Part 5: Commonly Misused Words

Dangers of Spellcheckers Every Spellchecker is Different They Skip Commonly Misused Words Example: “I here your going to the store. I hope you by more eggs then last time.” Example: It sounds like a complement, but its against my principals. Spell Check Would Find Nothing Wrong

Commonly Misused Words Accept: To Receive Except: To Take or Leave Out Than: Used with Comparisons Then: At That Time; Next To: Toward Too: Also, or Excessively Two: A Number

Colloquialisms and Slang Ain’t Standard English does not recognize this commonly used negative verb Fixin/Fittin Used as dialect to mean “about to do something” I’m fixin to eat in a minute. You fittin to leave? Gonna/ Wanna May reflect speech, but is not accepted in formal writing

Misuse by Overuse Very, Really, and A Lot Like, Um, Well-as colloquial These intensifiers lose meaning when overused Like, Um, Well-as colloquial Although common in some speech, these should be eliminated in formal writing

Empty Adjectives Good, Nice, Interesting These are necessary words Though they are often overused and thusly lose their strength Try a synonym

Text-Message Speech Abbreviations LOL, BTW These have no place in academic and formal writing Using Letters or Numbers Instead of Words Example: U know what 2 do. Example: 2nite UR coming 2 my house, right?