Common_Errors_in_English_usage

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language. Try one of them instead. I am not an ESL specialist and have a fulltime job which does not involve online interactive teaching. I hope you find what I have written useful and I do answer occasional questions, but this site does not provide a detailed questionandanswer service. Before you write to insist that some usage I recommend against is actually standard now, consider that although many dictionaries take it as their task to keep up with popular usage, my guide is meant to alert you to even very popular usage patterns that may get you into trouble with other people you encounter. No matter how many dictionaries say that "I could care less" is now a legitimate variant on the traditional "I couldn't care less," my job is to protect you from people who do not agree with this. Some dictionaries' approach is to tell the traditionalists to get over it. This is not likely to work. A usage guide's approach is to warn you that this usage may make you appear less well informed than the traditional one. What you do with the information is up to you, but at least you know that if you go with the new form you're taking a risk. If you have checked thoroughly and still want to write me, please feel free; but be aware that I do not have time to deal with all my correspondence. "Common Errors" is not my main Web project, and I work on it only sporadically (sometimes not for many months at a stretch). To see what other sorts of things I spend my time on, check out my home page and the World Civilizations site I manage. If you believe I have not sent you a response you deserve, consider these possibilities before deciding that I am deliberately not answering you: 1) I may be travelling and not doing email, 2) your return address may be incorrect, causing my replies to you to "bounce" (if you rarely get replies to your emails, this is a good possibility), or 3) you have erred on the side of caution by blocking all incoming correspondence by people unknown to you. One more important point: this is a hobby for me, and not my job. I do not have the time to deal with long, complex messages covering a multitude of points. Short, focused messages are most likely to be answered. Before writing me, check the following list of commonly made suggestions. Add "would of" Look under "C" for "could of/should of/would of." Add "intensive purposes." "For all intensive purposes is listed under "F." You shouldn't end a sentence with a preposition. Nonsense. See the second item under "NonErrors."
You should say "Write to me" rather than "Write me." Some people following the British tradition object to this usage; it's standard in the US The expression probably evolved in analogy to expressions like "call me," "phone me" and "tell me." In the US, "write me" will do just fine in informal writing such as I use on this site. The word is "pernickety," not "persnickety." The original Scottish dialect form was indeed "pernickety," but Americans changed it to "persnickety" a century ago, and "pernickety" is generally unknown in the US The Supplement to the Oxford English Dictionary calls "pernickety" obsolete, but judging from my correspondence, it's still in wide use across the Atlantic. Americans have it all wrong, the correct usage is English (Canadian, Australian, etc.). Read my page called "The President's English." Note that it was titled during the Clinton era, is just a joke referring to the phrase "the Queen's English," and has no connection with any particular president. And before writing to tell me that I should not claim that American English is THE international standard, go back and read again what I've written; I do not claim that. A name which ends in an S needs an additional S after the apostrophe when it is made possessive, e.g., "Paul Brians's Page." Some styles call for the extra S, some don't. I was forced by the publisher of my second book to follow this rule and I swore I would never do it again. I think it's ugly. Please add [some particularly obscure word]. This site is concerned with common errors in English, not bizarre or esoteric ones, although I often enjoy reading about them. I admit to discussing some notsocommon errors if I find them amusing enough. What is the correct spelling of _________? Please try a dictionary first. The best online one is the WWWebster Dictionary (MerriamWebster) I was always taught X but all the authorities I've looked in say Y. What's happening to the English language? It's changingalways has changed, and always will. When you reach the point that nobody seems to agree with your standard of usage any more, you may have simply been left behind. There is no ultimate authority in languagecertainly not menor any measure of absolute "correctness." The best guide is the usage of literate and careful speakers and writers, and when they differ among themselves one has to make a choice
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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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"infamy." Humorists have for a coup
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INTERCESSION/INTERSESSION In theolo
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down to earth. Similarly in standar
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In electronics, a jack is a female
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JUDGEMENT/JUDGMENT In Great Britain
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might lead people to think of relax
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the standard spelling for those lit
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or "It feels like spring." In expre
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are less common now. LOGON/VISIT Yo
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spell his title with a double "L."
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MEDIOCRE Although some dictionaries
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AB "minus" 231. In the model name "
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"motherload" is a mistake which is
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people want to vomit, and it temper
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hilariously mistaken "nip it in the
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is singular, is the subject. If you
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OLDTIMER'S DISEASE/ALZHEIMER'S DI
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lose a shirt. Strictly speaking, "I
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ORIENTATE/ORIENT Although it is sta
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Some people derive the noun "paraly
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in the apartment." PAST TIME/PASTIM
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to "you peoples" indicated illitera
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PHANTOM/FATHOM Brianna exclaims con
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PLAYS A FACTOR/PLAYS A ROLE Some pe
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US from Hawaii. POPULACE/POPULOUS T
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part of a team. Don't write "preM
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law or doctrine: "The workers fough
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PUNDINT/PUNDIT "Pundit" is one of t
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quoted words and phrases within quo
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wrecked. If things are wrecked, the
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come, she's ravenous. REACTIONARY/R
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REDICULOUS/RIDICULOUS You may ridic
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the quality of being truly religiou
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RESPOND BACK/RESPOND, REPLY It's po
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People unfamiliar with the French
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"Salsa" is Spanish for "sauce," so
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Those are pearls that were his eyes
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these two up it will not sit well w
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SILICON/SILICONE Silicon is a chemi
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centuries, but has become widely us
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SPECIALLY/ESPECIALLY In most contex
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militant. A golfer wanting to impro
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expression has nothing to do with t
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called "suspicious." But "suspect"
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THAN/THEN When comparing one thing
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Page 210 and 211: Although in baseball a homerun hi
Page 212 and 213: The adjective "undue" is the opposi
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Page 216 and 217: A truthful person has "veracity." "
Page 218 and 219: sound "wah," as it usually does in
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Page 228 and 229: point is that if you eat your cake
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Page 232 and 233: they mean to say they're healthy. F
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Page 236 and 237: different. "You've got mail" should
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Page 242 and 243: y in large or enlarge by and large
Page 244 and 245: end justifies the meaning enervate
Page 246 and 247: if I don't say so imbedded impaling
Page 248 and 249: new leash on life neck in neck nitc
Page 250 and 251: ebel rouser recreate the wheel repe
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Page 256 and 257: as to which one prefers. My goal is
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Common_Errors_in_English_usage

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