In the phrase on cue, “cue” (not “queue”) is the correct spelling.
If something happens “on cue,” it happens precisely when expected or at a favorable time. People often use it ironically to mean “just my luck that that should happen at that particular time” (e.g., “And as if on cue, it started to rain just as I left my apartment”).
It’s important to choose the right word when deciding whether cue or queue is correct because they have different meanings.
Why not try out QuillBot’s free Grammar Checker to help you avoid errors with commonly confused words such as “cue” and “queue”?
In the phrase cue the music, “cue” (not “queue”) is the correct spelling.
You say “cue the music” to instruct someone to start playing music at a specific point in a stage performance (e.g., a play) or a live broadcast (e.g., a radio show) or to add music to video or film at a specific point (e.g., “We should cue the music here when she opens the curtains”).
When deciding if cue or queue is the correct spelling for a particular context, it’s important to make the right choice because the two words have different meanings.
Use QuillBot’s free Grammar Checker to help you use commonly confused words such as cue and queue correctly in your writing.
“People” is the more common plural of “person” in general English. It means “human beings,” especially as a group (e.g., “Ten people came to my party,” or “English people love tea”).
“Persons” is found in formal, legal, technical, and official contexts. It means “various individuals” (e.g. “The court will try these four persons for their crimes,” or “Police are working to find the missing persons”).
If you’re not sure which word is the best choice in your writing, use the QuillBot Grammar Checker to check.
We can use persons or people in English to mean slightly different things.
“Persons” means “several individuals,” while “people” means “a group of humans.”
The slight difference in the meanings of these words comes from their Latin origins.
“Persons” comes from the Latin “persona,” meaning “mask,” or “character.” “Persona” evolved to mean “individual,” and that meaning is preserved in the English words “person” and “persons.”
“People” comes from the Latin “populus,” which means “population,” or “group of humans.” This is why the English “people” has its group-focused meaning.
The possessive nounpeoples’ is correct when you want to talk about something that belongs to more than one cultural or ethnic group.
If you want to talk about something that belongs to one specific cultural or ethnic group, you would use the form people’s.
For example, “the Spanish people’s opinions” refers to the opinions of just the Spanish. But, “the French and Spanish peoples’ opinions” refers to the opinions of both groups.
If you are writing in a legal, official, or technical context, it may be better to use persons’ as the possessive plural. This is because “persons” is preferred to “people” as the plural of “person” in these contexts.
You can spell embedded with an “e” or an “i” (i.e., imbedded or embedded), but “embedded” is more common in modern English and recommended in many style guides. It is therefore best to spell it “embedded” in formal writing (e.g., academic writing).
QuillBot’s free Grammar Checker can help ensure you’re spelling “embedded/imbedded” correctly in your writing.
“Imbedded” is not a synonym for “embedded” because imbedded and embedded are alternative spellings of the same word. “Embedded” has become the more standard spelling in modern English.
Why not use QuillBot’s free Paraphraser to help you find the best synonym for “embedded” in your specific context?
