GRAMMAR : Common Errors in Language we make use of everyday



1. You Shouldn't say: Could care less
-You Should Say: Couldn’t care less

Why: You want to say you care so little already that you couldn’t possibly care any less.


2. You Shouldn't Say: Mano a mano
-You Should Say: Man-to-man

Why: You don’t speak Spanish by adding vowels to the end of English words. Mano a mano means “hand to hand”.


3. You Shouldn't Say: Less
 - When You mean: Fewer

Why: In general, use fewer when you’re specifying a number of countable things (“200 words or fewer”); reserve less for a mass (“less than half”). So, when composing a tweet, do it in 140 characters or fewer, not less.


4. You Shouldn't Say: Hone in
 -You Should Say: Home in

Why: “Scientists are homing in on the causes of cancer.” Hone means “to sharpen”:
“The rookie spent the last three seasons honing his skills in the minor leagues.” But it’s easy to mishear ‘m’s and ‘n’s. If you’re unsure, say “zero in” instead.


5. You Shouldn't Say: Who
 -When You mean: Whom

Why: It all depends. Do you need a subject or an object? A subject (who) is the actor of the sentence: “Who left the roller skates on the sidewalk?”
An object (whom) is the acted-upon: “Whom are you calling?” So
parents, you might want to hit the Mute button when Dora the Explorer shouts, “Who do we ask for help when we don’t know which
way to go?”


6. You Shouldn't Say: Brother-in-laws, runner-ups, hole in ones, etc.
-You Should Say: Brothers-in-law,
runners-up, holes in one, etc.

Why: Plurals of these compound nouns are formed by adding an ‘s’ to the thing there’s more than one of (brothers, not laws).

Some exceptions: words ending in ful (mouthfuls).


7. You Shouldn't Say: Try and
 -You Should Say : Try to

Why: “Try and try again”, yes, but if you’re planning to do something, use the infinitive form: “I’m going to try to run a marathon.”


8. You Shouldn't Say: Different than
 -You Should Say: Different from

Why: This isn’t the biggest offense, but if you can easily substitute ‘from’ for ‘than’ (My mother’s tomato sauce is different from my mother-in-law’s), do it. Use ‘than’ for comparisons:

My mother’s tomato sauce is better than my mother-in-law’s.


9. You might say: More than You can also say: Over

Why: The two are interchangeable when the sense is “Over 6,000 hats were sold.” Grammarian Bryan Garner puts it this way:
“The charge that over is inferior to more than is a baseless crotchet.”


10. You Shouldn't Say: Supposably
 -You Should Say: Supposedly

Why: Supposably is, in fact, a word—it means “conceivably”—but not the one you want if you’re trying to say “it’s assumed,” and certainly not the one you want if you’re on a first date with an English major or a job interview with an English speaker.


11. You Shouldn't Say : All of You.
- You Should Say: All

Why: Drop the of whenever you can: “Every little moment is amazing if you let yourself
access it. I learn that all the time from my kids.” But you need all of before a pronoun (“all of them”) and before a possessive noun (“all of Tayo’s kids”).


12. You Shouldn't Say: That
-When You mean: Which

Why: “The money that is on the table is for you” is different from “the money, which is on the table, is for you.”
That pinpoints the subject: The money that is on the table is yours; the money in my pocket is mine. ‘Which’ introduces a bit of extra information. If you remove “which is on the table,” you won’t change the meaning: The money is for you.

13. You Shouldn't Say: Outside of
 - You Should Say: Outside

Why: These two prepositions weren’t meant for each other.

14. You Shouldn't Say: Each other
-When You mean: One another

Why: Tradition says that each other should be used with two people or things, and one another with more than two. “The three
presenters argued with one another over who should announce the award”, but “Christy and Ofi gave each other flowers after the ceremony.” (and it’s always each other’s and one another’s; never end with s’ – as you would when you write or say “My parents’
house.”)

So there it people... Hope We've all learnt one way or the other.

(Culled from an article by Melissa DeMeo and Paul Silverman for Reader's Digest) (Edited)

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