Quash or Squash? Quash usually applies to government or government authority. It means "to annul" or "legally invalidate." Squash means "to squeeze" or "crush." Examples: The "fairness doctrine" quashed media debates. The army squashed the demonstration in the capital. Quote, Quotation, or Quotation Mark? Quote is a verb. It means "to repeat the words of a writer or speaker." Quotation is a noun. It means "words quoted" or "the act of quoting." Quotation marks are punctuation marks used to highlight a written quotation.. Correct: He quoted Shakespeare frequently. Incorrect: We listened to a long quote from the government report. Correct: We listened to a long quotation from the government report. Incorrect: You need to put this part in quotes. Correct: You need to put this part in quotation marks. Raise or Rise? Raise means "to make higher," "build," or "nurture and cause to grow." It is normally transitive, that is, the action is done to something or someone else. Rise means "to get up" or "become elevated." It is never transitive. The past tense is rose; the past participle, risen. Examples: They raised the barn in two days. The sun rises and sets every day. Real or Really? Real is an adjective. It modifies only nouns or pronouns. Really is an adverb. It modifies verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. Correct: He stayed at hotels with real class. (Class is a noun. The adjective modifies it.) Incorrect: He stayed at a real classy hotel. (Classy is an adjective. It should be modified by an adverb.) Correct: He stayed at a really classy hotel. (The adjective classy is modified by the adverb.) Sensual or Sensuous? In modern usage, sensual means "physical, gratifying the body or its senses.." Sensuous means "appealing to the senses, especially by beauty or flavor." Single or Singular? Single means "one" or "individual." When applied to people, it usually means "unmarried." It can be a verb meaning "to call attention to." Sometimes an unmarried person is referred to as "a single." The state of being single is singleness. Singular is a related word meaning "unique" or "distinctive" or "standing alone in some way." When applied to people, it implies "odd" or "unusual." The noun form is singularity, which is the state of being unique or uncommon.. Singular is often used in mathematics and various sciences to describe a property, occurrence, or object that is unique or not related to anything else.
