Fifty common errors adapted from the Straits Times style guide, a list from the writing/editorial committee of the Associated Press Managing Editors’ organisation, Strunk and White and the author’s observations.
1 Affect, effect. Generally, affect is the verb and effect is the noun. “The new rule did not have much effect on most people but affected some people seriously.”
2 Afterwards, afterward; towards, toward. Use the British spelling by using the words with the “s.”
3 All right. Two words.
4 Assure, ensure, insure. There is some overlap, especially between assure and ensure. Assure people by making them confident of facts. “The HDB assured buyers that prices would not increase by more than 4 percent.” Ensure a result or outcome. “Applying early ensures a seat.” Insure someone or something in case of damage or loss. “The car was insured against a flood.”
5 Alternate, alternative. Alternate is every other in a series. Alternative is one of two possibilities. In a series of two, alternate may stand for “substitute”; the use of alternative in a similar situation connotes the availability of choice. “As the jammed road left them with no alternative, they took the alternate route.”
6 Averse, adverse. Averse means opposed or reluctant. If you do not like something, you are averse to it. Also: “The students were averse to having more homework.” Adverse is an adjective that means bad, as in adverse conditions.
7 Awhile, a while. Awhile means for a while. The right approach is therefore: “He stayed awhile,” or “He stayed for a while.”
8 Between. Between A and B, not A to B.
9 Bring, take, fetch. All three words have similar ideas but are used depending on the position of the writer. Bring is used with an action coming towards the writer. “The mechanic said I have to bring the part to him.” Take has a similar idea except that the action is now going away from the writer. “The mechanic said I may take the car at 5pm.” Fetch goes one step further and involves both taking and bringing. “Please fetch my son from school.” (The speaker is asking the person addressed to go to school and bring back the son.)
10 Compare with, compare to. Use with in comparing differences. “This car is cheaper compared with that.” Use to in comparing similarities. “Life has been compared to art.” Usually, with is the correct word. The same approach applies to contrast with/to.
11 Complement, compliment. To complement is to supplement or make complete. “The chair complements the decor.” To compliment is to praise. “The teacher complimented the student on her work.”
12 Compose, comprise. To compose is to making something by putting parts together. When the parts are together, the thing comprises (embraces) the parts. Note also that comprise does not need “of.” “A university comprises (embraces or includes) students.” But students do not comprise (embrace or include) a university.
13 Credible, credulous. Credible is believable. Credulous is believing too readily; it has a negative connotation.
14 Dateline, deadline. Dateline refers to a place. It is used almost exclusively in news story. Deadline refers to the time in which to fulfill a demand. In most cases, this is the word intended.
15 Demolish, destroy. Both mean to do away with completely. One cannot therefore either “partially demolish” a building or say “totally destroy” it.
16 Different from. Established usage prefers “from” over “than.”
17 Disinterested, uninterested. A disinterested person is an unbiased impartial person. An uninterested person is bored.
18 Drowned. Do not say someone was drowned unless an assailant held the victim’s head under water. Say the person drowned.
19 Due to, because of. Due to should not be used as the equivalent of because of: “Due to the crash, the car was dented.” Due is correct when it can be replaced with “attributable to.” “The dent was due (attributable) to the crash.” As such usage is stilted, prefer “because of”.
20 Ecology, environment. They are not synonyms. Ecology is a branch of biology that studies the relationship between organisms and their environment. Thus it is wrong to say, “Global warming is affecting the ecology.” The word environment should be used.
21 Entitled. Do not say “titled” as in “The talk was entitled ‘Peace Now.’”; use it to mean a right to do or have something as in “Everyone is entitled to Telecom shares.”
22 Farther, further. Farther works best as a distance word: “They drove 20 km farther up the road.” Further works best as a time, degree or quantity word: “How much further must one study?” Therefore, use further except where there are distances.
23 Flout, flaunt. To flout is to show contempt or disregard: “to flout the law.” To flaunt is to display ostentatiously: “to flaunt his kindergarten results.”
24 Forego, forgo. To forego is to go before. It is rarely used. To forgo is to do without. “Because he decided to forgo the final examination, it was a foregone conclusion that he would lose the job”
25 Foreword, foreward, forward, forwards. The opening words in a magazine or book form the foreword. There is no such thing as foreward. And of the remaining two words, British usage prefers forwards.
26 Hopefully. The word should describe the state of mind of the speaker. “Hopefully, I will leave soon” means the person will leave in a hopeful state of mind. It does not mean “It is hoped that I will leave soon” or “I hope I will leave soon.”
27 Imply, infer. The speaker implies. The listener infers.
28 Irregardless. It should be regardless. The mistake stems from the error of not recognising that -less is a negative form and from seeing the ir in irresponsible, irrespective and irregular.
29 Its, it’s. Its is the possessive; it’s is the contraction of it is.
30 Judgment. It has only one “e.”
31 Less, fewer. If you can quantify the items, use fewer. If not, use less.
32 Mean, average, median. Mean and average have the same meaning: the sum of the components divided by the number of components. The median is the middle score with as many scores above as below it. Use median where the data are affected by a few extreme cases. Income distribution is one example. A few people with huge salaries increases the mean , making the median a better indicator.
33 Mention about. Mention does not need about.
34 Nauseous, nauseated. Nauseous means “sickening.” Nauseated means “sick in the stomach.” Most people will not knowingly describe themselves as nauseous, no matter how bad they feel.
35 Oral, written, verbal. Oral emphasises the spoken words. “All the man gave me was an oral guarantee.” Use written for words put on paper. “I had asked for a written guarantee.” Verbal may be used for spoken or written words; it connotes putting ideas to writing. “His verbal skills helped him get the job.”
36 Over, more than. Although some dictionaries may say they are interchangeable, reserve over for physical position. “The bird flew over the house.” Use more than for numbers. “More than 100,000 people were at the National Stadium.”
37 Peddle, pedal. To sell something is to peddle it. Peddle, however, has a bad connotation. To ride a bicycle is to pedal it.
38 Presently. The original meaning of the word is “soon.” It does not mean “at the present time” although usage has been creeping towards it. Avoid the word especially when it is unclear from the context which meaning is intended. If “at present” is intended, say “now.”
39 Pretense, pretext. A pretext is an excuse given to hide the truth. “He retired early but it was a pretext for his general incompetence.” A pretense is a false show to hide personal feelings. “His compliments were all pretense.”
40 Principle, principal. A guiding rule or basic truth is a principle. “Honesty is a good principle to live by.” The first or dominant thing is principal. “The engine is the principal part of a car.” It is also the person in charge of a school as well as a sum of money. A helpful device may to think of principle as rule and principal as main or pal.
41 Provided, providing. Use provided to mean on the condition or the understanding: “The meeting will end early provided everyone comes prepared.” Use providing to mean supply: “The shop was providing a lowcost photocopying service.”
42 Rack, wrack, wreak, wreck. The noun rack describes a type of framework. The verb rack is to torture or torment: “He racked his brains.” The noun wrack means ruin or destruction but is little used except in the phrase “wrack and ruin.” The verb wrack is close in meaning to rack but prefer rack. The verb wreck is to demolish. So it is wrong to say: “He wrecked his brains.” The noun wreck refers that something that is in a shattered, broken-down, or worn-out state: “The car was a wreck.” Wreak, meaning to inflict vengeance or punishment, is sometimes confused with wreck, perhaps because the wreaking of damage may leave a wreck: “The storm wreaked (not wrecked) havoc along the coast.” The past tense and past participle of wreak is wreaked, not wrought, which is an alternate past tense and past participle of work. Thus, the Bible says: “God wreaked punishment on sinners,” but Samuel Morse properly asked: “What hath God wrought?”
43 Raise, rear. Children are raised; animals are reared.
44 Refute, rebut. Both have the idea of answering an argument. Refute, however, connotes success in the reply and implies an editorial judgment. Often, rebut should be the preferred word.
45 Reluctant, reticent. If he does not want to act, he is reluctant. If she does not want to speak, she is reticent.
46 Since. The English use the word to mean “from the time that”: “He has played football since he was a boy.” Avoid the American style of using since for because. Use because for a cause-and-effect relationship: “He ran because he was late.” Since cannot be followed by an unqualified noun or adjective. It is wrong to say: “since youth,” “since seven years old,” “since young.” The correct versions are: “since my youth,” “since I was seven,” “since I was young.” Since must be used with a verb in the perfect tense, not simple past tense. It is wrong to say: “Prices rose since January.” It should be: “Prices have risen since January.”
47 Under way. Two words. But avoid saying something got under way to mean “started.” Say “started.”
48 Unique. Something is unique if it is one of a kind. It cannot be rather unique or very unique.
49 Which, That. These two words are often used in place of each other in speech. Very often, the meaning is clear. But if used in a similar way in writing, the meaning may be ambiguous. The essential difference is that which should be used for non-essential information; that should be used for essential information. That directs and restricts the reader’s thoughts: “Kona nuts that come from the island of Kiki are poisonous.” Not all kona nuts are poisonous. Only those grown on Kiki are. Which is non-restrictive and provides additional or subsidiary information to the reader: “Kona nuts, which come from the island of Kiki, are poisonous.” All kona nuts are poisonous. And by the way they all come from Kiki. Which clauses take commas, indicating that they are not essential to the meaning of the sentence.
50 Will, Would. Use will for future tense: “The bus will arrive in five minutes.” Also, use will for definite consequence: “If you do not leave now, you will be late.” Use would for reported speech: “He said he would not let the other team win.” Use would also for conditional tense or the hypothetical case: “I would go if I had the time.” Avoid using would for non-conditional sentences: “They hoped that the theatre would be filled.” The correct form should be: “They hoped that the theatre will be filled.”
Updated October 2001.