Dispel vs. Expel (Grammar Rules)
Let’s look at the differences between dispel and expel with Grammar Rules from the Writer’s Digest editors, including a few examples of correct usages.
This week's grammar rules post looks at two words that sound similar and, in a way, have similar meanings: Both terms refer to driving things out or away. However, one has to do more with feelings or thoughts, while the other has to do with physically ejecting people and/or things.
So let's look at the differences between dispel and expel and when to use each.
Dispel vs. Expel
Dispel is a verb that means to push away by scattering in an attempt to minimize. For instance, people often said to dispel rumors or lies. In such cases, they're trying to minimize or erase said rumors or potential lies (or truths) about themselves.
Expel, on the other hand, is a verb that refers to the action of forcing someone or something out of their/its current position. For instance, a student may be expelled from school, or a cassette tape may be expelled from a tape deck (totally showing my age at the moment).
Make sense?
Here are a few examples of dispel and expel:
Correct: She smiled in an attempt to dispel his sense of anxiety.
Incorrect: She smiled in an attempt to expel his sense of anxiety.
Correct: Mark laughed so hard he expelled milk out his nose.
Incorrect: Mark laughed so hard he dispelled milk out his nose.
People dispel thoughts or emotions they'd prefer not exist; people expel people or things from places they'd prefer they not exist. How I keep these terms separated in my head is to think of the "e" in "expel" as "ejecting" a physical person/thing (as in ejecting a pilot from a jet). Meanwhile the "d" in "dispel" reminds me of "dissuade" as in trying to "dissuade" me from thinking or feeling a certain way.
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No matter what type of writing you do, mastering the fundamentals of grammar and mechanics is an important first step to having a successful writing career.
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
