The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation by Jane Straus, Lester Kaufman, Tom Stern

living there. Immigrate takes the preposition to , as in He immigrated to America from Russia . It is incorrect to say, “He immigrated from Russia.”
    EMINENT, IMMINENT
    Eminent : prominent; distinguished: an eminent scholar .
    Imminent : about to happen: in imminent danger .
    EMPATHY, SYMPATHY
    When we have empathy , we are able to put ourselves in other people's place and even feel their pain, or think we do.
    Sympathy is more removed than empathy . When we have sympathy , we may not suffer along with those who are hurting, but we have compassion and are often willing to help.
    EMULATE, IMITATE
    Emulate means “to try to be as good or successful as.”
    Imitate means “to copy or fashion oneself after.”
    A sentence like He tried to emulate her is repeating itself: He tried to try to be as good as she was. We don't “try to emulate.” When we emulate , we're already trying.
    ENORMITY
    This word is frequently misused: the “enormity” of football linemen these days, or the “enormity” of the task. Enormity has nothing to do with something's size. For that, we have such words as immensity, vastness, hugeness , and enormousness .
    Enormity is an ethical, judgmental word meaning “great wickedness,” “a monstrous crime.” The enormity of Jonestown doesn't mean Jonestown was a huge place, but rather that it was the site of a hugely outrageous tragedy.
    ENSURE
    See assure, ensure, insure .
    ENTHUSE
    Many writers, editors, scholars, and critics regard enthuse and enthused as unserious and unacceptable.
    EPITAPH, EPITHET
    An epitaph is a tribute inscribed on a tombstone in honor of the person buried there.
    An epithet , unlike an epitaph, is often an insult based on race, class, religion, politics, etc.: The mob was shouting racial epithets .
    Otherwise, an epithet is a kind of nickname. It is a word or brief phrase that illustrates a defining trait of someone or something: Alexander the Great, the wine-dark sea .
    EPITOME
    The epitome of means “the essence of.” It does not mean “the best,” “the height of.” Sam is the epitome of humility means that Sam is a perfect example of a humble person. It doesn't necessarily mean that he's one of the humblest men who ever lived.
    ERSTWHILE
    It's often confused with worthwhile . But erstwhile means “previous” or “one-time.” My erstwhile assistant does not mean “my valuable assistant.” It means “my former assistant” and nothing more.
    etc., et al .
    These abbreviations are a scholarly way of saying, “You get the point.”
    The term etc . means “and the rest,” “and so on.” It is usually placed at the end of a short list of things to save the writer (and reader) the trouble of going on needlessly.
    When a list of people, rather than things, is involved, use et al . in place of etc.: Joe Smith, Ray Jones, et al., led the team to victory .
    Both etc . and et al . require periods, even midsentence.
    EVERY DAY, EVERYDAY
    The two-word term every day is an adverbial phrase that answers the questions when or how often , as in I learn something new every day .
    As one word, everyday is an adjective that means “ordinary” or “part of a daily routine”: These are my everyday clothes .
    EXACERBATE, EXAGGERATE
    To exacerbate is to make a difficult situation worse or more intense: The humidity exacerbated the intense heat .
    To exaggerate (note the double g ) is to overstate, to stretch the truth: He exaggerated when he said it was the hottest day on record .
    EXCEPT
    See accept, except .
F
    FACTIOUS, FRACTIOUS
    Factious means “characterized by dissent and internal disputes.” A factious group is liable to split off into factions .
    Fractious means “irritable,” “quarrelsome,” “ill-tempered.”
    FAINT, FEINT
    Faint : to go unconscious.
    Feint : a distracting move meant to throw an opponent off