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Common spelling and grammar errors(not picked up by spell checkers) |
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A/B/C/D/E/F/G/H/I/J/K/L/M/N/O/P/Q/R/S/T/U/V/W/X/Y/Z
any students have
the attitude that correct spelling, punctuation and grammar are not important
in the real world. "As long as it's clear what I mean, that's all that
matters." There are two flaws in this argument:
First of all, if the spelling and so on are not correct, the meaning may not be clear to the reader, even though it might seem obvious to the writer.
Secondly, employers frequently look at good English on application forms as a means of sifting out 'poor' candidates. This means that even if you have all the necessary skills to do a job and would be really good at it, you may not even get an interview because of your poor written English.
o it's worth taking
a little time to look through anything you write to see if it is properly spelt
and punctuated, and the grammar is correct. Spellcheckers are a great help in
this, of course, and all pieces of work should be run through a spellchecker
before being submitted, sent or whatever else it is you are going to do with
them. Remember that American English is different to UK English, so make sure
your spellchecker is not a US version.
[If you learned your English in the US or in another country where 'US English' is taught, you might like to visit this website to check whether your English usage is correct.]
owever, there are
many errors that are not detectable by spellcheckers. There are words which,
though misspelt, are actually correct spellings for the wrong word:
"I go to work on Monday threw to Friday."
There are wrong tenses and participles:
"I is going to see my parents when I getting home from holidays."
And there is poor punctuation:
"The issue of abortion, is complex and, extremely controversial."
he list below shows
a number of common errors. It's worth a quick read-through to ensure that you
have not made any of these mistakes. Or if you are doubtful about a particular
word or phrase in your essay or report, use the 'Find in page' option on your
browser to see if it appears here.
accept/except
To 'accept' something is to receive it or give a positive response to it:
"I accept your invitation."
"Once you accept the basic premise everything else falls into place."
To 'except' is to exclude:
"I like all dogs except poodles."
"This museum is open every day except Sundays."
access/assess
'access' is really a noun, and has only come into usage as a verb fairly recently, meaning 'to gain entry to' (especially in a computer context):
"I logged on to access my account details."
To 'assess' someone or something is to measure their ability in some area:
"The purpose of the tests is to assess the students' performance under exam conditions."
advise/advice
'advise' is the verb:
"That's not something I would advise"
'advice' is the noun:
"He came to me for some advice."
affect/effect
In most cases, 'affect' is the verb and 'effect' the noun.
"If I don't complete my assignment, it could affect my degree mark."
"I banged the door as hard as I could, but it had no effect."
However, 'effect' can be used as a verb in certain cases, meaning 'to bring to pass':
"I wanted to talk to her to effect a reconciliation."
alter/altar
An 'altar' (noun) is what you find in a church or temple. To 'alter' something (verb) is to change or modify it.
apostrophes
Apostrophes are used for indicating missing letters:
"There's no stopping him now!" (There is ...)
or for indicating ownership/possession:
"She got into Bill's car, all right."
but not for plurals, so
"Cake's and Biscuit's on sale here." is incorrect.
bare/bear
'bare' means 'naked', whilst 'bear' (apart from being a large furry animal) means 'to put up with':
"The car was stripped down to the bare chassis."
"I could not bear to see him treating her like that."
boarder/border
A 'boarder' is someone who 'boards' - a lodger. A 'border' is a barrier surrounding an area; either a fence or sometimes simply a notional line, as in borders between countries. It is also used in computers to indicate the edge of an object - the borders of a page, for instance.
bold/bowled
'bold' means brave:
"To confront the attacker in that way was a very bold move"
'bowled' refers to cricket, bowls or some other sport. It is also used more generally by analogy:
"I was bowled over by his charming manner."
bought/brought
'bought' is the past tense of 'buy', meaning 'to purchase', whereas 'brought' is the past tense of 'bring', meaning 'to arrive with'.
"I bought everything we'll need at the supermarket."
"Tony arrived and brought Sharon with him."
break/brake
To 'brake' is only used in the context of stopping (usually a vehicle):
"I had to brake quite hard to avoid running her over"
To 'break' something is to smash it or render it useless:
"You didn't break that cup, did you?"
breathe/breath
A noun/verb confusion. 'Breathe' is the verb and 'breath' the noun.
"Breathe on me, breath of God" (hymn)
by/buy/bye
'by' means 'next to' or 'close to':
"I stood right by him."
"The station is by the taxi rank."
It can also be used to indicate the means or tactics used to achieve something:
"Germany won the match by taking control of the midfield."
"I found your address by looking in the yellow pages."
'buy' is 'to purchase', as above.
"I sent Jack down the road to buy some wine."
'bye' is mostly only used in 'goodbye' or 'bye-bye'. Also in sport, if a team is given a free passage into the next round of a cup competition, this is referred to as a 'bye'.
complement/compliment
Both these words can be nouns or verbs, but have subtly different meanings.
'compliment' is the more widely known, meaning 'an expression of praise or admiration':
"My compliments to the chef."
Complement means 'something that is required to make up the whole', as in:
"a full complement of books"
"A and B complemented each other."
council/counsel
'Council' (noun only) - a group of people in charge of something e.g. "Lambeth Council"
'Counsel' (noun or verb) - to advise someone, usually in a legal context. Also an adviser of same.
criteria/criterion
'criterion' is the singular, 'criteria' the plural.
"He seems to have met all the criteria."
"We must look closely at this criterion."
decent/descent
'Decent' - an adjective meaning proper, above board, respectable:
"Everything was done in a decent manner."
'Descent' - going down:
"The cable car made a rapid descent."
definitely/defiantly
'definitely' is about something that you're sure of:
"I definitely put the keys down on the table."
'defiantly' has the sense of challenge:
"She stood defiantly in the doorway, almost daring us to get past her."
(This error is normally caused by spelling the word as 'definately', and then running it through a spellchecker and accepting the first suggestion that it makes.)
desert/dessert
'Desert' (emphasis on the first syllable) is a large barren waterless area of land, like the Sahara.
'Dessert' (emphasis on the second syllable) is what you have after the main course in a restaurant.
discrete/discreet
'discrete' means separate, distinct:
"The nature of a grading system is that it produces discrete values rather than a continuous range."
'discreet' is unobtrusive, tactful, diplomatic:
"She had several lovers but was always discreet."
does/dose
A 'dose' is the amount of medicine you are supposed to take:
"I think 5 ml is the correct dose"
'Does' is part of the verb 'to do':
"What he does in his spare time is his business."
draft/draught
'draft' - an early version of a document, intended to be revised later.
'draught' (same pronunciation) - the icy blast that comes in under the door!
e.g./i.e.
Frequently confused, although they have very different meanings:
'e.g.' means 'for example':
"There are many modes of transport, e.g. bus, train, ship."
'i.e.' means 'that is', as in:
"He said he'd come at 10 a.m., i.e. 10 in the morning."
for/four/fore
'four' is the number 4.
'fore' means 'in the front':
"When the cavalry charged, Capt. Jones was to the fore." (see 'foreword')
'for' has many uses, and is probably the right spelling to use if neither of the above is appropriate.
"Is this cake for me?"
"How many are for the proposal?"
"Smith is a replacement for Johnson."
forth/fourth
'fourth' - the one after 'third'.
'forth' - a rather archaic version of 'forward', as in "go forth". Mostly found as a part of other words such as 'forthwith', 'henceforth' etc.
formally/formerly
'formally' means 'officially' or 'ceremonially':
"The library was formally opened by the mayor."
'formerly' describes something that used to be - an 'ex':
"The building was formerly the Chamber of Commerce."
forward/foreword
In most cases 'forward' is correct. 'foreword' is the piece at the beginning of a book, normally written by somebody well-known, in order to publicise it.
from/form
A simple typing error not normally picked up by spellcheckers. Make sure you use the right one.
"I had to go and get a form from the doctor's."
'he don't'
Should be 'he didn't' or 'he doesn't'.
hear/here
'hear' is what you do with your ears:
"I can hear you quite clearly."
'here' means 'close to where I am', as in:
"Come here this minute!"
hole/whole
A 'hole' is something you get in your sock (or roof, or whatever).
'Whole' means a complete entity, rather than just a part:
"The shoes looked good, but it was a different matter if you considered the whole outfit."
hour/our
An 'hour' - 4 o'clock
'Our' - belonging to us:
"Our car is due for a service."
'I done'
Use 'I did'
its/it's
'it's' (with the apostrophe) is always short for 'it is':
"It's a good job we didn't go out in this weather."
'its' (without the apostrophe) is the possessive case, i.e. 'belonging to it':
"This car has its own built-in air conditioning."
knew/new
'Knew' is the past tense of 'to know', meaning to be aware of something:
"I knew that it must have been Mary who put the ticket into my bag."
'New' means just arrived, novel, recently discovered:
"Is that coat new?"
know/no
To 'know' something is to have knowledge of it, to be aware of it (see above):
"Do you know what time it is?"
'No' is a refusal:
"There was no way I was going to give in and do what he said."
later/latter
'later' generally refers to a time period:
"Maureen's coming along to the party later."
'latter' indicates the second of two possibilities:
"Given the choice of coffee or tea, I usually choose the latter."
led/lead
This is a confusing one, because 'lead' has two completely different meanings, depending on the pronunciation.
'To lead' (pronounced 'leed') is present tense, meaning 'to go in front of' or 'to guide':
"When the band is in a procession, the Sergeant-Major leads the way."
'lead' (pronounced 'led') is a heavy, soft, grey metal.
Led is the past tense of the verb 'to lead' described above. Hence:
"Joe led the way back to the main road."
lend/borrow
In simple terms, 'to lend' is to give, whereas 'to borrow' is to receive. So "Can I lend your shovel?" is incorrect. It should be "Can I borrow your shovel?" (Anyway, the answer's no!)
lose/loose
'To lose' (pronounced 'looze') is to misplace something:
"Whenever I'm in a hurry I always seem to lose something."
'To loose' is to free up, or loosen. More often used as an adjective:
"This belt is too loose."
medium/media
'medium' is singular and 'media' is its plural, so 'mediums' is incorrect.
moral/morale
A person's 'morals' are the code of conduct they live by, whereas their morale (usually relating to a group of people) is their general spirits or well-being:
"She always seemed to me to be a person of the highest morals."
"The morale in the team after their 4-0 defeat was at an all-time low."
'most always'
A common American expression, but simply wrong in the UK. Probably a shortened form of 'almost always'.
'mute point'
Should be 'moot point'
new/knew
See 'knew/new'.
no/know
See 'know/no'.
of/off
'of ' means 'relating to' or 'belonging to':
"A Tale of two Cities"
'off' is the opposite to 'on':
"As soon as the train was going slowly enough, he jumped off."
Avoid the phrase 'off of' at all costs.
our/hour
See 'hour/our '.
passed/past
Another difficult one. Basically 'passed' is the past tense of the verb 'to pass':
"I passed my driving test at the third attempt."
"I looked up just as the formation passed overhead."
'past' is a noun or an adjective:
"All that is now in the past."
"Actually, I'm past caring."
peace/piece
'peace' is the absence of conflict or noise:
"After the noise of the day, the peace of the early evening was especially welcome."
'piece' is a section or segment of something:
"I'll have another piece of that chocolate cake, please."
peak/peek/pique
A 'peak' is something you find on mountains or hats, whereas 'to peek' is to snatch a look at something:
"I felt really tired as we approached the peak."
"John had told me not to look, but I couldn't resist having a quick peek."
'pique' (same pronunciation) is a fit of temper.
persecute/prosecute
'persecution' is what the Romans did to the Christians, and has the implication of cruelty and unfairness about it.
'prosecution', on the other hand, is the legal process of bringing charges against someone in court.
"Most of the asylum seekers claimed they were being persecuted in their own countries."
"The store indicated that they would prosecute any shoplifters they caught."
personal/personnel
'personal' - an adjective meaning 'one's own, private'.
"Those are my personal belongings."
'personnel' - the people involved in a project or business. Also the department of a company associated with administering the workforce.
"The fire response team are all trained personnel."
"I'll just put you through to the Personnel Department."
plain/plane
A 'plain' is a large, flat stretch of land. 'Plain' can also be used as an adjective, as in:
"Annette was a very pretty girl, but her sister Molly was rather plain."
'Plane' is short for aeroplane (US: airplane) but can also be used for a flat surface or a woodworking tool.
pole/poll
A 'pole' is basically a long metal or wooden bar, but is also used to describe the North and South Poles, magnetic poles on a magnet, and extremes of opinion.
"She and her father are poles apart when it comes to politics."
'poll' is only used when it comes to voting, although it is used as a metaphor in other contexts.
"We conducted a quick poll, and came to the conclusion that option 3 was the most popular."
practice/practise
In the UK, the verb is always spelled with an 's'. (Not so in the US.)
"He would practise for hours before a concert."
The noun is always spelt with a 'c' on either side of the Atlantic:
"Are you coming to the choir practice on Thursday?"
premier/premiere
'premier' is principally an adjective meaning 'prime' or 'leading'. It can also be used as a noun in preference to 'Prime Minister'.
"Jack works for the premier haulage company in the country."
"The Premier was in Brussels this week discussing European economic policy."
'premiere' is the opening of a show or film:
"The stars were out in force this evening at the premiere of the new Bond movie."
principal/principle
'principal' is an adjective meaning 'main'. It can also be the head of a school or college.
"Coffee is the principal export of the country."
"We had a good discussion with the Principal concerning school discipline."
A 'principle' is a basic truth or law which someone holds to:
"To do something like that would be against his principles."
quiet/quite
'quiet' - not noisy
"The canteen was remarkably quiet at that time in the morning."
'quite' - moderately
"I felt quite pleased with my results."
rain/rein/reign
'Rain' - that which falls from the skies.
'Rein' - what you use to control a horse, usually used in the plural ('reins'). Also a verb, to 'rein in', meaning to curb or control.
'Reign' - what a king or queen does (verb), and the rule of a monarch (noun):
"The reign of Queen Victoria was very prosperous for Britain."
'reason because'
Use 'the reason that' or 'the reason being' (but not 'the reason being is..')
roll/role
You can have a 'roll of honour', a 'roll down the hill' or a 'bread roll', but if you are playing a part in any sense, you are acting a 'role'.
"All winners will have their names added to the roll."
"He was present in his role as Vice-Chairman of the company."
root/route
'roots' belong mainly to trees, although we do speak of someone 'going back to their roots'.
A 'route' is a path or trail, or a set of directions.
'same difference'
A slang term that should not appear in reports, essays, etc. 'same thing' is more correct.
sea/see
'Sea' - ocean.
'See' - View with your eyes.
'should of' (might of, could of, etc.)
A very common error, which starts in speech and then creeps into written work.
The correct expression is 'should have' ('might have', 'could have', etc.). This gets shortened to 'should've' (which is still correct), which sounds like 'should of'.
site/sight
'site' used to refer to a place, such as a building site or an archaeological site, but these days is most often used to refer to 'web sites'.
'sight' is what you use your eyes for.
"My, you do look a sight."
stationary/stationery
'stationary' means motionless:
"The other car hit me whilst I was stationary."
'stationery' is the stuff you get at W H Smiths.
summary/summery
A 'summary' is a short version, or summing up, of a story or argument:
"Here is a summary of the news .."
'summery' means 'of the summer' and is most often used in relation to the weather.
'suppose to'
Should be 'supposed to'.
"I'm supposed to meet her here at 2.30."
than/then
'than' is used when comparing things:
"It's much quicker than going on the bus."
'then' refers to a sequence of events:
"First I'm going to have a bath then I'll read the post."
there/their/they're
Probably the most common mistake in student work.
'their' means 'belonging to them':
"That's their car, I'm sure."
'they're' is an abbreviation for 'they are':
"I'm sorry, they're not in at the moment."
Any other use is probably 'there', which is used in a number of contexts:
"There is no point in going on about it."
"The accident happened just over there."
"Is there a cafe near here, please?"
threw/through
'Threw' is the past tense of 'to throw' (see 'thrown' below):
"James threw the ball back to the keeper."
'Through' means passing between or within:
"We drove through the Grand Canyon."
thrown/throne
'thrown' is what is done with a ball, javelin, etc.
'throne' is what a king sits on.
to/too/two
Again, see if the word you want is 'too' or 'two', and if not, it's probably 'to'.
'too' refers to extremes: 'too hot', too far', 'too much'.
'two' is the number 2.
Everything else is 'to':
"I'm not going to tell you again!"
"It's never too late to start."
'try and'
The correct expression is 'try to'
"You should always try to use correct English."
'use to'
This should be 'used to':
"We used to hang out together."
vain/vein
'Vain' is to be conceited, particulary with regard to one's appearance:
"He was one of the most vain men I ever met."
'Vein' is a blood vessel in the body, but can also be used analogously to mean things in the same style:
"Moore produced several other pieces in the same vein."
'very unique'
The 'very' is unnecessary. If something is 'unique' there is nothing else like it, so it can't be 'very unique'. (Consider 'extremely mediocre'.)
waste/waist
'Waste' - what you throw away in the bin.
'Waist' - below your chest and above your hips.
weak/week
'Weak' is the opposite of strong.
A 'week' is seven days.
where/wear/were/we're
'where' refers to a place:
"Where did I put those keys?"
"It all depends where you want to get to."
'wear' is about clothes, usually:
"I don't have a thing to wear."
"This tyre is definitely showing signs of wear."
'were' (pronounced 'wurr') is the plural of 'was':
"They were all together in the lounge at the time."
'we're' (pronounced 'weer') is short for 'we are':
"OK, we're just coming."
whether/weather
A simple mistake, but very common. 'weather' refers to rain, sun, hail, snow, etc.
"The weather looks better than it did yesterday."
Whether indicates that a particular course of action is dependent on certain factors:
"The question is whether she really wants that or not."
whole/hole
See 'hole/whole'.
whose/who's
Can be quite tricky. Essentially, 'who's' is short for 'who is', so if you read it as 'who is' in your head and it makes sense, that's the right one.
"David is the one who's coming with me to the party on Sunday."
'Whose' is to do with possession.
"Whose car keys are these?"
woman/women
'woman' is singular, 'women' is plural (as in man/men).
your/you
A common typing error seen on numerous web sites (and other places) is to miss the 'r' off the end of 'your'. Spellcheckers will not detect this, of course.
your/you're
'your' is the possessive:
"Is that your coat?"
'you're' is short for 'you are':
"You're not going out again at this time of night, are you?"
This page is maintained by Alan Rolfe, School of Art, Design and Media, University of West London.
Last updated January 19, 2012
The author would like to acknowledge the help obtained from the following web sites:
English Grammar and Writing
Drop capitals courtesy of Rozie 
Please email me if you have any comments.