Usage determines which words or forms of words are conventional in a specific context – for the purposes of INTD 106 and INTD 105, that context is the conventions of standardized academic English. For example, if you’re trying to decide if you should use the numeral 17 or spell out the word seventeen in an art history essay, and whether it will take the same form in a biochemistry lab report, those decisions fall under usage. This section will also deal with capitalization, abbreviations and acronyms, and commonly confused words. Many common errors of the there/their/they’re variety happen individually and will be pointed out to you by instructors or peer-reviewers, so we will also provide you here with resources to help check your individual tendencies and guide your decisions as you write.