15 May, 2011

Versus (3)

1. less or lesser? (englishplus.com)
2. principle or principal? (grammar.quickanddirtytips.com audio support)
pal (informal)
(dailywritingtips.com/principle-principal/)
Principle and principal are easily confused. It doesn’t help that they are homophones, which means they sound alike. Here’s a guide to what they mean and how you can tell them apart.

Principle
The word principle means a standard, a law or a rule. This means you can have:

* the principles of economics, which are the laws that govern economic theory
* moral principles, which are the rules and standards that govern your behavior

Principal
The word principal usually refers to a person. Remember that it ends in ‘pal’, which is a person. A principal can be:

* the head of a school
* the head of an organization
* the main person involved in a contract or financial negotiation

Putting It All Together
If you remember that principal is a person, then you can easily make sense of this sentence:

The principal taught us the first principle of social responsibility.

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