aggravate
ground, either for coping with competitors or with difficulties, needs, or demands; as, "to have the advantage of a good education." It is frequently used of what one has beyond another or secures at the expense of another; as, "to have the advantage of another in an argument," or "to take advantage of another in a bargain. Benefit is anything that does one good.
adverbs and the infinitive "to." See split infinitive.
a few. Condemned as employing the singular article before an adjective plural in sense. Usage sanctions a hundred and a great many, these expressions being viewed as collective. A few is correct idiomatic English, with a sense distinctively different from that of the adjective used alone; as, "A few men can be trusted" (i.e., a small but appreciable number). "Few men can be trusted" (i. e., scarcely any) is practically equivalent to the negative statement "Most men are not to be trusted."
affect. Compare effect.
against: Never shorten this preposition into again. Such a usage is either dialectical or obsolete; and save in such usage there is no preposition again, or as sometimes spoken by persons careless with their speech agen.
aggravate, exasperate, irritate, provoke: A fever or a misfortune may be aggravated, but not a person.
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