edbond.com - News Editing Spring 2005

Common writing errors
from Melvin Mencher, author of "News Reporting and Writing"
1. Affect, effect Generally, affect is the verb; effect is the noun. "The letter did not affect the outcome. "The letter had a significant effect. "Effect is also a verb meaning to bring about: "It is almost impossible to effect change."

2. Afterward, afterwards Use afterward. The dictionary allows use of afterwards only as a second form. The same applies to toward and towards. Use toward.

3. All right Two words. The dictionary may list alright as a legitimate word, but it is not acceptable in standard usage.

4. Allude, elude You allude to (or mention) a book. You elude (or escape) a pursuer.

5. Annual Do not use first with it. The first time is not an annual (yearly) event.

6. Averse, adverse If you do not like something, you are averse(or opposed) to it. Adverse (bad) is an adjective, as in adverse weather, adverse conditions.

7. Bloc, blockA bloc is a coalition of persons or a group with the same purpose or goal.

Do not call it a block, which has some 40 dictionary definitions.

8. Compose, comprise Remember that you compose things by putting them together.

Once the parts are put together the objects comprises (includes or embraces) the parts.

9. Couple of You need the of. It is never "a couple tomatoes, it is a "a couple of tomatoes".

10. Demolish, destroy To do away with completely. You cannot partially demolish or destroy something, nor is there any need to say totally destroyed.

11. Different from Things and people are different from each other. Do not write that they are different than each other.

12. Drowned Do not say someone was drowned unless an assailant held the victim's head under water. Just say the victim drowned.

13. Due to, owing to, because of We prefer because of

Wrong: "The game was canceled due to rain."

Stilted: "Owing to rain, the game was canceled."

Right: "The game was canceled because of rain."

14. Ecology, environment They are not synonymous. Ecology is the study of the

relationship between organisms and the their environment.

Wrong: "Even so simple an undertaking as maintaining a lawn affects our ecology

(Use environment)
Right: "The laboratory is studying the ecology of man and the desert."

Right: "There is much interest in animal ecology these days."

15. Either, eachmeans one or the other, not both, Each means both (one by one).

Wrong: "There were lions on either side of the door."

Right: "There were lions on each side of the door."

16. Flout, flaunt They are not the same words. Flout means to mock, to scoff or to show disdain for, flaunt means to display ostentatiously

17. Funeral serviceA redundant expression. A funeral is a service.

18. Head upPeople do not head up committees. They head committees.

19. Hopefully One of the most commonly misused words, in spite of what the dictionary may say. Hopefully should describe the way the subject feels. For instance:

"Hopefully, I shall present the plan to the president." (This means I will be hopeful when I do it) But it is something else again when you attribute hope to a non-person.

You may write: "Hopefully, the war will end soon." You mean you hope the war will end soon, but it is not what you are writing. Write "I hope the war will end soon."

20. Imply and Infer The speaker implies. The hearer infers

21. In advance of, prior to Use before; it sounds more natural.

22. Its, it’s Its is the possessive; it’s is the contraction of it is.

23. Lay, lie Lay is the action word; lie is the state of being.

Wrong:The body will lay in state until Wednesday.

Right: The body will lie in state until Wednesday.

Right: The prosecutor tried to lay the blame on him.

However, the past tense of lie is lay.

Right: The body lay in state from Tuesday until Wednesday.

The past participle and the plain past tense of lay is laid.

Right: He laid the pencil on the pad.

Right: He had laid the pencil on the pad.

Right: The hen laid an egg.

Wrong: The body laid in state from Tuesday until Wednesday.

24. Leave, letTo leave alone means to depart from or cause to be in solitude. To be let alone means to be undisturbed.

Wrong: "Mr. Jones talked him into leaving her alone."

Right: "Mr. Jones talked him into letting her alone."

Right: "When I entered the room I saw that Jim and Mary were sleeping, so I decided to leave them alone."

25. Less, fewer If you can separate items in the quantities being compared, use fewer. If not, use less.

Wrong: "The Rams are inferior to the Vikings because they have less good linemen."

Right: "The Rams are inferior to the Vikings because they have fewer good linemen."

Right: "The Rams are inferior to the Vikings because they have less experience.

26. Like, as Do not use like for as or as if. In general, use like to compare phrases and clauses with nouns and pronouns: use as when comparing with phrases and clauses that contain a verb.

Wrong: "Jim blocks the linebacker like he should."

Right: "Jim blocks the linebacker as he should."

Right: "Jim blocks like a pro."

27. Marshall, marshal Generally, the first form is correct only when the word is a proper noun: John Marshall.

The second is a verb form: Marilyn will marshal her forces. And the second form is the one to use for a title. Fire Marshal Stan Anderson, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel.

28. Mean, average, median Use mean as synonymous with average "The mean is the sum of all components divided by the number of components. "Median is the number that has as many components above as it has below it. Mode is the number that appears most frequently in a distribution.

29. Nouns There is a growing trend toward using nouns as verbs. Resist it. Host, headquarters, and author are nouns even though the dictionary may acknowledge they can be used as verbs.

30. Oral, verbal Use oral when use of the mouth is central to the thought: The word emphasizes the idea of human utterance. Verbal may apply to spoken or written words; it connotes the process of putting ideas into writing.

31. Over and more than They are not interchangeable. Over refers to spatial relationships: "The plane flew over the city." More than is used with figures:

"In the crowd were more than 1,000 fans."

32. Parallel construction Thoughts in a series in the same sentence require parallel construction.

Wrong: "The union delivered demands for an increase of 10 percent in wages and cut the work week to 30 hours."

Right: "The union delivered demands for an increase of 10 percent in wages and for a reduction in the work week to 30 hours."

33. Peddle, pedalWhen selling something, you peddle it. When riding a bicycle or similar form of locomotion, you pedal it.

34. Pretense, pretext They are different, but it is a tough distinction. A pretext is that which is put forward to conceal a truth. "He was discharged for tardiness, but this was only a pretext for his general incompetence." A pretense is a "false show", a more overt act intended to conceal personal feelings. "My profuse compliments were all pretense."

35. Principle, principal A guiding rule or basic truth is a principle. The first, dominant or leading thing is principal. Principle is a noun; principal may be a noun or an adjective.

36. Redundancies:
(Easter Sunday) Easter
(Incumbent congressman) Congressman
(His own home) Owns his home
(The company will close down) The company will close
(Jones, Smith, Johnson and Reid were all convicted) Jones, Smith, Johnson and Reid were convicted
(Jewish rabbi) rabbi
(During the winter months) During the winter
(Both Reid and Jones were denied pardons) Reid and Jones were denied pardons
(I read three different books) I read three books
(I am currently tired) I am tired.
(Autopsy to determine the cause of death) autopsy.

37. Refute, rebut Refute connotes success in argument and almost always implies an

editorial judgment. Rebute means answering an argument.

Wrong: Father Bury refuted the arguments of the pro-abortion faction.

Right: Father Bury rebutted the arguments of the pro-abortion faction.

38. Reluctant, reticent If she does not want to act, she is reluctant. If he does not want

speak, he is reticent.

39. Say, said The most serviceable words in the journalist’s language are the forms of the verb to say. Let a person say something, rather than declare or admit or point out. And never let a person grin, smile, frown or giggle something.

40. Slang Do not try to use "with-it" slang.

41. Spelling It is basic. Some frequent misspellings:
consensus, not concensus.
restaurateur, not restauranteur.
dietitian, not dietician.

42. Temperatures They may get higher or lower, but they do not get warmer or cooler.

Wrong: Temperatures are expected to warm up in the area Friday.

Right: Temperatures are expected to rise in the area Friday

43. That, which That tends to restrict the reader's thought and direct it the way you want it to go; which is nonrestrictive, introducing a bit of subsidiary information.
For instance:

"The lawnmower that is in the garage needs sharpening." (Meaning: We have more than one lawnmower. The one in the garage needs sharpening.)

"The lawnmower, which is in the garage, needs sharpening." (Meaning: Our lawnmower needs sharpening. It is in the garage.)

"The statue that graces our entry hall is on loan from the museum." (Meaning: Of all the statues around here, the one in the entry hall is on loan.)

"The statue, which graces our entry hall, is on loan." (Meaning: Our statue is on loan. It happens to be in the entry hall.)

(Note: Which clauses take commas, signaling they are not essential to the meaning of the sentence.

44. Under way Two words. But do not say something got under way. Say it started or began.

45. Unique Something that is unique is the only one of its kind. It cannot be very unique or quite unique or somewhat unique or rather unique. Do not use it unless you really mean unique, only one of its kind.

46. Up Do not use it as a verb.

Wrong: The manager said he would up the price next week.

Right: The manager said he would raise the price next week.

47. Who, whom Generally you are safe to use whom to refer to someone who has been the object of an action. Who is the word when the somebody has been the actor.

"A 19-year-old woman, to whom the room was rented, left the window open."

"A 19-year-old woman, who rented the room, left the window open."

48. Who's, whose Though it incorporates an apostrophe, who's is not a possessive. It is a contraction for who is. Whose is the possessive.
Wrong: I don't know who's coat it is.
Right: I don't know whose coat it is.
Right: Find out who's there.

49. Would Be careful about using would when constructing a conditional past tense.

Wrong: If Soderholm would not have had an injured foot, Thompson would not have been in the lineup.

Right: If Soderholm had not had an injured foot, Thompson would not have been in the lineup.