82 / PART ONE: THE BASICS 1. A stationer ( noun ) sells writing paper so stationery ( noun ) is writing paper and envelopes. I ran out of stationery ( noun ) so I had to buy some. 2. Stationary ( adjective ) means fixed in one place. The train was stationary ( adjective ) at the platform. A mistake that is frequently heard is the following: He is very different to his brother. This is wrong. It should be: He is very different from his brother. If you differ , you move away from . If you are similar , you are similar to . Doctor – Dr Mister – Mr ◆ Do not put a full stop after a contraction: ◆ The abbreviation of ‘could have’ is ‘could’ve’ not ‘could of’. ◆ Do not put an apostrophe every time there is a plural word ending in ‘s’. Looking at common mistakes Checking apostrophes and abbreviations Stationery/stationary