Common Errors in English Usage

28/07/2010
Common Errors in English Usage
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100s A.D. able to academia access accurate / precise
360 degrees ala about acapella, a capella accessory acronyms and apostrophes addicting administrate advance / advanced advocate for
a / an AM / PM absorbtion accede / exceed accept / except acrossed actual fact / actually adapt / adopt admission / admittance adverse / averse aesthetic / ascetic
A
abject abstruse / obtuse accent marks accidently actionable / doable ad / add added benefit adopted / adoptive advice / advise affect / effect
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ad nauseum administer / minister adultry adviser / advisor
wsu.edu/~brians/errors/errors.html
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affluence / effluence afterwards / afterwords aid / aide all and all all of the sudden alls
Afghan / Afghani agnostic / atheist aint all be it all the farther allude / elude
African-American agreeance / agreement aisle / isle all for not alleged, allegedly allude / refer along the same vein alright altogether / all together ambiguous / ambivalent amoral / immoral ancestor angel / angle anxious / eager anyways apiece / a piece appraise / apprise arrant / errant as as less as possible as time progressed asocial asterick ATM machine attribute / contribute avaidable avocation / vocation ax
afterall ahold / hold all all goes well / augurs well alliterate / illiterate allusion / illusion alot altar / alter altho, tho ambivalent / indifferent amount / number and also anteclimax any more anywhere apostrophes apropos / appropriate arthuritis as best as as of yet ascared aspect / respect astrology / astronomy athlete aural / oral avenge / revenge away / a way axel / axle
allusive / elusive / illusive almost aloud / allowed alterior alumnus / alumni American ampitheater and / or another words anyone / any one anywheres appauled already / all ready alternate / alternative amature amongst / among analogous anecdote / antidote antihero anytime apart / a part appose / oppose
Arab / Arabic / Arabian around / about artic as far as as per ascent / assent assess aswell athiest auger / augur artisanal / artesian as follow as such ascribe / subscribe assure / ensure / insure at all attain / obtain autobiography / biography awhile / a while
awe, shucks
back / forward / up in time bail / bale ball / bawl barter / haggle
backslash / slash backward / backwards bailout / bail out barb wire, bob wire base
backup / back up backyard / back yard baited breath BAR-B-Q, barbeque
B
bad baldfaced, boldfaced bare / bear
based around, based off basicly

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of bazaar / bizarre began / begun being that bemuse between bible beat / bead begs belief belief / believe beaurocracy begs the question belief toward
basises beckon call behaviors below table better bias / biased blatant blonde / blond bon a petite born / borne both bounce / bounds brainchild breach / breech bring / take brunt / butt bully pulpit buttload
benefactor / beneficiary beside / besides between you and I bicep beyond the pail biweekly / semiweekly blog / post boast your confidence bored of borrow off boughten bow brang, brung breeches broke / broken bullion / bouillon butt naked by far and away
blindsighted / blindsided block / bloc blunt / brunt bonafied born out of both / each bourgeois brake / break breakup / break up Britain / Briton brussel sprout bumrush buttox boarders / borders bonds / bounds borrow / loan bought / brought bouyant brand names breath / breathe broach / brooch build off of but . . . however by / bye / buy
cacao / cocoa call the question
cache / cachet callous / callused
caddy-corner calm, cool, and collective canon / cannon capital / capitol caring Catch 22 ceasar cement / concrete cents chalk-full
C
Calvary / cavalry can goods cant . . . too caramel / carmel carousal / carousel catched / caught cease the day / seize the day censor / censure / sensor / censer ceremonial / ceremonious Champaign / Champagne
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Canadian geese canvas / canvass carat / caret / carrot / karat Caucasian celibate / chaste center around chai tea
cannot / can not capeesh careen / career cast in stone CD-ROM disk celtic center of attraction chaise longue
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chauvinist chock it up Church classic / classical click / clique closed-minded cold slaw
Check chrispy chute/shoot cleanup / clean up climactic / climatic coarse / course coliseum / Colosseum
chemicals chose / choose cite / site / sight clench / clinch close / clothes coffee clutch collaborate / corroborate coma / comma compare and contrast comprised of concerning confusionism connote / denote continual / continuous
Chicano / Latino / Hispanic chuck / chunk clamor / clamber clich / clichd close proximity coiffeur / coiffure collage / college collective plural come with compare to / compare with concensus concerted effort congradulations conscience, conscious, consciousness contrary / contrast
Colombia / Columbia commas complement / compliment confident / confidant / confidante
colons / semicolons company names with apostrophes complementary / complimentary conflicted / conflicting feelings
conservativism
contaminates / contaminants coronate could give a damn
contrasts / contrasts with conversate core / corps / corpse could of / should of / would of crafts crescendo / climax criticism costumer / customer council / counsel / consul couple / couple of crape/crepe crevice / crevasse critique / criticize
copywrite / copyright could care less
cowtow credible / credulous crick / creek crochet / crotchet / crotchety curve your appetite cut of tea
Crackerjacks creeped / crept criteria / criterion croissant crucifix / cross cursing through veins
crowbar / wrecking bar crucifiction cue / queue cut and dry currant / current cut and paste / copy and paste
dairy / diary dangling and misplaced modifiers deal deceptively
damped / dampened daring-do day in age dealed decimate
damp squid data daylight savings time death nail deep-seeded
D
dateline / deadline de rigueur debrief defence
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definate degree names denied of desirable / desirous device / devise differ / vary
deformation / defamation defuse / diffuse deja vu depends derisory / derisive dew / do / doo / due different than democrat / democratic
degrade / denigrate / downgrade demure / demur
depravation / deprivation depreciate / deprecate desert / dessert dialogue / discuss differently abled, physically challenged disasterous discreet / discrete disgression disrespect doctorial / doctoral done / did doubt that / doubt whether / doubt if download / upload deviant / deviate dieties dilemma / difficulty dike / dyke disburse / disperse discretion is the better part of valor disinterested / uninterested dissemble / disassemble doesnt supposed to donut doubtlessly / doubtless douse/dowse dozen of
dire straights disc / disk discussed / disgust dispose / dispose of do respect dolly / handcart double negatives
directions disconcerning disease names disremember dos and donts dominate / dominant double possessive
dove / dived drank / drunk dribble / drivel dual / duel dyeing / dying
downfall / drawback drastic / dramatic drips and drabs duck tape
dredge / drudge / trudge drier / dryer drive / disk due to the fact that drug / dragged duly / dully
e.g. / i.e. earmarks / hallmark economic / economical needs -ed / -ing either / or, neither / nor
each earth, moon ecstatic eek / eke either are / either is
early adapter easedrop ect. efforting eighteen hundreds / nineteenth century email eminent / imminent / immanent enamored by enjoy to
E
ecology / environment -ed / -t ei / ie electrocute elegy / eulogy embaress empathy / sympathy emphasize on endemic / epidemic enormity / enormousness
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elicit / illicit emergent / emergency
ellipses emigrate / immigrate
emulate / imitate engine / motor
end result English / British
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enquire / inquire
ensuite
ensure / insure envious / jealous epigram / epigraph / epitaph / epithet error / err -eth ever so often everyone / every one exact same exception proves the rule exited/excited exponential
enthuse enviroment epitomy eponymous -es ethics / morals / morale every everytime exalt / exult exceptional / exceptionable exorcise / exercise expressed / express extended, extensive
entomology / etymology envelop / envelope epic / epoch epicenter
equally as espouse / expound / expand every since evidence to
equivocate / equal et al. ethnic everyday evoke
exasperate / exacerbate excape / escape excrable expensive, cheap expresso extract revenge exhileration explicitly, implicitly
expresses that / says that extend / extent
factoid far be it for me faun / fawn
fair / fare farther / further faze / phase
faithful / fateful fastly fearful / fearsome feint / faint female / woman fine toothcomb firstable fixing flesh out / flush out fluke followup for / fore / four for one / for one thing
F
fatal / fateful Febuary fellow classmate 50s firey fiscal / physical flair / flare floe/flow flustrated, fustrated font / typeface for all intensive purposes for sale / on sale
Federal (capitalization) feelings for / feelings about fiance / fiancee first annual fit the bill flak / flack floppy disk / hard disk flys foot / feet for free for sell forego / forgo forward / forwards fowl swoop finalize first floor / ground floor fittest flaunt / flout flounder / founder focus around footnotes / endnotes for goodness sakes for sure / sure foresee / forsee fortuitous / fortunate framework / groundwork
forbidding / foreboding / forceful / forcible / formidable forced forever / for ever foul / fowl Frankenstein French dip with au jus formally / formerly fourty frankly freshman / freshmen
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from . . . to
from the beginning of time furl / furrow
fully well -fuls / -ful fushia
fulsome full proof / foolproof
functionality
GP practice gander / dander
gaff / gaffe gardener snake / garter snake gerunds & pronouns gift / give goal / objective gonna got to grammer greatful grisly / grizzly
gamut / gauntlet gauge / gouge genius get me gig / jig god good / well government grasping for straws grevious group (singular vs. plural) gut-rending/heartwrenching
G
gaurd gender Ghandi gild / guild goes good-by / good-bye / goodby /goodbye graduate gratis / gratuitous grill / grille ground zero grow gyp
genuine gibe / jibe / jive goal / gaol gone / went got / gotten graffiti gray / grey grill cheese
guess who?
gull / gall
had ought hairbrained hanged / hung hardly never HIV virus hear / here help the problem hero / protagonist him, her / he, she hisself hoard / horde
hadnt have hand and hand hanging indents hardy / hearty he dont hearing-impaired hence why heroin / heroine Hindi / Hindu historic / historical hock / hawk
hail / hale handicap / disability Hanukkah, Chanukah hark / hearken heading / bound heavily herbs / spices hew and cry hippie / hippy an historic hold your peace / say your piece hone in humanity
H
hangar / hanger hardly hay day heal / heel heighth heres / here are highly looked upon / highly regarded his and hers hoi polloi hole / whole holocaust hors doeuvres humus / hummus
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homophobic how to
home page humanism / humanist
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hundreds / century hypocritical
hyperdermic hysterical / hilarious
hyphenation
hyphens & dashes
I me myself idle / idol ignorant
-ic if / whether Illinois
idea / ideal if not
I
if I was / if I were
immaculate conception / impact virgin birth impactful impertinent / irrelevant in spite of / despite in the fact that incidences / incidents / instances Indian / Native American infinite ink pen in shambles instances / instants intensifiers Internet / intranet interpretate intricate / integral Iraq islams issues imply / infer in store in the mist includes incredible indite / indict individual inflammable in mass in spite of / despite insundry intercession interface into / in to intrigue ironically isn't it, innit itch / scratch
impassible / impassable in regards to in tact incase
impeach in route in terms of incent, incentivize
incredulous / incredible
indepth
infact influencial input insight / incite intend on interest intergrate
infamous / notorious -ing in route install / instill intense / intensive interment / internment intermural / intramural / extramural invite / invitation is, is Isreal
invested interest irregardless Israelite / Israeli its / its
jack / plug Jew / Hebrew John Henry junta
jam / jamb Jew / Jewish John Hopkins just assume
jerry-built / jury-rigged jewelry joint possessives
J just
job titles judgement
key knots per hour
kick-start koala bear
kindergarden
K
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l/ 1 laissez-faire last name / family name lay / lie lead / led lense let alone libary lightening / lightning likker literature loath / loathe long story short lozenger
l / ll land lover late / former layed/laid least / lest less / fewer lets / lets licence / license like listserv little own login loose / lose lustful / lusty
LCD Display languish / luxuriate later / latter
L
large laundry mat
laxadaisical/lackadaisical leach / leech leave / let less painless liable, libel light-year like for lite spelling little to none logon loser / looser luxuriant / luxurious legend / myth lessen / lesson liaise lighted / lit likeliness / likeness literally lived lol lot, plenty, load (number) -ly adjectives
MAC / Mac
macabre
maddening crowd
M
make due marital / martial mass may / might mean for Medieval Ages medium / median meteor / meterorite / meteoroid might could mind of information minuet / minute mislead / misled molten/melted moral / morale most always
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magic bullet / silver bullet majority are / majority is majorly make pretend marshall masseuse / masseur maybe / may be meantime / meanwhile mantle / mantel marshmellow material / materiel me either manufacture mash potatoes mauve mean / median
medal / metal / meddle / media mettle mediocre methodology / method mic might ought miniscule minus well misplaced stress Mongoloid more importantly memorium midrift militate / mitigate minority mischievious mixed-up media mono e mono moreso
meet up mfr. / mfg. might has well miner / minor minus misnomer money is no option morays
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motherload muchly music / singing myself
motion / move mucus / mucous must of
Mount Fujiyama multipart names mute point
much differently mumble jumbo, mumbo jumble myriad of
n naval / navel neice next, this niggard no such a thing noone not hardly now and days numbers
name, pronoun near Nevada next store ninty Noble Prize not notate / note nowheres numerous of
nauseated / nauseous neck in neck nevermind nicety / niceness nip it in the butt none not all nothing (singular) nuclear nuptual
N
needs -ed / -ing new lease of life nieve no sooner when nonplussed not all that notorious number of verb
O / zero octopi of ___s often old fashion on the contraire once one in the same only opportunist ordinance / ordnance orientate over and out owness
object dart odd offense oggle old-timers disease on the lamb once and a while one of the only onto / on to oppress / repress Oregon ostensively over-exaggerated
obsolescent / obsolete oeuvre offline OK old wise tale on the same token one of the (singular) ongoingly op-ed oral / verbal organic ourn oversee / overlook
O
of oft chance / off chance Old English on accident on tomorrow one-dimensional online / on line / in line open orders of magnitude oriental outcast/outcaste overtake / take over
PC computer pair (number)
PSS pair / pare / pear
page / site palate / palette / pallet
P
par excellance
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parallel
parallelled / paralleled
parallelism in a series
paralyzation parentheses past time pause for concern peak / peek / pique pedal to the medal per pernickety / persnickety persecute / prosecute peruse perverse / perverted phoney / phony physical pigeon English pith and vinegar plead innocent plus / add point being is that pompom / pompon possessed of, by, with practicle
parameters / perimeters paramount / tantamount paranoid parliment pastorial pawn off / palm off peal out / peel out pen / pin percent, per cent partake / participate passive voice payed / paid peasant / pheasant passed / past patience / patients peace / piece pedal / peddle
penultimate / next to last peoples percent decrease percipitation persay perspective / prospective Philippines / Filipinos phrasal verbs vs. nouns picture pit in my stomach playwrite plug-in poisonous / venomous pole / poll pore / pour practice / practise
perogative / prerogative perpetrate / perpetuate personal / personnel personality
phantom / fathom
phenomena / phenomenon
picaresque / picturesque pickup / pick up PIN number plain / plane pleaded / pleated podium / lectern point in time poo-poo prosperity / posterity pray / prey precurse pinned up plays a factor please RSVP poinsetta point of you populace / populous practicable/practical precede / proceed predominant / predominate premier / premiere prepositions (wrong) prespiration principal / principle probably
precedence / precedents precipitate / precipitous predominately preferably premise / premises prescribe / proscribe pretty prioritize prodigy, progeny, protg prophecy / prophesy proved / proven preemptory prejudice / prejudiced prepone present writer primer priority program/programme proof is in the pudding prostate / prostrate psychologist / psychiatrist / psychotherapist / psychoanalyst
pre-Madonna prepositions (repeated) presently primevil proactive
prone protagonist / proponent
pronounciation protray
pundint
purposely / purposefully
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Q/G queue quote
quantum leap the quick and the dead quotation marks
question / ask quick claim
Q
quiet / quite
RBIs rack / wrack random rational / rationale
RPMs raise / raze rapport
racism rampart / rampant rate of speed
R
ran / run ratio recreate reactionary / reactive realms of possibility rebelling / revolting redo it over refridgerator regretfully / regrettably reign / rein religiosity reoccurring repel / repulse repungent resister / resistor restive return back revelant revue / review right / write / write Rio Grande River rod iron, rot iron romantic rubbage rye / wry
rationale / rationalization ravaging / ravishing / ravenous real / really reap what you sew recent / resent reeking havoc regard / regards realize / realise reason because rediculous refrain / restrain regime / regimen / regiment religion believes remuneration / renumeration report into resignate restauranter retrospective / retroactive revolve / rotate riffle / rifle ringer / wringer rob / steal Romainian rouge / rogue rural
readably realtor rebut / refute redundancies refute / reject
reknown reluctant / reticent
religion remotely close
replete / complete request / ask respiratory retch / wretch
reply back resign / re-sign respond back reticent / hesitant
revert / reply rhetorical questions right of passage risky / risqu role / roll rondezvous Rueben
revert back ridged/rigid ring its neck road to hoe rollover / roll over root / rout / route ruff
sacred / scared sail / sale / sell
sacreligious salsa sauce
safety deposit box same difference
S
sameo sameo
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samwich / sandwich say / tell sci-fi scrapegoat
sang / sung scarcely scone / sconce sea change
sarcastic / ironic sceptic / skeptic Scotch seam / seem
satellite schizophrenic scotch free seasonable / seasonal / unseasonable / unseasonal select / selected sense of false hope service / serve shant / shall not shimmy / shinny shook / shaken shrunk / shrank signaled out silicon / silicone sister-in-laws slow gin so fun sole / soul sometimes not always song / work or composition sort of souse chef span spicket spree stalactites / stalagmites stationary / stationery stint / stent stood / stayed strength strong suite substitute with suit / suite suped up
13/17
second of all self-steam sensual / sensuous set / sit shear / sheer shined / shone should / would shutter to think
seen / saw self-worth sentence fragments setup / set up sheath / sheaf shoe-in
segway sense / since sergeant of arms shall / will sherbert shone / shown
shoulder on / soldier on show-stopper sick / sic Sierra Nevada Mountains Sir / Dame slog it out so / very sojourn / journey sometime / some time somewheres sort after sour grapes spaded / spayed specie / species sprain / strain staid / stayed states / countries stereo stomp straight-laced strike a cord substance-free sufficeth summersault
simplistic skiddish sluff off soar / sore somebody / someone someways sooner sound byte sowcow spare of the moment spiritualism squash / quash stand / stance statue of limitations stock and trade straight / strait stress on
single quotes slight of hand snuck social / societal somebodys else somewhat of a sooner than later soup du jour of the day spaces after a period specially / especially spoke / said squoze standalone step foot stoled straightjacket stricken / struck
subject to / subjected to submittal / submission succeed / secede sulking / skulking suffer with summary / summery
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supercede
supposably, supposingly, suppose to supposively suspect / suspicious swam / swum systematic / systemic
supremist suspicion / suspect
surfing the Internet
table take and
tad bit taken back / taken aback tentative that / than theirselves theirs these kind this here/that there
take a different tact tattle-tail taunt / taut / tout than / then that / which them theyre / their / there these ones though / thought / through thusfar time period todays day and age to the manor born tooken / took / taken torchiere tow the line tragedy / travesty trite and true turn into/turn in to
T
taught / taut tenant / tenet thanks God that kind theory therefor / therefore they / their (singular) threw / through throne / thrown thusly times / multiply to / too / two to where touche tore / torn toward / towards transition troop / troupe tussled / tousled
tender hooks thankyou teeth theres these are them think on
through a mirror, darkly throws of passion tick / tic times smaller toe-headed timber / timbre tirimis to home
todays modern society tolled / told tounge torturous / tortuous track home tremblor trustee/trusty two to tangle tongue and cheek touch bases tradegy tripple try and
UFO
ugly American
The Ukraine under the guise that underlining unkept unthaw urine analysis utilize
U
undermind undo / undue unpleased untracked use / usage
unchartered / uncharted unconscience under weigh undoubtably unlike upmost use to underestimated University of Indiana unrest upto used to could
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vague reference various veracious / voracious verses / versus video vichyssoise volumptuous
vain / vane / vein vary / very verbage
vapid / vacuous veil of tears verb tense
V
vendor verse / play against vicious / viscous circle / cycle virii viola / voila
very sort of, very kind of very unique vinegarette visually impaired / blind vintage point vitae
wail / whale walk the talk warrantee / warranty wax weather / wether / whether were / were what
wait on wander / wonder wary / weary / leery way weather forecast calls for were / where wheat
waver / waiver want that . . . should was / were ways weiner Wensday wet your appetite wheelbarrel where its at whim and a prayer who / whom whose-ever within / among working progress would have wreckless writting
W
warmongerer wash weak / week wench / winch went / gone whacky / wacky whenever / when wherefore whimp whos / whose wile away woman / women World Wide Web wrangle / wangle write me
where (and prepositions) whereabouts are whether / whether or not whilst / while whip cream a whole nother -wise wonderkind worse comes to worse wrapped / rapt whisky / whiskey whole-hardily wit / whit wont / wont worser wreath / wreaths / wreathe / wreathes
Xmas / Christmas
yall year end and year out you better
ye ying and yang you cant have your
yea / yeah / yay yoke / yolk you know / know what
Y
you you was
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cake and eat it too your guyss youve got another thing coming yourself
Im sayin? your / youre
your / you youse
zeroscape
zero-sum gain
zoology
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Supplementary Pages
The home page for this site. If you missed it, please start here. Non-Errors Those usages people keep telling you are wrong but which are actually standard in English. split infinitives * ending a sentence with a preposition * beginning a sentence with a conjunction * between vs. among * over vs. more than * gender vs. sex * who vs. that * since vs. because * hopefully * momentarily * lend vs. loan * near miss * nonesingular vs. plural * scan vs. skim * off of * gotten vs. got * till vs. til * teenage vs. teenaged * reference vs. cite * endquote vs. unquote * feeling bad * persuade vs. convince * You shouldnt pronounce the e in not my forte. * normalcy vs. normality * aggravate vs. irritate * preventive vs. preventative * entitled vs. titled * People are healthy; vegetables are healthful. * Dinner is done; people are finished. * Crops are raised; children are reared. * Youve got mail should be you have mail. * its cut the muster, not cut the mustard. * its carrot on a stick, not carrot or stick. * spitting image * Lions share means all of something, not the larger part of something. * connoisseur More errors Other strange and amusing word confusions Commonly misspelled words. The whole site on one page (ASCII text; the easiest option if youre reading through all the entries in order) List of commonly made suggestions. Check this before writing. Sean Igos Garbage In, Garbage Out: Errors Caused by Over-Reliance on Spelling Checkers
Other Good Resources

American Heritage Book of English Usage (now out of print but available cheaply used)
wsu.edu/~brians/errors/errors.html 16/17
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AskOxford: An excellent dictionary with many other resources on British English. Worldwide Words: Michael Quinion investigating International English from a British Viewpoint Daniel Kies Modern English Grammar Jack Lynchs Grammar and Style Notes Charles Darlings Guide to Grammar and Writing Dr. NADs Prig Page Ronald B. Standlers Technical Writing Guide Garbls Writing Resources On-Line UsingEnglish.com: useful resources for those studying English as a second language English as a Second Language Help Desk at Washington State University WWWebster Dictionary (Merriam Webster) provides recorded pronunciations Grammar Girls Quick & Dirty Tips for Better Writing Detailed discussion of individual points. Heteronyms Antagonyms Hazel Tanks Word Lists - The Way Doctors Talk Check Your Spelling Differences between British, Canadian and American Spelling William Safires self-violating Rules for Writers The Eggcorn Database Great collection of misheard words and phrases. Crash Blossoms Bungled headlines Demi-Entendres Mixed-up expressions The Word Detective interesting essays on word origins Geoffrey K. Pullam: 50 Years of Stupid Grammar Advice (an interesting critique of Strunk and Whites The Elements of Style. Reviews of Common Errors in English Usage Paul Brians home page
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Common Errors in English Usage

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Common Errors in English Usage

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28/07/2010