Common Usage Errors Review

accept

to receive something

except

excluding something

advise

n. opinion or information offered

advise

v. to offer advice to someone

affect

v. to influence

effect

n. result

a lot

article and noun representing a large amount

alot

NO

allot

divide or distribute by share or portion

all ready

used as an adj. to express complete preparedness

already

an adv. expressing time

altogether

entirely

all together

in a group

allude

refer to indirectly

elude

avoid, escape from

among

use when referring 2+ persons or things

between

use when referring 2 persons or things

amount

use with quantities you cannot count

number

use with quantities you can count

apart

adj. meaning separate

a part

article and noun

awhile

adv.

a while

article and noun, used after prep

bad

use adj. after verbs “feel” or “look",” not the adv. “badly”

based on

movies are based on, not based off of books

can

has to do with ability

may

has to do with permission

complement

to complete, accentuate

compliment

to give praise

compose

to make up

comprise

to include

conscious

awake or perceiving; adj

conscience

n. the voice in your head

capital

a city, or letter

capitol

a building

discreet

tactful, secretive

discrete

separate, distinct

each other

used for 2 persons or things

one another

used for more than 2 persons/things

elicit

v. to draw out

illicit

adj. illegal

ensure

to make certain

insure

to protect against loss

assure

to give someone confidence

et cetera

not ec cetera

everyday

ordinary, common; adj

every day

adv. something that happens every single day

explicit

directly or openly expressed

implicit

indirectly expressed; implied

further

measurement of degree or figurative distance

farther

measurement of literal distance

good (adj.)

the cake was really good

good (n.)

public service projects do a lot of good in our community

well (adj.)

she swims well

well (n.)

we get water from a well

i.e.

means “that is”

e.g.

means “for example”

e.x.

do not use this

into

prep. indicating entry, insertim, or transformation

in to

combo of adverb “in” & prep. “to”

hs

possessive pronoun

h’s

contraction for it is

lay

to put or to place and requires an object

lie

to recline, rest, or stay

lead

n. (led) → the lead in my pencil broke

led

past tense of lead

less

use when referring to a quantity that cannot be counted individually

fewer

use when referring to quantities in individual units

like

use to compare

such as

use as a synonym for for example

as

use when comparing phrases and clauses that contain a verb

lose

to misplace something; verb

loose

adj. the opposite of tight

over

refers to spatial relationships

more than

use with figures

percent or %

use the symbol in deadlines when paired with digits

precede

come before

proceed

go forward

principal

head of the school

principle

theory or belief

sign-up

n. or adj. → make sure you sign the sign-up sheet

sign up

v. → I can’t wait to sign up for the swim team

that

introduces an essential clause

which

a nonrestrictive term that introduces a nonessential clause with commas

then

used for a sequence of events or the passage of time

than

used in comparison

there

a location

their

a possessive pronoun

they’re

contraction for they are

to

preposition

too

used when there is an excess to “also”

two

the number

T-shirt

not “t-shirt”

United States

United States & U.S. are nouns

unique

avoid using with other modifiers

upon

to indicate position in contact with the top surface of an object

up on

used to show non-literal placement

weather

the state of the atmosphere

whether

indicates that a statement applies whichever of the alternatives mentioned in the case

w'e’re

contraction for we are