Every week I will demonstrate an example of poor English where a different word is used from the one intended. Sometimes this creates a grammatically incorrect sentence. Unfortunately, the mistake is usually so pervasive that we all do it and such errors are usually made by those who should know better – journalists working for national or global media outlets such as newspapers and television

Principal / Principle

Again this might be one that affects only me because I use both words so rarely and usually prefer to use other words in their place. The main difference is that one is an adjective and the other is a noun.

Principal: adj. Meaning main or primary.

Principle: n. Meaning a rule or a belief.

I have been thinking for the last hour about how you might remember it, a bit like my “e for envelope” when remembering the difference between stationary and stationery. Ah well, if anybody knows one or can think of one then please say so!

My principal principle of this type of post is to educate in the proper use of English – even if I don’t always succeed.