Common Language Errors Accept and Except

The words, accept and except are homophones which are often confused by English speakers. Accept is a verb which means to receive or to agree. Most of the time except is used as a preposition which means excluding. The following examples will make the usage clear.

ACCEPT (VERB)
Tina accepted the job offer.

EXCEPT (PREPOSITION) I can come with you on all days except Sunday. All the athletes except Greg finished the race.

Chris accepted the allegation that he had cheated. He accepted the invitation to the party.

Everyone except Karen was invited to the party.

Adapt and Adopt

Adapt and adopt share similar spellings and similar meanings, but they are not one and the same. To adapt is to become or make something suitable to an environment or condition. It took me a long time after college to adapt to life in the office. An inability to adapt will prove an obstacle on the road to success. To adopt is to take something and use it as or make it your own. I adopted his policy of neutrality and stayed out of trouble. We are planning to adopt a child.

Adverse and Averse

Adverse and averse are not only spelled similarly (with the d in adverse being the only difference), they are also both adjectives with negative connotations, and hence easily confused. Adverse means unfavourable, or harmful. Therefore, if a sportsman is said to perform well in adverse conditions, it means that he or she performs well in conditions that are not easy to play in. It is used in reference to things, actions or events, rather than people.

Averse describes a strong disinclination. It is used of things and people, but we never speak of an averse thing or person. It is most often used in the form averse to, as in I am averse to speaking in public.

Advice and Advise

Advice and advise can easily be mistaken, but the difference between the two is simple enough. In British English, - advice acts as a noun, defined as opinion about what could or should be done about a situation or problem; counsel, and - advise acts as a verb, meaning to give advice. Therefore, 'His fathers advice was for him to give the matter thought before reaching a conclusion about what to do.' means the same as 'His father advised him to give the matter thought before reaching a conclusion about what to do.' The c in advice is pronounced like the s in sip, whereas the s in advise is pronounced like the z in zip. Some more examples of the usage of Advice You should listen to your fathers advice. I need your advice on what to wear for my job interview. Mohan is the best person to ask for advice on cars. Some more examples of the usage of Advise My father advised me to join the army. The doctor advised Sumit to quit smoking. Mohan advised me to buy a diesel car. In American English, this distinction between the two words is not always maintained.

Beside and Besides

It is easy to confuse beside and besides, but they are not one and the same thing. Beside is a preposition, whereas besides works as both a preposition and an adverb, and although besides is sometimes used in place of beside, they have distinct meaning. Beside means by or at the side of. For example: He stood beside his new car proudly. As a preposition, besides means in addition to or apart from. For example: What are you working on besides the research project? As an adverb, it means furthermore. As in, He was not selected because he did not have a good grasp of his concepts. Besides, he did not seem very keen.

As mentioned above, the distinction between the two words is sometimes ignored. Besides can never mean at the side of, but beside is often used in place of besides. This can lead to misunderstanding, though; the sentence There was no one beside him in the hall could mean that he was all by himself, or that there was no one next to him.

Bought and Brought

The difference between these two words is a very simple one. They are the past tenses of two different verbs. Bought is the past tense of buy: I bought a new car last week. Brought is the past tense of bring: I brought him a glass of water. The difference can be remembered easily too, as bring shares its first two letters with brought (br).

Can and May

Many English speakers are confused about the usage of the words can and may. For e.g., Can I drink water? is incorrect. May I drink water? is the correct phrase to use in this case. The key difference between can and may is that can talks about ability and may talks about permission. CAN Can is used in two cases: To talk about ability.

I can finish my homework by 5 pm. Can you finish your homework tonight?

To ask or give permission informally.

MAY

Can I use your pen? (To a friend) You can use my pen. (To a friend)

May is generally used to ask or give permission formally. Let us take a situation between a student and a teacher.

May I drink water? Teacher: Yes, you may.

Let us take a situation between two strangers.

May I borrow your pen? Yes, you may.

Compliment and Complement

Complement and compliment are sometimes confused because they are pronounced the same and have very similar spellings. Both function as noun and verb, but are quite distinct in meaning. As a noun, compliment refers to an expression of esteem, admiration or praise. For example, to call someone handsome/beautiful is to pay him/her a compliment, and the verb refers to this action, ie, the paying of a compliment. On the other hand, as a noun, the complement of something supplies what that something is missing, ie, completes or perfects it. For example, wine can be said to complement a meal.

Could, Would and Should

Would, should and could are auxiliary verbs, meaning that their function is to assist main verbs. For example, in the sentence, I would like to meet him, like is the main verb that is assisted by would. They can be defined as the past tenses respectively of will, shall and can, but each has many uses that sometimes even express the present tense. It is important to be able to differentiate between the three so as not to use them incorrectly. We shall discuss some of the common functions of the three words here. Would 1.

To ask questions: Would you like to see the doctor? = Do you want to see the doctor?

With who, what, when, where, why, how: How would he react? What would she do? In both sentences, would is more or less interchangeable with will. 3. To make polite requests: I would like more salad, please. = I want more salad, please. To show a different response if the past had been different: I would have done something if I had known you were in trouble. = I didn't know that you were in. This is why I did not do anything to help.

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To explain an outcome to a hypothetical situation: Were I to win a million dollars, I would go on a world cruise. = If I win a million dollars, I will go on a world cruise. To show habitual past action: The dog would howl whenever its owner would leave it alone at home. Think of would as did. To show preference between two choices, used with rather or sooner: I would sooner face the punishment than lie and escape it. = I prefer speaking the truth to lying. To show intention: He said he would do it. = He said it was his intention to do it.

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Should 1.

To ask questions (it is generally interchangeable with ought in such cases): Should I submit my assignment now? = Am I supposed to submit my assignment now? To show obligation: You should brush your teeth twice a day. Here, too, should can be replaced with ought to, but in this context it is used to make a persuasive statement. To express a hypothetical situation: Should you wish to do so, you may. = If you wish to do so, you may. To express what is likely: If you take the highway, you should be there in two hours. Here, should means something like probably will.

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Could 1.

As the past tense of can: There was a time when I could run a mile without breaking a sweat. To ask questions: Could I submit my assignment now? = Am I allowed to submit my assignment now? To show possibility: You could do a lot better. = You have the potential to do a lot better. To express tentativeness or politeness: I could be wrong. = I may be wrong.

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Do and Make
The words do and make are often confused. While they are similar, there are differences between them that must be noted. Do is used as follows:

1. For daily activities.

Do homework. Do the dishes.

2. In general reference, ie, when one does not have a specific activity in mind.
Im not doing anything tonight. You are doing too much for one person.

3. In standard expressions, ie, collocations (verb + noun combinations) that have become
standardised through usage. Do ones best. Do a favour. Make, on the other hand, is used:

1. To describe an activity that produces something tangible.

Make coffee. Make breakfast.

2. In standard expressions.
Make room. Make do.

Each and Every

Each and every are determiners, words that are used with singular nouns to indicate quantity. There are differences between the two that are important to grasp for usage, though.

1. Each is used when there are two objects; here every is not used. For example,

He wore multiple bracelets on each hand (note: singular noun). There were two of them. They each carried backpacks, and each backpack (note: singular noun) contained invaluable souvenirs.

In case there are more than two objects, either of the two may be used.

He wanted each/every item on the catalogue. There is a bathroom in each/every room.

2. Each can be used as a pronoun, but every cannot. Note the difference between the following sentences:

The students were waiting for the question sheets to be handed out. Each was in a state of great nervousness. The students were waiting for the question sheets to be handed out. Every student/one of them was in a state of great nervousness.

Clearly, each replaces the noun student. Every does not; it requires to be followed by the noun, or by one of them.

3. With adverbs (practically, nearly, almost, etc), only every in used. In the following sentences, every cannot be replaced by each:

She knew practically every detail of his daily routine. Nearly every fruit on the cart was spoilt.

4. Every is used to refer to repeated, regular events, as in the following cases:

We meet every so often I get a health check-up done every six months. I had to take a water break after every other set.

In the above examples and any similar instances, each cannot be used.

Either and Neither

It is important to grasp the meanings and difference between either and neither so that we dont get confused between the two. Both words can be used as pronoun, conjunction and adjective; however, the use of either is considered positive, while the use of neither is considered negative. As adjective: Either indicates one or the other, or both. For example: You may use either hand for the purpose. = You may use your right or left hand for the purpose. There were tall houses on either side of the river. = There were tall houses on both sides of the river. Neither indicates not one or the other; none of the two. For example;

Neither twin was invited to the wedding. = None of the twins was invited to the wedding. As pronoun: Either indicates one or the other. For example: Both buses are headed in that direction, you can get on either. = Both buses are headed in that direction, you can get on one or the other. Neither indicates not one or the other. For example: Both pups were pure-breed, but neither displayed the characteristic traits of its breed. = Both pups were pure-breed, but not one or the other displayed the characteristic traits of its breed. As conjunction: Either is used with or to imply a choice of alternatives. For example: You can either play on the computer or watch TV. = You can do one of two things: play on the computer or watch TV. Neither is used with nor to negate both parts of a statement. For example: I can neither play on the computer nor watch TV. = I cannot play on the computer or watch TV. Either is also used as an adverb, to mean also, following negative expressions. For example: If you dont go, I wont go either. = If you stay, I will stay also. Neither, on the other hand, is not used as an adverb.

Have and Has

Have and has are both used to denote possession, form the perfect tense, and the past tense of both is had, but they are used differently. Have is used with - the following pronouns: I, you, we, they. Examples : 'I have a pencil.' 'We have a big house.' - pluralised nouns: Example : 'Doctors have a rough time, dealing with illnesses all the time.' Has is used with the third person singular (he, she, it). Examples : 'She has your money.' 'Amit has the book.'

Hear and Listen

To any layman, hearing and listening may appear to be one and the same thing, but there is a subtle difference between the two words. At one level, they are of course both functions of the ear that involve receiving sounds and processing them. However, herein lies the difference: any sound that is received by the ear and noted by the brain can be said to have been heard; it is only when a conscious effort is made to hear something that listening comes into play.

For example, if the sounds from a conversation carry to you, but you make no effort to understand what is being said, you must say that you heard the conversation. On the other hand, as soon as you make a conscious effort to understand or pay attention to what you are hearing, you are listening. Therefore, we do not hear songs, we listen to them (unless, of course, they are simply part of the background and we arent actually paying attention to them). It must be noted that hear can be used in place of listen sometimes, but listen should not be used in place of hear. For example, you may tell someone that you heard what he or she said, and it is understood that you were listening, ie, paying attention. You will learn these variations with practice in conversation.

Much and Many

Much and many are both determiners that suggest an unspecified quantity, with more or less the same basic meaning: in great quantity or in large number. There is, however, a distinction in their usage. Much, not many, is used for uncountable nouns, which are in singular form. I don't have much faith in him. Here, 'faith' is an uncountable noun and hence, we use 'much' instead of 'many'. How much money do you have in your wallet? In this example, 'money' is an uncountable noun and hence, we use 'much'. Note that 'dollars' or 'pesos' are countable as we say 'ten dollars' or 'ten pesos'. There was much compassion in his voice. Here, compassion is an uncountable noun and so we use 'much' and not 'many' On the other hand, many is used for countable nouns, which are in plural form, and here much cannot be used. Many youngsters today are taking to atheism. 'Youngster' is a countable noun and hence, we use 'many'. How many days remain? In this example, 'Day' is a countable noun. There are many obstructions ahead for us. Here, 'Obstruction' is a countable noun and this means that we have to use 'many' and not 'much'.

See and Watch

See and watch are words that are commonly misunderstood as being interchangeable, but while both refer to the optic function, they are not one and the same thing. They stand for different ways of using the eye. To see something is simply to look at i t or spot it; it may be unintentional, ie, you may not have been looking for it. Example : I saw a man up ahead. To watch something is look at something closely or intently, generally because it is moving. Example : I watched the movie.

Since and For

The words since and for are often confused by English language speakers. There is a simple rule to follow to differentiate between the usage of these two words. SINCE is used to talk about time from a specific period while FOR is used to talk about a length of time. I have been living in Delhi since 1982. I have been living in Delhi for twenty years. I have been studying since seven a.m. today. I have been studying for eight hours. My tutor has taught me since January this year. My tutor has taught me for five months.

So and Such
It is easy to get confused about the usage of so and such, as their structures are quite similar. However, they are not one and the same in terms of meaning or usage. For example, the sentence 'He is so good friend' is glaringly wrong, as is 'The sky is such beautiful today'. The difference can be illustrated using a simple formula: 1. So is followed necessarily by an adjective. In technical terms, it takes the adjective phrase. o Formula: so + adjective + that. o For example: The movie was so scary that I couldnt watch it till the end. o that is optional. Therefore, the above sentence would work just as well without that: The movie was so scary, I couldnt watch it till the end. 2. Such is followed by an article, the adjective, and then the noun. In technical terms, it takes the noun phrase. o Formula: such + article + adjective + noun + that o For example: We chose such a scary movie to go for that I couldnt even watch it till the end. o Again, that is optional. If that in the above sentence were to be replaced with a comma, it would still work. o Note: the article after such is used when the noun is countable; that is to say, when it is something that can be expressed in numbers. For example, car,

dog and book are countable nouns, as there can be a number assigned to each, such as 5 cars or 2 dogs. For uncountable nouns, such as food, milk or water or air, the article is dropped. For example, i. I had such good food at home the other day. ii. We were blessed with such good weather on the trip.

Some and Any

Both some and any are used to refer to indefinite quantities, i.e., when it is not necessary to specify a number. For example, I would like some milk indicates that the speaker wants milk, but it is not stated how much of it he or she wants. Similarly, Is there any cake left? does not specify how much cake the speaker wants there to be; any amount will do for the purpose of the question. There are important differences between the two that must be grasped for usage, however. Some Some is commonly used in affirmative statements, such as I would like to have some fun. Any is hardly ever used in such statements, except to emphasise that the quality of the object does not matter. For example, I would like any apples suggests that the speaker does not care what kind of apples they are (indicating a desperate need or desire for apples), whereas I would like some apples does not suggest anything about the quality of the apples or desperation of the speaker. Any Any is commonly used in negative statements, such as We do not have any apples. Here, some may not be used. Any is also used in affirmative statements, if the statements contain negative words such as hardly, barely, never, without, little, etc. For example, We hardly have any apples cannot be rewritten as We hardly have some apples. In questions While both any and some can be used in questions, any is more common and natural in this form. Do you have any apples? can be rewritten as Do you have some apples? However, some is not always applicable. For example, in the case of Do you have any idea what the score is?, any cannot be replaced by some. Some is more commonly used in offers and requests, such as Would you like some tea? If clauses Both some and any are common in if clauses, with similar meanings, as in If you need some/any assistance, feel free to give me a ring.

Till and Until

English speakers are often found asking for the difference(s) between the words till and until. The fact of the matter is, however, that when till acts as a preposition or conjunction, there is no difference between the two words.

To clarify, till has multiple meanings: it works as a noun, verb, preposition and conjunction. Until, on the other hand, works only as a preposition and a conjunction; in these capacities, both words mean exactly the same thing and are thus entirely interchangeable. Till is actually the older word. Until was formed by the addition to it of the prefix un-, meaning up to. Today, as the first word in a sentence, until is generally preferred.

When and If
When and if are both used while referring to the future, as in I will be able to see you in the evening when I get off work and I will be able to see in the evening if I get off work. The difference between the two words is very basic and easily understood: When should be used while referring to something that one is certain will happen. The when in I will be able to see you in the evening when I get off work implies that the speaker is sure that s/he will get free from work in the evening. If should be used while referring to something that might or might not happen. The if in I will be able to see you in the evening if I get off work implies that the speaker is not sure that s/he will get free from work in the evening; it is a possibility, not a certainty. However, it must be noted that when and if can be used interchangeably as well, in case the situation being referred to is predictable or repetitive. For example, the sentences When I am in Calcutta, I stay with my family and If I am in Calcutta, I stay with my family effectively mean the same thing. Another example is, When you leave milk out, it ferments and If you leave milk out, it ferments.

Who and Whom

Many English speakers confuse the words who and whom and tend to use them interchangeably which is often incorrect.

Both who and whom are interrogative pronouns. The key difference between who and whom is that who is used in place of the subject of the sentence and whom is used in place of the object of the sentence.
WHO REPLACES THE SUBJECT OF THE SENTENCE

Who told you? Who is singing? Who wants to eat? Who hit Sanjiv?

WHOM REPLACE THE OBJECT OF THE SENTENCE

Whom are you talking about? Whom is this food for? With whom did you go to the market? Whom did Rajiv hit?

Which and Who

Which is a pronoun which is used to extract information for one or more persons or things. It is also used to add the previously mentioned information. Sentences: 1. Which mango is the sweetest of them all? 2. Which holiday destination is your favourite? 3. This is the same car which won the race for him. Who is a pronoun used to ask about the identity of a particular person. It is also used to give further information about a subject previously mentioned. Sentences: 1. Who is that guy in a black shirt? 2. Who is this childs father? 3. This is the same girl who passed out of school 20 years ago.

Will and Going to

Will and going to are the two forms of simple future used i n English. They are used more or less interchangeably, but there are certain subtle differences between them that even many experienced English speakers are not aware of. The main rule to keep in mind is that: if the decision to act was made before the tim e of speaking, going to must be used; if not, will must be used. Will There are two primary distinct uses for will: 1. To express voluntary action. Voluntary action refers to the following: a. Any action that the speaker offers to perform. I will take you up on that offer. I will get you your breakfast in bed. b. Any action that the speaker declines to perform. I will not (wont) be able to come for your party. I will not do your work for you. c. Any action that the speaker requests the listener to perform. Will you come home on Friday night? Will you take me to the amusement park? To express a promise. I will come back to work as soon as I make a full recovery. I will call you later tonight.

2.

Going to There is one primary distinction for use of going to: it is used to express plans, i.e. the intention of the speaker to do something in the future. This can take two forms:

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To state such an intention: I am going for the match on Thursday. I am going to ensure that we have fun on this trip. To ask about such an intention: Are you going to watch the match on Thursday? Are you going to Jaipur with the others?

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Will/Going to Both will and going to can be used when making predictions about the future. It looks like it will rain today. = It looks like it is going to rain today. I dont think he will do it. = I dont think hes going to do it.