How to spell phase

‘Phase’ vs. ‘Faze’: Correct Usage

What to Know
Phase is a noun, referring to the stage in a developmental process, or a verb, often followed by in or out meaning to introduce gradually or remove gradually respectively. This is different than faze, which is a verb meaning "to daunt or disconcert," such as when one is "fazed," or conversely "unfazed," by something intimidating or unsettling

Phase is a noun referring generally to a point or stage in a developmental process. The moon has its phases, as do fickle teenagers. An artist might go through an impressionist phase.

Or maybe a "photos of the moon" phase.

As a verb, phase is most often followed by in or out. To phase something in means to introduce something little by little:

Rather than unilaterally hiking the wage to $15, the former Colorado governor proposes phasing in the increases depending on an area’s cost of living. The most expensive quarter of the country would get a $15 minimum wage by 2021, and the least expensive would see that hike in 2024.
— Nicholas Riccardi and Associated Press, The Denver Post, 26 Apr. 2019

Conversely, to phase something out means to stop using it gradually:

One of the largest supermarket companies in the U.S. has announced it is phasing out single-use plastic bags in an effort to reduce plastic waste. The Kroger Co. says it plans to stop distributing single-use bags completely by 2025 across its chains.
— Merrit Kennedy, NPR.org, 23 Aug. 2018

The homophone faze is generally used only as a verb, meaning “to daunt or disconcert.”

But Homa never flinched. He made two birdies on the front nine and added two more on the first two holes of back nine, and he wasn't fazed by an hour-long weather delay. He finished three strokes ahead of Dahmen.
— Bob Harig, ESPN.com, 5 May 2019

This sense is often found in negative constructions, such as the above example. It can also be negated in the form of the adjective unfazed :

Following a report – blasted as “100 percent untrue” by Holmes’ publicist — that the couple had been planning a wedding and called it off because they split due to “trust issues,” the “Blame It” singer and the Dawson’s Creek star proved they were unfazed by the rumors.
— Dana Rose Falcone, People, 29 June 2018

Faze is a relatively new verb, first appearing in that form in the 19th century as an alteration of the now-rare verb feeze, which has the obsolete sense "to drive (someone or something) away." In the 1400s, feeze was also being used with the meaning "to frighten or put into a state of alarm.” In fact, four spellings have historically been attested for the word meaning “to disconcert or daunt”: faze, phase, feaze, and feeze. The last two of these have pretty much fallen by the wayside, while use of phase to mean faze is typically regarded as an error resulting from confusion of faze with the phase found in phase in and phase out.

Faze or Phase: What’s the Difference?

Words that sound the same but mean different things are difficult to master when learning a new language. These words are called homophones, and like every language, English has many of them.

Faze and phase are two common homophones in English. They are pronounced identically, but in writing, they can never be substituted for each other. Continue reading to find out why.

Faze vs Phase: What’s the Difference?

In this article, I will compare faze vs. phase. I will use each word in an example sentence to properly illustrate its meaning and context, and I will discuss a useful trick to help you decide whether to use faze or phase in your writing.

When to Use Faze

What does faze mean? Faze is a verb and is defined as to intimidate or perturb. The word is often negated; someone who is undaunted by a challenge is said to remain unfazed. See the sentences below for examples.

The enemy’s numbers did not faze the experienced general.
Jeremy looked at all the challenges that lay before him, but remained unfazed.
Under normal circumstances, a panel interview with four hiring managers wouldn’t faze him. –The Wall Street Journal

When to Use Phase

What does phase mean? Phase can be a noun or a verb, in both of which cases it carries multiple meanings. In one of its noun senses, it means one part of a process, where it is roughly synonymous with stage and chapter.

The third phase of my travel plans includes two months in Europe.

In zoology, a phase is a color variety of an organism or a stage in an organism’s metamorphosis or development. See the following sentence for an example.

The larva entered its pupal phase before emerging as an adult.

In astronomy, lunar phases are cyclical shapes illuminated on the surface of the moon by the light of the sun , as observed from the surface of the earth. The sentence below is an example.

The moon is entering its waxing gibbous phase.

Phase can also be a verb. As a verb, it is a synonym of transition. See the following sentence for an example.

We’re going to phase out paper documentation for all departments as we move to digital-only records keeping.
Michele said some manufacturers, including Johnson & Johnson and Procter & Gamble, have already taken steps to phase out use of some of the banned ingredients. –The Washington Post

Trick to Remember the Difference

Here is a helpful trick to remember phase vs. faze.

If you’re using the word as a noun, choose phase. Faze is never a noun.

As a verb, if you mean to intimidate or worry, use faze. In other instances, choose phase.

You can remember to use faze as a synonym for daunt since it starts with the same letter as the word fret. Someone who is fazed does a lot of fretting, so it should be easy for you to keep these words straight.

Summary

Is it faze of phase? While these two words are pronounced the same, their meanings are in no way related and they aren’t interchangeable in any sense.

Faze is a verb that means to intimidate or daunt.
Phase can be a noun, where it means a distinct stage in any of several processes, or a verb, where it means to gradually transition.

You can remember to save faze for situations where someone is worried since faze and fret both begin with F.

Homophones can be confusing, but now you will always know whether to choose phase or faze in your own writing.

Contents

1 Faze vs Phase: What’s the Difference?
2 When to Use Faze
3 When to Use Phase
4 Trick to Remember the Difference
5 Summary

Color designations of phase L, zero N and grounding

Any electric cable for ease of installation is made with multi-colored insulation on the cores. When installing standard wiring, three-core cables (phase, zero, ground) are usually used.

Any electrical cable for ease of installation is made with multi-colored insulation on the cores. When installing standard wiring, three-core cables (phase, zero, ground) are usually used.

Phase ("L", "Line")

The main conductor in the cable is always phase. By itself, the word "phase" means "live wire", "active wire" and "line". Most often it comes in strictly defined colors. In the switchboard, the phase wire, before going to the consumer, is connected through a residual current device (RCD, fuse), the phase is switched in it. Attention! Jokes are bad with the bare phase, therefore, in order not to confuse the phase with anything else - remember: the phase contacts are always marked with the Latin character "L", and the phase wire is red, brown, white or black ! If you are not sure about this or the wiring is arranged differently, then purchase a screwdriver with a simple phase indicator. By touching it with a sting to a bare conductor, you can always find out whether it is a phase or not by the characteristic glow of the indicator. And it is better to immediately contact a qualified specialist.

Zero ("N", "Neutre", "Neutral", "Neutral" "Null")

". He only happens blue . In apartment switchboards, it must be connected to the zero bus, it is marked with the symbol "N". To the socket, the zero wire is connected to the contacts, also marked with the sign "N".

Grounding ("G", "T", "Terre" "Ground", "gnd" and "Earth")

Ground wire insulation is only available in yellow with a green stripe. In the switchboard, it is connected to the ground bus, to the door and to the switchboard body. In sockets, grounding is connected to the contacts marked with the Latin symbol "G" or with a sign in the form of an inverted and briefly underlined letter "T". Usually, ground contacts are visible and can protrude from sockets, becoming accessible to children, which sometimes shocks many parents, however, these contacts are not dangerous, although sticking fingers there is still not recommended.

Attention! When working on energized electrical circuits, there is always a high risk of electric shock or fire. Even if an RCD is installed, it is strongly recommended to observe all safety precautions! It is known that the special design of such a switch checks the synchronism of the phase and zero, and if the RCD detects a phase current leakage without returning some of its percentages to zero, it will immediately break the contact, which will save a person's life; however, if you touch not only the phase, but also zero, then the RCD will not save. Touching both wires is deadly!!!

Designation of phase and zero L and N in electrics

In the process of self-installation and connection of electrical equipment (this can be various lamps, ventilation, electric stoves, etc.), you will notice that the switching terminals are marked with the letters L, N, PE. Of particular importance here is the marking L and N. In addition to the designation of wires in an electrician by letter, they are placed in insulation of various colors.

This greatly simplifies the procedure for determining where the phase, earth or neutral wire is located. In order for the device to be installed to work in normal mode, each of these wires must be connected to the appropriate terminal.

Designation of wires in electrics by letters

Electrical communications in the domestic and industrial sectors are organized by means of insulated cables, inside which there are conductive cores. They differ from each other in the color of the insulation and marking. The designation l and n in the electrician makes it possible to expedite the implementation of installation and repair measures by an order of magnitude.

The application of this marking is regulated by a special GOST R 50462 : this applies to those electrical installations where voltage up to 1000 V .

As a rule, they are equipped with solidly earthed neutral. Often, residential, administrative and business facilities have electrical equipment of this type. During the installation of electrical networks in buildings of this type, it is necessary to be well versed in color and letter indications.

Phase designation - L

AC network includes live wires. Their correct name is "phase". This word has English roots, and is translated as "line" or "active wire". Phase conductors carry a particular danger to human health and property. For safe operation, they are covered with reliable insulation.

The use of bare live wires is fraught with the following consequences:

1. Electric shock to people. These can be burns, injuries, and even death.
2. Starting fires.
3. Damage to equipment.

With designation of wires in an electrician , phase conductors are marked with the letter "L". This is an abbreviation of the English term "Line", or "line" (another name for phase wires).

There are other versions of the origin of this marking. Some experts believe that the words “Lead” (supply conductor) and Live (indication of voltage) became the prototype. A similar marking is also used to indicate the clamps and terminals to which the line wires should be switched. For example, in three-phase networks, each of the lines is also marked with the corresponding number (L1, L2 and L3).

The current domestic regulations governing the designation of phase and zero in electrics (GOST R 50462-2009) require that linear conductors be placed in brown or black insulation. Although in practice the phase wires can be white, pink, gray, etc. In this case, it all depends on the manufacturer and the insulating material.

Zero designation - N

The letter "N" is used to mark the neutral or zero working core of the network. This is an abbreviation for neutral (in translation - neutral). So all over the world it is customary to call the zero conductor. In our country, the word “Zero” is mainly used.

Most likely, the word Null is taken as the basis here. The letter "N" in the diagram indicates the contacts or terminals intended for switching the neutral core. A similar designation is accepted for both single-phase and three-phase circuits. As a color designation for the neutral wire, blue or white-blue (white-blue) insulation is used.

Earth marking - PE

In addition to the designation of the phase and zero, the special letter designation PE (Protective Earthing) for the earth wire is also used in electrics. As a rule, they are always included in the cable, along with zero and phase conductors. Contacts and clamps intended for switching with a grounding neutral wire are also marked in a similar way.

For ease of installation, the earth wires are insulated in green/yellow. The do-it-yourselfer should understand that these colors always indicate ground wires only. To indicate phase and zero in electrics, yellow and green are never used.

As practice shows, when organizing electrical networks in buildings of the residential sector, violations of generally accepted standards for the use of insulation color and the corresponding alphanumeric marking are sometimes allowed. In this case, it is not always enough to have the ability to decipher the designations L, N or PE.

In order for the connection of electrical equipment to be truly safe, it is necessary to check the conformity of the marking with the real state of affairs. To do this, use special devices (testers) or improvised devices. In the absence of experience in such work, for your own safety, it is better to invite an experienced electrician with the appropriate approval.