Slovene Association for the Study of English

Incorrect: “The sun imagery in the poem presents warmth.”
Correct: “The sun imagery in the poem represents warmth.”

Incorrect: “Allow me to represent John, who’s a good friend of mine.”
Correct: “Allow me to present John, who’s a good friend of mine.”

Also check out slang uses of represent: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=represent and http://onlineslangdictionary.com/meaning-definiti…/represent.

All tips to date…
http://www2.arnes.si/~bjason/tips%20-%202014%202015.pdf

Incorrect: “The mood of the poem reflects in the sombre diction.”
Correct: “The mood of the poem reflects itself in the sombre diction.”
Correct (and somewhat more elegant): “The mood of the poem is reflected in the sombre diction.”

Your safest bet is the passive as this is the more common option – Google, for instance, returns some 25 million hits for “is reflected” compared to 92,000 for “reflects itself”.

Jason Blake and Monika Kavalir

Example 1: “We bought bread, cheese, ham, etc.”

Also be sure NOT to italicize “etc.”

Example 2: See Example 1.

As well, be sure to add a comma AFTER “etc.” if your sentence does not end.

Example 3: “We bought bread, cheese, ham, etc., but then forgot them all at the supermarket counter.”

Jason Blake and Monika Kavalir

Though especially noun-verbs can scrape our ears on first hearing, we generally get used to them (think of “to task,” “to gift,” and “to friend”).

And yet… before converting parts of speech, verify whether there is a ready substitute.

For example, even though the verb “to higher” exists, it is so rare the majority of English speakers would probably claim there’s no such thing. You can raise (sic) your essay grade by avoiding “to higher.”

Jason Blake and Monika Kavalir

Jason Blake and Monika Kavalir

Some use it in the plural to mean “separate scientific investigations” but others (including the writers of these weekly tips) find “researches” very strange. If possible, it is therefore better to use just research, especially when you mean it in a very general way – e.g. “Research has shown…”

As you know, “study” is a regular ol’ count noun:

“A study has shown…”

“Studies have shown…”

Jason Blake and Monika Kavalir

An ad hoc list of all tips from this academic year is available at:
http://www2.arnes.si/~bjason/tips%20-%202014%202015.pdf

Other frequent examples:

“The theory of which we have been informed of.”
“The cousin with whom I went to the beach with.”

No great solutions here – just be vigilant!

Here are two links on the matter:

http://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/…/plenary-session-david-cr…

http://david-crystal.blogspot.com/…/on-world-in-which-we-li…

Jason Blake and Monika Kavalir

Both “aging” and “ageing” are acceptable spellings.

“Aging” is the more usual spelling in the US, while “ageing” appears to be more frequent in the UK.

In the past, Yorkshire children were taught to write “ageing,” while New Yorkers were taught to write “aging.”

From The New York Times: “An Aging Europe in Decline”

From The Guardian: “We know the population is ageing – now we must embrace the challenge”

Jason Blake and Monika Kavalir

To visit means to go to some place or person to spend some time there, usually in your free time.
e.g. “Why don’t you come for a visit?”

When you go somewhere on a regular basis or for a more or less official purpose, we use the verb to attend (school, a funeral, a meeting).

e.g. “I was unable to attend the funeral because I was attending school.”

Jason Blake and Monika Kavalir

“I went into the woods and saw a giant/huge toad.”

A sentence like that leaves the reader wondering:

1) What is there a difference between “giant” and “huge”?

2) If there is no great difference, why are both words needed?

3) Isn’t it the author’s job to choose the right word?

If you are signalling an alternative, remember that no space is needed before and after the slash (there are exceptions to this rule):

e.g. “he/she

Jason Blake and Monika Kavalir