10 Common Mistakes in English

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10 Common Mistakes in English

Here are 10 of the most common mistakes in English with explanations and examples.

It's vs. Its
Two, Too, To
They're, Their, There
You're vs. Your
Confusing Words
Since vs. For
Have vs. Of in Conditionals
Has gone to vs. Has been to
Then vs. Than
Double Negatives

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It's vs. Its
It's is the contracted form of It is. Thisform is used in sentences using "they" as the subject of the sentencewith the verb "to be" used as either the helping verb (e.g. It's going..., It's raining ...) or the principal verb of the sentence.
Examples:
It's difficult to find work these days.
It's going to rain soon.

Its is the possessive pronoun form. This form is used toexpress that "it" has a specific quality, or that something belongs to"it".
Examples:
I found its taste to be superb!
Its color is deep red, almost Burgundy.

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Too vs. Two vs. To
Too means "also" and is generally used at the end of a sentence. "Too" also indicates too much of a particular quality.
Examples:
That car is too expensive for me!
I'd love to come to the party, too.
Two is the written form of the number 2.
Examples:
There are two applicants for the job.
She has two cats.
To is generally used as a preposition. It is also used as part of the infinitive form of verbs.
Examples:
I gave the book to him.
The verb "to understand" is irregular.

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They're vs. There vs. Their
They're is the contracted form of They are.This form is used in sentences using "they" as the subject of thesentence with the verb "to be" used as either the helping verb (e.g.They're going ..., They're playing ...) or the principal verb of thesentence.
Examples:
They're working hard this week.
They're very interested in helping out.

There is used as an introductory subject is sentenceswith "There is" and "There are". It is also used as an adverb of placemeaning "in that place".
Examples:
There are many people in that room.
That's my house over there.

Their is the possessive pronoun form. This form is usedto express that "they" have a specific quality, or that somethingbelongs to "them".
Examples:
Their house is in Los Angeles.
He liked their looks!

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You're vs. Your
You're is the contracted form of You are.This form is used in sentences using "you" as the subject of thesentence with the verb "to be" used as either the helping verb (e.g.You're going ..., You're watching ...) or the principal verb of thesentence.
Examples:
You're going to have a great time!
You're much better at tennis than Jim.

Your is the possessive pronoun form. This form is used to express that something belongs to "you".
Examples:
Your wife is such a kind woman.
I think your skills are outstanding.

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Confusing Words
There are a number of confusing word pairs in English. This page in quiz format focuses on some of the most common problem pairs.
Here are some examples of some commonly confused word pairs:
effect vs. affect
loose vs. lose

Confusing Words
  Confusing Words Quiz 1
  Confusing Words Quiz 2 - Advanced

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Since vs. For with Present Perfect
Since is used with the present perfect to express that something has happened since a point in time.
Examples:
I've lived here since 1999.
She's been working hard since two this afternoon.

For is used with the present perfect to express that something has happened for a period of time.
Examples:
I've worked at this job for 10 years.
Peter's been playing tennis for two hours.

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Have vs. Of in Conditional Forms
Of is used instead of have in conditional forms due topronunciation (e.g. I would of visited New York if I had had thetime.). "Of" is a preposition whereas "have" is an auxiliary verb usedin conditional forms.Examples:
He might have left early on vacation.
She would have attended if you had asked her to come.

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Has gone to vs. Has been to
... has/have gone to ... refers to someone who has gone to a place but has not yet returned.
Examples:
He's gone to the bank. He should be back soon.
Where has Tom gone?

... has/have been to ... refers to a place which someone has visited sometime in his life. In other words, "has been to" refers to an experience.
Examples:
He's been to London many times.
I've been to Disneyland twice.

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Then vs. Than
Then is used as a time expression.
Examples:
I'll see you then.
I'll be at the party. We can speak then.

Note: It is not used in the form "different than" which is used for comparisons.
Than is used for comparisons.
Examples:
He's lived here longer than I have.
His skills are very different than mine.

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Double Negatives
When using the negative form of a verb (e.g. He isn't working ..., Theyaren't going to ...) do not use a negative quantifier such as nobody, nowhere, etc.
Examples:
They aren't going anywhere special. NOT They aren't going nowhere special.
She hasn't spoken to anyone yet. NOT She hasn't spoken to nobody yet.

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"double negative"

From Richard Nordquist,
Your Guide to Grammar & Composition.

Definition: (1) Anonstandard form using two negatives for emphasis where only one isnecessary. (2) A standard form using two negatives to express apositive ("She is not unhappy").
Examples and Observations:

• "He nevere yet no vileynye [rudeness] ne sayde
  In al his lyf unto no maner wight."
  (Geoffrey Chaucer, "The Knight's Tale" in The Canterbury Tales)
• "Ther nas no man nowher so vertuous."
  (Geoffrey Chaucer, "The Friar's Tale" in The Canterbury Tales)
• "Nor never none
  Shall mistress of it be, save I alone."
  (William Shakespeare, Viola in Twelfth Night)
• "Syntactically, perhaps the chief characteristic of vulgar Americanis its sturdy fidelity to the double negative. So freely is it used,indeed, that the simple negative appears to be almost abandoned. Suchphrases as 'I see nobody,' 'I could hardly walk,' 'I know nothing aboutit' are heard so seldom among the masses of the people that they appearto be affectations when encountered; the well-nigh universal forms are'I don’t see nobody,' 'I couldn’t hardly walk,' and 'I don’t knownothing about it.'"
  (H. L. Mencken, The American Language, 1921)
• "You ain’t heard nothin’ yet, folks!"
  (Al Jolson in The Jazz Singer)
• "Badges? We ain't got no badges."
  (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre)
• "I ain’t gonna work on Maggie’s farm no more."
  (Bob Dylan, "Maggie's Farm")
• "We don't need no education.
  We don't need no thought control."
  (Roger Waters of Pink Floyd, "Another Brick in the Wall")

[ 本帖最后由 uwoncacn 于 2007-8-29 11:59 编辑 ]