Tips to Avoid Three Common Usage Errors

How to choose between:
Fewer? or Less? * Who? or Whom? 
* Bad? or Badly?

Fewer? or Less?

If you mean “not as many,” choose fewer. 

(Use fewer when items can be counted.)

If you mean “not as much,” choose less.

Examples: 

I bought fewer pencils. 

I ate less pudding.

Who (Whoever)? or Whom (Whomever)?

Find the verb nearest the pronoun in question. If the pronoun appears before the verb, choose who or whoever. Who went to the store?

If the pronoun follows an action verb, choose whom or whomever. The leader will choose whomever you wish.

If the pronoun follows a linking verb, choose who or whoever. The winner will be whoever the people elect.

Whom or whomever always follows a preposition.

His friends, most of whom are older, are friendly people. 

Hint: Substitute he or she for the pronoun who. Substitute him, her, or them for the pronoun whom.

Bad? or Badly?

Badly describes an action. He danced badly. 

Bad describes a feeling or emotion. (I feel bad.)

Always use the word “bad” after linking verbs such as look, feel, seem, taste, and smell. 

You look bad. 

I feel bad. 

His conduct seems bad to me. 

That meat tastes bad to me.

That perfume smells bad.

Note: Do not say or write I feel badly for you. (Although you hear this in the media and read it in printed material all the time, it is incorrect.)

If you feel badly, there is something wrong with your fingers. 

If you sympathize with someone, you feel bad for them.

It will become much easier to use these words correctly if you practice.

You will find a free practice resource here.

Here's an exercise to practice using their, there, they're. 

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Eight Common Usage Mistakes

This is an example of a misplaced modifier that creates a humorous image. Was it the man who has leather seats?

We all make mistakes, and I am certainly not the Internet Police, but after seeing these bloopers online on social media, I thought these 8 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.

1.  The dog's were all barking.
Do not use an apostrophe to make a noun plural.
Correction: The dogs were all barking.

 2.  "The puppy has a microchip in case she might loose her collar."
Loose means not tight.  Lose means to misplace.
Correction: The puppy has a microchip in case she might lose her collar.

3.  "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.

4.  “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.
Correction: I think that moms who watch soap operas are way too dramatic.

5.  “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.

6.  “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.

7.  "I feel badly for you."

Badly is an adverb and will not follow a linking verb. 

Correction: "I feel bad for you."

Remember to not use badly with the verb "feel." If you say"I feel badly," you are really saying that your sense of touch is poor. (Maybe something is wrong with your fingers if you feel badly.) 

8.  "The woman that stood on the corner was tall."

Use "who" not "which" or "that" to refer to people unless you are referring to a group.

Correction: The woman who stood on the corner was tall.

Here are two free resources you can use to give your students practice with possessive nouns and confusing words.

Using Apostrophes Correctly Grammar Worksheets

Confusing Words Grammar Worksheets

If you would like to help your students practice correcting misplaced modifiers, this is a resource for sale in my store.

Correcting Misplaced Modifiers Proofreading Practice

Here are some blog posts written by my teacher friends from The Best of Teacherpreneurs Marketing Cooperative. I think you will find them interesting and helpful.

Thanks for reading,

Charlene

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