We make lots of errors in our daily spoken and written English. These errors come from people whose mother tongue is English. What we presumed are correct in English are as a matter of fact grammatically wrong.
Thus, errors come from different sources including educationists, managers, students, highly-placed personalities and many others.
In this post, we bring out such errors to help “offenders” correct them. The reader will find helpful tips by way of explanation and model sentences for most words and phrases that are considered wrongly used.
Students in the primary, secondary and tertiary institutions as well as teachers and those who want to speak succinctly and correctly will find this post very useful.
- Disposed off /Disposed of
It is wrong to say: John has disposed off his property.
Correct to Say: John has disposed of his property.
- Troubling /Ill-treating
Wrong to say: He has been troubling me.
Correct to Say: He has been giving me trouble or He has been treating me badly.
- Found /Founded
Wrong to say: Who found Lagos State?
Correct to Say: Who founded Lagos State?
- Pedal /Peddle
Wrong to say: Bukky has been accused of pedaling fake drugs.
Correct to say: Bukky has been accused of peddling fake drugs.
Pedal is an adjectival word that pertains to the foot. Its noun meaning is tread. Peddle is a word that means “to hawk or sell”.
- Cannot be possible /Cannot
Wrong to say: This cannot be possible.
Correct to say: This cannot be done.
Cannot and be possible are synonymous and so should not be used to together. Another reconstruction of the exemplar sentence might read as follows: This is not possible. Or This will not be possible.
- Must have to /Must
Wrong to say: We must have to be there.
Correct to say: We must be there.
Using must and have to together is tautological. One should be used in a sentence. The exemplar sentence might be rephrased as follows: We have to be there.
- Hear /Understand
Wrong to say: I hear Igbo language.
Correct to say: I understand Igbo language.
We should note that anyone who is not deaf will hear a language but may not understand it.
- Win /Defeat
Wrong to say: We win them by 3-1.
Correct to say: We defeated them by 3-1.
You win something such as an argument, a match or a prize, but you defeat an opponent. The model sentence can be rephrased as follows: We beat them by 3-1.
- Discuss about /Discuss
Wrong to say: They have discussed about the matter.
Correct to say: They have discussed the matter.
Do not use discuss and with together.
- Order for /Order
Wrong to say: The man ordered for 5 books.
Correct to say: The man ordered 5 books.
For is otiose in the wrong sentence.
- Voice out /Voice
Wrong to say: They have voiced out their opinion.
Correct to say: They have voiced their opinion.
Out is a redundant preposition in the faulty sentence.
- Demand for /Demand
Wrong to say: Obi demanded for my reason for doing it.
Correct to say: Obi demanded my reason for doing it.
Demand does not colligate with for. If you find the exemplar sentence somewhat clumsy, use demand as a noun in a separate sentence. E.g. Obi made a demand for ….
- Comprise of /Comprise
Wrong to say: It comprises of 5 books and five rulers.
Correct to say: It comprises 5 books and five rulers
Of is redundant in the wrong sentence. We can however say: composed of ……., consists of……….etc.
- Request for /Request
I requested for a bottle of soft drink.
Correct to say: I requested a bottle of soft drink.
For is not necessary in the wrong sentence.
- Advocate for /Advocate
Wrong to say: The health expert advocated for the use of malarial
medication.
Correct to say: The health expert advocated the use of malarial
medication. Do not use for with advocate.
- Taken in /Pregnant
Wrong to say: My wife has taken in.
Correct to say: My wife is pregnant. Simply say a woman is pregnant.
- March somebody /Tread on
Wrong to say: Stop marching my leg.
Correct to say: Stop treading on my foot.
Soldiers or students march somewhere but you tread on something by your foot on or in it while you are walking.
- Heading to /Heading for
Wrong to say: Oboh is heading to the office.
Correct to say: Oboh is heading for office.
Note the verb head as in the above is used with for (not to).
- Frown Face /Frown
Wrong to say: He often frowns his face whenever I caution him.
Correct to say: He often frowns whenever I caution him.
Note: frown face is an inelegant expression.
- Suppose /Supposed
Wrong to say: We suppose to see him.
Correct to say: We are supposed to see him.
21. Prefer than/Prefer to
Wrong to say: I prefer this book than the other one.
Correct to say: I prefer this book to the other one.
22. Stress on/Stress
Wrong to say: He stressed on the need to be loyal to the nation.
Correct to say: He stressed the need to be loyal to the nation.
23. Barb Hair/To Have his hair cut
Wrong to say: Bob wants to barb his hair.
Correct to say: Bob wants to have his hair cut.
24. Barb hair /To have his barbered
Wrong to say: I am going to barb my hair.
Correct to say: I am going to have my hair barbered.
25. Look forward to see /Look forward to seeing
Wrong to say: We look forward to see you tomorrow.
Correct to say: We look forward to seeing you tomorrow.
26. Dress for me /Make room for me
Wrong to say: Please dress for me to sit down.
Correct to say: Please make room for me to sit down.
27. Convince /Persuade
Wrong to say: I convinced him to do the work.
Correct to say: I persuaded him to do the work.
28. Cited /Sited
Wrong to say: The University is cited in my community.
Correct to say: The University is sited in my community.
29. Can be rest assured /Can rest assured
Wrong to say: You can be rest assured t hat your salary will be paid tomorrow.
Correct to say: You can rest assured that your salary will be paid tomorrow.
30. Batteries are dead /Batteries run down
Wrong to say: The batteries of my torch are dead.
Correct to say: The batteries of my torch have run down.
Please, note that batteries are dead is not an elegant expression.
We suppose to do something, they suppose to come, I suppose to see him are wrong.
In summary, we should note that we have lots of common errors in our daily spoken and written English. Students, educationists and highly placed individuals should make conscious efforts to read the above errors highlighted which they had before now presumed to be correct.