5 Assorted Usage Errors

5 Assorted Usage Errors 5 Assorted Usage Errors 5 Assorted Usage Errors By Mark Nichol Using the right word for the job, or considering whether a word is needed at all, distinguishes careful writing from careless writing. Discussion and revision of the following sentences illustrate various ways in which writing can be improved by word-by-word attention to detail. 1. Here’s a list of several webinars that we have hosted that we think you may be interested in. The conjunction that is often optional in a sentence, but when it appears twice in a sentence, omit at least one expendable instance: â€Å"Here’s a list of several webinars we have hosted that we think you may be interested in† (or â€Å"Here’s a list of several webinars we have hosted we think you may be interested in†). 2. Smith snapped back in a rare display of emotion during an otherwise unflappable matter-a-fact testimony. Venerable idiomatic phrases a writer may have heard spoken but not seen written out may be misheard or misremembered and subsequently erroneously recorded, so always double-check the exact wording of such phrases: â€Å"Smith snapped back in a rare display of emotion during an otherwise unflappable matter-of-fact testimony.† 3. Jones’s teammates stressed how little he stresses in the postseason. Stress is often used as a synonym for emphasize, but it is better to employ it only to refer to physical or mental pressure, and emphasize is especially preferable if, distractingly, both senses of stress are used in the same sentence: â€Å"Jones’s teammates emphasized how little he stresses in the postseason.† 4. He’ll make his first scheduled public remarks at the state convention, where he is expected to address his future plans. Plans are, at least in the context of this sentence, something pertaining to the future, so future is redundant here: â€Å"He’ll make his first scheduled public remarks at the state convention, where he is expected to address his plans.† Always scan your writing to delete such extraneous wording. (See this DailyWritingTips.com post and this one for more examples.) 5. Depressed labor markets incent people to monetize their possessions, time, and talents in whatever ways they can. This sentence is a matter of aesthetic consideration rather than error, but avoid using neologisms when perfectly adequate (and often superior) antecedents exist: â€Å"Depressed labor markets incentivize [or â€Å"motivate†] people to monetize their possessions, time, and talents in whatever ways they can.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Usage Review category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Definitely use "the" or "a"Precedent vs. PrecedenceParticular vs. Specific