100s 360 degrees a / an A.D.

ala AM / PM abject able toabout absorbtion abstruse / obtuse academiaacapella, a capella accede / exceed accent marks accessaccessory accept / except accidently accurate / preciseacronyms andapostrophes

acrossed actionable / doable actual fact / actuallyad / add ad nauseum addicting

adapt / adopt added bonus administer / minister administrateadmission / admittance adopted / adoptive adultry advance / advancedadverse / averse advice / advise adviser / advisor advocate foraesthetic / ascetic affect / effect affluence / effluence Afghan / Afghani

Common Errors in English Usage

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A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

A

back / forward / up intime

backseat / back seat backslash / slash backup / back up

backward / backwards backyard / back yard bad

African-American afterall afterwards / afterwords agnostic / atheistagreeance / agreement ahold / hold aid / aide ain’taisle / isle all all and all all be itall for not all goes well / augurs

wellall of the sudden all the fartheralleged, allegedly alliterate / illiterate

alls allude / elude allude / refer allusion / illusionallusive / elusive /illusive

almost along the same vein alotaloud / allowed already / all ready alright

altar / alter alterior alternate / alternative altogether / all togetheraltho, tho alumnus / alumni amature ambiguous /

ambivalentambivalent /indifferent

American amongst / among amoral / immoralamount / number ampitheater an / and

analogous ancestor and also and / oranecdote / antidote angel / angle anteclimax another wordsantihero anxious / eager any more any other numberanyone / any one anytime anyways anywhereanywheres apart / a part apiece / a piece apostrophesappauled appose / oppose appraise / apprise apropos / appropriateArab / Arabic /Arabian

architected around / about arrant / errantarthuritis artic artisanal / artesian

as as best as as far as as followas less as possible as of yet as per as suchas time progressed ascared ascent / assent ascribe / subscribeashamed / a shame asocial aspect / respect assessassure / ensure / insure asterick astrology / astronomy aswellat all ATM machine athlete athiestattain / obtain attribute / contribute aural / oral auger / augurautobiography /biography

avaidable avenge / revenge avocation / vocationaway / a way awe, shucks awhile / a while

ax axel / axle

bail / bale bailout / bail out baited breath baldfaced, boldfacedball / bawl barb wire, bob wire BAR-B-Q, barbeque bare / bearbarter / haggle base

B

cacao / cocoa cache / cachet caddy-corner call the question

callous / callused Calvary / cavalry can goods

based around, basedoff of

basicly basises bazaar / bizarrebeat / bead beaurocracy beckon call

began / begun begs belief begs the question behaviorsbeing that belief / believe belief toward below tablebemuse benefactor /

beneficiarybeside / besides betterbetween between you and I

beyond the pail bias / biased bible bicepbit / bitten biweekly / semiweekly blatant blindsighted /

blindsidedblock / bloc blog / post blonde / blond blunt / bruntboarders / borders boast your confidence bologna / baloney bon a petitebonafied bonds / bounds boost in the arm bored ofborn / borne born out of borrow / loan borrow offboth both / each bought / brought boughtenbounce / bounds bourgeois bouyant bowbrainchild brake / break brand names brang, brungbreach / breech breakup / break up breath / breathe breechesbring / take Britain / Briton broach / brooch broke / brokenbrunt / butt brussel sprout build off of bullion / bouillonbully pulpit bumrush but . . . however butt nakedbuttload buttox by / ’bye / buy by far and away

calm, cool, andcollective Canadian geese cannot / can not

canon / cannon can’t . . . too canvas / canvass capeeshcapital / capitol caramel / carmel carat / caret / carrot /

karatcareen / careercaring

carousal / carousel Catch 22 catched / caught CaucasianCD-ROM disk ceasar cease the day / seize

the daycelibate / chasteceltic

cement / concrete censor / censure /sensor / censer

center around center of attractioncents ceremonial /

ceremoniouschai tea chaise longue chalk-full Champaign /

Champagnechauvinist Check chemicals Chicano / Latino /

Hispanic

C

dairy / diary damped / dampened damp squid dangling andmisplaced modifiers

chock it up chrispy chose / choose chuck / chunkChurch chute/shoot cite / site / sight clamor / clamberclassic / classical cleanup / clean up clench / clinch cliché / clichédclick / clique climactic / climatic close / clothes close proximityclosed-minded coarse / course coat strings coffee clutchcoiffeur / coiffure cold slaw coliseum / Colosseum collaborate /

corroboratecollage / college collective plural Colombia / Columbia Coloradocolons / semicolons coma / comma come with commascompany names withapostrophes

compare and contrast compare to / comparewith

complement /compliment

complementary /complimentary

comprised of concensus concerningconcerted effort confident / confidant /

confidanteconflicted / conflictingfeelings

confusionism congradulations connote / denote conscience, conscious,consciousness

conservativism contaminates /contaminants

continual / continuous contrary / contrastcontrasts / contrastswith

conversatecopywrite / copyright

coronate core / corps / corpse cowered / coward costumer / customercould care less could give a damn could of / should of /

would ofcouncil / counsel /consul

couple / couple of cowtow Crackerjacks craftscrape/crepe credible / credulous creeped / crept crescendo / climaxcrevice / crevasse crick / creek criteria / criterion criticismcritique / criticize crochet / crotchet /

crotchetycroissant crowbar / wrecking barcrucifiction crucifix / cross

cue / queue currant / current curve your appetite cursing through veinscut and dry cut and paste / copy

and pastecut of tea

daring-do data dateline / deadline day in agedaylight savings time de rigueur deal dealeddeath nail debrief decent / descent /

dissentdeceptivelydecimate

deep-seeded defence definate deformation /defamation

defuse / diffuse

D

e.g. / i.e. each early adapter earmarks / hallmark

earth, moon easedrop ecology / environment economic / economical

degrade / denigrate /downgrade

degree names deja vu democrat / democraticdemure / demur denied of depends

depravation /deprivation

depreciate / deprecate desirable / desirous derisory / derisivedesert / dessert deviant / deviate device / devise

devote/devout dew / do / doo / due dialogue / discuss dietiesdiffer / vary different than differently abled,

physically challengeddigestive trackdilemma / difficulty

dike / dyke dire straights directions disasterousdisburse / disperse disc / disk disconcerning discreet / discretediscretion is the betterpart of valor

discussed / disgust disease names disembark the vesseldisgression disinterested /

uninteresteddispose / dispose ofdisremember

disrespect dissemble /disassemble

divide by half dogma, doctrinedo respect do’s and don’ts

doctorial / doctoral doesn’t supposed to dolly / handcart dominate / dominantdone / did don’t / doesn’t donut double negativesdouble possessive doubt that / doubt

whether / doubt ifdoubtlessly / doubtless douse/dowsedove / dived dozed / dosed

downfall / drawback download / upload dozen of drank / drunkdrastic / dramatic dredge / drudge /

trudgedrier / dryer dribble / driveldrips and drabs drive / disk

drug / dragged dual / duel duck tape due to the fact thatduly / dully dyeing / dying

ecstatic ect. -ed / -t edge oneek / eke efforting ei / ie either / or, neither / noreither are / either is eighteen hundreds /

nineteenth centuryelectrocute elegy / eulogyelicit / illicit ellipses

email embaress emergent / emergency emigrate / immigrateeminent / imminent /immanent

empathy / sympathy emphasize on emulate / imitateend result enamored by endemic / epidemic

engine / motor English / British enjoy to enormity /enormousness

enquire / inquire ensuite ensure / insure enthuse

E

factoid fair / fare faithful / fateful far be it for me

farther / further fastly fatal / fateful faun / fawn

entomology /etymology

envelop / envelope envious / jealous enviromentepic / epoch epicenter epigram / epigraph /

epitaph / epithetepitomy eponymous equally as equivocate / equal-er / -est error / err -es espouse / expound /

expandet al. -eth ethics / morals /

moraleethnicever so often

every every since everyday everyone / every oneeverytime evidence to evoke exact sameexalt / exult exasperate / exacerbate excape / escape exception proves the

ruleexceptional /exceptionable

excrable execute on exhilerationexited/excited exorcise / exercise expatriot

expecially expensive, cheap explicitly, implicitly exponentialexpressed / express expresso expresses that / says

thatextend / extentextended, extensive

extract revenge exulted / exalted

faze / phase fearful / fearsome Febuary Federal(capitalization)

feelings for / feelingsabout

feint / faint fellow classmate female / woman50’s fiance / fiancee film

finalize fine toothcomb firey first annualfirst floor / groundfloor

firstable fiscal / physical fit the billfits to a tee fittest fixing

flair / flare flak / flack flaunt / flout flesh out / flush outfloe/flow floppy disk / hard disk flounder / founder flukeflustrated, fustrated flys focus around followupfont / typeface foot / feet footnotes / endnotes forfor / fore / four for all intensive

purposesfor free gaff / gaffefor goodness’ sakes for one / for one thing

for sale / on sale for sell for sure / sure forbidding /foreboding /formidable

forceful / forcible /forced

forego / forgo foresee / forsee forever / for everformally / formerly forward / forwards fortuitous / fortunate

F

GP practice gaff / gaffe gamut / gauntlet gander / dander

garnish / garner gauge / gouge gaurd

had ought hadn’t have hail / hale hairbrained

hand and hand handicap / disability hangar / hanger hanged / hung

foul / fowl fourty fowl swoop framework /

groundwork

Frankenstein frankly French dip with au jus freshman / freshmen

from . . . to from the beginning of

time

fully well fulsome

-fuls / -ful full proof / foolproof

functionality furl / furrow fushia

gardener snake / garter

snakegenius gender genuine

gerunds & pronouns get me Ghandi gibe / jibe / jive

gift / give gig / jig gild / guild goal / gaol

goal / objective god goes going forward

gone / went gonna good / well good-by / good-bye /

goodby /goodbye

got / gotten got to government graduate

graffiti grammer grasping for straws gratis / gratuitous

gray / grey greatful grevious grill / grille

grill cheese grisly / grizzly group (singular vs.

plural)

ground zero

grow

guess who? gull / gall gut-rending/heart-

wrenching

gyp

hanging indents Hanukkah, Chanukah Happy Belated

Birthday

hardly

hardly never

hardy / hearty hark / hearken hay day HIV virus

he don’t heading / bound heal / heel hear / here

hearing-impaired heavily heighth help the problem

hence why herbs / spices here’s / here are hero / protagonist

heroin / heroine hew and cry highbred / hybrid highly looked upon /

highly regarded

him, her / he, she Hindi / Hindu hippie / hippy his and her’s

hisself historic / historical an historic hit and miss

hoi polloi hoard / horde hock / hawk hold your peace / say

your piece

hole / whole holocaust homophobic home page

G

H

I me myself -ic ice tea idea / ideal

idle / idol if / whether if not if I was / if I were

jack / plug jam / jamb jerry-built / jury-rigged Jew / Hebrew

Jew / Jewish jewelry job titles John Henry

key kick-start killed after kindly

kindergarden knots per hour koala bear

hone in hors d’oeuvres how to humanism / humanist

humanity humus / hummus hundreds / century hyperdermic

hyphenation hyphens & dashes hypocritical hysterical / hilarious

ignorant Illinois immaculate conception

/ virgin birth

impact

impactful

impassible /

impassable

impeach impertinent / irrelevant imply / infer

in memorial in regards to in route

in spite of / despite in store in tact in terms of

in the fact that in the mist incase incent, incentivize

incidences / incidents /

instances

incidently includes incredible

incredulous /

incredible

indepth Indian / Native

American

indite / indict individual infact infamous / notorious

infinite inflammable influencial -ing

ink pen in mass input in route

in shambles in spite of / despite insight / incite install / instill

instances / instants insundry intend on intense / intensive

intensifiers intercession interesting interment / internment

Internet / intranet interface intergrate intermural / intramural

/ extramural

interpretate into / in to intricate / integral intrigue

invested interest invite / invitation Iraq ironically

irregardless is, is islams isn’t it, innit

Israelite / Israeli Isreal issues itch / scratch

it’s / its

John Hopkins joint possessives judgement junta

just just assume just so happens jutebox

I

J

K

l / 1 l / ll LCD Display laissez-faire

lama / llama land lover languish / luxuriate large

MAC / Mac macabre maddening crowd magic bullet / silverbullet

last name / familyname

late / former later / latter laundry matlay / lie layed/laid laxadaisical/lackadaisical

leach / leech lead / led least / lest leave / letlegend / myth lense lentil / lintel less / fewerless painless lessen / lesson let alone lets / let’sliable, libel liaise libary licence / licenselight-year lighted / lit lightening / lightning likelike for likeliness / likeness likker lion’s sharelip-sing listserv “lite” spelling literallyliterature little own little to none livedloath / loathe login logon lollong story short lookit loose / lose loser / looserlot, plenty, load(number)

lozenger lustful / lusty luxuriant / luxurious-ly adjectives

majority are / majorityis

majorly make due make pretendmantle / mantel manufacture marinate on

marital / martial marshall marshmellow mash potatoesmass masseuse / masseur material / materiel may / mightmaybe / may be me either mean / median mean formeantime / meanwhile medal / metal / meddle

/ mettlemedia Medieval Agesmediocre medium / median

meet up methodology / method memorium meteor / meterorite /meteoroid

mfr. / mfg. mic midrift middleagedmight could might has well might ought militate / mitigatemind of information miner / minor miniscule minorityminuet / minute minus minus well mischieviousmislead / misled misnomer mispell misplaced stressmixed-up media molten/melted momentarily money is no optionMongoloid mono e mono moral / morale moraysmore importantly more / most moreso most always

L

M

n’ name, pronoun nauseated / nauseous naval / navel

near neck in neck needs -ed / -ing neice

O / zero object d’art obsolescent / obsolete octopi

odd oeuvre of of ___’s

PC computer PSS page / site pair (number)

pair / pare / pear palate / palette / pallet par excellance parallel

motherload motion / move Mount Fujiyama much differently

muchly mucus / mucous multipart names multiply by double

mumble jumbo,

mumbo jumble

music / singing must of mute point

myriad of myself

Nevada nevermind new lease of life next, this

next store nicety / niceness nickle nieve

niggard ninty nip it in the butt no sooner when

no such a thing Noble Prize none nonplussed

noone not not all not all that

not hardly notate / note nothing (singular) notorious

now and days nowheres nuclear number of verb

numbers numerous of nuptual

ofcourse offense offline oft chance / off chance

often oggle oh / o OK

Old English old fashion old-timer’s disease old wise tale

on accident on the contraire on the lamb on the same token

on tomorrow once once and a while one of the (singular)

one-dimensional one in the same one of the only ones / one’s

ongoingly online / on line / in line only onto / on to

op-ed open opportunist oppose to

oppress / repress oral / verbal orders of magnitude ordinance / ordnance

Oregon organic oriental orientate

ostensively ourn outcast/outcaste over and out

over-exaggerated oversee / overlook overtake / take over owness

parallelled / paralleled parallelism in a series paralyzation parameters /

perimeters

N

O

P

paramount /tantamount

paranoid parentheses parlimentpartake / participate passed / past pass the muster

past time pastorial passive voice patience / patientspause for concern pawn off / palm off payed / paid peace / piecepeak / peek / pique peal out / peel out peasant / pheasant pedal / peddlepedal to the medal pen / pin penultimate / next to

lastpeoplesper

percent, per cent percent decrease percipitation peripheralpernickety /persnickety

perogative /prerogative

perpetrate / perpetuate persaypersecute / prosecute personal / personnel

personality perspective /prospective

peruse perverse / pervertedphantom / fathom phenomena /

phenomenonPhilippines / Filipinos phoney / phony phrasal verbs vs. nouns physicalpianist picaresque /

picturesquepickup / pick up picturepigeon English PIN number

pinned up pit in my stomach pith and vinegar plain / planeplays a factor playwrite plead innocent pleaded / pleatedplease RSVP plug-in plus / add podium / lecternpoinsetta poisonous / venomous point being is that point in timepoint of you pole / poll pompom / pompon poo-poopopulace / populous pore / pour possessed of, by, with prosperity / posteritypracticable/practical practice / practise practicle pray / preyprecede / proceed precedence /

precedentsprecipitate /precipitous

precursepredominant /predominate

predominately preemptory preferably prejudice / prejudicedpre-Madonna premier / premiere premise / premises preponeprepositions (repeated) prepositions (wrong) prescribe / proscribe present writerpresently prespiration pretty primerprimevil principal / principle prioritize priorityproactive probably prodigy, progeny,

protégéprogram/programmeproof is in the pudding

problematic prone pronounciation prophecy / prophesyprostate / prostrate protagonist / proponent protray proved / provenpsychologist /psychiatrist /psychotherapist /psychoanalyst

pundint purposely /purposefully

Q / G quantum leap quay / cay / key question / ask

queue the quick and the dead quick claim quiet / quite

RBIs RPMs racism rack / wrack

raise / raze rampart / rampant ran / run random

sacred / scared sacreligious scramble eggs safety deposit box

sail / sale / sell salsa sauce same difference sameo sameo

quote quotation marks

rapport rate of speed ratio rational / rationalerationale /rationalization

ravaging / ravishing /ravenous

recreate reactionary / reactivereadably real / really

realize / realise realms of possibility realtor reap what you sewreason because rebelling / revolting rebut / refute recent / resentrediculous redo it over redundancies reeking havocrefrain / restrain refridgerator refute / reject regard / regardsregime / regimen /regiment

regretfully / regrettably reign / rein reknownreligion religion believes religiosity

reluctant / reticent remotely close remuneration /renumeration

reoccurringrepel / repulse

replete / complete reply back report into repungentrequest / ask resign / re-sign resignate resister / resistorrespiratory respond back restauranter restiveretch / wretch reticent / hesitant retrospective /

retroactivereturn backrevelant

revert / reply revert back revolve / rotate revue / reviewrhetorical questions ridged/rigid riffle / rifle right / rite / writeright of passage ring its neck ringer / wringer Rio Grande Riverripe with / rife with risky / risqué road to hoe rob / stealrod iron, rot iron role / roll rollover / roll over Romainianromantic rondezvous root / rout / route rouge / roguerubbage Rueben ruff ruralrye / wry

samwich / sandwich sang / sung sarcastic / ironic satellitesay / tell scarcely sceptic / skeptic schizophrenic

Q

R

S

sci-fi scone / sconce Scotch scotch freescrapegoat sea change seam / seem seasonable / seasonal /

unseasonable /unseasonal

second of all seen / saw segway select / selectedself-steam self-worth sense / since sense of false hopesensual / sensuous sentence fragments sergeant of arms service / serveset / sit setup / set up shall / will shan’t / shall notshear / sheer sheath / sheaf sherbert shimmy / shinnyshined / shone shoe-in shone / shown shook / shakenshould / would shoulder on / soldier

onshow-stopper shrunk / shrankshutter to think sick / sic

Sierra NevadaMountains

signaled out silicon / silicone simplisticsingle quotes Sir / Dame sister-in-laws

skiddish slight of hand slog it out slow ginsluff off snuck so / very so funsoar / sore social / societal socialize sojourn / journeysole / soul somebody / someone somebody’s else sometime / some timesometimes not always someways somewhat of a somewheressong / work orcomposition

sooner sooner than later sort aftersort of sorta speak sound byte

soup du jour of the day sour grapes souse chef sowcowspaces after a period spaces in names spaded / spayed spanspare of the moment speak / talk specially / especially specie / speciesspicket spiritualism spoke / said sprain / strainspree squash / quash squoze staid / stayedstain glass stalactites / stalagmites stand / stance standalonestates / countries stationary / stationery statue of limitations staunch/stanchsteak / stake step foot stereo stint / stentstock and trade stoled stomp stood / stayedstraddled with /saddled with

straight / strait straightened /straitened

straightjacketstraight-laced

strength stress on stricken / struck strike a cordstriped / stripped strong suite subject to / subjected

tosubmittal / submissionsubstance-free

substitute with succeed / secede suffer with sufficethsuit / suite sulking / skulking summary / summery summersaultsuped up supercede

table tad bit take a different tact take and

tape, record tattle-tail taught / taut

UFO ugly American The Ukraine unchartered /

uncharted

supposably,

supposingly,

supposively

suppose to supremist surplus neckline

suspect / suspicious suspicion / suspect surfing the Internet

swam / swum systematic / systemic

taken back / taken

abacktaunt / taut / tout tempera / tempura tenant / tenet

tender hooks tentative than / then thanks God

thankyou that / than that / which that kind

teeth theirselves them theory

there’s their’s they’re / their / there therefor / therefore

these are them these kind these ones they / their (singular)

think on this here/that there though / thought /

through

threw / through

throne / thrown

through a mirror,

darkly

throws of passion thusfar thusly

tick / tic timber / timbre time period

times / multiply times smaller tirimisù today’s day and age

to / too / two to home to the manor born to where

today’s modern society toe-headed toe a fine line tolled / told

tooken / took / taken touche tounge tongue and cheek

torchiere tore / torn torturous / tortuous touch bases

tow the line toward / towards track home tradegy

tragedy / travesty transition translucent /

transparent / opaque

tremblor

tripple

trite and true troop / troupe trustee/trusty try and

turn into/turn in to tussled / tousled two to tangle

unconscience under the guise that undermind under weigh

underestimated underlining undo / undue undoubtably

University of Indiana unkept unpleased unlike

unrest unthaw untracked upmost

upto urine analysis us / we use / usage

use to used to could utilize

T

U

vague reference vain / vane / vein valance vapid / vacuous

various vary / very veil of tears vendor

wail / whale wait on wake waver / waiver

walk the talk wander / wonder want that . . . should warmongerer

Xmas / Christmas

ya’ll ye yea / yeah / yay year end and year out

ying and yang yoke / yolk you you better

veracious / voracious verbage verb tense verse / play againstverses / versus very sort of, very kind

ofvery unique vice-like / vise-likevice / vise vicious / viscous circle

/ cyclevideo vinegarette vintage point viriivichyssoise visually impaired /

blindvitae viola / voilavolumptuous

warrantee / warranty wary / weary / leery was / were washwax way ways weak / weekweather / wether /whether

weather forecast callsfor

weiner wench / winchWensday went / gone

we’re / were were / where wet your appetite whacky / wackywhat wheat wheelbarrel whenever / whenwhere (andprepositions)

whereabouts are where it’s at whereforewhether / whether ornot

whilst / while whim and a prayerwhimp whip cream

whisky / whiskey who / that who / whom who’s / whosea whole ’nother whole-hardily whose-ever wile away-wise wit / whit within / among woman / womenwonderkind wont / won’t working progress World Wide Webworse comes to worse worser would have wrangle / wanglewrapped / rapt wreath / wreaths /

wreathe / wreatheswreckless write mewritting

V

W

X

Y

zeroscape zero-sum gain zoology

you can’t have yourcake and eat it too

you know / know whatI’m sayin’?

you was your / youyour guys’s yourself

your / you’re youse you’ve got anotherthing coming

Z

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Supplementary Pages

The home page for this site. If you missed it, please start here.Non-Errors Those usages people keep telling you are wrong but which are actuallystandard in English.

split infinitives * ending a sentence with a preposition * beginning asentence with a conjunction * between vs. among * over vs. more than *gender vs. sex * who vs. that * since vs. because * hopefully * momentarily* lend vs. loan * near miss * none (singular vs. plural) * scan vs. skim * offof * gotten vs. got * till’ vs. ’til * teenage vs. teenaged * reference vs. cite *endquote vs. unquote * feeling bad * persuade vs. convince * You shouldn’tpronounce the “e” in “not my forte.” * normalcy vs. normality * aggravatevs. irritate * preventive vs. preventative * entitled vs. titled * People arehealthy; vegetables are healthful. * Dinner is done; people are finished. *Crops are raised; children are reared. * “You’ve got mail” should be “youhave mail.” * it’s “cut the muster,” not “cut the mustard.” * it’s “carrot on astick,” not “carrot or stick.” * spitting image * “Lion’s share” means all ofsomething, not the larger part of something. * connoisseur

More errors Other strange and amusing word confusionsCommonly misspelled words.The whole site on one page (ASCII text; the easiest option if you’re reading through allthe entries in order)List of commonly made suggestions. Check this before writing.Sean Igo’s “Garbage In, Garbage Out: Errors Caused by Over-Reliance on SpellingCheckers”

Other Good Resources

American Heritage Book of English Usage (now out of print but used copies areavailable cheap)AskOxford: An excellent dictionary with many other resources on British English.Worldwide Words: Michael Quinion investigating International English from a BritishViewpointDaniel Kies’ Modern English Grammar

Jack Lynch’s Grammar and Style NotesDr. NAD’s Prig Page Grammarist A commercial site with ads and links to products, butoffering many useful free resources dealing with usage and style.Ronald B. Standler’s Technical Writing GuideGarbl’s Writing Resources On-LineUsingEnglish.com: useful resources for those studying English as a second languageEnglish as a Second Language Help Desk at Washington State UniversityWWWebster Dictionary (Merriam Webster) provides recorded pronunciationsGrammar Girl’s Quick & Dirty Tips for Better Writing Detailed discussion of individualpoints.HeteronymsAntagonymsDifferences between British, Canadian and American SpellingWilliam Safire’s self-violating “Rules for Writers”The Eggcorn Database Great collection of misheard words and phrases.Crash Blossoms Bungled headlinesDemi-Entendres Mixed-up expressionsThe Word Detective interesting essays on word originsGeoffrey K. Pullum: 50 Years of Stupid Grammar Advice (an interesting critique ofStrunk and White’s The Elements of Style.Reviews of Common Errors in English Usage

Paul Brians’ home page