Writing Tips
http://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca
Common menu bar links
Institutional Links
-
Translation Bureau
Language Portal of Canada
-
TERMIUM Plus®
-
Index F
- face off
- faceoff
- face-off
- facilitate
- facilitator
- facsimile
- fact (1)
- fact (2)
- faculty
- fall
- false cause
- false dichotomy
- false dilemma
- Famous Five
- Farsi
- farther
- faulty comparisons
- faulty parallelism
- favour
- favourable
- favouritism
- fax
- faze
- febri-
- feel bad
- feel badly
- female
- Fenno-
- ferri-
- ferro-
- fête de la Reine
- few
- fewer
- fiber
- fibre
- figuratively
- Filipino
- financial
- financing
- Finno-
- first (1)
- first (2)
- firstly
- First Nation(s) (Linguistic recommendation from the Translation Bureau)
- first two
- fiscal
- fiscal year
- flack
- flair
- flak
- flak-catcher
- flammable
- flare
- flare out
- flare up
- flare-up
- flaunt
- flesh out
- fleur-de-lis
- fleur-de-lys
- flier
- flori-
- floriography
- flounder
- flout
- flu
- flue
- flush out
- fluvi-
- fluvio-
- flyer
- focus
- following
- follow up on
- follow-up to
- follow up with
- foot
- forbear
- forbid (someone) to
- fore-
- forebear
- forecast
- forego
- foregoing
- foregone
- foreign imports
- foreseeable
- foreword
- for free
- forgo
- former
- for same
- for the benefit of
- for the duration of
- for the reason that
- forthwith
- forward
- forwards
- founder (1)
- founder (2)
- fragment
- Franco-
- Franco-Albertan
- Franco-Manitoban
- Franco–Ontarian
- Francophone
- Franco-Prince Edward Islander
- Franco-Saskatchewanian
- Franco-Yukon
- Franco-Yukoner
- Fredericton
- Frederictoner
- Frederictonian
- free
- free from
- free of
- free of charge
- French
- french
- French-speaking Yukoner
- French typographical rules: capitalization
- French typography: abbreviations
- French typography: italics
- French typography: numerical expressions
- French typography: word division
- Frobisher Bay
- fruct-
- fructi-
- fully justified margins
- fulsome
- fun
- funding
- further
- furthermore
- future plans
Proactive Disclosure
Important notice
Writing Tips has been archived and won’t be updated before it is permanently deleted.
For the most up-to-date content, please consult Writing Tips Plus, which combines content from Writing Tips and The Canadian Style. And don’t forget to update your bookmarks!
Search and Functionalities Area
flounder, founder
The verbs flounder and founder are easily confused. The guidelines below will help you to choose the correct word.
Use the verb flounder if you mean
- to thrash about
- The lifeguard saw the swimmer floundering and ran into the surf to save him.
- to struggle
- Unprepared for the test, the student floundered about aimlessly in a sea of grammatical rules.
- to have trouble with
- The board of directors did not flounder on the issue of financial incentives.
- to move clumsily or awkwardly
- Because his snowshoes were too big, Jay floundered in the deep snow.
Use the verb founder if you mean
- to sink
- Many ships have foundered near Sable Island.
- to break down; to collapse
- Negotiations between the union and the employer are likely to founder once again.
- to fail
- The project finally foundered and was never revived.
- to go lame
- The horse favoured to win the race foundered at the finish line.
© Public Services and Procurement Canada, 2024
TERMIUM Plus®, the Government of Canada's terminology and linguistic data bank
Writing tools – Writing Tips
A product of the Translation Bureau
