Writing Tip of the Day: Common Errors Part III

We have a lot of fun here on the Empirical blog poking fun at English conventions that we all take for granted. So in our continuing bit about common writing errors, we bring a few more noteworthy and easily avoidable editing gaffes. 

1. Principal/principle
• Both can be used as nouns, but only one can be used as an adjective
• The principal on the project was Ms. Jane. 
• The principal advantage of jogging is being able to outrun zombies. 
• The most important principle of writing is to write. 
2. Respectfully/respectively
• Both are adverbs
• Respectfully, I must disagree.
• I find you and John to be fun and irritating, respectively. 
3. Then/than
• An adverb, adjective, and a noun versus a conjunction and preposition
• If you want to pass a class, then you have to study. 
• The then unknown physicist worked as a patent clerk.
• This PowerPoint has more slides than last week.