Text-messaging, Instant Messaging, chat rooms and e-mail have spawned a new version of written and sometimes spoken English. The speed and efficiency of this super-abbreviated method of communication makes it a reality that probably will continue for the foreseeable future.

Unfortunately, it has the unintended consequence of spilling into other areas, further eroding the quality of spoken and written English in other settings or venues.

To brush up on the kind of English that's required for professional and workplace situations as well as any situation other than the above-mentioned shorthand uses, it's important to sort out and remind yourself of correct English usage. Listed below are some of the most common mistakes made by Americans and perhaps other English-speaking people, shown together with the corrected forms:

COMPOUND WORDS
It has become common for even those who write professionally to use a compound word when the two parts of it should be separated. In the first (incorrect) examples, below, the word in question is shown as a compound word that should be written as two separate words. In the second (correct) example the phrase is again used in the compound form, but in this case the compound form is the correct one.

Incorrect:
"I'll be so glad to leave this place where it's cloudy everyday."
Correct:
"Everyday clothing styles are not appropriate for formal occasions."

Incorrect:
"I'll get it anyway I can."
Correct:
"I wasn't upset because I wanted to stay in town, anyway."

Incorrect:
"He put his handout in a friendly invitation to shake on the decision."
Correct:
"I always read the weekly handouts on company performance."

Incorrect:
"He was under pressure to makeup the test."
Correct:
"He was experimenting with makeup designed for men."

Incorrect:
"The plumber came to hookup the new water heater."
Correct:
"The hookup for the cable box was located at the back of the TV."

COMMON GRAMMATICAL ERRORS
1. "Different than..." almost always should be "different FROM." The only kind of sentence in which it would be correct to use "different than" is, for example: "Dimes and giraffes are more different than apples and oranges."

2. "Uninterested" and "disinterested" do NOT mean the same thing.
"Uninterested" means not caring about, not wanting to take part in, as in the sentence, "He claimed to be uninterested in her but he kept her picture in his wallet."

"Disinterested" means, not having a vested

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