the assignment.

· Misplaced: Who was the woman who repaired your laptop in jeans?

· Revised: Who was the woman in jeans who repaired your laptop?

· Position prepositional phrases and other descriptions as close as possible to the noun or pronoun they describe.

· Misplaced: Dr. Marshall administered the survey to third graders with a smile.

· Revised: Dr. Marshall smiled as he administered the survey to third graders. (The idea of “with a smile” is repositioned as a verb following Dr. Marshall.)

· Misplaced: The child ate baklava with a new shirt.

· Revised: The child with a new shirt ate baklava.

· Follow introductory participle phrases (ing and ed words and phrases used as an adjective) with the performer of the action.

· Misplaced: Anticipating icy highways, the writers’ workshop was rescheduled by administration.

· Revised: Anticipating icy highways, administrators rescheduled the writers’ workshop.

· Misplaced: We stood watching the game on the roof.

· Revised: Standing on the roof, we watched the game.

· Logically position awkward adverbs such as only, almost, just, hardly, usually, scarcely, nearly, and even.

· Misplaced: People who are honest usually are happy.

· Revised: Honest people are usually happy.

· Misplaced: I almost revised half the report.

· Revised: I revised almost half the report.

Meaning changes as challenging words are repositioned:

· If only Clayton asks Alisha to dinner, she will accept.

· If Clayton only asks Alisha to dinner, she will accept.

· If Clayton asks Alisha only to dinner, she will accept.

· If Clayton asks Alisha to dinner only, she will accept.

Only is as easy to misplace as a set of keys. It’s used as an adjective or an adverb. Only used as an adjective means one or very few:

· You are the only student reading your copy of APA Style & Citations For Dummies.

· Our only car is parked in the garage.

Only used as an adverb means limited actions and is generally positioned in front of a noun:

· Only a few students enroll in Advanced Chinese.

· Only a few freshmen are invited into the honors program.

Only is also frequently used in spoken language to add emphasis:

· Only you could offer an explanation like that.

· Only a college senior would worry about getting a job.