Knowing when to use phase and faze can be tricky because the latter almost always looks misspelled, to me at least. However, there are easy rules to remember.

A phase is much like a stage. “The teenager was going through a phase.” Or it can indicate a period of time. “The German pharmaceutical company was in the midst of Phase II trials of a new drug.”

Faze means to bother or concern. It’s generally used in the negative: “Christopher wasn’t fazed by the loud music.”

Faze is a verb whereas phase is a noun, so if you have to conjugate it, you probably need to use fazed… And for you Trek fans, a phaser is a powerful weapon that can stun several city blocks. But if you’re watching it on the big screen, of course it won’t faze you 😉

Sigrid Macdonald is the author of three books including Be Your Own Editor, available for free download on Smashwords.com from now until December 31.

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/10130