Giáo trình oxford9 potx

compare to COMPARE TO/COMPARE WITH These are sometimes interchangeable, but when you are stressing similarities between the items compared, the most common word is “to”: "She compared his home-made wine to toxic waste.” If you are examining both similarities and differences, use “with”: “The teacher compared Steve’s exam with Robert’s to see whether they had cheated.” List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/compareto.html03/09/2005 15:37:20 complement/compliment COMPLEMENT/COMPLIMENT Originally these two spellings were used interchangeably, but they have come to be distinguished from each other in modern times. Most of the time the word people intend is “compliment": nice things said about someone ("She paid me the compliment of admiring the way I shined my shoes.”). “Complement,” much less common, has a number of meanings associated with matching or completing. Complements supplement each other, each adding something the others lack, so we can say that "Alice’s love for entertaining and Mike’s love for washing dishes complement each other.” Remember, if you’re not making nice to someone, the word is “complement.” List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/complement.html03/09/2005 15:37:20 complementary COMPLEMENTARY/COMPLIMENTARY When paying someone a compliment like “I love what you’ve done with the kitchen!” you’re being complimentary. A free bonus item is also a complimentary gift. But colors that go well with each other are complementary. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/complementary.html03/09/2005 15:37:20 comprised of COMPRISED OF COMPOSED OF Although “comprise” is used primarily to mean “to include,” it is also often stretched to mean “is made up of”—a meaning that some critics object to. The most cautious route is to avoid using “of” after any form of “comprise” and substitute “is composed of” in sentences like this: “Jimmy’s paper on Marxism was composed entirely of sentences copied off the Marx Brothers Home Page.” List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/comprised.html03/09/2005 15:37:21 concensus CONCENSUS CONSENSUS You might suppose that this word had to do with taking a census of the participants in a discussion, but it doesn’t. It is a good old Latin word that has to do with arriving at a common sense of the meeting, and the fourth letter is an “S." List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/concensus.html03/09/2005 15:37:21 concerted effort CONCERTED EFFORT One cannot make a “concerted effort” all by one’s self. To work “in concert” is to work together with others. One can, however, make a concentrated effort. The prefix “con-” means “with.” List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/concerted.html03/09/2005 15:37:21 conflicted CONFLICTED CONFLICTING FEELINGS Phrases like “conflicted feelings” or “I feel conflicted” are considered jargon by many, and out of place in formal writing. Use “I have conflicting feelings” instead, or write “I feel ambivalent.” List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/conflicted.html03/09/2005 15:37:21 confusionism CONFUSIONISM CONFUCIANISM This spelling error isn’t exactly an English error, but it’s very common among my students. Confucius is the founder of Confucianism. His name is not spelled “Confucious,” and his philosophy is not called “Confusionism.” When you spot the confusion in the latter term, change it quickly to “Confucianism.” List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/confusionism.html03/09/2005 15:37:21 congradulations CONGRADULATIONS CONGRATULATIONS I fear that all too many people are being “congradulated” for graduating from high school who don’t know that this word should be spelled “congratulations.” Try a search for this misspelling on your favorite Web search engine and be prepared to be astonished. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/congradulations.html03/09/2005 15:37:22 continual/continuous CONTINUAL/CONTINUOUS “Continuous” refers to actions which are uninterrupted: “My upstairs neighbor played his stereo continuously from 6:00 PM to 3:30 AM.” Continual actions, however, need not be uninterrupted, only repeated: “My father continually urges me to get a job.” List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/continual.html03/09/2005 15:37:22