is that a mistake?

Question

I wanted to ask you opinion.If you write course work instead of courseworkis that grammatically speaking a mistake?

Fivejedjon · Accepted Answer

No

Anonymous · Answer

Thank you!

But how then would I know which one to use. Isn't there any difference between the two! English is so confusing!!!

AlpheccaStars · Answer

If the word is in a reputable English dictionary, and has the desired meaning, you can use it. You have to be careful that it has the proper part of speech for your sentence.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/coursework?s=t

English has many words that are synonyms.

Anonymous · Answer

Thanks I get that!

But the dictionary doesn't say if course work (as two words is also correct), so I'm confused which one is correct and which one is incorrect.

Fivejedjon · Answer

Dictionaries frequently do not note words that are used together.

COCA has nearly five hundred citations for course work, so this two-word formation is used. However, if it makes you happier to use a single word that you can find in a dictionary, then use coursework.

Anonymous · Answer

Thanks!

Yeah I see! I will stick to the two word, but both can work.

Thanks a lot for the clarification.

BarbaraPA · Answer

It can be hard.
Every day and everyday have different meanings
Some time and sometime have different meanings.

Enoon · Answer

AnonymousThanks I get that! But the dictionary doesn't say if course work (as two words is also correct), so I'm confused which one is correct and which one is incorrect.

I was leaning toward one word. I wasn't sure what the dictionaries would say, myself, so I looked up "coursework" in http://www.onelook.com/?w=coursework&ls=ajust now. The AHD is not there, and that's a bad sign; American usage tends to make one word out of two. Cambridge is descriptive, so I would expect them to have it, and they do. The Compact Oxford is there, and that makes the single word legitimate enough in my book, even though my paper Shorter Oxford is silent on it. Bottom line, both "course work" and "coursework" are correct. I like single words, so I'm going with that, on the model of "homework", which is undeniably one word.

is that a mistake?

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions