common errors in english.docx

8/14/2019 Common Errors in English.docx

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1. "Fewer" vs. "Less"Use "fewer" when discussing countable objects.For example, "He ate five fewer chocolates thanthe other guy," or "fewer than 20 employeesattended the meeting."Use "less" for intangible concepts, like time. Forexample, "I spent less than one hour finishing this

report."2. "It's vs. "Its"Normally, an apostrophe symbolizes possession.

As in, "I took the dog's bone." But becauseapostrophes also usually replace omitted letters like "don't" the "it's" vs. "its" decision getscomplicated.Use "its" as the possessive pronoun: "I took itsbone." For the shortened version of "it is" use theversion with the apostrophe. As in, "it's raining."3. Dangling ModifiersThese are ambiguous, adjectival clauses at thebeginning or end of sentences that often don'tmodify the right word or phrase.For example, if you say, "Rotting in therefrigerator, our office manager threw the fruit inthe garbage." The structure of that sentenceimplies your office manager is a zombie trapped ina chilly kitchen appliance.Make sure to place the modifying clause right nextto the word or phrase it intends to describe. Thecorrect version reads, "Our office manager threwthe fruit, rotting in the refrigerator, in the garbage."4. "Who" vs. "Whom"Earlier this year, "The New Republic" published

areview of Mark Leibovich's "ThisTown." Regardless of his opinions, the authordeserves praise. The title reads, "Careful WhomYou Call A Hypocrite, Washington." Yes, AlecMacGillis. Just yes.When considering whether to use "who" or"whom," you have to rearrange the sentence inyour own head. In the aforementionedcase, "whomyou call a hypocrite" changes to "youcall whoma hypocrite." "Whom" suits the sentenceinstead of "who" because the word functions asthe object of the sentence, not the subject.It's not always easy to tell subjects from objects

but to use an over-simplified yet good, generalrule: subjects start sentences (or clauses), andobjects end them.For reference, "who is a hypocrite?" would be aperfectly grammatically correct question to ask.5. Me, Myself, And IDeciding when to use me, myself, or I also fallsunder the subject/object discussion. "Me" alwaysfunctions as the object (except in that case); "I" is

always the subject. And you only use "myself"when you've referred to yourself earlier in thesentence. It's called a reflexive pronoun itcorresponds to a pronoun previously in thesentence. For example, "I made myself breakfast"not "my friend and myself made lunch."To decide usage in "someone else and me/I"

situations, take the other person out of thesentence. "My co-worker and I went to lunch." Is "Iwent to lunch" correct? You're good then.6. "Lie" vs. "Lay"Dear everyone, stop saying: "I'm going to go laydown." The word "lay" must have an object.Someone lays something somewhere. You lie.Unless you lay, which means lie but in the pasttense. Okay, just look at the chart.

Present Past

Lie Lie Lay

Lay Lay Laid

7. Irregular VerbsThe English language has quite afew surprises.We can't list all the irregular verbs,but be aware they do exist. For example, no pasttense exists for the word "broadcast.""Broadcasted" isn't a word. You'd say, "Yesterday,CNN broadcast a show.""Sneak" and "hang" also fall into the category ofirregular verbs. Because the list of irregular verbs(and how to conjugate them) is so extensive, you'llhave to look into them individually.

8. "Nor" vs. "Or"Use "nor" before the second or farther of twoalternatives when "neither" introduces the first.Think of it as "or" for negative sentences, and it'snot optional. For example, "Neither my boss nor Iunderstand the new program." You can also usenor with a negative first clause or sentenceincluding "not." For example, "My boss didn'tunderstand the program, nor did I."9. "Then" vs. "Than"There's a simple distinction between these twowords. Use "then" when discussing time. As in,

"We had a meeting, and then we went to lunch."Include "than" in comparisons. "This meeting wasmore productive than the last one."10. Ending Sentences With PrepositionsFirst of all, don't do it usually. Second, for thosewho don't know, prepositions are any words that asquirrel can "run" with a tree (i.e. The squirrel ranaround, by, through, up, down, around, etc. thetree).
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/113796/holier-thou-or-hypocrite-you-just-cant-win-townhttp://www.newrepublic.com/article/113796/holier-thou-or-hypocrite-you-just-cant-win-townhttp://www.newrepublic.com/article/113796/holier-thou-or-hypocrite-you-just-cant-win-townhttp://www.newrepublic.com/article/113796/holier-thou-or-hypocrite-you-just-cant-win-town


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"My boss explained company policy, which we hadto abide by" sounds awful. In most cases, you can

just transpose the preposition to the beginning ofthe clause. "My boss explained company policy,by which we had to abide," or better yet, rephrasethe sentence to avoid this problem: "My bossexplained the mandatory company policy."

11. Subject (And Possessive Pronoun) AndVerb AgreementThis rule seems a bit counterintuitive, but mostplural subjects take verbs without an "s." Forexample, "she types," but "they type." Thepronoun agreement comes into play when you adda possessive element to these sentences. "Shetypes on her computer," and "they type on theircomputers."

As a caveat, the pronoun "someone" requires "heror his" as the possessive.

Source: Sterbenz, C., The 11 most commonGrammatical Mistakes And how to avoid themRetrieved fromhttp://www.businessinsider.com/11-common-grammatical-mistakes-and-how-to-avoid-them-2013-9

========================================================================Who and WhomThis one opens a big can of worms. Who is asubjective or nominative pronoun, along with"he," "she," "it," "we," and "they." Its used when

the pronoun acts as the subject of a clause.Whom is an objective pronoun, alongwith "him,""her," "it", "us," and "them." Its used when thepronoun acts as the object of a clause. Usingwho or whom depends on whether yourereferring to the subject or object of a sentence.When in doubt, substitute who with thesubjective pronouns he or she, e.g.,Who lovesyou? cf.,He loves me. Similarly, you can alsosubstitute whom with the objective pronounshim or her. e.g., I consulted an attorney whom Imet in New York. cf.,I consulted him.

Which and ThatThis is one of the most common mistakes outthere, and understandably so. That is arestrictive pronoun. Its vital to the noun to whichits referring. e.g., I dont trust fruits andvegetables that arent organic.Here, Im referringto all non-organic fruits or vegetables. In otherwords, I only trust fruits and vegetables that areorganic. Which introduces a relative clause. It

allows qualifiers that may not be essential. e.g., Irecommend you eat only organic fruits andvegetables, which are available in area grocerystores.In this case, you dont have to go to aspecific grocery store to obtain organic fruits andvegetables. Which qualifies, that restricts.Which is more ambiguous however, and by

virtue of its meaning is flexible enough to be usedin many restrictive clauses. e.g.,The house, whichis burning, is mine.e.g., The house that is burningis mine.

Lay and LieThis is the crown jewel of all grammatical errors.Lay is a transitive verb. It requires a directsubject and one or more objects. Its present tenseis lay (e.g.,I lay the pencil on the table) and itspast tense is laid (e.g.,Yesterday I laid the pencilon the table). Lie is an intransitive verb. It needsno object. Its present tense is lie (e.g.,The

Andes mountains lie between Chile and Argentina)and its past tense is lay (e.g.,The man laywaiting for an ambulance). The most commonmistake occurs when the writer uses the pasttense of the transitive lay (e.g., I laid on the bed)when he/she actually means the intransitive pasttense of lie" (e.g.,I lay on the bed).

MootContrary to common misuse, moot doesnt implysomething is superfluous. It means a subject isdisputable or open to discussion. e.g., The idea

that commercial zoning should be allowed in theresidential neighborhood was a moot point for thecouncil.

Continual and ContinuousTheyre similar, but theres a difference.Continual means something that's alwaysoccurring, with obvious lapses in time.Continuous means something continues withoutany stops or gaps in between. e.g., The continualmusic next door made it the worst night ofstudying ever. e.g., Her continuous talking

prevented him from concentrating.

Envy and JealousyThe word envy implies a longing for someoneelses good fortunes. Jealousyis far morenefarious. Its a fear of rivalry, often present insexual situations. Envy is when you covet yourfriends good looks. Jealousy is what happenswhen your significant other swoons over yourgood-looking friend.
http://www.businessinsider.com/11-common-grammatical-mistakes-and-how-to-avoid-them-2013-9http://www.businessinsider.com/11-common-grammatical-mistakes-and-how-to-avoid-them-2013-9http://www.businessinsider.com/11-common-grammatical-mistakes-and-how-to-avoid-them-2013-9http://www.businessinsider.com/11-common-grammatical-mistakes-and-how-to-avoid-them-2013-9http://www.businessinsider.com/11-common-grammatical-mistakes-and-how-to-avoid-them-2013-9http://www.businessinsider.com/11-common-grammatical-mistakes-and-how-to-avoid-them-2013-9http://www.businessinsider.com/11-common-grammatical-mistakes-and-how-to-avoid-them-2013-9


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NorNor expresses a negative condition. It literallymeans "and not." Youre obligated to use the norform if your sentence expresses a negative andfollows it with another negative condition. Neitherthe men nor the women were drunk is a correct

sentence because nor expresses that the womenheld the same negative condition as the men. Theold rule is that nor typically follows neither, andor follows either. However, if neither either norneither is used in a sentence, you should usenor to express a second negative, as long as thesecond negative is a verb. If the second negativeis a noun, adjective, or adverb, you would use or,because the initial negative transfers to allconditions. e.g.,He wont eatbroccoli orasparagus.The negative condition expressing thefirst noun (broccoli) is also used for the second(asparagus).

May and MightMay implies a possibility. Might implies far moreuncertainty. You may get drunk if you have twoshots in ten minutes implies a real possibility ofdrunkenness. Youmight get a ticket if youoperate a tug boat while drunk implies apossibility that is far more remote. Someone whosays I may have more wine could mean he/shedoesn't want more wine right now, or that he/shemight not want any at all. Given the speakersindecision on the matter, might would be correct.

Whether and IfMany writers seem to assume that whether isinterchangeable with if." It isnt. Whetherexpresses a condition where there are two ormore alternatives. If expresses a condition wherethere are no alternatives. e.g., I dont knowwhether Ill get drunk tonight.e.g., I can get drunktonight if I have money for booze.

Fewer and LessLess is reserved for hypothetical quantities.Few and fewer are for things you can quantify.

e.g., The firm has fewer than tenemployees.e.g., The firm is less successful nowthat we have only ten employees.

Farther and FurtherThe word farther implies a measurable distance.Further should be reserved for abstract lengths

you can't always measure. e.g., Ithrew the ball tenfeet farther than Bill. e.g.,The financial crisiscaused further implications.

Since and BecauseSince refers to time. Because refers tocausation. e.g., Since I quit drinking Ive married

and had two children. e.g.,Because I quit drinkingI no longer wake up in my own vomit.

Disinterested and UninterestedContrary to popular usage, these words arentsynonymous. A disinterested person is someonewhos impartial. For example, a hedge fundmanager might take interest in a headlineregarding the performance of a popular stock,even if he's never invested in it. Hesdisinterested, i.e., he doesnt seek to gainfinancially from the transaction hes witnessed.Judges and referees are supposed to be"disinterested." If the sentence youre usingimplies someone who couldn't care less, chancesare youll want to use uninterested.

AnxiousUnless youre frightened of them, you shouldntsay youre anxious to see your friends. Youreactually eager, or "excited." To be anxiousimplies a looming fear, dread or anxiety. It doesntmean youre looking forward to something.

Different Than and Different From

This is a tough one. Words like rather andfaster are comparative adjectives, and are usedto show comparison with the preposition than,(e.g., greater than, less than, faster than, ratherthan). The adjective different is used to drawdistinction. So, when different is followed bya preposition, it should be from, similar toseparate from, distinct from, or away from.e.g., My living situation in New York was differentfrom home.There are rare cases where differentthan is appropriate, if than operates as aconjunction. e.g.,Development is different in NewYork than in Los Angeles. When in doubt, use

different from.

Bring and TakeIn order to employ proper usage of bring ortake, the writer must know whether the object isbeing moved toward or away from the subject. If itis toward, use bring. If it is away, use take.Your spouse may tell you to take your clothes to


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the cleaners. The owner of the dry cleaners wouldsay bring your clothes to the cleaners.

ImpactfulIt isn't a word. "Impact" can be used as a noun(e.g., The impact of the crash was severe) or atransitive verb (e.g., The crash impacted my ability

to walk or hold a job). "Impactful" is a made-upbuzzword, colligated by the modern marketingindustry in their endless attempts to decode theinnumerable nuances of human behavior into astring of mindless metrics. Seriously, stop sayingthis.

Affect and EffectHeres a trick to help you remember: Affect isalmost always a verb (e.g., Facebook affects

peoples attention spans), and effect is almostalways a noun (e.g., Facebook's effects can alsobe positive). Affect means to influence orproduce an impression to cause hence, aneffect. Effect is the thing produced by theaffecting agent; it describes the result or outcome.There are some exceptions. Effect may be usedas a transitive verb, which means to bring about ormake happen. e.g., My new computer effected amuch-needed transition from magazines to Web

porn.There are similarly rare examples whereaffect can be a noun. e.g.,His lack of affectmade him seem like a shallow person.

Irony and Coincidence

Too many people claim something is the formerwhen they actually mean the latter. For example,its not ironic that Barbara moved from Californiato New York, where she ended up meeting andfalling in love with a fellow Californian. The factthat theyre both from California is a "coincidence.""Irony" is the incongruity in a series of eventsbetween the expected results and the actualresults. "Coincidence" is a series of events thatappear planned when theyre actually accidental.So, it would be "ironic" if Barbara moved fromCalifornia to New York to escape California men,but the first man she ended up meeting and falling

in love with was a fellow Californian.

NauseousUndoubtedly the most common mistake Iencounter. Contrary to almost ubiquitous misuse,to be nauseous doesnt mean youve beensickened: it actually means you possess the abilityto produce nausea in others. e.g., That week-oldhot dog is nauseous.When you find yourself

disgusted or made ill by a nauseating agent, youare actually nauseated. e.g.,I was nauseatedafter falling into that dumpster behind the PlannedParenthood.Stop embarrassing yourself.

Source: Gingerich, J. (2012) 20 CommonGrammar Mistakes That (Almost) Everyone

Makes. Retrived fromhttp://litreactor.com/columns/20-common-grammar-mistakes-that-almost-everyone-gets-wrong========================================================================

1.Affect vs. effect. The easiest way to rememberthe difference between the two is that "affect"means "to influence." So if you're going toinfluence something, you will affect it. If it's theresult of something, it's an effect.

2.Impact. Impact is a noun, not a verb. A planecan crash on impact. You can have an impacton something. But you cannot impactsomething. (When you are tempted to use"impact" as a verb, use "affect" instead; see#1.)

3.Their, they're and there. You'd think everyonewould have learned this rule in fourth grade, butit's a very common mistake. Use "there" whenreferring to a location, "their" to indicatepossession, and "they're" when you mean tosay "they are."

4.Care less. The dismissive "I could care less" is

incorrect. If you could care less about it, thenyou're saying you couldcare less about thetopic, and you've lost the impact you meant tohave. To use this phrase correctly, insert theword "not" after the word "could," as in, "I couldnot care less."

5.Irregardless. This word doesn't exist. The wordyou should use is "regardless."

6.Your and you're. Another mistake you'll oftensee in people's social media profiles or othercontent they create is the incorrect us of "your"and "you're." If you mean to say "you are," thecorrect word is "you're." Use "your" when

referring to something that belongs to "you," asin "your business."

7.Fewer vs. less. Another common mistake,"less" refers to quantity and "fewer" to anumber. For instance, Facebook has fewerthan 5,000 employees, but I got less sleep thanyou last night.

8.Quotation marks. Among the great debates,people ask all the time whether or not
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punctuation belongs inside or outside ofquotation marks. Let's set the record straight.The period and the comma always go insidequotation marks. The dash, the semicolon, theexclamation mark and the question mark goinside when they apply to the quoted matter (ifit's not the entire sentence) but outside when

they apply to the whole sentence.

Source: Dietrich, G. (N.D) 8 common grammarmistakes you should never make again Retrievedfromhttps://www.openforum.com/articles/8-common-grammar-mistakes-you-should-never-make-again/

========================================================================

Error #1: Run-on Sentence or Comma Splice

A run-on sentence is a sentence that joins twoindependent clauses without punctuation or theappropriate conjunction. A comma splice is similarto a run-on sentence, but it uses a comma to jointwo clauses that have no appropriate conjunction.Fixing a run-on sentence or a comma splice canbe accomplished in one of five different ways:

Separate the clauses into two sentences. Replace the comma with a semi-colon. Replace the comma with a coordinating

conjunction--and, but, for, yet, nor, so. Replace the comma with a subordinating

conjunction--after, although, before, unless, as,because, even though, if, since, until, when, while. Replace the comma with a semi-colon and

transitional word--however, moreover, on the otherhand, nevertheless, instead, also, therefore,consequently, otherwise, as a result.For example:

Incorrect: Rachel is very smart, she began readingwhen she was three years old.

Correct: Rachel is very smart. She began readingwhen she was three years old.

Correct: Rachel is very smart; she began readingwhen she was three years old.

Correct: Rachel is very smart, and she beganreading when she was three years old.

Correct: Because Rachel is very smart, she beganreading when she was three years old.

Correct: Rachel is very smart; as a result, shebegan reading when she was three years old.

Error #2: Pronoun ErrorsPronoun errors occur when pronouns do not agreein number with the nouns to which they refer. If the

noun is singular, the pronoun must be singular. Ifthe noun is plural, however, the pronoun must beplural as well. For example:

Incorrect: Everybody must bring their own lunch. Correct: Everybody must bring his or her own

lunch.Many people believe that pronoun errors are the

result of writers who are trying to avoid theimplication of sexist language. Although this is anadmirable goal, correct grammar is still important.

Error #3: Mistakes in Apostrophe UsageApostrophes are used to show possession.However, you do not use an apostrophe after apossessive pronoun such as my, mine, our, ours,his, hers, its, their, or theirs. For example:

Incorrect: My mothers cabin is next to his' cabin. Correct: My mother's cabin is next to his cabin.

In the case of it's, the apostrophe is used toindicate a contraction for it is. For example:

Incorrect: Its a cold day in October. Correct: It's a cold day in October.

Error #4: Lack of Subject/Verb AgreementWhen speaking or writing in the present tense, asentence must have subjects and verbs that agreein number. If the subject is singular, the verb mustbe singular. If the subject is plural, the verb mustbe plural as well. For example:

Incorrect: The recipes is good for beginning chefs. Correct: The recipes are good for beginning chefs.

Error #5: Misplaced ModifiersTo communicate your ideas clearly, you mustplace a modifier directly next to the word it issupposed to modify. The modifier should clearlyrefer to a specific word in the sentence. Forexample:

Incorrect: At eight years old, my father gave me apony for Christmas.

Correct: When I was eight years old, my fathergave me a pony for Christmas.

Source:http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/grammar-rules-and-tips/5-most-common.html
https://www.openforum.com/articles/8-common-grammar-mistakes-you-should-never-make-again/https://www.openforum.com/articles/8-common-grammar-mistakes-you-should-never-make-again/https://www.openforum.com/articles/8-common-grammar-mistakes-you-should-never-make-again/https://www.openforum.com/articles/8-common-grammar-mistakes-you-should-never-make-again/http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/grammar-rules-and-tips/5-most-common.htmlhttp://grammar.yourdictionary.com/grammar-rules-and-tips/5-most-common.htmlhttp://grammar.yourdictionary.com/grammar-rules-and-tips/5-most-common.htmlhttp://grammar.yourdictionary.com/grammar-rules-and-tips/5-most-common.htmlhttps://www.openforum.com/articles/8-common-grammar-mistakes-you-should-never-make-again/https://www.openforum.com/articles/8-common-grammar-mistakes-you-should-never-make-again/https://www.openforum.com/articles/8-common-grammar-mistakes-you-should-never-make-again/

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