Sentence of the Week: An End-of-Semester Post

[From Michelle Yeoman and Barbara Gastel:]

Editing Solution: Last Week’s Sentence

As a reminder, below is Sentence of the Week #15:

The book was divided into three discreet sections.

The problem in this sentence is the word discreet, which should be discrete. Thus, the corrected sentence is as follows:

The book was divided into three discrete sections.

The adjectives discreet and discrete look similar and sound identical, but they have very different meanings. Discreet means showing judgment, caution, and prudence. (“Please be discreet when leaving the meeting early.”) Discrete, on the other hand, means detached, separated, or in distinct parts. (“We divided the work into discrete sections.”). 

In Sentence #15, the author is trying to say that the book is divided into three distinct, separate sections. Thus, discrete is the appropriate word choice.

Many words in English look and sound similar but have different meanings. Examples include hall/haul, bear/bare, and principle/principal. Unfortunately, the spell-check feature on one’s computer won’t indicate when the wrong word has been used. So, be alert when using words in such pears (oops: we meant pairs).

As someone noted, a possible error in Sentence #15 is the verb was. In some contexts, the present tense (the word is) would indeed be the proper choice.  Thus, another version of the sentence is as follows:

The book is divided into three discrete sections.

As always, we appreciate your comments!

Sentence of the Week to Resume in Late January

Our fall semester is about to end, and Sentence of the Week will resume after our spring semester begins. Thanks very much for your participation this semester. We look forward to continuing this series in the New Year.

Do you have a sentence that you would like us to consider using as the Sentence of the Week? Please e-mail submissions to Michelle at msyeoman@gmail.com with the subject line “Sentence of the Week”. Submissions should be your own work—don’t nominate a colleague’s writing :). 

Please also feel free to e-mail suggestions relating to this series.