Principle, Principal

Principle and principal are easily confused. It doesn’t help that they are homophones, which means they sound alike. Here’s a guide to what they mean and how you can tell them apart.

Principle
The word principle means a standard, a law or a rule. This means you can have:

  • the principles of economics, which are the laws that govern economic theory
  • moral principles, which are the rules and standards that govern your behavior

Principal
The word principal usually refers to a person. Remember that it ends in ‘pal’, which is a person. A principal can be:

  • the head of a school
  • the head of an organization
  • the main person involved in a contract or financial negotiation

Putting It All Together
If you remember that principal is a person, then you can easily make sense of this sentence:

The principal taught us the first principle of social responsibility.

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10 Responses to “Principle, Principal”

  1. Juggling Frogs on June 13th, 2007 5:25 pm

    A mnemonic for this is: “The princiPAL is your PAL.”

  2. Daniel on June 13th, 2007 6:25 pm

    Yeah, PAL makes it easier to remember.

  3. Sharon on June 13th, 2007 6:29 pm

    That does make it easier to remember, Juggling Frogs, although my principal certainly wasn’t a PAL ;)

  4. DPeach on June 13th, 2007 6:43 pm

    I am fortunate in that my principal from 5th grade through graduation, has since become a very dear friend. Though I would not think of him as a pal to hang out with on the weekends, I do consider him a great friend and counselor when I need guidance in my life.

    I guess that is how you know you are approaching 40 years old. When people who used to be your tormentors are becoming your friends.

  5. Sharon on June 13th, 2007 6:45 pm

    And people who seemed old to you look young, DPeach (from my perspective on the other side of that hill). :)

  6. Loise LaBorde on August 15th, 2007 5:36 pm

    Why is “done” used in place of “through”? Done used to mean cooked—we “cooked” a meal and when we were “through” we sat down to eat. When did this change?

  7. Loise LaBorde on August 15th, 2007 5:41 pm

    To clarify: we cooked a meal till it was done and when we were through, we sat down to eat.

  8. harry balzonia on November 19th, 2007 2:39 am

    yall are full of shit what the hell does it matter.

  9. Michael on January 9th, 2008 10:01 pm

    Principals have the job of telling children they can’t do what they want to do, which is the source of the quip, “I don’t dislike school; it’s just the principal of the thing.”

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