I saw this in a message about a reorganization.
Problem:
One does not “fulfill” a role.
Explanation:
The verb “fulfill” means to bring into realization.
What the message writer meant to say was that he had asked his team members to perform the duties of new roles (that he described later in the message).
One meaning of the verb “fill” is to perform the duties of.
This leads us to the solution.
Solution:
“I have asked my team members to fill the following roles.”
I have posted to this blog a few times about words that start with the “re-” prefix.
Here are some examples:
A common English blunder these days is to add “back” after any of the “re-” verbs.
The reason that it’s a blunder is that the “re-” prefix in these verbs means back.
The other meaning of the “re-” prefix is again or anew.
Unless you know that you are dealing with an again or anew instance, it is safest to avoid putting “back” after a “re-” verb.
Many people write “loose” when they mean “lose” instead.
Problem:
The verb “lose” does not look like it would be pronounced with the oo sound, so many people mistakenly choose the “oo” word (“loose”) instead.
Explanation:
As I’ve written in an earlier post, it’s true that “loose” can be used as a verb as well as an adjective.
However, when used as a verb, “loose” does not mean “stops having”; this definition belongs to the verb “lose” instead.
If you look up the origins of these two words, you see that:
Knowing the origins of these two words does not help me to remember the correct spelling. In fact, I don’t know how I keep them straight (no mnemonic comes to mind), but I do.
Solution:
Simply memorize that the verb “lose” is spelled with one ‘o’.