Tiếng anh oxford 4 pptx

one of the (singular) ONE OF THE (SINGULAR) In phrases like “pistachio is one of the few flavors that appeals to me,” use the singular form for the verb “appeals” because its subject is “one,” not “flavors.” List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/oneofthe.html03/09/2005 15:39:08 one-dimensional ONE-DIMENSIONAL TWO-DIMENSIONAL Once upon a time most folks knew that “three-dimensional” characters or ideas were rounded, fleshed out, and complex and “two-dimensional” ones were flat and uninteresting. It seems that the knowledge of basic geometry has declined in recent years, because today we hear uninteresting characters and ideas described as “one-dimensional.” According to Euclid, no object can be one-dimensional (of course, according to modern physics, even two- dimensionality is only an abstract concept). If you are still bothered by the notion that two dimensions are one too many, just use “flat.” List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/one.html03/09/2005 15:39:08 one in the same ONE IN THE SAME ONE AND THE SAME The old expression “they are one and the same” is now often mangled into the roughly phonetic equivalent “one in the same.” The use of “one” here to mean “identical with each other” is familiar from phrases like “Jane and John act as one.” They are one; they are the same. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/oneinsame.html03/09/2005 15:39:08 one of the only ONE OF THE ONLY ONE OF THE FEW “Only” has its root in “one,” as should be obvious from looking at it. But we lose sight of this because of phrases like “only a few” and “only some,” which lead in turn to the mistaken “one of the only.” “The only” always refers to just one item, so the correct expression is “one of the few.” Compare this with the similarly mistaken “very unique.” List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/only.html03/09/2005 15:39:08 only ONLY Writers often inadvertently create confusion by placing “only” incorrectly in a sentence. It should go immediately before the word or phrase it modifies. “I lost my only shirt” means that I had but one to begin with. “I lost only my shirt” means I didn’t lose anything else. “Only I lost my shirt” means that I was the only person in my group to lose a shirt. Strictly speaking, “I only lost my shirt” should mean I didn’t destroy it or have it stolen—I just lost it; but in common speech this is usually understood as being identical with “I lost only my shirt.” Scrutinize your uses of “only” to make sure you are not creating unwanted ambiguities. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/only2.html03/09/2005 15:39:09 onto/on to ONTO/ON TO “Onto” and “on to” are often interchangeable, but not always. Consider the effect created by wrongly using “onto” in the following sentence when “on to” is meant: “We’re having hors d’oeuvres in the garden, and for dinner moving onto the house.” If the “on” is part of an expression like “moving on” it can’t be shoved together with a “to” that just happens to follow it. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/onto.html03/09/2005 15:39:09 oppress/repress OPPRESS/REPRESS Dictators commonly oppress their citizens and repress dissent, but these words don’t mean exactly the same thing. “Repress” just means "keep under control.” Sometimes repression is a good thing: “During the job interview, repress the temptation to tell Mr. Brown that he has toilet paper stuck to his shoe.” Oppression is always bad, and implies serious persecution. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/oppress.html03/09/2005 15:39:09 oral/verbal ORAL/VERBAL Some people insist that “verbal” refers to anything expressed in words, whether written or spoken, while “oral” refers exclusively to speech; but in common usage “verbal” has become widely accepted for the latter meaning. However, in legal contexts, an unwritten agreement is still an “oral contract,” not a “verbal contract.” List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/oral.html03/09/2005 15:39:09 orders of magnitude ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE Many pretentious writers have begun to use the expression “orders of magnitude” without understanding what it means. The concept derives from the scientific notation of very large numbers in which each order of magnitude is ten times the previous one. When the bacteria in a flask have multiplied from some hundreds to some thousands, it is very handy to say that their numbers have increased by an order of magnitude, and when they have increased to some millions, that their numbers have increased by four orders of magnitude. Number language generally confuses people. Many seem to suppose that a 100% increase must be pretty much the same as an increase by an order of magnitude, but in fact such an increase represents merely a doubling of quantity. A “hundredfold increase” is even bigger: one hundred times as much. If you don’t have a firm grasp on such concepts, it’s best to avoid the expression altogether. After all, “Our audience is ten times as big now as when the show opened” makes the same point more clearly than “Our audience has increased by an order of magnitude.” Compare with “ quantum leap.” List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/orders.html03/09/2005 15:39:10 ordinance/ordnance ORDINANCE/ORDNANCE A law is an ordinance, but a gun is a piece of ordnance. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/ordinance.html03/09/2005 15:39:10