A part apart.

Someday I am going to do one of these monthly challenges moving backward: Z to A, 30 to 1. Until then…

 

 

This grammar goof has popped up in the work of every client in the last few weeks, so it is safe to assume it is an issue that requires addressing:  A PART versus APART. The two are nearly the same when read visually (seen) and when read aloud (heard). But they are vastly different; at no point are they interchanged.   So why are they misused? Autocorrect. I blame everything on autocorrect.

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 A PART

1) part                     noun

• one of many
• a piece, a section, a quality, etc, that make or form something

Do you need this part of the puzzle?   2) part                     verb

• to separate into two or more sections that move away from each other

Let’s part the puzzle by color.

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APART

1) apart                  adverb

• separated by an amount of space or time
• not together, split, broken

Keeping the colors apart helps to visualize the puzzle picture.   2) apart                   adjective

• separate or different from others

Bright pieces stand apart before we even pull them out.   3) apart from        preposition

• besides, other than, save for, aside from, except for

Apart from one missing piece, we’re done with the puzzle!

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Using the very specific breakdown, including definitions and examples, can you figure out the next sentence?

 Apart from a part lost in the apartment when we parted apart the pieces that stood apart from one another, the puzzle was complete.

 

 

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