Archive of Common Grammar Mistakes 
 

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A 100s 360 degrees a / an A.D. ala AM / PM abject able to about absorbtion abstruse / obtuse academia acapella, a capella accede / exceed accent marks access accessory accept / except accidently accurate / precise acronyms and apostrophes acrossed actionable / doable actual fact / actually ad / add ad nauseum addicting adapt / adopt added bonus administer / minister administrate admission / admittance adopted / adoptive adultry advance / advanced adverse / averse advice / advise adviser / advisor advocate for aesthetic / ascetic affect / effect affluence / effluence Afghan / Afghani African-American afterall afterwards / afterwords agnostic / atheist agreeance / agreement ahold / hold aid / aide ain’t aisle / isle all all and all all be it all for not all goes well / augurs well all of the sudden all the farther alleged, allegedly alliterate / illiterate alls allude / elude allude / refer allusion / illusion allusive / elusive / illusive almost along the same vein alot aloud / allowed already / all ready alright altar / alter alterior alternate / alternative altogether / all together altho, tho alumnus / alumni amature ambiguous / ambivalent ambivalent / indifferent American amongst / among amoral / immoral amount / number ampitheater an / and analogous ancestor and also and / or anecdote / antidote angel / angle anteclimax another words antihero anxious / eager any more any other number anyone / any one anytime anyways anywhere anywheres apart / a part apiece / a piece apostrophes appauled appose / oppose appraise / apprise apropos / appropriate Arab / Arabic / Arabian around / about arrant / errant arthuritis artic artisanal / artesian as as best as as far as as follow as less as possible as of yet as per as such as time progressed ascared ascent / assent ascribe / subscribe asocial aspect / respect assess assure / ensure / insure asterick astrology / astronomy aswell at all ATM machine athlete athiest attain / obtain attribute / contribute aural / oral auger / augur autobiography / biography avaidable avenge / revenge avocation / vocation away / a way awe, shucks awhile / a while ax axel / axle

B back / forward / up in time backseat / back seat backslash / slash backup / back up backward / backwards backyard / back yard bad bail / bale bailout / bail out baited breath baldfaced, boldfaced ball / bawl barb wire, bob wire BAR-B-Q, barbeque bare / bear barter / haggle base based around, based off of basicly basises bazaar / bizarre beat / bead beaurocracy beckon call began / begun begs belief begs the question behaviors being that belief / believe belief toward below table bemuse benefactor / beneficiary beside / besides better between between you and I beyond the pail bias / biased bible bicep bit / bitten biweekly / semiweekly blatant blindsighted / blindsided block / bloc blog / post blonde / blond blunt / brunt boarders / borders boast your confidence bologna / baloney bon a petite bonafied bonds / bounds boost in the arm bored of born / borne born out of borrow / loan borrow off both both / each bought / brought boughten bounce / bounds bourgeois bouyant bow brainchild brake / break brand names brang, brung breach / breech breakup / break up breath / breathe breeches bring / take Britain / Briton broach / brooch broke / broken brunt / butt brussel sprout build off of bullion / bouillon bully pulpit bumrush but . . . however butt naked buttload buttox by / ’bye / buy by far and away

C cacao / cocoa cache / cachet caddy-corner call the question callous / callused calm, cool, and collective Calvary / cavalry can goods Canadian geese cannot / can not canon / cannon can’t . . . too canvas / canvass capeesh capital / capitol caramel / carmel carat / caret / carrot / karat careen / career caring carousal / carousel Catch 22 catched / caught Caucasian CD-ROM disk ceasar cease the day / seize the day celibate / chaste celtic cement / concrete censor / censure / sensor / censer center around center of attraction cents ceremonial / ceremonious chai tea chaise longue chalk-full Champaign / Champagne chauvinist Check chemicals Chicano / Latino / Hispanic chock it up chrispy chose / choose chuck / chunk Church chute/shoot cite / site / sight clamor / clamber classic / classical cleanup / clean up clench / clinch cliché / clichéd click / clique climactic / climatic close / clothes close proximity closed-minded coarse / course coat strings coffee clutch coiffeur / coiffure cold slaw coliseum / Colosseum collaborate / corroborate collage / college collective plural Colombia / Columbia colons / semicolons coma / comma come with commas company names with apostrophes compare and contrast compare to / compare with complement / compliment complementary / complimentary comprised of concensus concerning concerted effort confident / confidant / confidante conflicted / conflicting feelings confusionism congradulations connote / denote conscience, conscious, consciousness conservativism contaminates / contaminants continual / continuous contrary / contrast contrasts / contrasts with conversate copywrite / copyright coronate core / corps / corpse cowered / coward costumer / customer could care less could give a damn could of / should of / would of council / counsel / consul couple / couple of cowtow Crackerjacks crafts crape/crepe credible / credulous creeped / crept crescendo / climax crevice / crevasse crick / creek criteria / criterion criticism critique / criticize crochet / crotchet / crotchety croissant crowbar / wrecking bar crucifiction crucifix / cross cue / queue currant / current curve your appetite cursing through veins cut and dry cut and paste / copy and paste cut of tea

D dairy / diary damped / dampened damp squid dangling and misplaced modifiers daring-do data dateline / deadline day in age daylight savings time de rigueur deal dealed death nail debrief decent / descent / dissent deceptively decimate deep-seeded defence definate deformation / defamation defuse / diffuse degrade / denigrate / downgrade degree names deja vu democrat / democratic demure / demur denied of depends depravation / deprivation depreciate / deprecate desirable / desirous derisory / derisive desert / dessert deviant / deviate device / devise devote/devout dew / do / doo / due dialogue / discuss dieties differ / vary different than differently abled, physically challenged digestive track dilemma / difficulty dike / dyke dire straights directions disasterous disburse / disperse disc / disk disconcerning discreet / discrete discretion is the better part of valor discussed / disgust disease names disembark the vessel disgression disinterested / uninterested dispose / dispose of disremember disrespect dissemble / disassemble divide by half dogma, doctrine do respect do’s and don’ts doctorial / doctoral doesn’t supposed to dolly / handcart dominate / dominant done / did don’t / doesn’t donut double negatives double possessive doubt that / doubt whether / doubt if doubtlessly / doubtless douse/dowse dove / dived dozed / dosed downfall / drawback download / upload dozen of drank / drunk drastic / dramatic dredge / drudge / trudge drier / dryer dribble / drivel drips and drabs drive / disk drug / dragged dual / duel duck tape due to the fact that duly / dully dyeing / dying

E e.g. / i.e. each early adapter earmarks / hallmark earth, moon easedrop ecology / environment economic / economical ecstatic ect. -ed / -t edge on eek / eke efforting ei / ie either / or, neither / nor either are / either is eighteen hundreds / nineteenth century electrocute elegy / eulogy elicit / illicit ellipses email embaress emergent / emergency emigrate / immigrate eminent / imminent / immanent empathy / sympathy emphasize on emulate / imitate end result enamored by endemic / epidemic engine / motor English / British enjoy to enormity / enormousness enquire / inquire ensuite ensure / insure enthuse entomology / etymology envelop / envelope envious / jealous enviroment epic / epoch epicenter epigram / epigraph / epitaph / epithet epitomy eponymous equally as equivocate / equal -er / -est error / err -es espouse / expound / expand et al. -eth ethics / morals / morale ethnic ever so often every every since everyday everyone / every one everytime evidence to evoke exact same exalt / exult exasperate / exacerbate excape / escape exception proves the rule exceptional / exceptionable excrable execute on exhileration exited/excited exorcise / exercise expecially expensive, cheap explicitly, implicitly exponential expressed / express expresso expresses that / says that extend / extent extended, extensive extract revenge exulted / exalted

F factoid fair / fare faithful / fateful far be it for me farther / further fastly fatal / fateful faun / fawn faze / phase fearful / fearsome Febuary Federal (capitalization) feelings for / feelings about feint / faint fellow classmate female / woman 50’s fiance / fiancee finalize fine toothcomb firey first annual first floor / ground floor firstable fiscal / physical fit the bill fittest fixing flair / flare flak / flack flaunt / flout flesh out / flush out floe/flow floppy disk / hard disk flounder / founder fluke flustrated, fustrated flys focus around followup font / typeface foot / feet footnotes / endnotes for / fore / four for all intensive purposes for free for goodness’ sakes for one / for one thing for sale / on sale for sell for sure / sure forbidding / foreboding / formidable forceful / forcible / forced forego / forgo foresee / forsee forever / for ever formally / formerly forward / forwards fortuitous / fortunate foul / fowl fourty fowl swoop framework / groundwork Frankenstein frankly French dip with au jus freshman / freshmen from . . . to from the beginning of time fully well fulsome -fuls / -ful full proof / foolproof functionality furl / furrow fushia

G GP practice gaff / gaffe gamut / gauntlet gander / dander gardener snake / garter snake garnish / garner gauge / gouge gaurd genius gender genuine gerunds & pronouns get me Ghandi gibe / jibe / jive gift / give gig / jig gild / guild goal / gaol goal / objective god goes going forward gone / went gonna good / well good-by / good-bye / goodby /goodbye got / gotten got to government graduate graffiti grammer grasping for straws gratis / gratuitous gray / grey greatful grevious grill / grille grill cheese grisly / grizzly group (singular vs. plural) ground zero grow guess who? gull / gall gut-rending/heart-wrenching gyp

H had ought hadn’t have hail / hale hairbrained hand and hand handicap / disability hangar / hanger hanged / hung hanging indents Hanukkah, Chanukah Happy Belated Birthday hardly hardly never hardy / hearty hark / hearken hay day HIV virus he don’t heading / bound heal / heel hear / here hearing-impaired heavily heighth help the problem hence why herbs / spices here’s / here are hero / protagonist heroin / heroine hew and cry highly looked upon / highly regarded him, her / he, she Hindi / Hindu hippie / hippy his and her’s hisself historic / historical an historic hit and miss hoi polloi hoard / horde hock / hawk hold your peace / say your piece hole / whole holocaust homophobic home page hone in hors d’oeuvres how to humanism / humanist humanity humus / hummus hundreds / century hyperdermic hyphenation hyphens & dashes hypocritical hysterical / hilarious

I I me myself -ic ice tea idea / ideal idle / idol if / whether if not if I was / if I were ignorant Illinois immaculate conception / virgin birth impact impactful impassible / impassable impeach impertinent / irrelevant imply / infer in memorial in regards to in route in spite of / despite in store in tact in terms of in the fact that in the mist incase incent, incentivize incidences / incidents / instances includes incredible incredulous / incredible indepth Indian / Native American indite / indict individual infact infamous / notorious infinite inflammable influencial -ing ink pen in mass input in route in shambles in spite of / despite insight / incite install / instill instances / instants insundry intend on intense / intensive intensifiers intercession interesting interment / internment Internet / intranet interface intergrate intermural / intramural / extramural interpretate into / in to intricate / integral intrigue invested interest invite / invitation Iraq ironically irregardless is, is islams isn't it, innit Israelite / Israeli Isreal issues itch / scratch it’s / its

J jack / plug jam / jamb jerry-built / jury-rigged Jew / Hebrew Jew / Jewish jewelry job titles John Henry John Hopkins joint possessives judgement junta just just assume jutebox

K key kick-start kindergarden knots per hour koala bear

L l / 1 l / ll LCD Display laissez-faire land lover languish / luxuriate large last name / family name late / former later / latter laundry mat lay / lie layed/laid laxadaisical/lackadaisical leach / leech lead / led least / lest leave / let legend / myth lense less / fewer less painless lessen / lesson let alone lets / let’s liable, libel liaise libary licence / license light-year lighted / lit lightening / lightning like like for likeliness / likeness likker listserv “lite” spelling literally literature little own little to none lived loath / loathe login logon lol long story short lookit loose / lose loser / looser lot, plenty, load (number) lozenger lustful / lusty luxuriant / luxurious -ly adjectives

M MAC / Mac macabre maddening crowd magic bullet / silver bullet majority are / majority is majorly make due make pretend mantle / mantel manufacture marinate on marital / martial marshall marshmellow mash potatoes mass masseuse / masseur material / materiel mauve may / might maybe / may be me either mean / median mean for meantime / meanwhile medal / metal / meddle / mettle media Medieval Ages mediocre medium / median meet up methodology / method memorium meteor / meterorite / meteoroid mfr. / mfg. mic midrift might could might has well might ought militate / mitigate mind of information miner / minor miniscule minority minuet / minute minus minus well mischievious mislead / misled misnomer misplaced stress mixed-up media molten/melted money is no option Mongoloid mono e mono moral / morale morays more importantly more / most moreso most always motherload motion / move Mount Fujiyama much differently muchly mucus / mucous multipart names multiply by double mumble jumbo, mumbo jumble music / singing must of mute point myriad of myself

N n’ name, pronoun nauseated / nauseous naval / navel near neck in neck needs -ed / -ing neice Nevada nevermind new lease of life next, this next store nicety / niceness nieve niggard ninty nip it in the butt no sooner when no such a thing Noble Prize none nonplussed noone not not all not all that not hardly notate / note nothing (singular) notorious now and days nowheres nuclear number of verb numbers numerous of nuptual

O O / zero object d’art obsolescent / obsolete octopi odd oeuvre of of ___’s ofcourse offense offline oft chance / off chance often oggle oh / o OK Old English old fashion old-timer’s disease old wise tale on accident on the contraire on the lamb on the same token on tomorrow once once and a while one of the (singular) one-dimensional one in the same one of the only ongoingly online / on line / in line only onto / on to op-ed open opportunist oppose to oppress / repress oral / verbal orders of magnitude ordinance / ordnance Oregon organic oriental orientate ostensively ourn outcast/outcaste over and out over-exaggerated oversee / overlook overtake / take over owness

P PC computer PSS page / site pair (number) pair / pare / pear palate / palette / pallet par excellance parallel parallelled / paralleled parallelism in a series paralyzation parameters / perimeters paramount / tantamount paranoid parentheses parliment partake / participate passed / past past time pastorial passive voice patience / patients pause for concern pawn off / palm off payed / paid peace / piece peak / peek / pique peal out / peel out peasant / pheasant pedal / peddle pedal to the medal pen / pin penultimate / next to last peoples per percent, per cent percent decrease percipitation peripheral pernickety / persnickety perogative / prerogative perpetrate / perpetuate persay persecute / prosecute personal / personnel personality perspective / prospective peruse perverse / perverted phantom / fathom phenomena / phenomenon Philippines / Filipinos phoney / phony phrasal verbs vs. nouns physical picaresque / picturesque pickup / pick up picture pigeon English PIN number pinned up pit in my stomach pith and vinegar plain / plane plays a factor playwrite plead innocent pleaded / pleated please RSVP plug-in plus / add podium / lectern poinsetta poisonous / venomous point being is that point in time point of you pole / poll pompom / pompon poo-poo populace / populous pore / pour possessed of, by, with prosperity / posterity practicable/practical practice / practise practicle pray / prey precede / proceed precedence / precedents precipitate / precipitous precurse predominant / predominate predominately preemptory preferably prejudice / prejudiced pre-Madonna premier / premiere premise / premises prepone prepositions (repeated) prepositions (wrong) prescribe / proscribe present writer presently prespiration pretty primer primevil principal / principle prioritize priority proactive probably prodigy, progeny, protégé program/programme proof is in the pudding prone pronounciation prophecy / prophesy prostate / prostrate protagonist / proponent protray proved / proven psychologist / psychiatrist / psychotherapist / psychoanalyst pundint purposely / purposefully

Q Q / G quantum leap question / ask queue the quick and the dead quick claim quiet / quite quote quotation marks

R RBIs RPMs racism rack / wrack raise / raze rampart / rampant ran / run random rapport rate of speed ratio rational / rationale rationale / rationalization ravaging / ravishing / ravenous recreate reactionary / reactive readably real / really realize / realise realms of possibility realtor reap what you sew reason because rebelling / revolting rebut / refute recent / resent rediculous redo it over redundancies reeking havoc refrain / restrain refridgerator refute / reject regard / regards regime / regimen / regiment regretfully / regrettably reign / rein reknown religion religion believes religiosity reluctant / reticent remotely close remuneration / renumeration reoccurring repel / repulse replete / complete reply back report into repungent request / ask resign / re-sign resignate resister / resistor respiratory respond back restauranter restive retch / wretch reticent / hesitant retrospective / retroactive return back revelant revert / reply revert back revolve / rotate revue / review rhetorical questions ridged/rigid riffle / rifle right / write / write right of passage ring its neck ringer / wringer Rio Grande River risky / risqué road to hoe rob / steal rod iron, rot iron role / roll rollover / roll over Romainian romantic rondezvous root / rout / route rouge / rogue rubbage Rueben ruff rural rye / wry

S sacred / scared sacreligious scramble eggs safety deposit box sail / sale / sell salsa sauce same difference sameo sameo samwich / sandwich sang / sung sarcastic / ironic satellite say / tell scarcely sceptic / skeptic schizophrenic sci-fi scone / sconce Scotch scotch free scrapegoat sea change seam / seem seasonable / seasonal / unseasonable / unseasonal second of all seen / saw segway select / selected self-steam self-worth sense / since sense of false hope sensual / sensuous sentence fragments sergeant of arms service / serve set / sit setup / set up shall / will shan’t / shall not shear / sheer sheath / sheaf sherbert shimmy / shinny shined / shone shoe-in shone / shown shook / shaken should / would shoulder on / soldier on show-stopper shrunk / shrank shutter to think sick / sic Sierra Nevada Mountains signaled out silicon / silicone simplistic single quotes Sir / Dame sister-in-laws skiddish slight of hand slog it out slow gin sluff off snuck so / very so fun soar / sore social / societal socialize sojourn / journey sole / soul somebody / someone somebody’s else sometime / some time sometimes not always someways somewhat of a somewheres song / work or composition sooner sooner than later sort after sort of sorta speak sound byte soup du jour of the day sour grapes souse chef sowcow spaces after a period spaces in names spaded / spayed span spare of the moment specially / especially specie / species spicket spiritualism spoke / said sprain / strain spree squash / quash squoze staid / stayed stain glass stalactites / stalagmites stand / stance standalone states / countries stationary / stationery statue of limitations staunch/stanch steak / stake step foot stereo stint / stent stock and trade stoled stomp stood / stayed straddled with / saddled with straight / strait straightened / straitened straightjacket straight-laced strength stress on stricken / struck strike a cord striped / stripped strong suite subject to / subjected to submittal / submission substance-free substitute with succeed / secede suffer with sufficeth suit / suite sulking / skulking summary / summery summersault suped up supercede supposably, supposingly, supposively suppose to supremist surplus neckline suspect / suspicious suspicion / suspect surfing the Internet swam / swum systematic / systemic

T table tad bit take a different tact take and taken back / taken aback tape, record tattle-tail taught / taut taunt / taut / tout tempera / tempura tenant / tenet tender hooks tentative than / then thanks God thankyou that / than that / which that kind teeth theirselves them theory there’s their’s they’re / their / there therefor / therefore these are them these kind these ones they / their (singular) think on this here/that there though / thought / through threw / through throne / thrown through a mirror, darkly throws of passion thusfar thusly tick / tic timber / timbre time period times / multiply times smaller tirimisù today’s day and age to / too / two to home to the manor born to where today’s modern society toe-headed toe a fine line tolled / told tooken / took / taken touche tounge tongue and cheek torchiere tore / torn torturous / tortuous touch bases tow the line toward / towards track home tradegy tragedy / travesty transition tremblor tripple trite and true troop / troupe trustee/trusty try and turn into/turn in to tussled / tousled two to tangle

U UFO ugly American The Ukraine unchartered / uncharted unconscience under the guise that undermind under weigh underestimated underlining undo / undue undoubtably University of Indiana unkept unpleased unlike unrest unthaw untracked upmost upto urine analysis use / usage use to used to could utilize

V vague reference vain / vane / vein vapid / vacuous various vary / very veil of tears vendor veracious / voracious verbage verb tense verse / play against verses / versus very sort of, very kind of very unique vice-like / vise-like vicious / viscous circle / cycle video vinegarette vintage point virii vichyssoise visually impaired / blind vitae viola / voila volumptuous

W wail / whale wait on wake waver / waiver walk the talk wander / wonder want that . . . should warmongerer warrantee / warranty wary / weary / leery was / were wash wax way ways weak / week weather / wether / whether weather forecast calls for weiner wench / winch Wensday went / gone we’re / were were / where wet your appetite whacky / wacky what wheat wheelbarrel whenever / when where (and prepositions) whereabouts are where it’s at wherefore whether / whether or not whilst / while whim and a prayer whimp whip cream whisky / whiskey who / whom who’s / whose a whole ’nother whole-hardily whose-ever wile away -wise wit / whit within / among woman / women wonderkind wont / won’t working progress World Wide Web worse comes to worse worser would have wrangle / wangle wrapped / rapt wreath / wreaths / wreathe / wreathes wreckless write me writting

X Xmas / Christmas

Y ya’ll ye yea / yeah / yay year end and year out ying and yang yoke / yolk you you better you can’t have your cake and eat it too you know / know what I’m sayin’? you was your / you your guys’s yourself your / you’re youse you’ve got another thing coming

Z zeroscape zero-sum gain zoology

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

• The home page for this site. If you missed it, please start here.
• Non-Errors Those usages people keep telling you are wrong but which are actually standard in English.

   

  split infinitives * ending a sentence with a preposition * beginning a sentence with a conjunction * between vs. among * over vs. more than * gender vs. sex * who vs. that * since vs. because * hopefully * momentarily * lend vs. loan * near miss * “none’singular vs. plural * scan vs. skim * off of * gotten vs. got * till’ vs. ’til * teenage vs. teenaged * reference vs. cite * endquote vs. unquote * feeling bad * persuade vs. convince * You shouldn’t pronounce the “e” in “not my forte.” * normalcy vs. normality * aggravate vs. irritate * preventive vs. preventative * entitled vs. titled * People are healthy; vegetables are healthful. * Dinner is done; people are finished. * Crops are raised; children are reared. * “You’ve got mail” should be “you have mail.” * it’s “cut the muster,” not “cut the mustard.” * it’s “carrot on a stick,” not “carrot or stick.” * spitting image * “Lion’s share” means all of something, not the larger part of something. * connoisseur

   

• More errors Other strange and amusing word confusions
• Commonly misspelled words.
• The whole site on one page (ASCII text; the easiest option if you’re reading through all the entries in order)
• List of commonly made suggestions. Check this before writing.
• Sean Igo’s “Garbage In, Garbage Out: Errors Caused by Over-Reliance on Spelling Checkers”

• American Heritage Book of English Usage (now out of print but used copies are available cheap)
• AskOxford: An excellent dictionary with many other resources on British English.
• Worldwide Words: Michael Quinion investigating International English from a British Viewpoint
• Daniel Kies’ Modern English Grammar
• Jack Lynch’s Grammar and Style Notes
• Charles Darling’s Guide to Grammar and Writing
• Dr. NAD’s Prig Page
• Ronald B. Standler’s Technical Writing Guide
• Garbl’s Writing Resources On-Line
• UsingEnglish.com: useful resources for those studying English as a second language
• English as a Second Language Help Desk at Washington State University
• WWWebster Dictionary (Merriam Webster) provides recorded pronunciations
• Grammar Girl’s Quick & Dirty Tips for Better Writing Detailed discussion of individual points.
• Heteronyms
• Antagonyms
• Hazel Tank’s Word Lists - The Way Doctors Talk
• Check Your Spelling
• Differences between British, Canadian and American Spelling
• William Safire’s self-violating “Rules for Writers”
• The Eggcorn Database Great collection of misheard words and phrases.
• Crash Blossoms Bungled headlines
• Demi-Entendres Mixed-up expressions
• The Word Detective interesting essays on word origins
• Geoffrey K. Pullum: 50 Years of Stupid Grammar Advice (an interesting critique of Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style.
• Reviews of Common Errors in English Usage