Who, while writing a letter or an important letter, has not come across a word or phrase whose spelling is always a source of agony? Rest assured that in most cases there are rules that allow you to make a risk-free decision. Le Figaro So offers you to finally come to terms with these words that you avoid most of the time for fear of scratching their so delicate spelling.
Furthermore, with or without an apostrophe?
This is a word we come across often. If when it appeared in 1360, the apostrophe was preserved, then the spelling of the word developed later. From the 16th century onwards, it is appropriate to choose the welded form and write “more” when the word qualifies “a greater quantity”. However, and this is the subtlety of the word, when the latter can be replaced by “benefit”, it should be written “more”. For example: “I don’t see any advantage (benefit) from now on.” Oqlf then points out that we find more words written in the plural. For example: “There are far more disadvantages than advantages in choosing this position.”
Given: mutable or immutable?
“Given” at the beginning of a sentence is always invariant. Therefore we write: “Considering the circumstances…” On the other hand, if the phrase is placed after it, agreement is essential. So it is appropriate to write: “The situation is given, he has come to join us.”
Joy, joy or joy?
How many deletions does this common word take us to do? At its birth in the 11th century, the word was spelled with an “e” for “gaieté”. However, since the beginning of the 21st century, the French Academy has also accepted the spellings “gaité” and “gaîté”. Therefore, all three forms of the word are valid in the same way that ‘gaily’ can be spelled just like ‘gaiment’.
Exhausting and intriguing or exhausting and intriguing?
It all depends on the nature of the word. The adjectives “exhausting” and “exciting” go together: “exhausting days” and “interesting people”. These adjectives must be separated from the present participles from which they come, which retain the “u” and which are invariant; “He got there by exhausting and constantly scheming.” Likewise, we speak of a “sailor sailing distant ships.”
Attached or Attached?
Ci-joint, ci-annexed, ci-inclus… are always unchanged when they are placed at the head of the sentence or when they are not preceded by the determiners le, mon, un… So it is appropriate: to write “My notes are included here” but “copies attached”. If you’re in a lazy mood, just remember one of the two spellings and always structure your sentences the same way.
Source: Le Figaro
