Revised as of 14 April 2021
My assistants will provide you with assistance, if you should require it.
It’s a sweet pair of heterographs (a subset of homophone) with all this aid running about.
Just keep in mind that both of these aids are nouns, but it’s those assistants who can provide you with assistance.
Word Confusions…
…started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noir for you from either end.
If you found this post on “Assistance versus Assistants” interesting, consider tweeting it to your friends. Subscribe to KD Did It, if you’d like to track this post for future updates.
| Assistance | Assistants |
|---|---|
| Credit to: Apple Dictionary.com; Dictionary.com: assistant | |
Humanitarian Aid by Technical Sergeant Mike Buytas of the United States Air Force and uploaded by trialsanderrors is under the CC0 1.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. |
The Store by starmanseries (<https://visualhunt.com/author/1a5baa>) is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via VisualHunt. — A pair of assistants stand behind the counter. |
| Part of Grammar: | |
| Noun Plural: assistance |
Plural for assistant
Noun Plural: assistants |
The action of helping someone with a job or task
[British; informal] A weekly allowance paid to certain people by the state to bring their incomes up to minimum levels established by law |
A person who assists or gives aid and support
A person who ranks below a senior person
Something that aids and supplements another |
| Examples: | |
| The work was completed with the assistance of carpenters.
They’re putting together plans offering financial assistance to employers. She will be glad to give advice and assistance. May I be of assistance, ma’am? The kindest gentleman came to my assistance. Both families are on assistance. |
The managing director and his assistant will be here in twenty minutes.
Our George is an assistant manager down at the shop these days. I hope we get a more capable laboratory assistant this time. So is Pat an assistant professor yet? He was assistant to the office manager. Can you believe he’s the assistant attorney general? The research assistant is moving the flasks to another room. |
| Derivatives: | |
| Adjective: assistive Noun: assist, reassistance Verb: assist |
Adjective: unassistant Noun: assistantship, nonassistant |
| History of the Word: | |
| Late Middle English, from the Old French assister or from the medieval Latin assistentia, which is from the Latin assistere meaning take one’s stand by, and from ad- (to, at) + sistere (take one’s stand). | Late Middle English from the Old French, or from the medieval Latin assistent- meaning taking one’s stand beside, from the verb assistere. |
C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan…which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them…and we’ll all benefit!
Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.
Pinterest Photo Credits:
The cropped McGee 205 (<https://visualhunt.com/f2/photo/2405209731/5bd487355b/>) by otisarchives3, <https://visualhunt.com/author/8908d1>, is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via VisualHunt.
