- How To
- Common Errors Ch. 01
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Click hereErrors occur every day in the manner in which words are used. Let’s talk about some of the most common.
THEY’RE / THEIR / THEREB
THEY’RE is a contraction, a combination of two words. In this case, the two words areTHEY andARE, a pronoun and a verb.They’re going to the ball game tonight.
THEIR is a pronoun that shows possession.That woman is their mother.
THERE is a word that indicates a place.I live rightthere.
AFFECT / EFFECT
AFFECT is a verb and describes something has an influence on something else.Her choice of coloraffected anyone who wanted to hire her as a designer.
There is also another meaning for it, which is less
EFFECT can be both a noun and a verb. As a noun, an example of its use is this:Theeffect of the colors she used had on everyone was terrible. When used as a verb:By using the colors, she was hoping toeffect a change in the way designers worked.
TO / TOO / TWO
TO is a word that is classified as a preposition and generally indicates some kind of motion.I gave the cigaretteto him orI’m goingto the store are good examples of the proper use of the word.
TOO is another word that means also or in excess of.I,too, want to go to the store orI love hertoo much.
TWO is a word that stands for a number.There aretwo ducks in the pond.
LAY / LIE
LAY is a verb that describes an action and must have an item to which the action is being done to. A good way to think of this verb is that an item is being put down. Other forms of the verb areLAID, HAVE LAID, ARE LAYING andWILL LAY. Some examples are:Ihave laid the keys on the table orHelays his life on the line every day.
LIE is a verb that also describes an action but it doesn’t require an item to be used with it. A good way to think of this verb is that it generally is used meaning to recline. Other forms of the verb areLAY, HAVE LAIN, ARE LYING andWILL LIE. Some examples are:Helay back on the bed orIam lying on the couch right now.
COMPLEMENT / COMPLIMENT
COMPLEMENT is a verb that usually means match, as inThe green in the dresscomplemented the green in her eyes orHer street smartscomplement his book smarts.
COMPLIMENT is a noun or verb that means kind words that is given to someone. Some examples are:Icomplimented the chef on his use of apricots orHercompliments made him feel good.
QUEUE / CUE
QUEUE is a noun or a verb that means a line, as in one that you stand in, or the action of standing in a line. Some examples are:Wequeued up for concert tickets orI froze my ass off while standing in thequeue.
CUE is a noun or a verb that means a specific action or the action of receiving that specific action. Some examples are:When I gave thecue, everyone sang, “Happy Birthday!” orIcued up the song so that it would be ready after the speech. Please also know that the white ball used in billiards is known as the ‘CUE’ ball.
ACCEPT / EXCEPT
ACCEPT is a noun or a verb that means to get or receive something. Some examples are:I willaccept the nomination orHeaccepted the fact that his life was ruined.
EXCEPT is a preposition or a verb that means to exclude. Some examples are:I want all of the tomatoesexcept the green ones orShe wasexcepted from the rest of the group.
DYEING / DYING
DYEING is a noun or a verb that means to add color to something. A few examples:Thedyeing of the eggs is our favorite thing to do during Easter orShe isdyeing my pants to match the shirt.
DYING is a noun or a verb that means to be nearing death or feeling as if a person or thing is nearing death. Some examples:When she told him she was cheating, he felt like he wasdying orHisdying on the bed made her not want to sleep on it. The last example sounds very clumsy and though I have seen it used, I don’t think I would use it.
- COMMENTS
highshine808about 2 years agosome exposition on alternate meaning of the word 'lie' might also be valuable.
what are the differences in meaning between 'laying a lie' and 'lying a lay'?
Anonymousalmost 3 years agoI believe that 90% of the spelling and grammar mistakes on this site can be avoided if only for one forgotten practice. It used to be a natural part of the writing process. What happened? Whatever happened to PROOFREADING???
POMPEDEPUISARDalmost 4 years agovery useful. My bugaboo is when a character "smells" something. Oft described as an odor. To me the term is a negative. if what the character is smelling is attractive hows about being a bit more positive by using scent or aroma.
Anonymousover 5 years agoLiterotica should require every new writer to read (or at least make them aware of) these How To submissions by velvetpie. Could a notice of them be made to writers already actively submitting stories?
To one who has read widely in Literotica, the need is obvious, and, in some cases flagrant. Literotica has writers so good, they could be paid professionals, published with little or no editing. Others so bad, readers give up reading. Slirpuff may be better now, but he has some really good, interesting stories that are hampered by his English ability. And his verbal ability to express ideas in English is interesting and compelling -- just not his ability to get it in proper written English form. Slirpuff is by no means the worst on Literotica. I enjoy his stories, regardless.
The words discussed are mostly homonyms, that is, words pronounced the same, but having different meanings. They do not show up on spell-check, because they are real.words.. "I saw her their" has "there" misspelled, but since "their" is a word, spell-check will not notify. I have seen this type of error numerous times in Literotica stories.
Affect/effect. Examples:
The director of the city playhouse affected the mood of the play by effecting lighting changes. The effect was increased attendance.
This means: The director of the city playhouse changed/altered the mood of the play by bringing about/accomplishing lighting changes. The result/outcome was increased attendance.
Paul in Oklahoma
MartyMBover 5 years agoThese two common tools are a helpful time saver As Long As You Ensure That It Changed Your Text To The Correct Word. Too often a writer is given a few choices and the writer picks the wrong one. I've also seen many cases where some word, not even in the list of choices, is used. Inserting words in a sentence of terrorism cause problems meaning that gibberish ends up in your text.
ObiDongKenobiover 6 years agoThe attitude to the use of "to effect a change" will depend on where in the world you learnt/learned English. It's perfectly acceptable in UK English.
Also a cue is the stick used by both snooker and billiards players.
Anonymousover 11 years agoTo Anomyous--this is not meant to be a "flame," but you might want to "google" Strunck &White. It (The Elements of Style) has been the standard for College Comp I courses for over 50 years.
Other authorities have simplified the "affect/effect" issue to this formula--except for the field of psychology, "affect" is a verb, "effect" is a noun, usually preceded by the word "the." I do have a concern that velvetpie has not given credit to the authors of this "Common Error . . ." material--do you know the word plagerism?
Anonymousover 11 years agoEffect a change is correct.
Anonymousover 11 years agoYour use of "effect" in your second example "to effect a change" is incorrect. You do something to "affect" a change. Check out Strunk & White!
shoeslayerover 11 years agoHI, I want to say "Thanks so much! "
I have been asked if English is my second
language and it is NOT. I am sure I just
got careless. Talking is one thing, but trying to
write with the wrong words is only going to
get me low scores and rotten remarks.
I am going to rell all your articles.
WyltEmrysabout 12 years agoExcellent series of articles, but you stumbled coming out of the gate here, starting with the extraneous 'B' at the end of the first subheading. Also, you highlighted the word 'that' in your example sentence for 'their'.
In the next section, you left an incomplete sentence: 'There is also another meaning for it, which is less'... I am guessing you were going to continue with 'common', and describe the meaning of affect that describes emotion, or the expression of emotion? In Psychology, this is used quite often, especially in clinical settings describing DSM-IV symptomology, such as flattened affect (blunted or lack of emotional expression, or physical signs of emotion) or inappropriate affect (showing exaggerated emotional responses, or responses that do not match the situation at hand, as in hysterical laughter at the death of a character in an emotional movie).
I would also argue that the best way to disambiguate the meaning of effect/affect when both are used as verb is that effect is a stronger, more physical cause and effect approach, and affect is a somewhat less physical, more emotional or mental approach. You can effect a change on an object, and affect the way someone views you or reacts to something you do or say. Out of all the common errors you present in this series of articles, this is the one that is least cut and dried, and most open to individual preference of word choice.
In your lay/lie example for lie, you use lay in your example sentence! You can lay down your life for someone, or lie down besides them in bed.
I'd also like to point out one additional use for the word 'their'. There seems to be a trend to avoid the old-school (formal) use of the word 'one' when describing an ambiguous object or number of people in a sentence, which is fine by me because the old style usage is highly stilted, and is almost never heard anymore. However, substituting s/he (s)he or he/she is just as bad, and possibly worse, in my opinion. There is a third option: bring back the third-person indeterminate 'their'. For example, if you have neighbors who are husband and wife, you go to visit 'their house', not 'his or her house', unless you were just specifically referring to one member of the couple, in which case you might use 'his house' or 'her house'.
In the old school form, it would be written 'one should try to do one's best on the exam'. Ugh! Saying 'he/she should try to do his or her best' is just as bad! So, why not try 'students should try to do their best' or 'a student should try to do their best' when it is not clear whether the student is male or female. There are plenty of other similar uses for 'their', but I'm going to step off of my soapbox now. :-)
Anyway, an excellent series of articles. Very inclusive list of commonly confused and misused words. I can't think of anything you left out, but if I find any more, I'll be sure to post them to your comments, for inclusion in future installments!
Anonymousover 13 years agoA good start. However, you need to further clarify the use of affect and effect as your definitions seem to imply that their definition means to influence.
Gary13almost 14 years agoI got a chuckle out of the ignorant criticizing the knowledgeable. As someone said earlier, the ones who need it most will be the ones who don't get it.
Well done, but it only scratches the surface. Nice start, though.
Gary13
