http://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/3669234.html From VOA Learning English,
this is Everyday Grammar.
This week, we will learn a few
English words and phrases that are commonly misused in English. Even well-educated native English
speakers make the mistakes you will read and hear about today, including
reporters and English teachers!
After today’s program, you can
have fun finding these mistakes when other people use them. Let’s start with a very common
written mistake that native English speakers make.
"could
of" or could’ve
If you spend time on social
media, such as Facebook, you may see that native English speakers often use the
word of after the words could, would or should. For
example, in the sentence:
I could of gone to New York
last weekend.
However, the word of is a preposition. The sentence
needs a verb instead. The confusion is caused by the shortened, or abbreviated,
version of “could have.” It takes an apostrophe followed by the letters ve. The spelling then is could've.
The preposition of sounds just like the shortened
version of the verb have, which is pronounced ’ve.
In speaking, this is not
a problem, since both phrases sound the same.
In writing, an easy way to
remember the correct form is that could, would and should are helping verbs. So another verb
must always follow them.
In the example, “I could’ve
gone to New York last weekend,” have and gone are forms of verbs. Of is a preposition and would never
appear after a helping verb.
Every day or
Everyday
Another writing error happens
every day in America. Native English speakers often misspell “every day!” They
will write it as one word instead of two.
When every and day are
put together as one word, they become an adjective that means “common” or “used
or seen each day.” When you use this adjective, you must usually put it before
a noun. For example, you can say:
He
didn’t let the problems of everyday life worry him.
But, if you wanted to tell
someone that something happens each day, you must separate the words every and day in
writing. For example, you could write:
I
practice my grammar every day.
When every and day are
separate words, they are an adverb phrase that describes when, or how often,
something happens.
So, how can you easily
remember which one to use? Think of the title Everyday Grammar. Remember, if
you are writing the single word everyday, it is an adjective that most often
comes before a noun. But the two words every and day express how often something happens.
And they are an adverb phrase, and must modify a verb.
The other mistakes we are
looking at today can happen in either speech or writing.
Different than or different from
Many native English speakers
use the phrase different than to show contrast between things or people. For example:
Children
are different than adults.
Technically, that is
incorrect. Standard English
usage requires from instead
of than,
in this case. The correct sentence would be:
Children
are different from adults.
But grammar experts do not
always agree. Some of them say the phrase different than is acceptable. It
has existed for centuries, they argue, and famous writers have used it in their
works. For instance, 19th century writer F. Scott Fitzgerald used different
than in his short story “The
Rich Boy.” Listen:
Let
me tell you about the very rich. They are different than you and me.
Some grammar experts say that
both than and from are
acceptable. However, no one objects to from, so
it would be your safest choice, especially in academic writing.
“15
items or less”
The less grammar you understand, the more
mistakes you probably will make. And the fewer grammar
mistakes you make, the better.
Which brings us to another
common grammar mistake: the use and misuse of fewer and less.
Fewer is used with
countable nouns; Less, with
non-countable.
This mistake is found at food
stores throughout the U.S. where signs at checkout lines sometimes read “15 items or less.” These lines are for people
who are not buying very much.
But the phrase uses the
adjective less to describe items,
a countable noun. So less is
wrong; the correct adjective is fewer.
The word fewer must be used with count nouns, like
items, animals, cars, or dresses. Less is
used with non-count nouns, such as money, sand, love, or water. (See our
Everyday Grammar episode on Understanding Non-count Nouns)
So how can you remember
whether to use less or fewer?
One easy way to remember is to ask yourself, "Can I count this thing on a few fingers?" If the answer is
"yes," use the word fewer.
We will be back next week with
another Everyday Grammar. And remember: if you understand how to use the words
discussed today, you are different from many English speakers!
I’m John Russell. And I’m Jill
Robbins.
Alice Bryant wrote
this story for Everyday Grammar. Caty Weaver was the editor.
Have you struggled
with the commonly misused words we discussed today? We want to hear from you.
Write to us in the comments section.
Words in This Story
native English
speaker - a person whose
first language is English
contrast - n. something that is different from another
thing
standard - adj. accepted
and used by most of the educated speakers and writers of a language
checkout line - n. the place or area where goods are paid for
in a store
item - n.
an individual thing