Practical Grammar and Composition Part 61

Wrong: He lives _at_ Philadelphia.

Right: He lives _in_ Philadelphia.

ATTACKTED. Do not use this form for _attacked_.

AWFUL, AWFULLY. These are two very much overworked words. Subst.i.tute other and more accurate expressions.

Wrong: We have had an _awfully_ good time. That is an _awfully_ pretty dress.

Right: We have had an _exceedingly_ nice time. That is a _very_ pretty dress.

BADLY. Do not use _badly_ in the sense of _very much_.

Wrong: She wanted _badly_ to come.

Right: She wanted _very much_ to come.

BESIDE, BESIDES. _Beside_ means _next to. Besides_ means _in addition to_.

Right: John lives _beside_ his mother.

Right: _Besides_ the daughters, there are three sons.

BETWEEN. Do not use _between_ when referring to more than two objects.

Wrong: There is bad feeling _between_ the members of the cla.s.s.

Right: There is bad feeling _among_ the members of the cla.s.s.

BLOWED. Do not use _blowed_ for _blew_ or _blown_. There is no such word.

BEST. Do not use _best_ when only two objects are referred to.

Use _better_. _Best_ should be used only when more than two are referred to.

Wrong: He is the _best_ of the two brothers.

Right: He is the _better_ of the two brothers.

Right: He is the _best_ of the three brothers.

BOUND. Do not use _bound_ for _determined_.

Wrong: He was _bound_ to go skating.

Right: He was _determined_ to go skating.

Right: He _bound_ himself to pay three hundred dollars.

BUT. Do not use _but_ after a negative in the sense of _only_. See --46.

Wrong: There _isn't but_ one apple left.

Right: There _is but_ one apple left.

CALCULATE. Do not use _calculate_ in the sense of _think, expect_, or _intend_.

CAN. Do not use _can_ to denote permission. It denotes ability or possibility. _May_ denotes permission. See --69

Wrong: _Can_ I speak to you for a minute?

Right: _May_ I speak to you for a moment?

CHARACTER, REPUTATION. Do not confuse these two words. _Character_ means one's moral condition. _Reputation_ means the morality that others believe one to possess.

CLUM. There is no such form of the verb _climb_.

COMPLECTED. Do not use _complected_ for _complexioned_. See --40.

CONCLUDE. Do not use conclude in the sense of _forming an intention._

Right: Finally, I _decided_ to go home.

Right: I was forced to _conclude_ that I had made an error.

CONSIDERABLE. Do not use _considerable_ in the sense of _very much_.

Wrong: This lesson is _considerable_ better than yesterday's.

CUTE. A much overworked word. Use some expression that is more accurate; as, _pretty, amusing_, etc.

DECEASE, DISEASE. Do not confuse _decease_ and _disease_. The first means _death_, the second _sickness_. _The deceased_ means a person who is dead.

Wrong: The _diseased_ will be buried at four o'clock.

Wrong: The property of the _diseased_ will be sold at auction.

DECEASE. Do not use _decease_ as a verb in the sense of _die_.

Wrong: His father _deceased_ last year.

DEMAND. _Demand_ should not have a person as its object.

Wrong: He _demanded_ John to pay.

Right: He _demanded_ payment from John. He _demanded_ that John pay.

DIFFERENT. Use the preposition _from_ after _different_, not _than_.

DON'T. Do not use _don't_ with a subject in the third person singular.