Have your friends and colleagues been giving you a hard time about your English speaking skills? Don't get upset; instead, pick up a book and start reading!
Just so you know that you're not alone, here are more English Bloopers. As always, they've been compiled and sent in by our readers.
Simran Singh, 39 and in banking, sent a list of errors that she has seen at work:
Wrong: 'I am withdrawling Rs 400'
Simran says that many misspell this word in written requests. She has no idea why. It's 'withdrawing'.
Correct: 'I am withdrawing Rs 400'
Wrong: 'I bought the property threw my mother'
'Threw' is the past tense of 'throw'. 'Through' is the proper word.
Correct: 'I bought the property through my mother'
Wrong: 'I am do Rs 4000 as late payment'
This is another common misspelling. 'Do' is a verb. It should be 'due'.
Correct: 'I am due Rs 4000 as late payment'
And finally, here's a request she received from a customer.
'To who it may concern, I did not knew that my bill was over. Likewise, I cannot been expected to pay.'
The entire note is riddled with errors! It should be:
'To whom it may concern, I did not know that my bill was due. Therefore, I cannot be expected to have paid.'
AS Sureshchandar says these time mistakes keep popping up wherever he goes!
Wrong:
He arrived yesterday night.
She came in at 12.00 P.M.
We will be leaving the day after day after tomorrow.
Correct:
He arrived last night.
She came in at Noon. (Noon and Midnight are separate from other times)
We will be leaving in a couple of days
Chidambaram Jagadeesan has read and heard the following common mistake
Wrong: Suppose if I come, we can go to the temple
'Suppose' and 'if' will not come together because both convey the same meaning.
Correct: Suppose I come, we can go to the temple.
Dr.V.K.Kanniappan M.S, D.O, 62 years, Professor of Ophthalmolgy, sent this story that demonstrates several common errors:
Wrong: Yesterday afternoon after coming from school Mala developed red rashes all over the body.
Correct: Mala developed red rashes all over the body after returning from school yesterday.
Wrong: First we suspected it may be chicken pox.
Correct: Initially we suspected that it may be due to chicken pox.
Wrong: What the reason is for food allergy?
Correct: What is the reason for food allergy?
Wrong: How many days it will take?
Correct: How long will it last?
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We thank our readers for the witty emails detailing common English bloopers they've come across! Keep them coming in, and we'll keep publishing them. Three times a week, we'll provide articles featuring your responses.
If you'd like to share common bloopers you come across when people speak/ write in English, do mail your list of common bloopers, along with their correct alternatives to englishbloopers@rediffmail.com -- we'll highlight them right here as a helpful guide to those trying to improve their English. Also make sure you include your FULL NAME, AGE, OCCUPATION and the CITY you are based in.
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