Gramer Girl here, I'm Minyon Foggedy.

This week I have a quick and dirty tip about the difference between purposefully and purposefully

and a meaty middle about the uel tide.

A listener named Manasai says she's been avoiding the words purposefully and purposefully

because she isn't sure of the difference between them.

I know that problem.

I used to avoid words like that before I became Gramer Girl, but it's better to learn

how to use them, so let's break it down because the difference can be subtle.

First, both purposefully and purposefully come from an old French word that meant intention,

and they're both adverbs, which means they're usually describing how you do something,

how you do the action of the verb.

Purposely is the word you want when you're describing something you're doing deliberately

or intentionally, something you're doing on purpose.

For example, if you know your sister is always late, you may purposefully tell her the party

starts 30 minutes earlier than it really does, so she gets there on time.

And here's an example from the comedian George Carlin.

He said, quote, a lot of times when a package says, open other end, I purposefully open the

end where it says that.

Unquote.

He does it on purpose.

Purposely describes the action or demeanor of a person who's determined or resolute.

If you want to convey a message to your brother across the dinner table without speaking,

...