Communication Standards Manual - University of Wisconsin ...

among, betweenAmong indicates the interval, intermediate position, or relationship ofmore than two people or things; between implies only two.The assignment will be divided among the five students.The professor split the assignment between Chris and Jon.Note: One item in a pair may be a group of individuals.The concert highlighted the bond between the band director andmembers of the orchestra.Between may also indicate pairs of relationships among more thanthree items.The competition continued between the teams.(Note: Several completed, but only in pairs.)and, ampersand (&)Spell out and. Use an ampersand only if part of a proper name, in lists orin tabular material. In running text, use the word and.and, butYou may use and or but to begin a sentence. Used sparingly, theseconjunctions can provide effective transitions between closely relatedsentences.assure, ensure, insureAssure means to convince someone or set a person’s mind at ease.The student assured her coach she would be in the tournament.Ensure means to guarantee or secure.Proper training will ensure good scores.Insure generally means to establish a contract involving money.She was advised to insure her apartment against theft.Writing Style Guidebad, badlyBad is an adjective: She had a bad report.Badly is an adverb: He ran the course badly.A common error is use of the adverb in constructions with linking(transitive) verbs, such as look, taste and feel.Use the adjective to modify subjects taking linking verbs.I feel bad about the outcome.(Since feel acts as a linking verb, the adjective bad modifiesthe pronoun I.)19