List of Common English Errors in Everyday Situations

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LIST OF COMMON ENGLISH ERRORS IN EVERYDAY SITUATIONS Everyday situations are a minefield of common English errors. Here, we rectify some of them so you can learn to avoid making the same mistakes. [pic] WRONG: “Please excuse me. I have to leave now to put my children TO SLEEP.” RIGHT: “… I have to leave now to put my children TO BED.” (EXPLANATION: It is a criminal offence to put a person “to sleep”. In Singapore it carries the death penalty.) WRONG: “I SEND our son Joey to school every day.” RIGHT: “I DRIVE/TAKE our son Joey to school….” (EXPLANATION: To “send” someone means that you are not accompanying that person on the journey.) [pic] WRONG: “Last month, I INFORMED that our production cost had been rising.” RIGHT: “… I INFORMED ALL OF YOU that …” or “… I REPORTED that …”. (EXPLANATION: The word “inform”, unlike the word “say” or “report”, must be followed by an object.) WRONG: “The reason for the increase in our cost IS BECAUSE commodity prices have been going up relentlessly.” RIGHT: “The reason for the increase in our cost IS THAT commodity prices have …”. (EXPLANATION: “Because” is used only when the sentence is written in a different way: “Our cost has increased BECAUSE commodity prices have been …”.) WRONG: “I don’t think SO that commodity prices have risen that much.” RIGHT: “I don’t think that commodity prices have risen that much.” (EXPLANATION: The word “so” is redundant.) WRONG: “Please do not repeat the mistake again.” RIGHT: “… Please do not repeat it.” (EXPLANATION: “Repeat” means “do again”. So to “repeat again” means “to do again again”.) WRONG: “After you have studied the proposed agreement, please REVERT

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