Common Mistakes - English Bloopers

English bloopers: 'She is very proudy!
'
Praveen Naik, Sanjeev Bedi, Krishna Tripathi | June 18, 2007 | 17:09 IST
English can be a tricky language to master. There are a number of words that sound the same
but mean different things or that are spelled differently, and it's easy to get confused.
Another problem area is when people translate sentences from Hindi to English. Sentences in
English are structured differently and a direct translation is often incorrect and can even be
misleading.
To help you improve your English-speaking skills, we invited GA readers to send in bloopers
they've heard or read in their everyday lives.
Praveen Madhukar Naik, from Bangalore, sends us some examples of bloopers he has heard.
1. Order of words
WRONG: My all relatives are coming.
CORRECT: All my relatives are coming.
WRONG: She is absent always.
CORRECT: She is always absent.
WRONG: What I can do for you?
CORRECT: What can I do for you?
WRONG: Where you are going?
CORRECT: Where are you going?
WRONG: There is anything left?
CORRECT: Is there anything left?
WRONG: These all are mine.
CORRECT: All these are mine.
2. Repeating certain words for emphasis
WRONG: Morning morning jogging is a good habit.
CORRECT: Jogging early in the morning is a good habit.
WRONG: The flowers are of different different colors
CORRECT: The flowers are of many different colors.
WRONG: Small small mistakes are forgivable, not big big blunders.
CORRECT: Small mistakes are forgivable, not big blunders.
Sanjeev Bedi, a 37-year-old chartered accountant based in Ludhiana, shares some bloopers he
has come across.
1. I have given the exams.
This is the commonest mistake young people commit. This is translated from Hindi: "Maine
exams diye hain."
~ The correct usage is: "I have taken the exams."
2. He was both his father as well as his mentor.
This is another very common error. When you use "both", the "as well as" is unnecessary or
redundant. Use either of the two.
~ He was both his father and his mentor
~ He was his father as well as his mentor.
Krishna Chandra Tripathi, a 28-year-old from Allahabad, sends in these examples.
1. She is very proudy.
The dictionary does not have a listing for the word "proudy". The correct usage is:
~ She is very proud. (This can be both negative and positive.)
~ She is arrogant. (If intended to be used in a negative sense.)
2. Often "advice" and "advise" are confused and misused by people. "Advice" is a noun,
while "advise" is a verb.
WRONG: Please advice me on the issue
RIGHT: Please advise me on the issue
WRONG: What is your advise?
RIGHT: What is your advice?
If your English is a little faulty and you're looking to polish your language skills, we have
just the solution for you. Our readers have sent in all sorts of grammatical grievances they
come across regularly, and you can avoid them simply by reading those presented below.
Let's start off with a common mistake that drives Get Ahead reader Saif R Naik up the wall:
~ "I'm going to give an examination."
You don't give an examination, you take one! So what you really should be saying, is:
~ "I'm going to take an examination."
Radhika Augustus wrote in that one of her girlfriends made a big-time booboo while in
conversation with her recently. Here's what she said:
~ "The city bus service is highly erotic!"

Well, the word she was looking for was 'erratic', which means lacking in consistency and
regularity, and not 'erotic' -- which we all know means sexually arousing! So what she should
have said was:
~ "The city bus service is highly erratic!"
Megha Malviya brought a common blooper many folks make to our notice:
~ "I will revert back to you shortly."
The word 'revert' itself means to return to a previous subject or condition, so the insertion of the
word 'back' in the sentence is incorrect. The correct thing to say is:
~ "I will revert to you shortly."
Get Ahead reader Sivashankar says, "A common error I hear people making is when they say the
word 'anyways' instead of 'anyway'. There is no such word as 'anyways', and the additional 's' is
not at all required." He further adds that many folk also tend to pluralise words that are already in
plural, such as: 'datas' instead of data, and 'criterias' instead of criteria.
And to wrap things up, here's a hilarious promotional email reader Mike received and forwarded
to us:
"Dear Sir,
We are glad to tell you that we are manufacture of disappearing ink pen ttached please check our
disappearing ink pen catalogue with pricepictures and other details. Any interested itmes please
kindly inform us."
A grammatically correct copy of that mail is presented below:
"Dear Sir,
We are glad to inform you that we are now manufacturing disappearing ink pens. Attached please
find our catalogue with prices, pictures, and other details furnished. If you are interested in any of
the items, kindly inform us."
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We thank our readers for the witty emails detailing common English bloopers they've
come across! Keep them coming in, and we'll?keep?publishing them. Three times a week,
we'll provide?articles featuring your responses.
If you'd like to share common bloopers you come across when people speak/ write in
English, do mail your list of common bloopers, along with their correct alternative to
[email protected] -- we'll highlight them right here as a helpful guide to
those trying to improve their English. Also make sure you include your FULL NAME, AGE,
OCCUPATION and the CITY you are based in.

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English bloopers: 'She is very proudy!

~ "The city bus service is highly erotic!"

English bloopers: Those pesky prepositions

9 common English bloopers

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