Common_Errors_in_English_usage

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part of a team. Don't write "preMadonna" unless you intend to discuss the era before the singer Madonna became popular. PREMIER/PREMIERE These words are, respectively, the masculine and feminine forms of the word for "first" in French; but they have become differentiated in English. Only the masculine form is used as an adjective, as in "TidyPool is the premier poolcleaning firm in Orange County." The confusion arises when these words are used as nouns. The prime minister of a parliamentary government is known as a "premier." The opening night of a film or play is its "premiere." "Premiere" as a verb is common in the arts and in show business ("the show premiered on PBS"), but it is less acceptable in other contexts ("the state government premiered its new welfare system"). Use "introduced," or, if real innovation is involved, "pioneered." PREMISE/PREMISES Some people suppose that since "premises" has a plural form, a single house or other piece of property must be a "premise," but that word is reserved for use as a term in logic meaning something assumed or taken as given in making an argument. Your lowly oneroom shack is still your premises. PREPONE South Asian speakers have evolved the logical word "prepone" to mean the opposite of "postpone": to move forward in time. It's a handy word, but users of it should be aware that those unfamiliar with their dialect will be baffled by this word. PREPOSITIONS (REPEATED) In the sentence "Alex liked Nancy, with whom he shared his Snickers bar with" only one "with" is neededeliminate either one. Look out for similarly duplicated prepositions. Incidentally, an oftencited example of this pattern is from Paul McCartney's "Live and Let Die": "this everchanging world in which we live in"; but if you listen closely, you'll hear instead a quite correct "this everchanging world in which we're livin'." Americans have a hard time hearing the soft British "R" in "we're." PREPOSITIONS (WRONG) One of the clearest indications that a person reads little and doesn't hear much formal English is a failure to use the right preposition in a common expression. You aren't ignorant to a fact; you're ignorant of it. Things don't happen on accident, but by accident (though they do happen "on purpose"). There are no simple rules governing preposition usage:
you just have to immerse yourself in good English in order to write it naturally. See also "different than/different from/to." PRESCRIBE/PROSCRIBE You recommend something when you prescribe it, but you forbid it when you proscribe it. The usually positive function of "pro" confuses many people. PRESENTLY/CURRENTLY Some argue that "presently" doesn't mean "in the present." It means "soon." If you want to talk about something that's happening right now, they urge you to say it's going on currently. PRESUMPTIOUS/PRESUMPTUOUS "Presumptive" has an I in it, but "presumptuous." does not. PRETTY/SOMEWHAT it's pretty common to use "pretty" to mean "somewhat" in ordinary speech; but it should be avoided in formal writing, where sometimes "very" is more appropriate. The temptation to use "pretty" usually indicates the writer is being vague, so changing to something more specific may be an even better solution: "a pretty bad mess" might be "chocolate syrup spilled all over the pizza which had been dumped upside down on the carpet." PRIMER When this word is used in the US to mean "elementary textbook" it is pronounced with a short "I": "primmer" (rhymes with "dimmer"). All other meanings are pronounced with a long "I": "prymer" (rhymes with "timer"). PRIMEVIL/PRIMEVAL The existence of a music group and a comic book using the deliberately punning misspelling "Primevil" helps to further confusion about this word. Something ancient and primitive is "primeval." The "eval" sequence comes from a root having to do with ages, as in "medieval." It has nothing to do with the concept of evil. The word can also be spelled "primaeval." PRINCIPAL/PRINCIPLE Generations of teachers have tried to drill this one into students" heads by reminding them, "The principal is your pal." Many don't seem convinced. "Principal" is a noun and adjective referring to someone or something which is highest in rank or importance. (In a loan, the principal is the more substantial part of the money, the interest isor should bethe lesser.) "Principle" is only a noun, and has to do with
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Common Errors in English by Paul Br
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But you made a mistake yourself! We
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ABSORBTION/ABSORPTION Although it's
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ACCURATE/PRECISE In ordinary usage,
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ADVOCATE FOR/ADVOCATE When they are
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as believers do not need to be able
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captivity. There is no such word as
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(notice, no "N") and "auteur" (in f
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with each other. Your greatgrandm
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"This pizza is really expensive
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ARTIC/ARCTIC Although some brand na
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To "assure" a person of something i
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AVENGE/REVENGE When you try to get
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concealing. It seems more likely th
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long this had been the custom and w
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the last word to "pail." The area o
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past tense of "bear": "My brother's
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"Breech" however, refers to rear en
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Side note: Britons laughed themselv
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weather, so we shouldn't be surpris
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not cast in stone." They may be inf
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lounge), resulting in the mispronun
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You cite the author in an endnote;
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trouble with commas if they deal wi
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CONCENSUS/CONSENSUS You might suppo
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COME WITH In some American dialects
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More on COULD CARE LESS" People who
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There are several words with Latin
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it just a goofy typo? DAMP SQUID/DA
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with short deadlines but not da
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degree" and "doctor of philosophy d
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substituting "do" for "due" (owing)
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established, if unusual. However, t
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applied to plans and activities, no
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Latin phrase exempli gratia. When y
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"burned/burnt" and "kneeled/knelt."
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You can pronounce the last two syll
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Originally these two words were syn
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An epigraph is a brief quotation us
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But when something happens only occ
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Something grows exponentially when
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Unfortunately, Star Trek has confus
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FIRSTABLE/FIRST OF ALL The odd word
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fortunate chance event. It is nonst
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FORBIDDING/FOREBODING/FORMIDABLE "F
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popularly as "Frankenstein's monste
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FUSHIA/FUCHSIA The flowers known as
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When "God" is the name of a god, as
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There are just two syllables in "gr
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safer using "disability" than "hand
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Heal is what you do when you get be
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A simple test is to substitute "us"
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HONE IN/HOME IN You home in on a ta
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(theoretically the width of a lette
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are expressing their own ignorance.
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of vague ways, often clumsily. Here
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Page 124 and 125: might lead people to think of relax
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Page 128 and 129: or "It feels like spring." In expre
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Page 134 and 135: MEDIOCRE Although some dictionaries
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Page 144 and 145: is singular, is the subject. If you
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Page 152 and 153: Some people derive the noun "paraly
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Page 210 and 211: Although in baseball a homerun hi
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When you have vanity you are concei
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A truthful person has "veracity." "
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sound "wah," as it usually does in
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etter" or "very much better." In fo
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date or time known, use "when." WHE
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There is another sort of question i
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The standard way to talk about some
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point is that if you eat your cake
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http://www.bartleby.com/64/C001/050
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they mean to say they're healthy. F
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For most Americans, the natural thi
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different. "You've got mail" should
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This saying belongs to the same gen
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secretary, seize, sentence, separat
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y in large or enlarge by and large
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end justifies the meaning enervate
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if I don't say so imbedded impaling
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new leash on life neck in neck nitc
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ebel rouser recreate the wheel repe
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two sense worth turpentime tyrannic
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language. Try one of them instead.
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as to which one prefers. My goal is
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Common_Errors_in_English_usage

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