Bookends or bookends ( one word ) means a pair of heavy objects used to keep books standing up on a shelf, desk, or table--
He has two old bronze gargoyles on his desk, for bookends.
Two bricks make useful, utilitarian bookends.
Book ends or book ends ( two words ) is the third person singular ( he, she, it ) form of "end", meaning to come to a conclusion or to finish, said of a literary work of some kind ( book )--
Don't tell me how this book ends! You'll spoil it!
I can't wait to find out how this book ends!
Now that you know that, you can say--
"The book ends when the detective discovers the body of a man murdered with one of his own bookends."
Note--"books end" means the finish or conclusion ( end ) of more than one literary work ( books)--
Many of his books end with a surprise.
Note # 2--"book's end" means the finish or conclusion ( end ) belonging to one particular literary work ( book's )--
This book's end is a real shocker!
Note # 3--"books' ends" means the conclusions ( ends ) belonging to more than one literary work ( books' )--
This authors books' ends are always exciting. [ awkward but logical ]
Words that sound the same when we speak may actually be two different words--which matters when we write them down. Spellcheck cannot help with this--it will show each word and the writer has to choose--to disambiguate them, if you will. I intend to update this daily, with another set of words it is possible to confuse, beginning with the simplest and most important. Questions and comments are welcome.
Showing posts with label bookends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bookends. Show all posts
Thursday, August 7, 2014
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)