What's new

List of 10 common English usage errors

#7: Different than for different from

I thought this was a predominantly Dutch mistake, as we say "anders dan", which literally means "different than".. Other than that, those are very common mistakes indeed.

*Leon runs spell check and submits reply*
 
Ha, if you think only Dutch people say "different than," you're mistaken.
But I don't think many people would bat an eye at the incorrect usage of "i.e."

What I find amazing is how people can consistently spell the word "definitely" wrong.
And I was outraged to see someone type this as their quote on TheFacebook (they weren't trying to be ironic).
"If your not outraged, you're not paying attention."
 
Spot on.
These are very common mistakes - especially the old 'there', 'their' and 'they're' business.

I've received some appalling emails from supposedly 'literate' English people
 
I use "different than" all the time, and have never been corrected on it. I also hear it all the time, and don't really see much of a problem with it.

Same thing for "lay/lie," nobody uses them "correctly" anymore, and even though I'm aware of the difference and try to use them "correctly," I still make mistakes, like overcorrecting ("lie it over there"). Then there are times when using them "correctly" just feels pedantic.
 
Number 10 is common. If you pronounce "could've" it sounds just like "could of".
Think about it.

The "i.e." I make that mistake alot.
 
Damicci said:
Number 10 is common. If you pronounce "could've" it sounds just like "could of".
Think about it.

In my experience, it's not that common. It does sound like "could of" but any *koff* native speaker who has been *ahem* reading and speaking English their whole life should know the difference. IMHO seeing someone use "could of" makes them seem uneducated.

Glenn said:
I use "different than" all the time, and have never been corrected on it. I also hear it all the time, and don't really see much of a problem with it.

Same thing for "lay/lie," nobody uses them "correctly" anymore, and even though I'm aware of the difference and try to use them "correctly," I still make mistakes, like overcorrecting ("lie it over there"). Then there are times when using them "correctly" just feels pedantic.
There's a difference between speaking and writing. Speech is spontaneous and once you've said a word you can't erase it and replace it with another one. Writing is an other matter and criticism has much more merit when it's directed at written English rather than spoken English. Still there's nothing pedantic about using lie and lay correctly and anyone who knowingly uses them wrongly is just being ridiculous.
 
Like you, Mike, I feel like applauding!

Maybe somebody will learn from this...then again, maybe not... :eek:
 
Haha, I did mention that native english speakers don't know how to speak their own language didn't I? :D

The problem is all the conflicting and contradictory rules, such as the use of apostrophe's. (its it's its') Then you have things rules which have simply been left to rot because no one uses them correctly--in fact the most common mistake isn't even on that list:

"Can" for "may"

"May" implies lack of permission, "can" implies lack of ability--this makes a big differance, as you can still do something that the law says you may not do. I think the lack of distinction on that one is why so many people fail to realize that laws and rules won't nessecarily stop a person from doing something you don't want them to do--it's always hillarious to see a person who didn't take proper precautions get all bug-eyed and say "but you can't do that!" :devilish:
 
Some shocking mistakes there. Some of them should get you shot.:banghead:

If you want to craft an error-free message that reflects your professionalism, be on the lookout for these common grammatical
slip-ups

Most of them are not actually grammar mistakes, but mistakes in usage however.
 
A most interesting find there Mike !! Thanks for sharing that with us.

As for myself, I do know that I slip on #4 at times...i.e., for e.g., and #9--I think it was.

Ah, but language is not a carved-in-marble matter, and although the general rules for most things (regarding English for now) should be upheld, some things do change simply due to usage.

As an example, I simply teach my students both usages of 'can'--ability and permission. I tell that it isn't so wrong to use 'might' in place of 'may' on a future possible conditional dependant clause; and so on.

I have made my share of typos and strange sentences here on Jref, I do believe. :p 😌 :)
 
Before I get into the rest of my response, I just want to say that I won $5 tonight by betting someone about the meaning of "i.e." versus "e.g." Funny that he had so many supporters saying that "i.e." meant "for example." Anyway...

JimmySeal said:
There's a difference between speaking and writing. Speech is spontaneous and once you've said a word you can't erase it and replace it with another one. Writing is an other matter and criticism has much more merit when it's directed at written English rather than spoken English. Still there's nothing pedantic about using lie and lay correctly and anyone who knowingly uses them wrongly is just being ridiculous.

So there is, but if you always say something one way, you aren't likely going to not use it that way when writing. My whole point is that at this point in time, the "lie/lay" distinction has been lost in English pragmatically, as far as I have heard and read.

Not just that, but even pundits on NPR and other news stations constantly say things like "there's many reasons for..." Not only do most people use it in common speech, but it's become part of the formal speech as well.

The distinction between "can" and "may" has gone out the window too. I just see it as language changing over time. Go back fifty years and listen to English as it was used then. Most of it probably sounds ridiculous to us now, but it's probably what would be considered "proper" usage. Like I said before, who ever uses "who" and "whom" properly anymore, and why is "me" used when it isn't an object (it's me)?

Aside from that, there are so many rules of English usage and grammar that most people don't know that it's ridiculous to think that everyone should know them. In fact, in a lot of circumstances people who complain about others' lack of knowledge about the language make mistakes so awful that it's nearly unbelievable that they could even comment on it seriously.
 
I'd be overjoyed if people would just get the "loose/lose" thing correct. These days the people who type "loose" when they meant "lose" seem to outnumber those who get it right.
 
Don't get me wrong, there are things on the list that I definitely agree with, and that's one of them. Another is how to make things plural (you don't add "'s," just "s"). But notice that I just typed a sentence fragment, a big no-no in the purist world, and this sentence started with a conjunction (gasp!). Things change, though, so today's mistakes could very well be tomorrow's "proper" usage. The point of having people use rules that are common to all of us for ease of understanding is not lost on me, though. I promise you that.
 
Good link, Mike.

The i.e./e.g. thing really bugs me as it could easily be a cause for misunderstanding. Imagine being told 'Use an internet browser, i.e. Internet Explorer'. :D

Another common one is 'to' and 'too'.

Another that bugs me, although it would rarely cause miunderstanding, is using 'less' instead of 'fewer'. The express checkout should be '10 items or fewer', not '10 items or less'.

I have been making a lot of mistakes myself this week, probably because I am tired. The another day I typed 'could of', though I caught it in time! I nearly topped myself! :sick:
 
Reiku said:
The problem is all the conflicting and contradictory rules, such as the use of apostrophe's. (its it's its')
The only conflicting rule, when it comes to apostrophes, is how to make a word possesive when it ends in "s." There's no such thing as its'.
"Can" for "may"
The text book that my school uses actually tells students to use "can" when asking for permission or favors:
"Can I go to the park?"
"Can you open the window?"
It makes me want to beat the authors with their own book. It brings back flashbacks of fifth grade:
Student: Can I go to the bathroom?
Teacher: I don't know, can you? (or) I sure hope so.
Tsuyoiko said:
I have been making a lot of mistakes myself this week, probably because I am tired. The another day I typed 'could of'
LOL. Get some sleep.
 
In this time of text messaging and general laziness, I'm surprised that they limited the list to only 10!
 
JimmySeal said:
The text book that my school uses actually tells students to use "can" when asking for permission or favors:
"Can I go to the park?"
"Can you open the window?"
It makes me want to beat the authors with their own book. It brings back flashbacks of fifth grade:
Student: Can I go to the bathroom?
Teacher: I don't know, can you? (or) I sure hope so.

Surely she said, "I surely hope so."
 
My pet peeve...

The error I find most annoying is the "irregardless" thing. There is no such word as "irregardless." What is so difficult in using the correct word "regardless" instead?

I learned something new: the need to put a comma after i.e. and e.g. I've seen them both used so improperly that I have done the same.
 
My friend from Chicago, who is quite good with language, was flabbergasted when I told him that there was no such word as "irregardless," and that it was "regardless." I take that as a sign that the people in Chicago that he hung around all the time constantly used that word. Sometimes it's all about exposure.

Come to think of it, we don't even know what the standards for English usage that are being taught in schools nowadays are, do we? If people are being taught differently nowadays, then we can't fault them for learning what they're taught.

Anyway, I was surprised that the "choose/chose" distinction, wasn't on the list. It goes along with the "loose/lose" distinction. I think that should have made it before the "lie/lay" one or the "different than" one.

Jimmy Seal said:
The text book that my school uses actually tells students to use "can" when asking for permission or favors:
"Can I go to the park?"
"Can you open the window?"

That doesn't bother me, because like I said, "can" can be used to ask for permission. If this is being taught to Japanese children (which I assume it is, due to your location), then they are just learning English as it's used.

I'm sure at some point when I'm in Japan I'll end up saying things like sugoi ii just from being exposed to it all the time, although from what I was taught it should properly be sugoku ii. I see that as having the effect that I'll sound more like the people who grew up with the language, not that I'll sound wrong.
 
Mike Cash said:
Surely she said, "I surely hope so."
Nope!

Kirei_na_me said:
Maybe somebody will learn from this...then again, maybe not...
To be honest, I had no idea that "i.e." didn't mean "for example" and that it requires a comma. Someone told me a long time ago that it's an abbreviation of "in example," which should have seemed fishy but I was about five at the time. I'll be using it correctly from now on.

Glenn said:
I'm sure at some point when I'm in Japan I'll end up saying things like sugoi ii just from being exposed to it all the time, although from what I was taught it should properly be sugoku ii.
Ah yes, people seem to use sugoi as an adverb all the time, but it still never fails to grate on my テ。窶コ. I also want to know why teenagers and young adults who should know better refer to their family members using honorifics when talking to teachers and strangers. Someone really dropped the ball on that one.
 
Yeah, and then there's the usage of otsukaresama, which is supposed to be used only to people lower in status, but young people use it all the time with their friends now.
 
Some good posts, I'd be willing to admit, yes, but would add--without taking a breath--that it wouldn't be good to get too overly picky with most of these inconsistencies; no language system's usage is perfect, (and please do note that I said 'most'. MM
 
Well, I certainly found that link interesting. I do as best I can to check my grammar (and spelling!) before I post. More often than not, I succeed in my task, but, sometimes, a glitch slips past my eagle eye. If you want to see some really bad grammar, check out the posts on the Sporting News website. Posters there goof up not only on grammar, but spelling, punctuation, even capitalization, sometimes, all four in a single post! It's absolutely mindblowing!

:eek:
 
Back
Top Bottom