Common Mistakes in English Usage

Richland School District One March 16, 2006

Get It Write Seminars and Consulting Services
Nancy Lewis Tuten, PhD http://www.getitwriteonline.com ntuten@getitwriteonline.com 803.776.7458

Contents

Part I: Word Usage, Grammar, and Logic

Word Confusion.........................................................................................................3 Pronoun Case and Reflexive Pronouns......................................................................6 Agreement Issues .......................................................................................................7 Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers ...........................................................................8 Redundancies (aka Tautologies/Pleonasms)..............................................................9

Part II: Punctuation and Mechanics

Apostrophes .............................................................................................................11 Italics and Quotation Marks.....................................................................................14 Semicolons and Colons............................................................................................16 Commas with Nonrestrictive Elements and the Serial Comma ..............................18 Hyphens, En Dashes, and Em Dashes .....................................................................20

Common Mistakes ii

Part I: Grammar and Word Usage

Word Confusion
For each of the following sentences, choose the appropriate word in parentheses. 1. His bad attitude (effects affects) his performance on the job. 2. His bad attitude has had an (effect affect) on me. 3. No one is going to be able to (effect affect) change in this company very quickly. 4. The attorneys worked diligently to ensure that they selected a pool of (disinterested uninterested) jurors. 5. The attorneys in our firm are (anxious eager) for their new computers to arrive. 6. The partners are (anxious eager) because the fiscal year is only half over and the firm is already over budget. 7. The judge felt (badly bad) about having to sequester the jury. 8. 9. Stan did not convince the jury of his clients innocence because he presented the evidence (badly bad). (Less Fewer) people appear to have voted in this years presidential election than in the last one.

10. (Lay lie) the book on the table. 11. When the trial was finally over, I went home and (laid lay) down for an hour 12. The plaintiff claimed that he had (loaned lent) Mr. Smith over $500,000. 13. Mr. Thompson was such a slow worker that he (drug him. dragged) the rest of us down with

14. Her remarks were sarcastic, and she (inferred implied) that she considered her entire staff incompetent. 15. In the letter Mary writes that she will stay in Maui for an extra week, and from that remark I (infer imply) that she is having a good time. 16. We left early that morning to (insure ensure assure) that we would arrive before six oclock. 17. He was concerned about the progress of the campaign, so we tried to (insure ensure assure) him that he was ahead in the polls. Common Mistakes 3

Confusing Words affect, effect

Use the verb affect when you mean to influence, to have an effect on. Use the verb effect when you mean to bring about. Use the noun effect in reference to what follows a cause. Use the noun affect in reference to someones facial expression.

disinterested, uninterested
Use the adjective disinterested when you mean that someone is without personal bias in a matter. Use the adjective uninterested when you mean that someone is not concerned with is not interested ina particular thing.

anxious, eager
Use the adjective anxious to suggest an unpleasant nervous anticipation (as in anxiety). Use the adjective eager to suggest a pleasant, excited anticipation.

bad, badly
Bad is an adjective and as such should be used anywhere an adjective should be used. Particularly problematic are sentences containing the linking verb feel. Bad should be used instead of badly after a linking verb because it is a predicate adjective describing the subject of its clause. Badly is an adverb and should be used to modify a verb that expresses an action.

less, fewer
Use less when you are referring to a single thing expressed by a singular noun or a single amount expressed by a plural noun. Use fewer when you are referring to a number of individual things expressed by a plural noun.

Common Mistakes

lay, lie
Meaning to put or place an object to recline Present Tense Form lay lie Past Tense Form laid lay Past Participle laid lain Present Participle laying lying

drug, loan
These words should not be confused with the verbs dragged (past tense of to drag) and lent (past participle of to lend). The verb to drug, meaning to give a dose of medication, is, of course, a different verb. The word drug, however, is not the past tense of the verb to drag.

infer, imply
The speaker or writer implies. The listener or reader infers.

ensure, insure, assure

Use the verb ensure when you mean to guarantee, to make something sure or certain. Use the verb insure when you mean to provide or obtain insurance on or for, as with insurance policies. Use the verb assure when you mean to make someone feel certain of something, to convince someone. It is, in essence, the same word as reassure, which means to assure anew.

Common Mistakes

Pronoun Case and Reflexive Pronouns

Identify problems with pronouns in the following sentences. Some sentences may be correct. 1. I had to remember to keep the conversation between my client and I. 2. Meredith gave the briefs to Harold and myself. 3. We hired Ms. Williams because we recognized that no one else was as skilled as she. 4. Who shall we say is calling? 5. The attorneys will select jurors whom they believe will have sympathy for their client. 6. The judge will sentence whoever the jury finds guilty.

Guidelines for Using Pronouns

Use subject pronouns as subjects of clauses and as subject complements. Use object pronouns as objects of action verbs and as objects of prepositions. Use reflexive pronouns either as objects that reflect the subject or as intensifiers. Use this four-step trick for determining whether to use who, whom, whoever, or whomever: 1. Isolate the clause to which the who(m)-word belongs. 2. Ignore the rest of the sentence. 3. In place of the who(m)-word, plug in he or him. 4. Plug in he or him. If he sounds correct, use either who or whoever. If him sounds correct, use either whom or whomever.

Common Mistakes

Agreement Issues
Identify problems with pronoun-antecedent or subject-verb agreement in the following sentences. Some sentences may be correct. 1. Mary is the only one of the women in our firm who has been assigned to the Harris case. 2. She is one of the women who has been assigned to work with our newest client. 3. Neither of our Canadian clients were available to meet on Thursday. 4. Everyone in the courtroom had been asked to empty their pockets before entering. 5. The jury is allowed to debate extensively before they return a verdict. 6. Each member of the jury had to be able to think for his or herself.

Guidelines for Avoiding Pronoun-Antecedent and Subject-Verb Agreement Errors

Pronouns must agree in person and number with their antecedents. Most third-person indefinite pronouns are singular, including either, neither, everyone, and everybody. Collective nouns can take singular or plural verbs (and can be referred to with singular or plural pronouns) depending on how the members of that group are functioning in the context of a particular sentence.

Notes:

Common Mistakes

Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers

Identify problems with misplaced, dangling modifiers, or squinting modifiers in the following sentences. 1. Simmons submitted a report to the president of the company that was poorly written. 2. The officer found the crime weapon walking back to his vehicle. 3. We only hired three new associates during the 19992000 fiscal year. 4. The judge made it clear to the accused that assault with intent to kill is a serious crime during the trial. 5. I agreed immediately to file the complaint. 6. To reschedule the hearing, an available date had to be identified. 7. Entering the courtroom, the odor of paint overwhelmed me. 8. 9. 10. Walking into the room, the broken glass and overturned chairs immediately caught our attention. Prepare to stop when flashing. With smoke pouring from the rear, the defendant drove her Honda into the side of the building.

Guidelines for Avoiding Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers

Words or groups of words that describe (modify) other words must be placed as closely as possible to the words they modify. Misplaced modifiers can cause a misreading or can lead to ambiguity. Modifiers are considered to be dangling when the word(s) they modify do not appear in the sentence. The only way to correct dangling modifiers is to add the missing word to the sentence, and in most cases, doing so entails rewriting the sentence.

Common Mistakes

Redundancies (aka Tautologies/Pleonasms)

Identify and correct problems in logic in the following sentences: 1. The publisher is offering a free gift to anyone who purchases three or more books in one single order. 2. The jury was told to report the next day at 6:00 a.m. in the morning. 3. The reason why the briefs were late was because absolutely essential information about the case was missing from the files. 4. At this point in time, we have arrested two twins for purchasing alcohol for an underage minor. 5. The conference hotel is accepting advance reservations until July 9. 6. The students were given advance warning about the first-year law school experience. 7. Tuition does not include incidental expenses (e.g., food, books, utilities, etc.). 8. The stolen crown was an exact replica of one worn by Queen Elizabeth at her coronation. 9. We postponed the trial until later so the witness could repeat his testimony again for the jury.

Notes:

Common Mistakes

A sampling of frequently heard redundancies:

aid and abet ABM missile armed gunman ATM machine basic fundamentals biography of his or her life cease and desist close proximity completely unanimous component parts continue on dead corpse doctorate degree each and every eliminating entirely favorable approval HIV virus hot water heater joint collaboration never at any time polar opposites refer back resulting effects surrounded on all sides sum total totally demolished totally unnecessary twelve noon (or twelve midnight) unsolved mystery unexpected surprise very unique

For a lengthy list of pleonasms, go to http://www.jps.at/palindromes/pleonasms/list.html. Some of the redundancies in this list appear on that page.

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Part II: Punctuation and Mechanics

Apostrophes
Identify the problem with apostrophes in each of the following sentences. Some sentences may be correct. 1. By working together, we have a better understanding of each agencies role. 2. Funding each year is based on the previous years records of grant administration. 3. You and your guest are invited to the Joneses for a retirement party honoring Sam Smith. 4. Happy Holidays from the Williams. 5. Please be our guest for a dinner celebrating Tom and Marks retirement. 6. John and Acacias wedding is next month. 7. The Reynolds are meeting with their attorney before the hearing. 8. When I returned from vacation, I had three weeks worth of work waiting for me. 9. The 1980s will forever be remembered as a decade of greed. 10. Cybil and Marthas husbands are coming with them to the dinner. 11. Janet and Barbaras parents are driving to Vermont. 12. We started our journey with fifteen dollars worth of gas in the car because we had a full days drive ahead of us.

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Guidelines for Using the Apostrophe

Apostrophes are used most often to make words possessive and to make contractions. Apostrophes do not make nouns plural. The Possessive Case of Most Nouns: We make most singular words possessive by adding an apostrophe and an s. The Chicago Manual of Style (201) notes the following exceptions: 1. 2. 3. 4. appearance sake, conscience sake, righteousness sake series, species (uninflected nouns) Jesus, Moses polysyllabic names ending in the sound eez, such as Greek and Hellenic names (Euripedes, Yerkes, Ramses)

Nouns Ending in Sibilants: Confusion arises particularly with words that end in the letters s, z, ch, or sh (the sibilants). Ordinarily we make words plural by adding an s, but if the word ends in a sibilant, we make it plural by adding es. We then make those plural words possessive by adding an apostrophe after the final s. Plural nouns that do not end in s are made possessive with an apostrophe and an s. Examples 1. The stolen automobile belonged to the Harrises. (plural, not possessive) 2. Our firm represented the person accused of stealing the Harrises car. (plural possessive) 3. Justin Harris had left his car unlocked the day it was stolen. (neither singular nor possessive) 4. The car was primarily Justin Harriss responsibility. (singular possessive) 5. She is a resident of the Wellspring Childrens Home. (plural possessive of a word that is made plural without an s or es) 6. The defendant was standing in Mrs. Lopezs yard. (singular possessive of a word ending in a sibilant other than s) 7. The defendant was attacked by the Lopezes dog. (plural possessive of a word ending in a sibilant other than s) JOINT OWNERSHIP VS. SEPARATE OWNERSHIP. To indicate joint ownership, use an apostrophe only after the last noun in a series of possessive nouns. To indicate separate ownership, all possessive nouns need apostrophes. APOSTROPHES IN OTHER EXPRESSIONS THAT SHOW OWNERSHIP. While these seem less obvious, we can test the expression by turning it around and creating a prepositional phrase using the preposition of. Common Mistakes 12

two hours delay (the delay of two hours) two weeks pay (the pay of two weeks) six dollars worth of gas (the worth of six dollars) one days work (the work of one day)

RARE OCCASIONS WHEN APOSTROPHES INDICATE PLURALITY. While this situation does not arise very often, apostrophes should be used to make the plural forms of lowercase letters, abbreviations that contain both capital and lowercase letters, and words referred to as words. Note: We no longer use an apostrophe in decade dates expressed in full numerals. The English Department hired three PhDs this fall. The word transmogrify does not have two rs, as many people believe. Her speech was peppered with you knows. She was a young child during the turbulent 1960s.

Notes:

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Italics and Quotation Marks

Look for errors in the use of quotation marks and italics in the following sentences. Check for the placement of punctuation as well. 1. Many attorneys use the Texas Law Review Manual on Usage and Style as a reference tool when writing. 2. Her speech was entitled Seven Ways to Improve Your Business Letters. 3. The movie Jaws kept many people out of the ocean for years. 4. T. S. Eliots poem The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock first appeared in the volume Prufrock and Other Observations. 5. Martha asked Bob, Did you complete the year-end financial report? 6. Has anyone in the class memorized all the words to the song The Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald? 7. The New York Times review of our book was a disappointment. 8. We formed an ad hoc committee to discuss the issue of school violence.

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Guidelines for Using Italics and Quotation Marks

USING QUOTATION MARKS VS. ITALICS Quotation marks are used to enclose direct quotations and to indicate the titles of poems, short stories, articles, lectures, chapters of books, short musical compositions, radio and television programs, and unpublished written works such as masters theses and doctoral dissertations. Italics are used for titles of books, movies, plays, and albums. When in doubt about whether to put a title in quotation marks or in italics, use the part/whole test: if the work is part of a larger work, then put the title in quotation marks; if the work stands alone as a complete entity, then italicize the title. WHEN NOT TO USE ITALICS. Do not italicize the apostrophe + s that form the possessive of any italicized word or title. Do not italicize foreign words or phrases that are so commonly used in English that they appear in an English dictionary. PUNCTUATING WITH QUOTATION MARKS. Periods and commas always go inside quotation marks. Semicolons and colons always go outside the quotation marks. Question marks, exclamation points, and dashes go where they are appropriate.

Notes:

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Semicolons and Colons

Add or delete semicolons and colons as appropriate in the following sentences. Some sentences may be correct. 1. We know we cannot win the case unless we find more evidence; something we are not likely to do after so many years. 2. She chose three attorneys to work on the case; Marchant, Smith, and Tyler. 3. Guests included John Doe, president of Nextron, Jane Smith, chief financial officer for Superior Hotels, and Matthew Brown, chairman of the board of directors for Acme Tires. 4. We knew there was only one way to get him to slow down long enough to get well; he would have to be admitted to the hospital. 5. Bill accurately predicted the outcome of the Moore case; it was settled out of court. 6. Bill accurately predicted the outcome of the Moore case, he has amazing accuracy in predicting the results of most cases. 7. Please fill out the application and send it to: Senator Goldbloom, 234 Galway Lane, Greenville, TX 30200.

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Guidelines for Using the Semicolon

Semicolons are used to separate two independent clauses from one another. When used between two main clauses that have no conjunction joining them, the semicolon suggests that the clauses are closely related in meaning. The semicolon should never be used to separate a dependent clause from an independent clause. The semicolon should never be confused with the colon. Semicolons can also be used to separate items in a series when the items themselves already contain commas.

Guidelines for Using the Colon

In running text (as opposed to headings or other places where there is no need to write in complete sentences), colons should never interrupt the grammatical construction of the sentence. In other words, what precedes a colon should be a complete thought, capable of standing alone as a sentence. Use a colon to introduce a quotation preceded by a complete thought. Both colons and semicolons are appropriately used to connect two independent clauses, but the relationship each of these marks of punctuation suggests is quite different. While the semicolon merely suggests that one clause is closely related to the other, the colon suggests that the second clause will provide some information hinted at but not provided in the first clause.

Notes:

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Commas with Nonrestrictive Elements and the Serial Comma

Add or delete commas as appropriate in the following sentences: 1. The employees who gain the most accounts in July will receive a bonus. 2. The juror made unauthorized calls to her sister who lives in Chicago. 3. The courtrooms that were painted over the summer look clean and bright. 4. The courtrooms which were painted over the summer look clean and bright. 5. The Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) which is administered by the College Board is comprised of two sections: verbal reasoning and mathematics reasoning. 6. Critics praised Josephine Humphreys novel, Firemans Fair. 7. My cousin, Francis Smith, travels across the country each summer to participate in the reunion of my mothers seven siblings and all their children. 8. Francis Smith, my cousin, travels across the country each summer to participate in the reunion of my mothers seven siblings and all their children. 9. Mrs. Jones indicated in her will that her estate was to be divided among Sally and Fred Jones, Margaret and Sidney Jones, Betty and Harold Jones and their children. 10. Each new student is asked to list his or her name, address, classification, sex and roommate preference.

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Guidelines for Using Commas with Nonrestrictive Elements

Absolute phrases, parenthetical elements, and other nonessential groups of words should be set off by commas. Usually, however, we do not set off prepositional phrases since they occur so frequently in a sentence and can almost always be omitted without altering the core meaning of the sentence. When choosing between which and that, remember that which signals nonrestrictive clauses, while that signals restrictive clauses.

Guidelines for Using the Serial Comma

The serial comma is advocated by many style manualsincluding the Texas Law Review Manual on Usage, Style & Editing and The Chicago Manual of Stylebecause it helps the reader to distinguish clearly among the items in a series.

Notes:

Common Mistakes 19

Hyphens, En Dashes, and Em Dashes

Identify errors in the use of hyphens, en dashes, and em dashes in the following sentences. 1. The instructions were written on pages 33-47. 2. The conference will be held June 30 - July 2 on Hilton Head Island. 3. Juan had tried begging, bribing, and even demanding cooperation from his staff-all of whom were swamped with other work-before he gave up and wrote the report himself. 4. No one - not even the president - realized the company would have to dissolve so quickly.

Guidelines for Using Hyphens, En Dashes, and Em Dashes

Distinguishing among the three The hyphen is the shortest of the three and is used most commonly to combine words (compounds such as well-being and advanced-level, for example) and to separate numbers that are not inclusive (phone numbers and Social Security numbers, for example). On typewriter and computer keyboards, the hyphen appears on the bottom half of the key located on the top row between the 0 and the equals mark (=). When using the hyphen, the en dash, or the em dash, no space comes either before or after it. The only exception is with a hanging hyphen (see, for example, the word nineteenth in the phrase nineteenth- and twentieth-century literature). By definition, a hanging hyphen will have a space after it but not before it. Use the em dash to create a strong break in the structure of a sentence. Em dashes can be used in pairs like parenthesesthat is, to enclose a word, or a phrase, or a clauseor they can be used alone to detach one end of a sentence from the main body. Em dashes are particularly useful in a sentence that is long and complex or in one that has a number of commas within it. Use the en dash to mean through. Most commonly, it is used to indicate inclusive dates and numbers: July 9August 17; pp. 3759.

Typing the En Dash and Em Dash Using an Enhanced Keyboard In any software program that handles text, the em dash can be typed on an enhanced keyboard as Alt + 0151that is, hold down the alternate key and type, using the numerical pad on the right side of the keyboard, the numbers 0151. The en dash can be typed as Alt + 0150. Common Mistakes 20