Longman Dictionary of Common Errors_ Part 1

First published 1987 Second edition 1996 Eleventh impression 2003 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 0 582 23752 1 Set in Adobe Helvetica Printed

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Longman Dictionary

of Common Errors

N D Turton and J B Heaton

•

Edinburgh Gate

Harlow

Essex

CM202JE

England

and Associated Companies throughout the world.

Visit our website: http://www.longman.com/dictionaries

©Addison Wesley Longman Limited 1987 1996

All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,

or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording,

or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the Publishers.

First published 1987

Second edition 1996

Eleventh impression 2003

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 0 582 23752 1

Set in Adobe Helvetica

Printed in China

SWTC/11

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Contents

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Della Summers, Director - Longman

Dictionaries, for granting them permission to use the Longman Learners'

Corpus and the British National Corpus as sources of information for this

new edition At the same time, we are deeply indebted to all those who have

designed, managed and contributed to these invaluable databanks.

Our sincere thanks are also extended to Judith Aguda for editing the entire

manuscript with meticulous care and super-human patience, to Alison

Steadman for co-ordinating the production stages, and to Lizzie Warren for

overseeing the project from start to finish.

We have not forgotten those who made important contributions to the first

edition and we would like to reacknowledge our debt to Sue Maingay, Kelly

Davis, Diane Sutton and Mona Scheraga, and to the University of

Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate.

Finally, we must thank the countless foreign students of English who have

provided the content of both editions.

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Preface

The Longman Dictionary of Common Errors provides learners and teachers of

English with a practical guide to common errors and their correction It contains the

words and phrases which regularly cause difficulty for foreign learners, regardless of

nationality and language background Arranged alphabetically for ease of use, the

entries deal with those errors that regularly appear in the written English of learners

at the intermediate level of proficiency and above Each error is accompanied by a

correction and a short, simple explanation.

Since the appearance of the first edition of this dictionary almost a decade ago,

dictionary making has been transformed by major developments in information

technology Today's dictionary makers are able to draw upon huge computerized

databanks to discover exactly how language is used This new edition of the

Longman Dictionary of Common Errors owes its authority to two such databanks: the

Longman Learners' Corpus and the British National Corpus.

The Longman Learners' Corpus contains samples of the written English produced

by students from over 70 different countries With this carefully coded corpus of ten

million words, it is possible to identify more clearly than ever before the words and

phrases which cause problems for particular groups of learners and for learners in

general As a result, this second edition contains a large number of new entries,

while first edition entries which are insufficiently supported by the corpus have been

removed.

The investigation of common errors sometimes raises questions about usage for

which there are no readily available answers For example, what do native speakers

usually say - 'I disagree that heart transplants should be stopped.' or 'I don't agree

that heart transplants should be stopped'? According to modern usage, is it usual to

say 'She failed her examination.' or 'She failed in her examination'? Is it incorrect to

say 'More houses are built yearly.' and, if so, why is yearly unacceptable here? In

helping us to answer questions such as these, the British National Corpus has been

an indispensable source of information This large corpus of modern British English

usage has been particularly useful in revealing the subtle differences that make one

word or phrase exactly right in a particular context, and others unsuitable.

Despite the recognized usefulness of computerized corpora in dictionary making,

this application of information technology is still relatively new Accordingly, while we

believe that this new edition is a major advance on the original, we welcome all

comments and suggestions.

Guide to the Dictionary

Finding the information you need

The entries in this dictionary are in alphabetical order: about is at the front of the book and

youth is at the back To help you find an entry quickly, there is a word in heavy type at the top

of each page The word at the top of a left-hand page is the name of the first entry; the word at

the top of a right-hand page is the name of the last entry

To use this dictionary to correct errors, you need to know which word to look up In many

cases, you will find the information you need at the entry for the keyword This is the most

important word in a group of words which regularly occur together For example, to find out why

'a hole on my sock' is incorrect, you should look up the entry for hole (not on)

To find out what is wrong with 'He'll be here at December', you should turn to the entry for at

(not December) In cases like this, there is no fixed group of words and therefore no keyword

Sometimes, the keyword is separated from the part of the sentence containing the error For

example, in: 'She never lets the children to go out on their own', your teacher may underline 1Q

or to go In cases like this, the information you need is to be found at the entry for the word or

phrase which requires a particular form to be used later on in the sentence For example, you

allow someone to do something, but you let someone do something (not 'to do')

keyword

Shows the

sentence

containing the

error

Shows the

corrected

sentence

Shows that the

particular usage

-is inappropriate

in some contexts

Explains the

word that has

been used

incorrectly and

tells you which

word should

have been used

Here, the word

which has been

used incorrectly

is directly next to

the word

succeed that

controls it

./' Next July I'm going to the USA to continue my studies.

To refer to the work that a student does at a couepe or university, use studies: 'After the war he resumed his studies at the University of Turin.' Compare: 'They are conducting a study of sex education in local secondary schools.'

-_.I

stuff

She's studying history in Oxford University.

She's studying history at Oxford University.

See in 5 _

-X He'd left all his tennis stuffs at home / He'd left all his tennis stuff at home.

Stuff-is.an

to my-place.'

~ ,/? I'd like to live abroad and have a different lifestyle.

I find this living style very attractive ,/ I find this lifestyle very attractive.

See note at LIFE 2

ious ,/ The driver of the car was taken to hospital unconscious.

subconscious (of a thought or desire) = exlstlnp or occurring in the mind without the person being aware of it: 'Hls.dream about crosslnq the oceansjnqle-handed prob,a,tJ,lyarose from asubconsetous desire-tor fame:':"" ,_ • • -' :_.;

unconscious (of a person) = in a sleep-like slate, especially becaus you are iH or have been' hit on the head: 'The' cleaner found himJying unconscious on the bathroom

,/ The subject of my thesis is women in the popular press.

SUbject is not followed by about Note the alternative: :My thesis is about 'Nomen in the popular press.'

,/ Not many of us succeed in achieving our ambitions.

succeed-in doing sth mouniing the horse 1

such ;< She was always a such intelligent woman »>:

./ She was always su~h_an intelligent woman -Such always comes at the beginning of a noun phrase: '11's sucba good film that I'd like to see it again.' ~

heard a strange noise / Late one evening, as I was getting into the bath, I suddenly heard a strange noise.

See Language Note at ALWAYS

Explains how to use the word correctly

Shows that there is more information at the entry for IN, at sub-entry number 5

Shows that there is more information at the explanation of the entry forLIFE.

Shows examples of correct usage

Here, the word which has been used incorrectly is separated from the word subject that controls it

If the explanation contains a technical term that you do not understand, look in the glossary on page 370

Shows that there is more information at the Language Note for ALWAYS.

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Some entries have sub entries, each

with their own numbers

Errors involving vocabulary usually

come before errors in grammar, and

very common errors come before

those which occur less frequently

)< When capital punishment was abolished, people thought that murders will become more numerous.

,/ When capital punishment was abolished, people thought that murders would become more numerous.

2 X If a developing country will become a developed country, it has

to attract foreign investors.

,/ If a is to become a developed country, it

3 See Language Note below When there is a lot of information - L

about a group of related errors, this .'

is presented in a Language Note •~~j~cii~~~?lk about something happening in the future, you often use one of the following

Talking about the future

TIME after, as soon as, before, immediately, once, the moment, until, when, whenever, while

CONDITION if, whether, as long as, in case, unless

I'To refer to the future after these conjunctions, use the present simple tense (NOT will/shall)

I I'll phone you as soon as I arrive at the airport

I The plane should be taking off shortly, as long as there aren't any delays.

Note:

1 Sometimes it is possible to present perfect expresses a sense

2Whentheclause be

instead of the present simple The

doesn't want to buy acar until

you

test.

so lonely with if, whether, when, ete is the object of the sentence, will may

I doubt whether David will still recognize me

I don't know when they'll be back Also il will is possible when will expresses the idea of willingness:

What are you

If you'll take a

do if she won't help you?

moment, I'll tell Mr Fox you're here