By Nouns, Common errors

Heck no, this is a term I learned from CJ and Marius. "Educated" people speak with very precisely correct (higher register) English. "Uneducated" people tend to use the vernacular and make many common errors, speaking in English of a lower register. (I don't know how...

Vincent, your sentences are not correct, as you are not using the word pastime correctly. Pastime is a synonym for hobby/leisure interest. Even though it contains 'time' its meaning isn't directly related to time. (well, I would imagine it comes from how you 'pass' your 'time'?, but you see...

Kooyeen, I think you are right about the object pronoun being used in place of the subject but these are common errors rather than a formal/informal issue. For example you might hear someone say: "Me and my mates are going to the pictures". Whatever you do though, don't make a conscious effort to...

Yes, effect can indeed be a verb. But the common error is when people say things like "How will this effect you?" when what they MEAN is "How will the affect you?" They also do the reverse - "You can see the affects of time on how this rock has eroded." (I believe that only the field of...

Hi, "Because of a confusion with that type of sentence, it is a curiously common error to put a comma in the absolute construction"Should not we use "beacause of confusion..."? Confusion is an abstract noun and can't take 'a' before it.Yes, 'a confusion' is wrong. Your following examples, with...

Hi, I was reading some resource of grammar on internet and came across this sentence."Because of a confusion with that type of sentence, it is a curiously common error to put a comma in the absolute construction"Should not we use "beacause of confusion..."? Confusion is an abstract noun and...

Casual/Old I hate these knid of mistake! Formal I hate these knids of mistakes! Formal I hate this knid of mistake! 1. Some grammar books say only these kind of + singular noun is correct. These kind of mistake? If it sounds strange to your ears, you are probably right. Well, it is an old...

Pieanne wrote: I would have thought the preposition "at" requires a noun, hence "at any time"? "Anytime" is an adverb. "Call me anytime you want", but "call me at any time" This is correct, for the reason Pieanne gives. "At anytime" is a common error. The entry for "anytime" in M-W...

I'm new here and probably quite qualified to help out when I can. There is a common error that many people make in written English that compels me to comment. It's the mistaken use of one word where two are intended, or vice versa. When I registered on EnglishForums.com, one particular...

"There are four distinct words here. When "affect" is accented on the final syllable (a-FECT), it is a verb meaning "have an influence on": "The million-dollar donation from the industrialist did not affect my vote against the Clean Air Act." A much rarer meaning is indicated when the word is...