Grammar 101: Complement and Compliment
February 19th, 2009 by Michael Kwan
A very common error that many people make is mistaking complement for compliment (and vice versa). Although these two words may vary by only a single letter, just like affect and effect, they have vastly different meanings. Whether you are composing a business letter or just a casual e-mail message, it is in your best interest to understand the distinction between complement and compliment.
The words complement and complementary are used to describe items that assist, improve, or complete one another in some way. Slow-roasted potatoes serve as a complementary side dish to your delicious sirloin steak. Going back to the color theory that you may have learned in elementary school, colors on opposite sides of the color wheel are said to complementary. Red is complementary to green. You may also say that your coffee table complements your couch quite well.
A compliment, on the other hand, expresses gratitude or praise. A diner at a restaurant may give his compliments to the chef. You can compliment your lady friend on how great she looks before you head out for a night on the town. This is perhaps the most common usage of the word compliment.
One usage that may spark some confusion is when describing something that is given to you for free. For example, a hotel may offer free parking and continental breakfast to all of its guests. These services are described as complimentary and not complementary. This is a little odd, because the exact meaning of the “free” gift fits both the definition for compliment and complement. They are expressing their gratitude to you by providing you with a gift, but the free parking supplements your hotel stay.
Is there a certain issue with grammar or spelling that you would like to see clarified? While I am not a certified expert in the intricacies of the English language, I would like to think that as a professional freelance writer (and someone who was an English Literature minor in university) that I have a certain grasp of what word to use under what circumstances.
If there is some odd English construction that’s been irking you, feel free to ask for some clarification using the comment form below. You just may receive a “complimentary” mention in a future edition of Grammar 101.
Filed under Freelance Writing.
I’m not one to be picky with grammar, but I have started being more mindful. The one thing that has helped me is blogging and Twitter. 140 characters make it taxing sometimes to get the proper thought out with good grammar, but it has made me a better writer.
Honestly, I sucked at grammar and English in my early education. While I am not great, it surprises me how much I have developed since I started writing my blogs, networking and commenting on other blogs.
I feel the same way. Simply by writing more and making more use of it, my writing seems to improve. There have even been some posts that I revisit a week or month later and can hardly believe that I wrote them.
Same with me. I often re-read some older posts and find myself to be embarrassed with either the spelling or grammar. Although my readers don’t regularly let me know of the mistakes in the comments. Or maybe it’s because they didn’t notice them either.
For me it’s usually the opposite where I re-read a post and can’t believe I wrote it because it’s better than I think I can normally do
While I tend to think my grammar is fairly decent, I see a lot of mistakes in print, especially online. Speaking of grammar, somebody needs to teach ShoeMoney the difference between there, their and they’re. lol
The guy is good at business, but he needs an elementary English lesson.
Ooooh, naming names Chris…. I just didn’t want to name anyone because I don’t have the best grammar. My glass house would break pretty easily if I did….
I don’t think it’s any secret that Shoemoney’s grammar could use some work. The same can be said about John Chow and I think we all know that. At the same time, perfect grammar doesn’t necessarily score you $40,000+ a month in online income, so…
With John it’s understandable, and most people expect it now. :p
This brief discussion here seems to conclude that dot com moguls and less than perfect grammar are complementary to each other.
I think the conclusion is that dot com moguls are too busy making money to think about spelling/grammar.
Great article. There are so many nuances to the English language – even the best of us mess up once in a while…
Great blog! I really enjoyed this post on misused words. I suppose if I’m getting a free cup of coffee, I’m not too concerned about whether it’s complimentary or complementary. A compliment and a cup of coffee–now that would be great!
I think you might enjoy Dianna Booher’s new book, Booher’s Rules of Business Grammar: 101 Fast and Easy Ways to Correct the Most Common Errors (McGraw-Hill, November 2008). In a light-hearted style, Dianna addresses common mistakes people make in their written and spoken language. The chapters are short, and she provides memory tips to help the rules stick.
If you’re interested in receiving a review copy, I’d be glad to send you one. Maybe you’ll find a topic in there that sparks a blog idea. Please email me your mailing address if you’re interested.
To your continued success,
Rachel Randolph
While this certainly sounds like something that would be excellent for Kwan, it sounds like something that nearly anyone could benefit from. If Michael don’t want the review copy, I’d be more than happy to take a look at it
Nick-
Michael did take me up on the offer. I’m sending a give-a-away copy for a contest, too. Some lucky reader in need of a grammar refresher will be getting a copy. Good luck!
I’m very ashamed to say that I was not even aware of the word “complementary.” I just used “complimentary” all the time.
Another problem is that if you spell correctly a built in spell checker doesn’t find errors. You need to use a word processor that uses a grammar checker to find the error.
Firefox should include a grammar checker. They already have the spell check, which has saved me from copying/pasting text into Word before I post it. Perhaps in a future version.
That would be pretty cool if the grammar checker were built in. Then you really wouldn’t have to do the whole copy/paste thing.
To some extent it depends on the post, but most of the time I compose them in a word processor and copy/paste them into the Dashboard anyway…I like that method better than saving drafts of posts I’m working on.
If not Firefox, then perhaps WordPress can have a grammar checker that you can turn on/off depending on your needs.
Trials and trails always catch me out, as well as remuneration ans renumeration. The correct use of language is an important skill, but I cant help but feel that the popularity of texting has really raped the language, especially amongst the youth.
I agree that we have totally spammed the language with all the shorthand. Twitter doesn’t help, unless you make a concerted effort to expand your vocabulary, and condense your thoughts into concise sound bites.
It can be done, if the person has the will power to do it.
tht jst takes 2 much wrk, its ezier 2 do it this way
I still see people on Twitter tYpiNg lIKe tHiS. It’s annoying… I thought that craze went out in like 2001.
I haven’t seen capitalization like that for a long time. I agree that it’s moderately annoying to read, but reading it doesn’t bother me terribly much. However, it’s typing like that that I find to be extremely irritating.
betshopboy: What dot com moguls lack in grammar, they make up for with their bank accounts. lol
and wide eye big smiling Avatars….:-) John Chow has a big smile avatar also right now.
My avatar is actually some random pic from Google image searching “make money avatar.” lol
Now, that isn’t funny… lol I’m going to have to go back now and find some goofy avatar for myself. No wait, my current one is goofy enough.
Your current one sort of makes you look like Don Cherry. Google him, you’ll see what I mean.
Speaking of avatars, I’ve been thinking that it might be time to give mine an update…
Go with a cartoon character or something like Tyler Cruz. Those seem to be popular. :p
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