Common Errors

Errors occur every day in the manner in which words are used. Let’s talk about some of the most common.

THEY’RE / THEIR / THERE

B

THEY’RE

is a contraction, a combination of two words. In this case, the two words are

THEY

and

ARE

, a pronoun and a verb.

They’re

going to the ball game tonight.

THEIR

is a pronoun that shows possession.

That

woman is their mother.

THERE

is a word that indicates a place.

I live right

there

.

AFFECT / EFFECT

AFFECT

is a verb and describes something has an influence on something else.

Her choice of color

affected

anyone who wanted to hire her as a designer.

There is also another meaning for it, which is less

EFFECT

can be both a noun and a verb. As a noun, an example of its use is this:

The

effect

of the colors she used had on everyone was terrible

. When used as a verb:

By using the colors, she was hoping to

effect

a change in the way designers worked.

TO / TOO / TWO

TO

is a word that is classified as a preposition and generally indicates some kind of motion.

I gave the cigarette

to

him

or

I’m going

to

the store

are good examples of the proper use of the word.

TOO

is another word that means also or in excess of.

I,

too

, want to go to the store

or

I love her

too

much.

TWO

is a word that stands for a number.

There are

two

ducks in the pond

.

LAY / LIE

LAY

is a verb that describes an action and must have an item to which the action is being done to. A good way to think of this verb is that an item is being put down. Other forms of the verb are

LAID, HAVE LAID, ARE LAYING

and

WILL LAY

. Some examples are:

I

have laid

the keys on the table

or

He

lays

his life on the line every day

.

LIE

is a verb that also describes an action but it doesn’t require an item to be used with it. A good way to think of this verb is that it generally is used meaning to recline. Other forms of the verb are

LAY, HAVE LAIN, ARE LYING

and

WILL LIE

. Some examples are:

He

lay

back on the bed

or

I

am lying

on the couch right now

.

COMPLEMENT / COMPLIMENT

COMPLEMENT

is a verb that usually means match, as in

The green in the dress

complemented

the green in her eyes

or

Her street smarts

complement

his book smarts

.

COMPLIMENT

is a noun or verb that means kind words that is given to someone. Some examples are:

I

complimented

the chef on his use of apricots

or

Her

compliments

made him feel good

.

QUEUE / CUE

QUEUE

is a noun or a verb that means a line, as in one that you stand in, or the action of standing in a line. Some examples are:

We

queued

up for concert tickets

or

I froze my ass off while standing in the

queue

.

CUE

is a noun or a verb that means a specific action or the action of receiving that specific action. Some examples are:

When I gave the

cue

, everyone sang, “Happy Birthday!”

or

I

cued

up the song so that it would be ready after the speech

. Please also know that the white ball used in billiards is known as the ‘CUE’ ball.

ACCEPT / EXCEPT

ACCEPT

is a noun or a verb that means to get or receive something. Some examples are:

I will

accept

the nomination

or

He

accepted

the fact that his life was ruined

.

EXCEPT

is a preposition or a verb that means to exclude. Some examples are:

I want all of the tomatoes

except

the green ones

or

She was

excepted

from the rest of the group

.

DYEING / DYING

DYEING

is a noun or a verb that means to add color to something. A few examples:

The

dyeing

of the eggs is our favorite thing to do during Easter

or

She is

dyeing

my pants to match the shirt

.

DYING

is a noun or a verb that means to be nearing death or feeling as if a person or thing is nearing death. Some examples:

When she told him she was cheating, he felt like he was

dying

or

His

dying

on the bed made her not want to sleep on it

. The last example sounds very clumsy and though I have seen it used, I don’t think I would use it.