In modern American English, we don’t use a lot of diacritical marks (e.g., é, ñ, or ü) in our daily writing and typing.

For example, I had to dig through Word’s list of symbols to find the ones I’ve used so far because I don’t have the keyboard shortcuts memorized. Actually, the fact that they’re not a standard feature of most keyboards is telling.

​However, there are some words in the English language where the inclusion of diacritical marks is still recommended. One of the most common is résumé.
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Ask any group of word nerds to list their grammar pet peeves, and you won’t have to wait long before someone starts bemoaning the fact that no one knows the difference between compose and comprise these days.
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It’s true that about anywhere you look, the two terms seem to be used interchangeably by many writers. But are they the same? And if not, what’s the difference?
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We all want to sound intelligent when we’re speaking or writing, and that means we genuinely try to adhere to standard grammar rules.

However, sometimes, we try a little too hard. We try so hard to sound right that we end up getting it very wrong.

​One of the most common mistakes is to use I or myself in a place where a simple me is called for.

​(X indicates a grammatically incorrect example sentence.)
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