CONTENTS FEATURE: The truth about 'lie'—and other tricky words GRAMMAR COACH: Fielding your questions NET NOTES: Captivating web sites FINDER'S FEE: Recommend a friend—and earn up to $500 FEATURE: The truth about 'lie'—and other tricky words      If you're at least 40 years of age, perhaps you remember the old cigarette commercial jingle "Winston tastes good like a cigarette should." You also may recall hearing that it's grammatically incorrect and should have been "...as a cigarette should"—but perhaps you're not sure why.      The "like/as" couplet is among several pairs of seemingly similar but actually distinct words that commonly confound people. Other dumbfounding duos are appraise/apprise, bring/take, comprise/compose, disinterested/uninterested, fewer/less, imply/infer, lay/lie, loan/lend, wake/awake and who/whom. Let's snuff out misunderstandings about them. appraise / apprise: The verb "appraise" means to evaluate or to estimate. A jeweler appraises the value of a gemstone. "Apprise" means to inform, often used in the sense of progress reports. Employees apprise their supervisors about their work on a project. bring / take: The verb "bring" is used to direct action toward the speaker, or to someone the speaker designates. Use: "Please ask Jan to bring the sales reports to me" or "When she returned from vacation, Jan brought souvenirs for all the people in her office." The verb "take" is used to indicate action away from the speaker, or from the speaker's location. Use: "Jan, please take these sales reports to Bill" or "I'll need to take those sales reports with me on my business trip." When writing from a point of view that is neither the point of origin nor the destination, use the verb that best conveys the perspective you want to emphasize. Suppose you're in Phoenix and you're writing about Luisa's business trip from Seattle to Atlanta. If the paragraph leading up to that is focused on the Seattle office, then you'd write that Luisa took her laptop computer to Atlanta. If you had been discussing the Atlanta office, then you'd say that Luisa brought her laptop computer to the meeting there. comprise / compose: The distinction between these two verbs is that the whole of something comprises (or encompasses) its parts; the parts compose the whole (they are the constituent parts of the whole). Thus, "California comprises 58 counties"; conversely, "58 counties compose California." In the passive voice, proper use is: "California is composed of 58 counties." Most dictionary usage panels reject the use of "comprise" in the passive voice, as in "California is comprised of 58 counties." If you're uncertain which to use, the verb "constitute" makes a dandy substitute, as in: "Five business owners constitute the economic development panel." disinterested / uninterested: The adjective "disinterested" means impartial or free of bias. "Uninterested" means indifferent, inattentive or lacking interest. To settle a dispute, you want a mediator who is disinterested, not uninterested. fewer / less: The adjectives "few" and "fewer" should be used only in connection with plural nouns, as in "fewer people," or "few dollars." The adjective "less" is proper for use with mass nouns, as in "less water" or "less money." imply / infer: The verb "imply" means to suggest or express indirectly. A speaker or writer can imply, as in: "the shift manager implied that the theft was an inside job." The verb "infer" means to conclude from statements or premises. A listener or reader can infer, as in: "from the shift manager's memo, many employees inferred that he regards the theft as an inside job." lay / lie: These two words are commonly mistaken for each other and misused. The transitive verb "lay," which means to put or place, requires an object. You lay something, such as a hammer, down; the hammer is the object receiving the action. Present tense: I lay it down; she lays it down. Past tense: Karen laid the hammer on the bench. Past participle: Karen has laid the hammer on the bench. Present participle: Karen is laying the hammer on the bench. The intransitive verb "lie," which means to recline, does not take an object. Present tense: Fred lies down after mowing the lawn. Past tense: Fred lay down after mowing the lawn yesterday. Past participle: Fred has lain there all afternoon. Present participle: Fred is still lying down. When using the verb "lie" in the sense of telling fallacies, the proper forms are: Present tense: Elmo lies habitually. Past tense: Elmo lied about the missing book. Present participle: I'm sure Elmo is lying about the book. lend / loan: "Lend" is a verb that means to allow someone else to temporarily use or have an object or other commodity. Pancho agreed to lend $500 to Lefty. Although "loan" may be used as a verb, it is preferred as a noun referring to something that has been lent. Pancho made a loan of $500 to Lefty. (The verb in that sentence is "made.") like / as: You can relax about the "like/as" debate, which was an overreaction by linguistic purists. Defense of the use of "like" requires us to lift the figurative hood of the sentence and examine its underlying grammar. The objection about the Winston jingle stemmed from the notion that only "as" can properly serve as a conjunction to link the two clauses "Winston tastes good" and "a cigarette should." The word "like" is most commonly used as a preposition (as in "I feel like singing in the shower"); as an adjective meaning "similar" (as in "these pastels and like colors"); or as a noun (as in "office supplies, such as pencils, paper clips and the like"). But most contemporary dictionaries also approve of its use as a conjunction meaning "in the same way that"—precisely its function in the Winston ditty. Bear in mind, though, that your use of "like" in such comparisons may unnecessarily draw attention and distract readers from the message you're trying to communicate. To avoid an argument—albeit an unjustifiable one—judicious writers tend to shun "like" in such comparisons and use "as" instead. wake /waken; awake / awaken: "Wake" means to cease sleeping or to rouse from sleep. It can be used as a transitive verb (meaning that you can wake someone else) or as an intransitive verb in which no action is transferred (as in "I wake up" or "she wakes up"). Past tense: woke or waked; Past participle: has/have waked up or has/have woken up; Present participle: waking. "Waken" can be used only as a transitive verb meaning to rouse from sleep. You can waken someone else, but you can't waken yourself (unless, perhaps, you snore too loudly or you punch yourself in your sleep). Past tense: wakened; Present participle: wakening. "Awake" means to rouse from sleep or to arouse interest. It can be used transitively (you can awake someone else) or intransitively (you can awake). Past tense: awoke; Past participle: has/have awaked; Present participle: am/is/are awaking. The verb "awaken" is interchangeable with the verb "awake." Past tense: awakened; Past participle: has/have awakened; Present participle: am/is/are awakening. who / whom: The pronoun "who" means "which person or persons?" It's also used to introduce a clause or phrase in reference to a human, as in "we're honoring the employee who has the best record of attendance." The rule distinguishing between "who" and "whom" is straightforward: "Who" is used in connection with a grammatical subject—when the person in question is performing the action. "Whom" is used in connection with a grammatical object—when the person in question is receiving the action. The rule is uncomplicated, perhaps, but it's often difficult to interpret properly. Here are some practical guidelines. Use "who" if you can substitute a subjective-case pronoun such as "I," "he" or "they." Should you write "who is asking" or "whom is asking"? Try the substitution technique: Would you write "he is asking" or "him is asking"? Since the right choice is the objective pronoun "he," the correct answer is "who is asking?" This is a conventional subject-verb-object sentence, in which "who" is the subject. Use "whom" if you can substitute an objective-case pronoun such as "him," "her" or "them." Should you write "who did you ask" or "whom did you ask?" Try another substitution: "did you ask they" or did you ask them?" Because the right choice is the objective-case pronoun "them," the correct answer is "whom did you ask?" In this sentence, "you" is the subject, while "whom" is the object of the verb "ask." Here's another hint: the need for "whom" can be signaled by "to" or other prepositions, as in: "to whom am I speaking" or "from whom did we receive the documents?" Don't be fooled by tricky, erroneous constructions such as, "whom shall I say sent the documents?" The sentence essentially says "who sent the documents"; the "shall I say" clause is a parenthetical reference. Once again, apply the substitution technique. Should you use the subjective case ("she sent the documents") or objective case ("her sent the documents")? Because the answer is subjective case, the correct pronoun is "who."      The result sounds good—as a well-composed sentence should. Yes! EditPros can help you choose the proper verb forms for your written materials. GRAMMAR COACH: Fielding your questions Rhonda Sherman submitted this month's question:      "Is 'Web page' one word or two, and is 'Web' upper case or lowercase?" The grammar coach replies:      As the terms "Web page" and "Web site" have become more deeply entrenched in the lexicon, they are evolving from "open" (two words) to "closed" (one word) form. Because the terms still are undergoing that transition, dictionaries are not in agreement about their proper form.      The current Merriam-Webster online dictionary says that in reference to the World Wide Web, the word "Web" may be used alone but should be capitalized. M-W has an entry for "Web site" as two words, but not as one. Since M-W contains no entry for "webpage," the dictionary's usage panel does not regard that term as legitimized in closed form.      The Cambridge Dictionary of American English ambivalently contains listings for "web page," "webpage," "web site" and "website".      The on-line version of the American Heritage Dictionary favors "webpage" and "website" (lowercased, closed), and shows "Web page" and "Web site" (capitalized "W," open) as variants.      The revised 11th edition of the Concise Oxford Dictionary, published this July, shows "website" (lowercased, closed) as the standard form, but retains the open form for "web page" (with a lowercased "w"). However, in a separate and contradictory notation, the dictionary recommends initial capitals for "Internet" and "World Wide Web," as well as for "Web" alone in reference to the Internet.      The choices are yours, but bear in mind that the closed-form "webpage" conflicts with the precedents for other terms involving "page"—notably "title page" and "front page."      Thanks for submitting your question, Rhonda!      Are you perplexed by some aspect of grammar or word usage? Don't be shy! Ask the "grammar coach" at EditPros and we'll try to help—at no charge, just for the sport of it. NET NOTES: Captivating Internet resources Law.com Dictionary      If you're confused or uncertain about the meanings of legal terminology, this site can help. It will display the definitions of legal terms that you enter, and you can search through its alphabetical glossary of legal terms. Columbia Guide to Online Style      This site presents guidelines for maintaining a consistent style in citing sources of information obtained on the Web and through other electronic resources. PhoneSpell      What do the letters associated with your phone number spell? It's fun to find out, but it could be important to someone who is preparing to open a business or establish a toll-free number. Type in the letters you'd like, and this site will display the corresponding phone number. FINDER'S FEE: Recommend a friend—and earn a finder's fee of up to $500      Do you know of a friend or colleague whose office can benefit from EditPros services? If you do, EditPros may reward you with a "finder's fee" of up to $500.      EditPros performs writing, editing and publication management services for newsletters, sales literature, brochures, Web sites and other informational and marketing materials.      If you recommend our services to a friend or business colleague, and that introduction leads to an assignment for EditPros, we will award you a "finder's fee" equaling 10 percent of the amount we earn on the first assignment for the new client, up to a maximum finder's fee of $500. Naturally, the finder's fee is applicable only to clients for which we have not worked previously.      This offer will remain in effect until further notice. YOUR TURN: Ask the "grammar coach" or subscribe      We invite you to submit your questions to the "grammar coach," and we welcome you to subscribe to this monthly newsletter—which we'll send to your e-mail address at no charge. 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