Search results for 'tag:Prepositions tag:Common errors' matching tags 'Prepositions' and 'Common errors'

Re: Married to/with

CalifJim — Mon, 07 May 2007 21:01:23 GMT

It's a very common error among Spanish speakers to say get married with to mean casarse con. It's a direct translation of with = con, and it's an incorrect translation! casarse con should always be rendered in English by get married to.

The same problem happens with soÃ±ar con, which is dream about in English, not dream with.

CJ

Not just as stated above, but also, and more usually:
casarse con: to marry (no preposition)

(Edit after seeing Clive's note below)

Re: Punctuation for a novel referenced in a paragraph

Yoong Liat — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 16:10:55 GMT

Anonymous wrote:

When referring to a novel in a paragraph, what is the proper punctuation - do you underline the title only, do you underline and have quotations, do you only have quotations? Also are all the words of the novel's title capitalized?

HB

Common Errors in English

The Right Word at the Right Time

Alice in Wonderland

The Old Man and the Sea

You will notice that the first letter of the title and certain words are capitalised.

Prepositions and conjunctions are not in capital letters.

Re: at anytime/anytime

MrPedantic — Tue, 08 Nov 2005 01:08:07 GMT

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 relates to the adverb: it doesn't relate to "any" + "time", which can be found separately, like any other adjective and noun.

MrP

Anyway, any way, and so forth :I

Denis the Menace — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 21:57:40 GMT

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 sentence said:

"The email you enter is not public, shared in anyway, or displayed on this site."

What's the problem? It was probably a typo of some overworked webmaster, but in fact it should have said "shared in any way". This kind of error has appeared in so many places in recent years that new speakers of English are probably very confused. Even native speakers are confused! Which of the following sentences are correct?

1. They have the lowest prices everyday.
2. Big sales are an everyday event.

3. Let's go in to the restaurant.
4. I'm glad that you talked me into sushi.

Numbers 1 and 3 are NOT correct. If you think about it, many compounded words are adjectives or prepositions. In number 1, "every" and "day" belong apart because they are not describing a noun. In number 3, "into" was the preposition intended, just as it's shown in number 4. Word pairs also get romantic and hook together when their combined meaning is a noun -- such as "workout" or "landmark" and thousands of others that are recognized by all of the best dictionaries.

For some people, it's tempting to write with liberties that corrupt the logic of English. I note that "Please login" has become conventional. This new 'verb' is highly anomalous to the patterns of sentence structure because sensibly there would be a "login" which is defined as the syntax you use when you "log in".

It's hard to stop the grinding of wheels that force the language to be more and more complicated, fraught with rules for which there are no explanations, but we can make life easier by sticking to our guns. I go through life with the hope that I can encourage at least the occasional person to practise simple logic.

I have a free handout on the one-word/two-word problem that I'm pleased to provide to anyone who asks.