英语语法：151 “Use” Versus “Utilize”

Grammar Girl here.

Today guest-writer Bonnie Trenga is helping¹ us talk about two sets of words that listeners get confused: “pleaded guilty” or “pled guilty,” and “use” or “utilize².”

“Plead” Versus³ “Pled”

Mike from Georgia is transitioning from law enforcement to freelance writing and wants to know which is correct: “He pled guilty” or “He pleaded guilty.” He says that some of the people he calls his hoity-toity friends claim that “pleaded” is always right, but he’s heard educated people use “pled.” Don’t be afraid to argue with a grammar snob⁴ on this issue because in America, Scotland, and some areas of the U.K. you could use “pled” if you wanted to (1); but you should also be prepared to eventually concede.

I’m sure we’ve all heard the sentence “He pled guilty.” It seems to be a logical way to form the past tense of the verb “to plead,” just as it’s perfectly⁵ correct to write the past-tense verb “led” in “He led me away.” Today he leads; yesterday he led—no problem. Of course, hearing something doesn’t make it right, so I checked my dictionary (2). Indeed it lists “pled” as a valid⁶ past-tense form or past participle of the verb “to plead.” So grammar miscreants⁷ did not deviously⁸ gather together and make up that word to enrage⁹ grammarians, but some grammarians are mad. Sources I checked fall all along the spectrum¹⁰ of indignation. One (3) flatly states, “The past tense of ‘plead’ is ‘pleaded,’ not ‘pled.’” Another, Bryan Garner¹¹ (4), acknowledges the existence of “pled” but admonishes¹² us that “‘Pleaded’ is the predominant form in both American English and British English and always the best choice.” The AP Stylebook (5), used by journalists, sums it up well, I think: “Do not use the colloquial¹³ past-tense form, ‘pled.’”

Since we’re dealing¹⁴ with legal issues, I checked with a lawyer to be certain. She and her husband, also a lawyer, kindly¹⁵ referred me to Garner, whom I’ve already quoted. He has written multiple legal-oriented tomes in addition to the grammar guide I quoted earlier, and they all advise lawyers to use “pleaded,” though Garner does acknowledge in one legal guide (6) that “pled” “is a common variant¹⁶ in legal usage.” Yet it's not that common in the news: a quick search of Google News shows that “pleaded guilty” is about 60 times more common than “pled guilty.”

So, even though it seems that lawyers occasionally do say, “pled,” you should probably avoid “pled” unless you want to risk the indignation of the so-called hoity-toity.

“Use” Versus “Utilize”

Now on to the difference between “use” and “utilize,” thanks to a question from Thomas.

Bonnie says that as a copy editor she often reads fluffed up marketing¹⁷ material full of big words that try to make the writer sound important or knowledgeable¹⁸. She usually just changes them to normal, unimpressive words that get the point across without much fuss. One of these words she changes often is “utilize,” as in the pretentious-sounding sentence “If you utilize this brand of printer, you will go far.” A sentence like that sounds fluffy¹⁹ and overly important, and it gives readers the impression that you’re trying too hard. Most of the time you can avoid the verb “utilize”; “use” works just fine (7).

So if you’re in marketing or PR, you can just use “use”; it’s probably not a good idea to utilize “utilize.” In a similar vein²⁰, please avoid the word “utilization.” It does your sentence no good.

Surprisingly, “utilize,” a 19th-century loanword from French (8), does have very specific and valid uses, mostly in the scientific world. The word “utilize” often appears “in contexts in which a strategy is put to practical advantage or a chemical or nutrient²¹ is being taken up and used effectively” (9). For example, according to the American Heritage Guide to Contemporary Usage and Style, you might hear “utilize” properly used in a sentence such as “If a diet contains too much phosphorus, calcium²² is not utilized²³ efficiently” (9).

So if you're a science writer, you might find yourself using the word “utilize.” If you’re just a regular person writing a regular sentence, you should probably just stick with the word “use.”

The Curious Case of the Misplaced Modifier

This podcast was written by Bonnie Trenga, author of The Curious Case of the Misplaced Modifier, who blogs at sentencesleuth.blogspot.com, and I'm Mignon Fogarty, the author of the paperback²⁴ book Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing.

That's all. Thanks for listening.

 

1 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

2 utilize   

vt.使用，利用

参考例句：

• The cook will utilize the leftover ham bone to make soup.厨师要用吃剩的猪腿骨做汤。
• You must utilize all available resources.你必须利用一切可以得到的资源。

3 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

4 snob   

n.势利小人，自以为高雅、有学问的人

参考例句：

• Going to a private school had made her a snob.上私立学校后，她变得很势利。
• If you think that way, you are a snob already.如果你那样想的话，你已经是势利小人了。

5 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

6 valid   

adj.有确实根据的；有效的；正当的，合法的

参考例句：

• His claim to own the house is valid.他主张对此屋的所有权有效。
• Do you have valid reasons for your absence?你的缺席有正当理由吗？

7 miscreants   

n.恶棍，歹徒( miscreant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I ordered the miscreants to let me out. 我命令这些土匪放我出去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Local people demanded that the District Magistrate apprehend the miscreants. 当地人要求地方法官逮捕那些歹徒。 来自辞典例句

8 deviously   

弯曲地，绕道地

参考例句：

• He got the promotion by behaving deviously. 他通过不正当手段才获得了这次晋升。

9 enrage   

v.触怒，激怒

参考例句：

• She chose a quotation that she knew would enrage him.她选用了一句明知会激怒他的引语。
• He started another matter to enrage me,but I didn't care.他又提出另一问题，想以此激怒我，可我并没在意。

10 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

11 garner   

v.收藏；取得

参考例句：

• He has garnered extensive support for his proposals.他的提议得到了广泛的支持。
• Squirrels garner nuts for the winter.松鼠为过冬储存松果。

12 admonishes   

n.劝告( admonish的名词复数 )；训诫；（温和地）责备；轻责v.劝告( admonish的第三人称单数 )；训诫；（温和地）责备；轻责

参考例句：

• His bodily form, erect and looking heavenwards, admonishes him to mind the things that are above. 他躯体的形态，直立和仰向苍天，告诫他应思考天上的事物。 来自辞典例句
• The tentacle may and be only a pseudomorph, unbearable admonishes Italy. 触手可及只是假象、咫尺天涯才是箴意。 来自互联网

13 colloquial   

adj.口语的，会话的

参考例句：

• It's hard to understand the colloquial idioms of a foreign language.外语里的口头习语很难懂。
• They have little acquaintance with colloquial English. 他们对英语会话几乎一窍不通。

14 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

15 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

16 variant   

adj.不同的，变异的；n.变体，异体

参考例句：

• We give professional suggestions according to variant tanning stages for each customer.我们针对每位顾客不同的日晒阶段，提供强度适合的晒黑建议。
• In a variant of this approach,the tests are data- driven.这个方法的一个变种，是数据驱动的测试。

17 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

18 knowledgeable   

adj.知识渊博的；有见识的

参考例句：

• He's quite knowledgeable about the theatre.他对戏剧很有心得。
• He made some knowledgeable remarks at the meeting.他在会上的发言颇有见地。

19 fluffy   

adj.有绒毛的，空洞的

参考例句：

• Newly hatched chicks are like fluffy balls.刚孵出的小鸡像绒毛球。
• The steamed bread is very fluffy.馒头很暄。

20 vein   

n.血管，静脉；叶脉，纹理；情绪；vt.使成脉络

参考例句：

• The girl is not in the vein for singing today.那女孩今天没有心情唱歌。
• The doctor injects glucose into the patient's vein.医生把葡萄糖注射入病人的静脉。

21 nutrient   

adj.营养的，滋养的；n.营养物，营养品

参考例句：

• Magnesium is the nutrient element in plant growth.镁是植物生长的营养要素。
• The roots transmit moisture and nutrient to the trunk and branches.根将水分和养料输送到干和枝。

22 calcium   

n.钙(化学符号Ca)

参考例句：

• We need calcium to make bones.我们需要钙来壮骨。
• Calcium is found most abundantly in milk.奶含钙最丰富。

23 utilized   

v.利用，使用( utilize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• In the19th century waterpower was widely utilized to generate electricity. 在19世纪人们大规模使用水力来发电。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The empty building can be utilized for city storage. 可以利用那栋空建筑物作城市的仓库。 来自《简明英汉词典》

24 paperback   

n.平装本，简装本

参考例句：

• A paperback edition is now available at bookshops.平装本现在在书店可以买到。
• Many books that are out of print are reissued in paperback form.许多绝版的书籍又以平装本形式重新出现。