Ten Common but Easily Corrected Errors

by Tina Blue, January 4, 2001

1. ALL RIGHT vs. ALRIGHT

It is not all right to use "alright." In fact, you might even say it is "alwrong," and that if you make this error you are "alwet."


2. A LOT vs. ALOT vs. ALLOT

A lot of people make the mistake of writing alot when they mean a lot. Try not to be one of those people, because "alot" is not a word. There is, however, such a word as "allot," as in this sentence: I will allot you each twenty tickets to sell.


3. ALL TOGETHER vs. ALTOGETHER

Which you choose will depend on what you mean:
She just wanted to get the group all together on one side of the room to have their picture taken, but her tone of voice was altogether too bossy and self-important, so everyone ignored her.


4. AMOUNT vs. NUMBER

Detergent comes in amounts. People come in numbers. Don't talk about a large amount of people, or books, or pencils, or anything else that can be counted. If something is measured rather than counted, then it comes in amounts. There is a large amount of snow on the ground, but there are a large number of trees in the forest.

Similarly, things that are numbered must be described as being more or fewer, not more or less.

~Correct: There are fewer people in Kansas than in Pennsylvania.
~Incorrect: There are less people in Kansas than in Pennsylvania.


5. DUE TO

Due to is properly used only after a linking verb.

~Correct : Her high fever was due to a strep infection.
~Incorrect : Due to a strep infection, she had a high fever.
~Incorrect: She had a high fever due to a strep infection.


6. EQUALLY AS

The phrase equally as is redundant. Use one or the other but not both.

~Margaret and Louise were equally responsible.
~Margaret was as responsible as Louise.
~This rule is as valid as the other.
~These two rules are equally valid.


7. EVERY DAY vs. EVERYDAY

Everyday is an adjective, meaning "ordinary" or "commonplace," as in "everyday people" or "everyday occurrence."

Every day is an adverbial phrase identifying how often something takes place: You seem to get up on the wrong side of the bed every day.


8. FROM WHENCE vs. WHENCE

Whence means "from where." Therefore, from whence is a redundancy, meaning "from from where."

~Correct: Send him back whence he came.
~Incorrect: Send him back from whence he came.

9. IRREGARDLESS vs. REGARDLESS

Simply put, irregardless is not a word. It is a blend of regardless and irrespective of.

~Regardless of what he meant to say, the effect of his careless remark was to hurt a child's feelings.


10. PORE OVER vs. POUR OVER

When you intently study a book, you pore over it. If you pour over it, you are going to have a soggy book