The Purposes of Per

The Purposes of Per The Purposes of â€Å"Per† The Purposes of â€Å"Per† By Mark Nichol Per (from a Latin word meaning â€Å"by,† â€Å"by means of,† or â€Å"through†) is widely employed in English, but it or a phrase in which it appears isn’t necessarily the best option. Here’s a guide to using (or not using) per. In popular usage, per is appropriate in relation to figures (â€Å"65 miles per hour,† â€Å"24 points per game,† â€Å"three items per person,† and so on). It can also, alone or preceded by as, mean â€Å"according to,† as in â€Å"Per your instructions, I deposited the check† and â€Å"She complied as per the usual procedure.† Per is also an adverb synonymous with apiece; though its use in this form may seem like dialect in which the final word of the sentence is dropped (â€Å"I’ll let you have them for five dollars per†), it’s standard usage. In its most common function, however, it is sometimes easily replaced by a, as in â€Å"The position pays $75,000 a year† rather than â€Å"per year† or â€Å"I exercise three times a week† rather than â€Å"per week.† Per as part of a set phrase taken directly from Latin is usually pedantic in popular usage; see the list below for recommendations about the use of such phrases: Per annum: This is an unnecessary substitution for the perfectly useful phrases â€Å"a year,† â€Å"each year,† or even â€Å"per year.† Per capita: This direct borrowing of the Latin phrase meaning â€Å"by the head† is commonly employed in financial and demographic contexts, but â€Å"per person† is better in general. Per centum: The Latin precursor of the semiabbreviation percent more clearly signals the original meaning (â€Å"for each hundred†) but is obsolete. Per contra: This phrase, meaning â€Å"in contrast to,† is best reserved for legal contexts and only technical ones, at that. Per diem: The translations for this phrase are â€Å"by the day† or â€Å"for the day,† and except in reference to a daily stipend, there’s no reason not to use daily (especially as an adjective). Per mill: In this phrase, mill is from the Latin term mille, meaning â€Å"a thousand,† so the term is akin to percent but spelled as two words. It’s appropriate only in technical usage, however. Per se: Outside of legal usage, this term sometimes misspelled â€Å"per say† by those who mistakenly assume that it refers to the act of speaking means â€Å"in itself,† as in â€Å"I don’t object to the idea per se.† (Note that, unlike as is the case when the English form is used â€Å"I don’t object to the idea, in itself† no punctuation frames the term.) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Punctuating â€Å"So† at the Beginning of a SentenceHow to Pronounce Mobile8 Great Podcasts for Writers and Book Authors