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Diction and Idiom Errors: A List of Common Errors in English Usage

The errors on this list are, obviously, organized alphabetically. Errors that involve confusion of two or more words or expressions are generally alphabetized according to whichever word comes first alphabetically; “emigrate vs. immigrate,” for example, is listed under emigrate. (Others are listed by the word or expression that is commonly misused, such as “like vs. as,” which is listed under like.) Articles (a, an, the) and the word to in infinitives are disregarded for purposes of alphabetization. Some words or expressions fall under a larger category; “to set vs. to sit,” for example, is listed under the heading “count vs. mass nouns.”

Items marked with an asterisk are errors that students whose English is influenced by Chinese should pay special attention to. about vs. around adapt vs. adopt Some grammar fascists insist that around should not To adapt means “to make or become suited (often be used to mean “about” or “approximately”: by alteration)”; to adopt means “to take up for use” “around five hundred people” or “to accept and put into effect.” “around six o‟clock” “freshmen adapting to a new environment” “about five hundred people” “adapted it for use as a weapon” “at about six o‟clock” “adopted a new strategy” “the speaker adopted a of urgency” absolute “adopted the panel‟s recommendations” Some adjectives, including superlative adjectives “adapted the recommendations to fit the new like last and best, along with other adjectives like situation” full, pregnant, , the word absolute itself, and unique (which literally means “one of a kind”), adhere with technically should not be modified by adhere to like very and extremely or qualifiers like somewhat “If you do not adhere to the rules, you will be and a little because they indicate qualities of an excommunicated from the Hannah Montana absolute degree. A woman is either pregnant or not Fan Club.” pregnant, for example; she can‟t be “a little pregnant.” advance vs. advanced “the very best performance” Some people are under the impression that the past “the best performance” participle advanced is the only form of the “a very perfect performance” advance. In fact, advance itself can be an “a perfect performance” adjective when it refers to something ahead of time: “a rather perfect performance” “advanced age” “an excellent performance” “advanced technology” In practice, however, this rule is often disregarded. “advance notice” It may make sense to describe a woman as “very “advance party sent to secure the area” pregnant,” for example, if you mean that her pregnancy is advanced and her stomach is quite affect vs. effect1 large. (Unique, in particular, is often modified by an In their most common usages, affect is a verb mean- . Many people think of uniqueness as a ing “to influence” or “to have an impact on,” while quality that can have different degrees; one person, effect is a meaning “result, consequence, for example, can be “more unique” than another outcome”: person.) “affect the outcome” “affected by the weather” absorbed in “the war‟s effects” When you use absorb to mean “engross,” use it with “the effect of the decision” the preposition in: However, effect can also be a verb when it is used “too absorbed by his book to notice” to mean to bring about or to put into effect: “too absorbed in his book to notice” “to effect a change” = “to bring about a change” (not “to influence a change”) accept vs. except “effect a solution to the problem” Except can be used as a verb, but only to mean “to exclude.” “refused to except defeat” “refused to accept defeat” 1 Affect has other uses as well, but they aren‟t likely “People are dishonest, cruel, and selfish... to appear on the SAT: one can affect a British accent present company excepted, of course.” or affect a limp, for example, and in psychology, an affect (pronounced “A fect,” not “uh FECT”) is the subjective aspect of an emotion.

Diction and Idiom Errors: A List of Common Errors in English Usage Page 1 © 2006 and 2008 C. Brantley Collins, Jr. afflict vs. inflict “has no illusions about his chances of success” To afflict means to distress severely; trouble. To inflict means to give or cause (damage, pain, etc.). alot and alright Although they are similar in meaning, afflict focuses Just in case your teachers have failed to get the on the pain or suffering itself, while inflict focuses message to you, these forms are considered on the active cause of the pain or suffering. Gener- nonstandard. Use “a lot” and “all right.” ally speaking, if the word cause can be used as a substitute, you should use inflict, not afflict. altogether vs. all together “inflicted with various ailments” Altogether means either “completely” or “in total”; “afflicted with various ailments2” all together means “all in a group”: “a region inflicted with drought” “altogether in one place for the first time in “a region afflicted with drought” years” “suffering afflicted by the drought” “all together in one place for the first time in “suffering inflicted (caused) by the drought” years” “attack that afflicted heavy losses on the “an altogether different situation” (= “a enemy” completely different situation”) “attack that inflicted (caused) heavy losses on the enemy” “a need of” “losses inflicted (caused) by the enemy” “in need for” “a need for” aggravate “a child with a need for attention” Although aggravate (along with other forms such as “in need of” aggravating and aggravation) has long been com- “a patient in need of immediate aid” monly used to mean “to annoy or irritate,” some grammar fascists insist that its only proper usage is appraise vs. apprise “to make worse; to exacerbate”: To appraise means “to evaluate or estimate”: “aggravated by her constant nagging” “an appraisal of the value of the house” “annoyed/irritated by her constant nagging” “quickly appraised the situation” “bully aggravated his injury while beating up To apprise means “to inform, to tell”: the little kid” “apprised him of the situation” agree (up)on, agree to, agree [infinitive], agree argue against vs. argue with with argue with [a person] agree (up)on = [of two or more parties] “to have the “argued with the plan” same opinion about (something)” or “to reach an “argued with him about the plan” regarding (something)” argue against [an opinion, approach, tactic, etc.] “two sides agreed on a course of ” “argued against him about the plan” agree to = accept “argued against the plan” “agree to your demands” agree [infinitive] as...than... “agree to accept responsibility” “gasoline as expensive than liquid gold” “agree to do my homework regularly” as...as... agree with = to have the same opinion as; concur “gasoline as expensive as liquid gold” “agree to your views on the matter” For negative comparisons using this pattern, see the “agree with your views on the matter” entry for “not so...as...” allude/allusion/allusive vs. elude/elusive vs. “at face value” illusion “for face value” An allusion is “a reference to something, often an The idiom face value refers to the outward or initial indirect reference,” and to allude thus means “to appearance of something. It is used to indicate the make a reference.” To elude means “to escape.” An acceptance of something without questioning or illusion is “something that causes a false perception doubting it: or belief” (or the false perception or belief itself). “accepted his explanation at face value” “ makes frequent illusions to the Bible” “took his promises at face value” “novel makes frequent allusions to the Bible” “police could not capture the elusive fugitive” attend vs. attend to “optical illusion that made the image appear to The verb attend is usually used to mean “to be change” present at, to participate in, to be enrolled in”: “attend a meeting” To attend to something is “to deal with” or “to focus 2 Although afflict(ed) with seems to be the one‟s attention on”: preferred idiom, afflicted by is also quite common. “attend to a school”

Diction and Idiom Errors: A List of Common Errors in English Usage Page 2 © 2006 and 2008 C. Brantley Collins, Jr. “attend to a problem” be sure and [verb] “attend to your studies” “be sure and clean up after yourself” be sure [infinitive] attribute on/attributable on “be sure to clean up after yourself” attribute to/attributable to “problems attributable to neglect” between...or... “saying traditionally attributed to Socrates” “a choice between death or imprisonment” between...and... avail “a choice between death and imprisonment” “To no avail” means “without success”: “tried to resuscitate her, to no avail” between vs. among “To avail oneself of [something]” means “to take for two: between advantage of”: for three or more: among “availed herself of the opportunity to observe a “walk between the two statues” veterinarian at work” “walk among the many statues” These are standard idioms for which no other formula is acceptable. bias vs. biased Bias is both a noun and a verb; biased is a participle bare vs. bear often used as an adjective: Bare means “to uncover, ,” while bear means “wording that biases the poll results” “to endure” or “to carry”: “has a bias against the poor” “bare one‟s soul” (“reveal”) “test is bias against the poor” “bare one‟s pain to the ” “a bias and unfair test” “bear the pain of rejection” (“endure”) “test is biased against the poor” “bear the cross of terrible guilt” (“carry”) “a biased and unfair test” “bear the weight of the panda on my back” Note that this is also true of the adjective preju- diced: because at the beginning of a sentence “a prejudice jury” The rule that you can‟t begin a sentence with “a prejudiced jury” because is pounded into the heads of kids every- where, and many of them never get the message both...as well as... that this rule is fallacious. Elementary school “both teachers as well as students” teachers teach this rule because they know that both...and... most young kids aren‟t yet linguistically sophistica- “both teachers and students” ted enough to understand how to write such senten- Using as well as with both is considered redundant, ces correctly. As long as a because is but using and with both is an idiomatically accepta- followed by an independent clause that explains its ble . outcome or consequences, it is perfectly acceptable: “Because it had eaten five pounds of chocolate breath vs. breathe in ten minutes.” When you need a noun, use breath; when you need a “Because it had eaten five pounds of chocolate verb, use breathe. The adjective form breathy is in ten minutes, the dog vomited forth a derived from the noun. river of black goo.” Although we use such fragments in conversation bring vs. take quite frequently (“Why?” “Because I told you so!”), Bring is used to suggest movement toward the they should be avoided in writing. speaker (or, in some cases, the person being spoken to); take is used to suggest movement away from the being as.../being that... speaker: because, since, etc. “„Bring your textbook home tonight,‟ the “Being as she doesn‟t want your help, you teacher said.” should let her handle it herself.” “„Take your textbook home tonight,‟ the “Since she doesn‟t want your help, you should teacher said.” let her handle it herself.” “„Take your book to school tomorrow,‟ the teacher said.” belong* “„Bring your textbook to school tomorrow,‟ the Belong is not an adjective; it is an intransitive verb teacher said.” that cannot be used in the passive voice and is never “Yes, I will take it to you right now.” used in the progressive tenses, so it should never be “Yes, I will bring it to you right now.” preceded by a to be verb: “all your bases are belong to us” “all your bases belong to us”

Diction and Idiom Errors: A List of Common Errors in English Usage Page 3 © 2006 and 2008 C. Brantley Collins, Jr. “can‟t help but [base verb]” complement(ary) vs. compliment(ary) “can’t help [present participle]” The verb complement means “to complete; to fill Although “can‟t help but” is a common expression, it out by supplying what something else lacks.” is technically considered a double negative. Remember this by relating it to the use of the term “can’t help but wonder” complementary in math: it describes two acute “can’t help wondering” angles that together form a right angle. “his skills complimented her creativity” capable [infinitive] “his skills complemented her creativity” “capable to solve this problem” One meaning of complimentary is “free of charge”: capable of [present participle] “complimentary beverages on the flight” “capable of solving this problem” comply to cliché vs. clichéd “comply to your request” Cliché is a noun; if you want to use the word as an comply with adjective, use clichéd (even though cliché isn‟t a “comply with your request” verb, clichéd is the correct adjective form). “love song with cliché lyrics” compose vs. comprise “love song with clichéd lyrics” The verb compose means “to make up; constitute.” Comprise is often used as a synonym for this sense of commensurate to compose, but its actual meaning is “to include.” commensurate with You can avoid confusing the two by not using The word commensurate, which means “proportion- comprise as an adjective or in the passive voice: ate,” is used with the preposition with. “a series comprised of seven volumes” “punishment commensurate with the crime” “a series composed of seven volumes” “This series comprises seven volumes.” commentary of commentary on concerned with vs. concerned about In sentences such as the example below, the proper to be concerned with = “to deal with/to focus on” or preposition to use with commentary is of: “to occupy” “lyrics that contain insightful commentary on “this essay is concerned with the problem of society” overpopulation” “concerned with writing my doctoral thesis” compare vs. contrast to be concerned about = to be worried about Some people are under the impression that compari- “this essay is concerned about the problem of son involves only similarities and that the word overpopulation” contrast must be used to refer to differences. In “the author of this essay is concerned about fact, one meaning of compare is “to note the the problem of overpopulation” similarities and differences between two things.” Thus, the expression “compare and contrast” is confide in vs. confide [something] to technically redundant; teachers use it in order to “confide in you” emphasize that they want you to discuss both “confide my problems to you” similarities and differences. conscience vs. conscious compare to vs. compare with Your conscience is your sense of morality, the “voice For comparisons that involve both similarities and in your head” that tells you that you shouldn‟t, for differences, use compare with; to stress a specific example, throw rotten eggs at your English tutor‟s similarity or difference between two things in some car. The adjective form of conscience is conscien- respect, use compare to. This rule means that in tious, which means “showing great care and general, figurative comparisons should be made with thoroughness.” Conscious is an adjective meaning compare to. “awake” or “aware.” “compared the copy with the original to “obey the dictates of your conscience” determine whether they were really “a conscientious worker” indistinguishable” “felt self-conscious in front of a crowd” “compare his interpretation with mine” “regained consciousness” “compared the president to a rock” “nothing compares to you” (= “nothing is as consistent to/inconsistent to good as you”) consistent with/inconsistent with “a poor speller compared to you” “a poor speller in comparison to you”

Diction and Idiom Errors: A List of Common Errors in English Usage Page 4 © 2006 and 2008 C. Brantley Collins, Jr. consist in vs. consist of amount, much, and less should not be used with In discussing abstract things, consist can be used to count nouns; use number, many, and fewer instead: mean “lie or reside”; in such cases it is used with “the amount of books” the preposition in: “the number of books” “happiness consists in loving and being loved” “the number of water(s)” “his weakness consisted in his overconfidence” “the amount of water” When it is used to mean “to be made up of,” it is “much things to see” used with the preposition of: “many things to see” “the Olympic team consisted of five guards, “not many homework(s)” five forwards, and two centers” “not much homework” “less children” contrasting with “fewer children” unlike/in contrast with/in contrast to “fewer sadness(es)” “Contrasting with” is a clumsy way to introduce a “less sadness” statement of difference. Use one of these other In addition, there are some mass nouns frequently expressions instead. used in everyday conversation that I often hear used “Contrasting with her, I think farts are funny.” as count nouns, such as homework (see above) and “Unlike her, I think farts are funny.” stuff: “three homeworks” “could of”/“should of”/“would of” “three homework assignments” “could have”/“should have”/“would have” “a lot of stuffs” The auxiliary could, should, and would should “a lot of stuff” never be followed by the preposition of. This is a corruption of the contracted forms could’ve, crutch vs. crux should’ve, and would’ve. crux: central or essential point “the crutch of the problem” council vs. counsel “the crux of the problem” A council is made up of people make decisions about the actions or policies of the group they decide vs. decide on/upon represent. Counsel is a noun meaning “advice or An unresolved issue is decided; the expression guidance” or a verb meaning “to give advice or decided on should be used to introduce the ultimate guidance,” and a counselor is a person who gives outcome of the situation: advice or guidance. “The general‟s orders decided on the matter.” “public meeting of the city council” “The general‟s orders decided the matter.” “counseled me to change my plans” “The general decided on a direct assault.” “marriage counselor” “stopped while we decided on which route to take” count nouns vs. mass (non-count) nouns “stopped while we decided which route to Mass nouns have no plural form and can only be take” counted with the aid of a “measure word”3: “We finally decided on the quicker route.” “five rices” “five grains of rice” different than vs. different from “five pounds of rice” In most cases, the expression different than is “two waters4” considered nonstandard, even though it is very “two glasses of water” commonly used in American English: “one sadness, two sadnesses” “my plan was different than his plan” “a lot of sadness at the funeral” “my plan was different from his plan” Count nouns have a plural form and can be counted “mine was different from his” without the aid of a “measure word”: “my plan differed from his” “seven books” From is a preposition and should be used before a “three children” noun or pronoun. This is the most common sentence “two grievances” pattern, so different from is usually correct. Than is Certain nouns in English used to discuss quantity a , so it should only be used before a reflect the distinction between mass and count clause (a subject with a verb), not before just a nouns, but they are often misused. Remember that noun or pronoun: “his plan was different than I thought” “saw things differently than I did” 3 In fact, nouns cannot really be so neatly divided “different from what I expected” into separate categories, but for the SAT, the above In the last example, the pronoun what is the object information is all you need to know. of the preposition from, so from is correct. 4 In a restaurant, you might ask for “two waters,” but that kind of usage is considered nonstandard.

Diction and Idiom Errors: A List of Common Errors in English Usage Page 5 © 2006 and 2008 C. Brantley Collins, Jr. discreet vs. discrete “due to the fact that” If you are careful in your judgment and don‟t draw because, since, etc. attention to what you‟re doing, you are discreet Strictly speaking, the use of this expression is not (noun form: discretion); things that are separate or necessarily considered an error, but it is generally distinct from one another are discrete (noun form: better to use a more concise expression like because discreteness): or since. “showed discretion in his decision not to tell others about the matter” economic vs. economical “FBI agents discreetly kept tabs on the suspect” The word economic describes things having to do “discrete entities that should not be treated as with the economy; something economical is inexpen- if they were the same” sive or efficient. Although economic can be used to One way to remember the difference in both spelling describe someone who is thrifty (careful and wise in and meaning between these two words is to note using resources), it‟s better to use economical in that the e‟s in discrete are separated by the t. such situations. “economic conditions” “discriminate [something or someone]” “economic refrigerator” “discriminate against [something or someone]” “economical refrigerator” When used to suggest an unfair bias, discriminate “natives with an extremely economical lifestyle should always be used with the preposition against: in which nothing is wasted” “minorities were discriminated” “minorities were discriminated against” either...nor.../neither...or.../either...and... “they discriminated minorities” either...or.../neither...nor... “they discriminated against minorities” These pairs of correlative conjunctions are always Also, remember that discrimination doesn‟t neces- used in these combinations only and cannot be sarily suggest racism or prejudice; in general it mixed. In addition, and should not be used with simply suggests that one has refined tastes. A either or neither. discriminating reader, for example, is simply “I didn‟t see either you and him.” someone who exercises careful judgment in deciding “I didn‟t see either you nor him.” what to read. “I saw neither you or him.” “I didn‟t see either you or him.” disinterested vs. uninterested “I saw neither you nor him.” Some grammar police insist that disinterested should Neither and nor, when used together, are not be used to mean “unbiased or neutral” and should considered a double negative. not be used as a synonym for uninterested (“not interested”). Although the history of the usage of emigrate vs. immigrate these words is actually more complicated, you You emigrate from a place and immigrate to another should remember this distinction for the SAT. place: “a fair, disinterested judgment” “emigrate from Poland” “uninterested students snoring and drooling” “immigrate to the United States” “Polish emigrants” = people leaving Poland downfall vs. downside/drawback “Polish immigrants” = people from Poland who A drawback is simply a disadvantage or a downside have immigrated to (for example) the to something. Downfall is a much more extreme United States word that refers to ruin or defeat (a person‟s fall from power, for example), as well as the thing that eminent vs. imminent vs. immanent causes that ruin or defeat. An eminent person is outstanding, prominent, well “a downfall of this plan” known, well respected—usually for great accomplish- “a downside/disadvantage/drawback of ments and/or scholarly attainments. this plan” “eminent physician” “the tyrant‟s inevitable downfall” “eminent professor” “excessive pride, the hero‟s downfall” “eminent domain” (a law term) Something imminent is about to happen: due to “imminent arrival of the guests” Some grammar fascists insist that a phrase beginning “imminent danger” with “due to” should only be used as an adjective You‟re not likely to see the other homophone phrase at the end of a clause. Use it after a to be immanent on the SAT, but be aware that it means verb, as in the last example below: “inherent; present within a particular domain.” It “Due to the rain, the match was cancelled.” often appears in religious contexts, for example, to “Because of the rain, it was cancelled.” denote the pervasive presence of God in the world “The cancellation was due to the rain.” (as opposed to being separate from and above the world). “holiness immanent in nature”

Diction and Idiom Errors: A List of Common Errors in English Usage Page 6 © 2006 and 2008 C. Brantley Collins, Jr. empathetic vs. emphatic “prevent further deterioration” Empathetic is similar to sympathetic and is used to describe someone who is so sensitive to someone faze vs. phase else‟s feelings that he is able to feel and understand Faze means “to deter, daunt, upset, disturb”; phase them himself, without the need for direct means “stage in development or in a cycle” (as a communication: noun) or “to introduce in stages” (as a verb). “empathetic social worker who somehow knew “explosion didn‟t faze the courageous soldiers” exactly how each person felt” “just a phase she‟s going through” Emphatic is the adjective form of the noun empha- “phase in these changes over a period of time” sis, and it means “strong; forceful; characterized by emphasis”: (to) find vs. (to) found “made an emphatic gesture as he spoke” These shouldn‟t cause much trouble; just don‟t be confused by the fact that the second one looks like “emphasize on”* the and past participle of the first one: emphasis on “found the lost city of Atlantis” (past tense of Emphasize is a transitive verb and thus does not to find) need a preposition to take an object. The preposi- “plan to found a city called Atlantis” (to tion on should only be used with the noun emphasis: establish such a city) “program that emphasizes on practical skills” And remember that the past tense and past “program that emphasizes practical skills” participle form of to found is founded: “program with an emphasis on practical skills” “founded an organization” (established) “well-founded beliefs” (beliefs with a logical enthuse/enthused foundation) excite/excited/enthusiastic Grammar fascists insist that enthuse is not an flaunt vs. flout acceptable word in . Flaunt means “to show off”; flout means “to “children enthused about the clown show” scornfully disregard; to violate or break”: “children excited/enthusiastic about the “flaunted his wealth by wearing fifty pounds of clown show” gold around his neck” “flouted the rules as if he were above them” every day vs. everyday There are a number of expressions in English that genius vs. ingenious vs. ingenuous can be written both as a single word and as separate Genius should only be used as a noun, not as an words, each with a distinct usage or . adjective: The most problematic of these are “every day” and “genius plan” “everyday.” Everyday should only be used as an “certifiable genius” adjective to describe ordinary things that are used Someone ingenious is clever, and something ingen- or encountered frequently; for an adverbial ious is characterized by cleverness or resourceful- , write the words separately: ness. The noun form of ingenious is ingenuity. “everyday problems” “ingenious architect” “everyday clothes” “ingenious plan” “go to the office every day” “a plan that shows great ingenuity” It might help to remember Bob Marley‟s song Someone ingenuous is innocent, simple, candid, “Everyday People.” sincere, naive—sometimes to the point of lacking cunning or sophistication. The noun form of ingenu- familiar to ous is ingenuousness, and its antonym is disingenu- “familiar to the artist‟s work” ous. familiar with “ingenuous child who couldn‟t conceive of “familiar with the artist‟s work” lying” “seemed ingenuous, but was actually sly” farther vs. further “the child‟s disarming ingenuousness” Strictly speaking, farther is used to express physical “a disingenuous explanation that was meant to distance, while further is used to express figurative mislead people” or abstract distance. It is acceptable to use further Make sure you spell these words correctly: in place of farther (this usage is very common in genius ), but don‟t use farther to refer to ingenious: add an o figurative distance. “farther down the road” (for a physical road graduate from only, not a metaphorical road) “graduate high school” “further down the road” “graduate from high school” “farther along in my studies” Really old-fashioned grammar fascists use graduate “further along in my studies” in the passive voice when the student is the subject

Diction and Idiom Errors: A List of Common Errors in English Usage Page 7 © 2006 and 2008 C. Brantley Collins, Jr. of the clause, but this usage is almost obsolete in “He didn‟t directly accuse us, but his state- contemporary American English: ments implied that we were at fault.” “She was graduated from high school in June.” “He didn‟t directly accuse us, but I can infer “That school graduated 600 students this year.” from his statements that he blames us.” “From his refusal to speak, I implied that he healthy vs. healthful was angry.” Although the distinction between these words is “From his refusal to speak, I inferred that he rarely observed in contemporary English, be aware was angry.” of their traditional usages. Healthy is used to “His refusal to speak implied that he was describe one‟s state of health, while healthful is angry.” used to describe something that promotes health: Make sure that you don‟t confuse infer with refer, “healthy children” which has a completely different meaning. “healthy teeth” “healthy diet” in vs. into “healthful diet” To indicate movement from one place to another, use into instead of in: hoard vs. horde “walked in the room” (= “walked within or The first one is a large collection or stockpile, often inside the room”) hidden; the second one is a large crowd: “walked into the room” (= “entered the room”) “stole it from the dragon‟s hoard” “fell in the water” “horde of etiquette-challenged barbarians” “fell into the water” hope vs. wish* “in back of” You hope that something will come true or that behind something is true when there is a real possibility; In back of is a slang expression meaning “behind.” you wish that something were true when you know Use it only if you want to sound uneducated. there is no such possibility. The verb wish is often “in back of the house” used with other verbs in the subjunctive . “behind the house” “I wish that he is all right.” “I hope that he is all right.” (He might actually incredible vs. incredulous be o.k.; his condition is unknown.) Incredible literally means “difficult to believe” (and “I wish that he were all right.” (subjunctive by extension, “amazing”) and is used to describe mood: I know that he is not all right.) something external, such as an accomplishment or a “I wish that I will be able to go.” claim: “I hope that I will be able to go.” (There is a “incredible feats of strength” possibility that I will be able to go.) “incredible story about the dog that ate his “I wish that I were able to go.” (subjunctive homework” mood: I know that am not able to go.) Incredulous means “skeptical, disbelieving” and should be used to describe a person‟s attitude: if vs. whether “incredulous feats of strength” If is used in conditional, cause-and-effect situations “incredulous audience, skeptical about his (if...then...). To refer to two options or possibili- incredible claims” ties, use whether: “incredulous teacher laughed at the ridiculous “not sure if she wanted to go” excuse” “not sure whether she wanted to go” indecisive vs. indefinite vs. indeterminate imply vs. infer The word indecisive should only be used to suggest These two words are often confused because they difficulty making up one‟s mind; therefore, it should are, in a sense, opposite perspectives on the same only be used to describe a person (or something else process. Imply means “to suggest; to hint without with a mind): stating directly,” and infer means “to deduce; to “indecisive leader continually vacillated conclude by reasoning based on evidence.” In other between going forward with the project and words, implying is what a speaker or writer does in canceling it” expressing an idea; inferring is what a listener or Indefinite and indeterminate have similar usages reader does based on the information he or she is and can both mean “vague; not precisely given. determined”: “By asking me how many cows I eat every day, “delayed for an indecisive period of time” you‟re implying that I‟m fat.” “delayed for an indefinite period of time” “If you ask me how many cows I eat every day, I “of an indeterminate age, appearing both can infer that you think I‟m fat.” young and old simultaneously” “He didn‟t directly accuse us, but his state- Indeterminate can also mean “not known in ments inferred that we were at fault.” advance”:

Diction and Idiom Errors: A List of Common Errors in English Usage Page 8 © 2006 and 2008 C. Brantley Collins, Jr. “complex project involving many indeterminate interest for costs” “had an interest for aviation” interest in independent of “had an interest in aviation” Although we do speak of, for example, one country‟s independence from another, independent should be in time [infinitive] vs. on time used with of when it means “not depending on”: The expression in time is often followed by an “independent from any outside help” infinitive: “independent of any outside help” “We were late, but we still arrived in time to “made progress independently of her partners‟ see the beginning of the show.” efforts” The expression on time refers to a time scheduled in advance and implies punctuality: infinitives vs. present participles “We arrived at the theater on time.” A common source of confusion for English speakers is the idiomatic distinction between infinitives and intransitive verbs vs. transitive verbs past participles. Some expressions arbitrarily There are a few pairs of common verbs that tend to require an infinitive; other expressions arbitrarily give people a lot of trouble. In each of these pairs, require a present participle (-ing verb form). In the one verb is transitive, meaning that it always takes latter case, present participles are often used with an object after it (the subject does the action to the preposition of. something else), and one verb is intransitive, “able of solving the problem” meaning that it cannot take an object after it (the “able to solve the problem” subject does the action itself): “capable to solve the problem” to lie = to rest or recline (intransitive) “capable of solving the problem” “dog lies at the foot of the bed every night” Some expressions can be used with either form: “a weakness that lies at the root of his failures” “continue going to that store” “lay in bed last night, listening to the rain”5 “continue to go to that store” “has lain around feeling sorry for himself all Unfortunately, these expressions generally must be day” memorized individually. to lay = to put [something] down (transitive) “laid down their weapons” “in regards to” “foundation laid by our forefathers” “in respect to” What makes this pair especially confusing is that the “in regard to”/“with regard to” past tense of to lie (when it means “to tell an “with respect to” untruth”) is lay. Although “in respect to” is a fairly common expres- to rise = to move upward (intransitive) sion, some traditionalists prefer “with respect to” to “sun rises very early” mean “concerning.” “In regard to” and “with regard to raise = to lift (transitive) to” are also acceptable: “raise your hand” “reach a consensus with respect to this issue” “raise the flag” “reach a consensus in regard to/with regard to “concerns raised by the students” this issue” to sit = to rest on one‟s buttocks (intransitive) “sat in the chair” insight on to set = to put [something] down (transitive) “an anecdote that gave me insight on her “set my glasses on the bedside table” daily emotional struggles” “rules set forth by the officers” insight into “an anecdote that gave me insight into her irregardless daily emotional struggles” regardless Even though irregardless is commonly used, even by “in some aspects” vs. “in some respects” educated people, it is considered a nonstandard The proper idiom to use as a separate phrase is “in word. (Since –less is a negative , ir- is redun- some respects”: dant.) “in some aspects, it is a good plan” “in some respects, a great performance” “not well executed, in some respects” The phrase “in some aspects” should only be used when followed by of and given a specific context: “in some aspects of its execution” 5 Many people incorrectly use laid as the past tense “in some aspects of their development” form and past participle of to lie. See my “Irregular Verbs” handout or my “Understanding Verbs” handout on transitive and intransitive verbs for the proper way to conjugate these verbs.

Diction and Idiom Errors: A List of Common Errors in English Usage Page 9 © 2006 and 2008 C. Brantley Collins, Jr. its vs. it’s singular words is essentially a corruption. However, The difference between its and it’s is easy to in some cases this use is so common and widespread remember if you keep in mind the rule that that it has become accepted. Agenda, though possessive pronouns never use apostrophes. technically a plural word, is completely accepted as Compare its with his, hers, theirs, etc. a singular noun whose plural form is agendas. Data “it’s effect on the economy was obvious” = (the plural form of datum) is also becoming “it is/it has effect on the economy was accepted as a singular mass noun, as is media (the obvious” plural form of medium) when it refers to things like “its effect on the economy was obvious” television, radio, and publications. However, some It’s is most often used to stand for “it is,” but of these words must be treated as plural words in remember that it can also stand for “it has”: Standard English: “it’s affecting the economy dramatically” “according to this criteria” (= “it is affecting the economy dramatically”) “according to these criteria” “it’s affected the economy dramatically” “according to this criterion” (= “it has affected the economy dramatically”) “many strange phenomenas” Occasionally, I‟ve had students interpret its as a “many strange phenomena” plural pronoun. There is no form of it that is plural; “an interesting phenomenon” we use forms of the pronoun they (them, their, theirs), or in other situations these or those, to refer latter vs. last to any plural noun. Although latter is sometimes used to refer to the “the books were on the table” last of three or more things, it should technically = “they were on the table” only be used to refer to the second of two things. “its were on the table” (Remember that its usage follows the pattern of comparative adjectives like better and quicker.) “kind of a [noun]”/“type of a [noun]”/“sort of a “Of the gerbil, the hamster, and the rat, the [noun]” latter has the worst taste in music.” “a certain kind of a person” “Of the gerbil, the hamster, and the rat, the kind of [noun]/type of [noun]/sort of [noun] rat has the worst taste in music.” “a certain kind of person” “Between the hamster and the rat, the latter Remember that the use of kind of to mean has the worst taste in music.” somewhat is considered slang. “kind of cool” lend vs. loan Although the use of loan as a verb when discussing known [infinitive] vs. known for money or material goods has been common in To be known to do something suggests that people English for a long time, some authorities still insist are aware that you tend to do that thing occasional- that loan should only be used as a noun. In any ly; to be known for something means to be famous case, loan should never be used as a verb to express for a particular skill, product, or quality: figurative meanings: “known to make a mistake from time to time” “loan me fifty dollars” is risky “region known for its natural beauty” “lend me fifty dollars” is universally accepted “musician known for his intense performances” “loan him a hand” “lend him a hand” lack vs. lack of* “her presence loaned me confidence” Lack should only be followed by of when it is acting “her presence lent me confidence” as a noun. As a verb or participle, it takes an object and thus does not need a preposition: liable vs. likely “his performance is lack of sophistication” Although liable is now very commonly used to mean “his performance lacks of sophistication” “likely,” there are still some traditionalists who “his performance lacks sophistication” want to restrict its usage to “responsible.” “a performance lacking sophistication” “liable to rain today” “a performance suffering from a lack of “liable to get hurt if you keep doing that” sophistication” “likely to rain today” However, when followed by a noun referring to a “likely to get hurt if you keep doing that” quality considered in an abstract sense, it can “You are liable for any damage you cause.” sometimes be used with the preposition in: “makes up in determination what he lacks like vs. as/as if in physical strength” Like is a preposition, so it cannot take a subject (and verb) after it: plurals like [clause] A number of words derived from Latin that end in –a “felt like I was flying” cause confusion for English speakers. Originally, “want to do it just like he does” such words were all plural forms, and their use as as [clause]

Diction and Idiom Errors: A List of Common Errors in English Usage Page 10 © 2006 and 2008 C. Brantley Collins, Jr. “felt as if I were flying” vs. morale “want to do it just as he does” If you want a word having to do with right and wrong However, like can be used before a noun or pronoun or with a story‟s lesson, use moral; if you want to that is not the subject of a clause: refer to the mental or emotional state of a person or “felt like an explosion” group, use morale. “want to be just like him” “the moral of the story” One simple rule to remember is that following like “moral principles” with a nominative pronoun (such as “he” above) is “soldiers suffered from low morale” always wrong. “camaraderie improved their morale” like vs. for example more [noun]...than [noun] Don‟t use the word like to introduce an example at This pattern is very commonly used with an the beginning of a sentence: adjective and a noun: “Like the time I went to Taroko Gorge, that “more powerful than a hurricane” was an incredible experience.” However, many young writers seem to be unaware These kinds of sentences contain dangling that it can also be used with two nouns or with two modifiers, because phrases beginning with like are adjectives: descriptive phrases when they are used in this “more an annoyance than an obstacle” position in a sentence. The actual meaning of the “more a blessing than a curse” above sentence would be to compare going to “more knowledgeable than intelligent” Taroko Gorge with going to some other place: “Like the time I went to Taroko Gorge, the need not [verb] = “don‟t need to [verb]” time I went to Yangming Mountain was an This expression isn‟t familiar to many younger incredible experience.” English speakers, but it is an idiomatic expression Instead of using like to introduce an example, use that is perfectly acceptable. It is most often used in another expression, such as for example: contracted form: “needn‟t.” “For example, one incredible experience I had “You needn’t worry about it; I‟ve already in Taiwan was going to Taroko Gorge.” taken care of it.” Sometimes for example sounds better when it‟s used (= “You don’t need to worry about it; I‟ve in the middle of the sentence, after the example already taken care of it.”) itself has been named: “need not bother going to the store” “The natural beauty of Taroko Gorge, for example, is comparable to that of the not as...as... Grand Canyon.” “It was not as difficult as I had predicted.” When using for example, be careful not to write a not so...as... fragment: In a comparison involving a negative modifier such as “For example, going to Taroko Gorge.” no, not, or never, the word so, instead of as, should “The natural beauty of Taroko Gorge, for be used before the first adjective or . This example.” pattern is an example of archaic usage that is no Like can be used in other places in a sentence to longer observed by most American English speakers, introduce an example, in the same way such as is but the writers of the SAT may expect you to at least used: be able to recognize that it is an accepted idiom. “I visited many beautiful natural areas in “It was not so difficult as I had predicted.” Taiwan, like Taroko Gorge and Yangming “He never ran so quickly as when his life was in Mountain.” danger.” “Beautiful natural areas, like Taroko Gorge and Yangming Mountain, abound in Taiwan.” objective/external adjectives vs. subjective/ Like should only be used at the beginning of a internal adjectives* sentence to make a comparison between the object English contains a number of pairs of complementary of like and the subject of the next clause: adjectives that cause a lot of confusion for non- “Like her, I felt that the show wasn‟t very native speakers. In each pair, one of the adjectives funny.” describes the objective, external thing that causes a “Like the band‟s previous album, its most certain reaction. Present participles, or “-ing recent album contains songs that break new verbs,” such as boring, are often used this way. The musical ground.” other adjective describes a person‟s subjective, internal reaction. Past participles, such as bored, loath (to) vs. loathe are often used this way. Loath is an adjective meaning “reluctant”; loathe is “I am so boring!” (= “I cause other people to a verb meaning “to detest.” feel boredom.”) “loath to take on such a huge project” Unless you intend to insult yourself, avoid using the “loathe his trite, rambling speeches” expression above. “The bored student fell asleep while listening to

Diction and Idiom Errors: A List of Common Errors in English Usage Page 11 © 2006 and 2008 C. Brantley Collins, Jr. the boring lecture.” opinion of, opinion about/on In the example above, bored describes the student‟s In referring to one‟s attitude toward people or their subjective reaction; boring describes the external behavior, use opinion of: thing that causes this reaction. A person can also be “very low opinion of that sort of behavior” boring, however, if he causes boredom in others: “hopelessly biased opinion of him” “The boring English teacher put his students to In referring to one‟s views about an issue, use sleep.” opinion about (or with key words like issue or Not all such pairs are participles; the adjectives question, opinion on is also acceptable): incredible and incredulous, for example, fall into “opinion about the judge‟s decision” this category as well (see separate entry above). “opinion about immigration” Here are some other common examples of such “strong opinions on that issue” adjective pairs: excited/exciting ought to (ought [infinitive]) interested/interesting This expression is equivalent to should and should tired/tiring never be preceded by had: “think we had ought to leave soon” oblivious of/to “think we ought to leave soon” (= “think we Although the expression oblivious of is probably should leave soon”) preferred, oblivious to is also generally acceptable. Any other preposition is unacceptable, however: outlook of “oblivious toward the chaos around her” “optimistic outlook of life” “oblivious of the chaos around her” outlook on “oblivious to the chaos around her” “optimistic outlook on life” “oblivious of the oncoming truck” “oblivious to my overtures” overcome by vs. overcome with One is overcome by a fact, situation, force, etc.: obsession for/preoccupation for “overcome by exhaustion” obsession with/preoccupation with “overcome by the weight of his responsibility” obsessed with/preoccupied with One is overcome with an emotion: “overcome with joy at the beautiful sight” off of “mourners overcome with grief” “fell off of the shelf” off palate vs. palette vs. pallet “fell off the shelf” All of these words have the same pronunciation [PAL Because off is a preposition, a second preposition is uht], but they have very different meanings: redundant. palate = taste (both sensory and intellectual) “experienced wine drinker with a discriminating “on account of” palate” “delayed on account of bad weather” palette = range of available colors or elements because of “artist‟s palette” “delayed because of bad weather” “palette of emotions that the author draws on in her stories” “one of a kind” vs. “the only one of its kind” pallet = crude mattress; kind of platform “One of a kind” and “the only one of its kind” are “monks sleeping on pallets” both expressions that are used to describe something unique. (Specifically, if you describe something as peak vs. peek vs. pique “the only one of its kind,” you‟re emphasizing that it The first two should be easy to distinguish from each has qualities that put it in a category of its own; it is other; the last one tends to cause problems, because unique in a fundamental way.) They should not be many students don‟t know it. Pique means “to combined into “the only one of kind,” which is an stimulate, arouse, excite” or “to annoy.” Thus, awkward and redundant expression. something that is stimulating or provocative is “This painting is the only one of a kind.” piquant. Think of the picador in a bullfight, the man “This painting is truly one of a kind.” who jabs the bull with a lance. “This painting is a one-of-a-kind work of art.” “an advertisement that peaked my interest” “This ancient work of art is the only one of its “an advertisement that piqued my interest” kind; scientists have been unable to “piqued by his constant disobedience” determine how it was made and have found nothing else like it.” persecute vs. prosecute To persecute means “to harass or mistreat people opinion toward because of their beliefs, race, sexual orientation, “negative opinion toward him” etc.”: “strong opinion toward that issue” “suffered prosecution at the hands of the

Diction and Idiom Errors: A List of Common Errors in English Usage Page 12 © 2006 and 2008 C. Brantley Collins, Jr. Nazis” provided that “persecuted by the Nazis” This expression is used to mean “on the condition “suffered persecution by those who fear and that”: hate what they don‟t understand” “Each student will receive a stipend every To prosecute means “to take legal action against [a month, provided that he or she attends person or other entity]” or “to pursue [an activity] class regularly and maintains good grades.” to its completion”: “prosecuted the executives for tax evasion” quiet vs. quite “prosecuted the war with great determination” The distinction between these words is simple, but many students fail to catch this error in their writing persist [infinitive] because spell checkers can‟t tell that you mean to persist in [present participle] say quiet instead of quite. See the note on infinitives vs. present participles above for information on related errors. “(the) reason...is/was because...” “persist to cause trouble” “(the) reason is/was that...” “persist in causing trouble” The word because essentially means “for the reason that,” so “the reason...is because” is redundant: populace vs. populous “The reason I went was because I wanted to Populace is a noun that means “population” or “the see the opening band” common people”; populous is an adjective that (= “the reason I went was for the reason that I describes a place with a large population. wanted to see the opening band”) “tyrant intimidated the populace” “the reason I went was that I wanted to see the “populous region with a high birth rate” opening band”

“prefer [one thing] more than [another]” “redneck” pronouns “prefer [one thing] over [another]” hisself, ourself, themself, theirselves, theyselves “prefer [one thing] to [another]” himself, ourselves, themselves Because the word prefer already implies a compari- Ourself and themself are easy to recognize as son, more is redundant. wrong; since them and our are plural, they can‟t be “prefer Chinese food over Japanese food” paired with the singular self. Hisself and theirselves “prefer Chinese food more than Japanese food” are more logical mistakes, because we do say myself “prefer Chinese food to Japanese food” and yourself (not meself and youself), but they are “education is preferable over ignorance” also nonstandard. “education is preferable to ignorance” redundant expressions principal vs. principle Colloquial English is replete with expressions that We all know that the school principal is supposedly are logically redundant but are still commonly used. your pal. What causes confusion is the use of Many of them are considered nonstandard, so look principal as an adjective meaning “main or most out for them, especially in the “identifying sentence important” and its other noun uses that reflect its errors” section: adjective meaning, including “a sum of money that “actual fact” draws interest” and “a leading performer.” A “in close proximity to the building” principle is a rule or law—remember this by noting “in proximity to the building” that like the word rule, it ends in –le. Remember “end result” the idiom “in principle” also. “exact replica” “his principal objection to the treaty” “sufficient enough reason for his actions” “the principal reason for my decision” “sufficient reason for his actions” “a loan with a principal of $500” “up until” (see separate entry) “a principle of good leadership” You might, however, use some of them for the sake “a man of high principles” of clarification or emphasis. When discussing a chain “agree with him in principle” of causes and effects, for example, you might properly refer to the ultimate effect of these events provide for as their “end result.” In addition, there are some “provided for the child‟s needs” redundant expressions that are accepted as standard “be sure to provide for any emergency that idioms, such as “patently obvious” and “safe might occur” haven.” Distinguishing between the acceptable provide [someone] with redundancies and the unacceptable ones is tricky— “provided him with plenty of food” there are probably some linguists who would argue, for example, that “close proximity” should fall into the former category. Note that the writers of the SAT generally stay away from controversial linguistic territory, and they will probably only

Diction and Idiom Errors: A List of Common Errors in English Usage Page 13 © 2006 and 2008 C. Brantley Collins, Jr. include such expressions on a test (as an underlined carsick and vomit on my shoes” part of an ISE problem, for example) if they expect “tortuous legal jargon” you to recognize them as errors. “tortuous ” Torturous (from the verb torture) means “painful” “right of passage” or “slow and difficult, labored”: “rite of passage” “torturous feelings of guilt” This expression refers to something like a ritual, so “tortuous English class”* rite is the correct word to use: “the rusty old car‟s torturous climb up the “common rite of passage for American steep hill” teenagers” try and [verb] substitute for “try and solve the problem” “no substitute for preparation” try [infinitive] “substituted onion rings in place of French “try to solve the problem” fries” “substituted onion rings for French fries” up until “up until I was sixteen...” superior to until more superior than “until I was sixteen...” more superior to A preposition is not needed before this subordinating “their team is superior to our team” conjunction. Because superior already implies a comparison, more is redundant. use to “use to go fishing there” suppose to “use to the extreme heat” “was suppose to be home by 12” used to supposed to past habitual action: “was supposed to be home by 12” “used to go fishing there” This is a descriptive expression derived from the “accustomed to”: passive voice, so the past participle supposed is “used to the extreme heat” always the correct form when it is used to mean By definition, this is always either a past tense or “permitted,” “required,” or “expected.” passive voice expression, so use to is never correct. surprised [infinitive] vs. surprised at vs. veracious vs. voracious surprised by Veracious means “truthful”—it shares the root ver Surprise can be used with infinitives: with words like verify and verdict. In everyday “surprised to discover that he had left” English, you‟re more likely to come across voracious, One can be surprised by many things: which means “extremely hungry; ravenous or “surprised by the attention she received” insatiable” in both a literal and a figurative sense: “surprised by the sudden change in direction” “veracious claims supported by evidence” In addition, one can be surprised at a person (or a “a voracious predator” person‟s behavior, attitude, etc.) that doesn‟t match “a voracious reader” your expectations. Usually this connotes an attitude of disappointment. wait on vs. wait for “surprised at your disrespectful attitude” wait on = “to serve” “surprised at his sudden reluctance to help” “our server waited on us attentively” Note that in the two examples above, “surprised by” wait for = “to await” would also be acceptable, but it would not have the “waited on the bus for an hour” same connotation of disappointment; it would “waited for the bus for an hour” convey only the fact of the surprise. wander vs. wonder than vs. then Although one‟s thoughts might wander, to speculate These expressions are quite distinct, but because about something is to wonder. Wonder is also a their spellings are so similar, it‟s easy to confuse noun. them—like quiet and quite. Remember that than is “wandering through the forest” used in comparing, while then is used in referring to “wondering whether he should go” a sequence of events. “a profound sense of wonder” tortuous vs. torturous Tortuous (without the second r) means “winding, tricky, crooked, convoluted”: “tortuous roads caused the dog to become * Thanks to Tracy Kao for this witty example.

Diction and Idiom Errors: A List of Common Errors in English Usage Page 14 © 2006 and 2008 C. Brantley Collins, Jr. when and where “the man whose dog pooped on my lawn” Where is supposed to be used only in reference to “the dog that its poop decorated my lawn” places, and when is supposed to be used in refer- “the dog whose poop decorated my lawn” ence only to words relating to time, but these “the poop whose smell assaulted my nose” pronouns are often misused. The expression “[some- “The dog whose poop decorated my lawn thing] is/was when” is commonly used, but some seemed to laugh at me as it trotted off.” grammar police disapprove of the use of this expression. “The candidate gave a speech where he Additional Resources criticized the incumbent governor.” “He taught us a method where we could This list is only intended to present some common make our shots more accurate.” errors that are likely to be tested on the SAT; it is “This is a case when caution is required.” very far from being a comprehensive list of idiom “My favorite part of Main Street is when and diction errors (in fact, to put together such a list Carol encounters the town pariah.” would be an impossible task). These sites contain Obviously, speeches and methods aren‟t places, and more information about English usage that you may a part of a novel and a case are not times, so you find useful: should find a different way to express these ideas. A good way to avoid these errors is to use the pronoun Common Errors in English: which instead, but you often need to use an appro- (http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/) priate preposition along with it, such as in, at, on, or by. This approach may also involve rewording the Preposition Usage: sentence slightly (see the underlined addition (http://www.ingilizceci.net/GrammarMaryAns/Yeni below). %20Klas%F6r/gramch26.html) “The candidate gave a speech in which he criticized the incumbent governor.” Idiomatic Uses of Prepositions: “He taught us a method by which we could (http://www.douglas.bc.ca/__shared/assets/Idioma make our shots more accurate.” tic_Uses_of_Prepositions49179.pdf) “This is a case in which caution is required.” “My favorite part of Main Street is the chapter in which Carol encounters the town pariah.” See my handout on the use of that, which, when, and where in dependent for further information and some exercises. who vs. that/which Grammar fascists insist that the pronoun who should be used to refer to any noun or pronoun indicating people; that or which should be used for any other noun or pronoun: “student that got the highest score” “student who got the highest score” “pigeon who pooped on my car” “pigeon that pooped on my car” who’s vs. whose Who’s is a contraction for “who is” or “who has.” It is never a possessive pronoun. Possessive pronouns in general never use apostrophes: see his, hers, theirs, its (see entry above), etc. “Whose going on the trip?” “Who’s going on the trip?” Another source of confusion regarding these words is the false impression that the pronoun whose can only be used to refer to people. In fact, whose can be used to refer to any noun, because there is no other word in English that has the same function as whose; there is no equivalent possessive form of that or which. “the man who’s dog pooped on my lawn” (= “the man who his dog pooped on my lawn”)

Diction and Idiom Errors: A List of Common Errors in English Usage Page 15 © 2006 and 2008 C. Brantley Collins, Jr.