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Words Mississippi

Suggest improvements for the highlighted problem area:

Ms. Manthey happyly reported the results of the quiz to the class. On question number two they were alright. Every student had correctly picked Osceola as the town that had once been on the banks of the Mississippi. On question number five, however, there was disagreement between the students. They discussed the answer for awhile. Less than five students knew that the Mississippi carried sediment at a rate of 30 tons per second. A larger amount of them thought that it was less. On the essay question, one student, Quanah, described the river as plaiful because it meanders back and forth below the confluence of the Ohio River.

Answer:

- Alright versus All Right -

The second sentence of our opening paragraph ends with a word that doesn't quite fit:

    On question number two they were alright.

Some experts insist that alright is always a misspelling of all right. But common usage is beginning to make alright an accepted word that can mean okay, yes, certainly, or acceptable. However, when we want to say everyone is correct, we should always use all right:

    On question number two they were all right.

To help remember the difference between alright and all right, try making up a mnemonic such as:

    All are right; all are mighty,
      but it's alright to heed the almighty.

 

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