Different From or Different Than?

You can’t go wrong with different from. That’s the standard rule. Different than is used frequently and is becoming more accepted in American usage. (Different to is accepted in Britain, but you rarely hear that in America.)

I want something different from that.
My definition is different from yours.
That’s different from what it was supposed to be.

Different than is more accepted before a clause (a complete sentence) and is interchangeable with other than.

It turned out to be different than I had imagined.
He is a different person than he used to be.

Trick to Remember:
Different from is always accepted. Different and from share the letter f.

However, you can still use different than in most cases, though I’d be wary of English teachers.

Fake Grammar

In the 1800s, academics believed Latin was perfect and English needed to be more like Latin, and so some Latin grammar rules were imposed on English. From a linguistic and practical point of view, this was ridiculous. Here are two of those fake rules that must be ignored for English to fully be itself.

You can’t put a preposition at the end of a sentence 

Why not? Because it’s impossible in Latin and other Romance languages. In English, it’s a piece of cake.

I want to know which box it’s in.
Where are you from?
Pick the one above.

Just imagine the awkwardness created in trying to avoid ending the sentences with prepositions:
I want to know in which box it is.
From where are you?
Pick the one that is above the others.

You can’t split infinitives

Again, this is impossible to do in Romance languages but easy in English.

I want you to always remember me.
I told you to not do that.
You need to badly see a doctor.
(The infinitives are to remember, to do, to see.)

Languages come with their own laws that native speakers naturally acquire. Stop trying to override nature and shackle our language, 19th-century snobs.

Grammar: Due To

The phrase due to is a pet peeve of mine, I admit. It is so pretentious, it drives me crazy. I will edit it out even when it is used correctly. If you must use it, here’s how.

Due to is an adjective (technically an adjective with a preposition). This means it cannot start a sentence and must follow a be verb:

Due to extenuating circumstances, we cannot acquiesce to your request. ☹ (If we’re going to be pretentious, let’s not do it half way.)
The cold was due to the snow. ✓

Think of it in the same sense as library books being due. The grammar is the same.

Trick to Remember
Use because of instead of due to in all circumstances, okay?

Plurals of Names

As it’s Christmastime, this is a good time to cover the plural of names. Most names you just add s to:
Hammers
Bishops
Butchers
Jacksons
Carpenters

What if your name already ends in an s? Add es:
Williamses
Evanses
Lewises

Then there’s a few other forms:
Valdezes
Rileys

Wrong:
Hammer’s
Bishop’s
Williams’

For practical purposes, it’s probably easier to write “from the Williams family” rather than “from the Williamses.”

Trick to Remember
Plurals are formed by adding s or es. If you don’t sign your name with an apostrophe normally, then it will not ever obtain one. Apostrophes never ever ever make a plural.

Usage: Comprise Vs. Compose

I see comprise used in place of compose all the time now. Writers use it to sound distinguished and educated. The actual effect is the opposite.

Compose means to form something by putting things together. It’s often used in passive voice (... is composed of ...).

Comprise means includes, is made up of. It is NEVER used in passive voice (... is comprised of ...) because that would be illogical.

Fifty states comprise the United States.
The United States is composed of fifty states.
Bacon, eggs, and juice comprise my breakfast.
My breakfast is composed of bacon, eggs, and juice.

The non-passive use of compose is not as common now:
We will compose a committee. The committee will be composed of five members. Five members will comprise the committee.

Trick to Remember
Compose is rarely used wrong, but comprise is misused all the time. So, if you’re writing comprise, replace it with is made up of and see if it still makes sense. You can also just avoid comprise altogether; you can live without it easily enough.

Grammar: None

None is a contraction of no one. This means it’s singular and follows the same grammar pattern as he, she, it.

Wrong: None are perfect. None of us are perfect. (It’s ironic how often you hear this.)
Right: None is perfect. None of us is perfect.

Trick to Remember
Replace none with no one, and that should make it clear.