How to Avoid Six Common Usage Errors

We all make mistakes, and I am certainly not the Internet Police, but after seeing these bloopers online on social media, I thought these 6 common usage mistakes would make a good topic for a post. Here are just a few of some common errors I recently saw on Facebook and Twitter and a little information on how to avoid them.

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“Who remember's this?”

Do not use an apostrophe to make a noun plural.

Correction: Who remembers this?

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 "The dog has a microchip in case she would loose her collar."

Loose means not tight.  Lose means to misplace.

Correction: The dog has a microchip in case she would lose her collar.

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" I laid down for 5 minutes and woke up 2 hours later."

Laid means to put or to place something.

Correction: I lay down for 5 minutes and woke up 2 hours later.

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 “I think that Mom's who watch soap operas are way two dramatic.”

There are two errors in this sentence.

1.  Do not use an apostrophe to make a noun plural.

2.  The word two means the number 2. The word too means to an excessive        degree.

Corrections: I think that moms who watch soap operas are way too dramatic.

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 “I was just laying around feeling sick all week.”

The past progressive form of the verb “lie” is was lying. “Laying” means to put or to place.

Correction: I was just lying around feeling sick all week.

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“George is a very healthful person.”

Healthy and healthful are adjectives that can be used as synonyms for each other unless one is talking about a person. 

Spinach can be a healthy or a healthful vegetable, but when talking about a person, always use “healthy.”

Correction: George is a very healthy person.

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For more practice with apostrophes and verbs, visit my store for some helpful exercises. Some of them are FREE.

This blog post is an updated version of an earlier blog post I wrote.

Thanks for reading,