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Osfer Registered User
Joined: 12 Jul 2005 Posts: 50 Location: The Kingdom of Love
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Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 7:35 pm Post subject: common Confusions in the English Language |
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To lay = to put down.
To lie = to recline.
He lays the book on the table. It lies on the table. He decides to lie low for a while. He lays down the law.
Toward = in the direction of.
Towards = concerning.
He moves toward his target. He has romantic feelings towards her.
Forward = toward the front, in a positive direction.
Forwards = variant spelling. 'Forward' is preferred.
Their = something which belongs to them.
They're = they are.
There = in that place, in that direction.
They're coming from over there, I can see their swords. _________________ Head pot-scrubber of Bad Dog Books |
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mwalimu Registered User
Joined: 08 Nov 2002 Posts: 782 Location: Normal, IL
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Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 8:36 pm Post subject: Re: common Confusions in the English Language |
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Osfer wrote: | Forward = toward the front, in a positive direction.
Forwards = variant spelling. 'Forward' is preferred. |
Foreword = a commentary at the beginning of a book
Affect = to influence. (a verb)
Effect = a notable result. (a noun)
This change affects the subject, and produces an interesting effect.
Alot - (not a valid word)
A lot - many
Allot - to allocate or ration
We have to allot work to a lot of people. _________________ mwalimu
My webpage -*-*- My LiveJournal
Badgers and mushrooms and snakes, oh my! |
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anthony Site Owner
Joined: 12 Nov 2001 Posts: 1304 Location: Norway
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Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 2:40 am Post subject: |
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Roll = To move forward by revolving around an axis, something rolled up, a registry...
A Role = A part in a play or a movie...
Life is but a stage, and we are all but actors playing a role...
(Probably using rolled up scripts ) _________________ "My name's Lion, Anthony Lion"
A fur with a license to purr...
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Osfer Registered User
Joined: 12 Jul 2005 Posts: 50 Location: The Kingdom of Love
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Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 6:39 am Post subject: |
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Off course = in te wrong direction, deviating from the planned direction.
Of course =naturally, without question.
I'm steering with my eyes closed, so of course we're driving off course.
Little = small, or a small amount of a non-countable substance.
Few = a small number.
Couple = to copulate, to bind, pair.
A couple = a pair.
A couple of = a number of countable objects.
A few = a small number of.
A little = a small amount of a non-countable substance.
It inspires little confidence that so few married persons couple. A couple should share a little love a few nights a year, or a couple of nights a month.
... and I
... and me
When using these constructions, you should be able to leave out the '... and' part to see whether you should use 'I' or 'me'.
David and I were going to the movies. I was going to the movies.
They came to visit David and me. They came to visit me. _________________ Head pot-scrubber of Bad Dog Books |
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Osfer Registered User
Joined: 12 Jul 2005 Posts: 50 Location: The Kingdom of Love
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Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 10:25 am Post subject: |
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Wonder = to be curious about, a marvel.
Wander = to roam.
He wandered through the forest, and wondered what he'd find. _________________ Head pot-scrubber of Bad Dog Books |
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mwalimu Registered User
Joined: 08 Nov 2002 Posts: 782 Location: Normal, IL
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Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 1:24 pm Post subject: |
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hanger = a device for hanging something, such as picture or an article of clothing.
hangar = a building for storing aircraft.
Here is a hanger for your jacket. There is a hangar for your airplane. _________________ mwalimu
My webpage -*-*- My LiveJournal
Badgers and mushrooms and snakes, oh my! |
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PrincessB Registered User
Joined: 06 Jan 2005 Posts: 3070 Location: south of Nashville, Tn
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Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 1:35 pm Post subject: |
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where-At or in what place: In what situation or position:
Wear-To carry or have on the person as covering, adornment, or protection
Were-Second person singular and plural and first and third person plural past indicative of be. Past subjunctive of be.
We're-Contraction of we are.
Where is my book? I'm going to wear the pink shirt. If I were to go, I would be late. We're going to be home late. _________________ http://www.bukisa.com/people/AmberBarnes check it out!
http://twitter.com/PrincessBTigres
Girls are like phones. We love to be held, talked too but if you press the wrong button you'll be disconnected! |
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mwalimu Registered User
Joined: 08 Nov 2002 Posts: 782 Location: Normal, IL
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Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2005 9:53 am Post subject: |
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its - possessive form of "it"
it's - contraction of "it is" or "it has"
It's going to rain in the valley. Its farmers will be rejoicing. _________________ mwalimu
My webpage -*-*- My LiveJournal
Badgers and mushrooms and snakes, oh my! |
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Cirrel Registered User
Joined: 29 Mar 2003 Posts: 265 Location: 400 miles north of everywhere
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Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2005 11:39 am Post subject: |
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Singular vs. Plural possessives - note the placement of the apostrophe.
His friend's car was fast. (singular friend)
All his friends' cars were fast. (plural friends - the apostrophe is after the last "s")
For Plural Posessives, an "s" after the apostrophe is not needed. "Friends's cars" is not considered correct - besides being hard to pronounce.
Also, even some singular nouns, especially names, that end in "s" will drop the final "s".
James' car was fast. (Not James's)
Multiple Subject Posessives.
If the subject of the sentence has two nouns or names, only the final one needs to be made posessive.
Joe and Harry's cars were fast.
The kids and adults' stomachs all growled with hunger. _________________
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anthony Site Owner
Joined: 12 Nov 2001 Posts: 1304 Location: Norway
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Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2005 1:08 pm Post subject: |
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Cirrel wrote: | Also, even some singular nouns, especially names, that end in "s" will drop the final "s".
James' car was fast. (Not James's)
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Doesn't that apply to all words that ends in any "s" sound?
The fox' den... _________________ "My name's Lion, Anthony Lion"
A fur with a license to purr...
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Nameless Site Owner
Joined: 06 Sep 2002 Posts: 1368 Location: Vienna, Austria
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Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2005 3:36 am Post subject: |
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Cirrel wrote: | For Plural Posessives, an "s" after the apostrophe is not needed. "Friends's cars" is not considered correct - besides being hard to pronounce. |
It also makes you sound like Gollum... _________________ I'm a nut, but there are those who appreciate me for it. |
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mwalimu Registered User
Joined: 08 Nov 2002 Posts: 782 Location: Normal, IL
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Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2005 10:14 am Post subject: |
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An apostrophe is almost never used for a simple plural. The only exception I know of is when the word in question is a single character, e.g. "There are three b's in bubble."
In informal speech, an 's can be added to the end of many nouns to form a contraction of the noun with "is" or "has". "Jenny's got a gun." "New York's the place to be." "The dog's running down the street." This construct, however, is considered nonstandard and should not be used in formal, proper English. _________________ mwalimu
My webpage -*-*- My LiveJournal
Badgers and mushrooms and snakes, oh my! |
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Nameless Site Owner
Joined: 06 Sep 2002 Posts: 1368 Location: Vienna, Austria
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Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2005 6:26 am Post subject: |
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To break = destroy something, shatter it into pieces
To brake = slow down, also the device
He braked too hard and broke the brake. _________________ I'm a nut, but there are those who appreciate me for it. |
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shroom Registered User
Joined: 01 Feb 2004 Posts: 43 Location: Basement - Portland, OR USA
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Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2005 7:14 am Post subject: |
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This is a pretty durned good site for reference and other purposes, especially when trying to explain an error to someone else.
Sometimes it's hard to find the right words to explain properly:
http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/errors.html
My favorite is probably quantum leap often use to mean 'huge jump' which, in reality, means the smallest amount of change possible on the subatomic level. It rather, signifies a radical shift with no middle ground.
Also they mention LCD Display as being a redundant acronym (Liquid Crystal Display Display). Some of these drive geeks nuts. NIC Card, DSL Line.. I've seen ISP Provider and CPU Unit before in extreeme cases
They have the more mundane ones as well. I mentioned single quotes for a quote inside of a quote to someone recently, it helps the readability.
And then there is thier entry on ignorance vs stupidity which is somewhat amusing. |
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mwalimu Registered User
Joined: 08 Nov 2002 Posts: 782 Location: Normal, IL
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Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2005 12:41 am Post subject: |
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Every day = each day; on all days
everyday = typical; ordinary
It's just an everyday squirrel, but I feed it every day. _________________ mwalimu
My webpage -*-*- My LiveJournal
Badgers and mushrooms and snakes, oh my! |
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