CORRECTIONS & EXPLANATIONS - April 18, 2010

Here are the corrections and explanations for last week’s posts.

Monday

Identify and correct the error in the following selection.

“I  was expecting to be one of the youngest in attendance but was surprised to find a decent amount of 20-somethings scattered in the crowd.”

How many times do I have to list this error?

“Amount” words relate to quantities of things that are measured in bulk.
“Number” words relate to things that can be counted.

“I  was expecting to be one of the youngest in attendance but was surprised to find a decent number of 20-somethings scattered in the crowd.”


Tuesday

CONTAMINATES/CONTAMINANTS

“Contaminates” is a verb meaning to make impure or to pollute.

“Contaminants” is a noun referring to a type of material or stuff that pollutes or makes impure.

“Contaminants” is the goo; “contaminates” is the action.


Wednesday

VAPID/VACUOUS

“Vapid” is an adjective meaning dull, flat, lethargic or sluggishness or lacking in zest or liveliness.

“Vacuous” is an adjective meaning inanely foolish, hollow or empty.


Thursday

SHINED/SHONE

“Shined” is the transitive form, meaning an object is required, of the verb “to shine”.
 “He shined his light on the old raccoon who was scavaging in the trash can.”

“Shone” is used when the verb is intransitive, or lacking an object, or when the context merely speaks of the act of shining.
“The sun shone intensely all day long.”


Friday

Correct the errors in the following. Be sure to explain what is wrong in each example.
Hint: there are six.

“I should of wrote that story yesterday so that I could of went to the ball game today.”

1. “Of” is incorrect. “Of” is a preposition; it can never be substituted for an auxiliary verb and, most definitely, cannot be used as a contraction for “have”.
2. “Wrote” is incorrect. The participial form of “to write” is needed.
3. The second “of” is incorrect. “Of” is a preposition; it can never be substituted for an auxiliary verb and, again, cannot be used as a contraction of “have”.
4. “Went” is incorrect. “Went” cannot be used with an auxiliary verb such as “could”.

“I should have written that story yesterday so that I could have gone to the ball game today.”


“I was shocked when I seen what happened when I went in the room this morning.”

5. “Seen” is incorrect. The past tense of “to see” is “saw”.
6. “In” is incorrect. There is a difference in meaning between “in” and “into”. The difference is between entering and exiting a room and toilet humour.

“I was shocked when I saw what happened when I went into the room this morning.”


PET PEEVE - THE/THEE

“Thee” is an old form of the pronoun “thou”. It really is the objective case of “thou”.
Today, it means “you”.
“Thee” is pronounced as in “he”.
“I give thee a lesson which you should heed.”

“The” is known as a definite article.
“The” denote a specific item or word as opposed the the indefinite article “a” which designates any item or word.
“The” is pronounced as in “duh” and is NOT pronounced as in “he”.
“The writing is on the wall that many people constantly mispronounce the definite article “the”.

“THE” and “THEE” are NOT interchangeable.


WOW! HOW TRUE IS THIS!

“Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.”
Isaac Asimov, a US science fiction novelist and scholar who lived from 1920 to 1992 said this.


LAST WEEK’S WORDS

“Redolent” (adj.) means remindful, heedful, smelling of, perfumed or scented.

“Cosmology” (n.) refers to the branch of philosophy concerned about the origin and general structure of the universe, its parts, elements and laws.
“Cosmos” refers to the world or universe.
“Logy” refers to combining forms of science, knowledge, thinking or studying.

“Voracious” (adj.) means excessively greedy or grasping, devouring or craving.

“Vainglory” (n.) refers to excessive ego, boastfulness, self-love or narcissism.
The root is glory of vanity or pomp.
“Vainglorious” is the adjective form.

“Savant” (n.) refers to a man of learning, an intellectual or a scholar.