99 COMMON ERRORS IN ENGLISH

BY ALIXANDER HABAN ESCOTE
The Educator, Volume 1, Numbers 2 and 3, 2004
The Makati Science Vision Manual of Style and Usage, 2004


1. A bill or an ordinance is passed; a resolution is adopted.

2. A celebrant presides a religious rite; a celebrator celebrates an anniversary.

3. A chicken is raised; a child is reared.

4. A child in grade school is a pupil; a child in high school or in college is a student.

5. A man marries or married; not a woman marries, but a woman is married to.

6. A performer gives a recital; two or more performers give a concert.

7. A person died of a disease; not a person died from a disease.

8. A thing is unique, but not more unique, most unique, or very unique.

9. A thing is centered at, centered in, or centered on, but not centered around.

10. A troop is a group of military; a troupe is a group of performers.

11. Ability is to do; capacity is to receive.

12. Accept means to receive; except means to exclude.

13. Affect means to influence; effect means result.

14. After means next time; following means next in order.

15. Aggravate means to make a condition worse; irritate means to incite or to provoke.

16. All ladies are women, but not all women are ladies.

17. All ready means completely ready; already means something was completed.

18. All right is all right, but alright is not all right.

19. Alternate means in turn; alternative involves a choice.

20. Altogether means entirely or collectively; all together means wholly or completely.

21. Amateur is a non-professional; a novice is a beginner.

22. Amid, not amidst; among, not amongst; while, not whilst.

23. Arguments conclude; speeches end.

24. Attendance was more than 100; not attendance was over 100.

25. Avenge is for another; revenge is for oneself.

26. Biannual means twice a year; biennial means every two years.

27. Begin is for ordinary doings; commence is for special matters.

28. Beside means at the side of; besides means in addition to.

29. Canvas is a cloth; canvass means to ask or to solicit.

30. Cloth means fabric; clothe means to dress.

31. Compared to uses specific resemblance; compared with uses general resemblance.

32. Continual means occurring repeatedly; continuous means occurring without interruption.

33. Confident means assured; confidant means friend.

34. Cord refers to an anatomical structure; chord refers to a string of a musical instrument.

35. Council means an assembly or a group of persons; counsel means an attorney or a piece of
advIce.

36. Couturier is a male fashion designer; a couturiere is a female fashion designer.

37. Criminals are hanged; things are hung.

38. Cure is to a disease; heal is to a wound.

39. Damage means loss or harm; damages means money paid for loss or injury.

40. Deadline comes in the future but takes the present tense.

41. Desert is an arid place; dessert is a sweet course.

42. Dispute is the word we use when we refute, which means disprove.

43. Do not say somebody broke his arms unless he did it intention ally.

44. Elicit means to obtain; illicit means illegal.

45. Emigrant leaves; an immigrant comes.

46. Eminent means prominent; imminent means threatening or likely to happen soon.

47. Envelop means to enclose completely; envelope means a type of container.

48. Expect means to look forward to; suppose means to think.

49. Famous means known for good; notorious means known for bad.

50. Farther refers to distance; further means more.

51. Few refers to number; less refers to quantity.

52. Field marshal, not field marshall.

53. Gorilla is an ape; guerrilla is a renegade soldier.

54. Grant is a financial assistance to the public; subsidy is a financial assistance to private.

55. He dived into the water; not he dove into the water, but he had dove into the water.

56. He is a sort of a radical, not he is sort of radical.

57. Imported, not imported from abroad; but imported from the United States of America.

58. Injured refers to persons; damage refers to objects.

59. In fact, not infact; in spite of, not inspite of.

60. Interment means burial; internment means imprisonment.

61. Judicial means impartial; judicious means wise.

62. Mad means crazy, not angry.

63. Marriage is a ceremony; a wedding is a social event.

64. May I go out?; not Can I go out?

65. Moral means virtuous; morale means a group’s attitude.

66. No one passed a test unsuccessfully, nor did one fail a test successfully.

67. Oral language is spoken; verbal language is written or spoken.

68. Oversee means take control; overlook means forget.

69. Peaceable is restricted to persons; peaceful is restricted to periods or countries.

70. Prosecute means to pursue lawfully; persecute means to pursue unlawfully.

71. Prescribe means to require; proscribe means to reject.

72. Remuneration means payment, not repayment; renumeration means counting again.

73. Sewage is a human waste; sewerage is the system to carry away sewage.

74. Speakers and writers imply; listeners, observers, and readers infer.

75. Stationary means fixed at rest, or not moving; stationery means writing materials.

76. Sums of money always take the singular form of the verb.

77. Tall is used for a man, a tree, or a building; high is used for a bird or a cloud.

78. The past tense of cut is cut, not cutted; regret is regret or regretted.

79. The past tense of sit is sat, not sitted; seat is seated.

80. We are aware of what we know; we are conscious of how we feel.

81. When you need to breathe, you take a breath.

82. Write and or also, not and also.

83. Write due to or because, not due to the fact that.

84. Write center of attention, not center of attraction.

85. Write crowned, not coronated.

86. Write dead were, injured are; not dead are, injured were.

87. Write different from, not different than.

88. Write end, not end result; return, not return back.

89. Write old-fashioned, not old fashion.

90. Write in regard to, not in regards to, but as regards.

91. Write Internet, not internet; World Wide Web, not world wide web.

92. Write kilometers an hour, not kilometers per hour.

93. Write once in a while, not once and a while.

94. Write one and the same person, not one in the same person.

95. Write replace with, not replace for; but substitute for, not substitute with.

96. Write worse comes to worst, not worse comes to worse.

97. Write ATM, not ATM machine; PIN, not PIN number.

98. Write CD-ROM, not CD-ROM disk; DVD, not DVD disk.

99. Write HIV, not HIV virus; please reply or R. S. V. P., not please reply R. S. V. P.