Problem Words

Here are a few more things to add to your list of words to be careful of. 

(Oops! I just ended a sentence with a preposition. Churchill was once criticized for occasionally ending a sentence with a preposition. He answered,  “This is the type of errant pedantry up with which I will not put.”)

Words that are commonly misused

disinterested/uninterested

A disinterested person is impartial. He doesn’t care which way you vote on an issue.

To be uninterested in something means you don’t even want to hear about it. You are not interested.

 

irregardless

This should be regardless. The “less” already makes the word a negative. We don’t need “ir” as well, to make it so.

 

less/fewer

Less is used for quantity. Fewer refers to numbers.

We had less rain this week, so we saw fewer people with umbrellas.

 

amount/number

Amount is for masses of things that are not individually counted. Number is used if the items are countable.

The amount of work I have is huge. The number of jobs I have can be counted.

 

lend/loan

Lend is the verb. Loan is the noun.

I will lend you some money. The money I lend you is a loan. I want you to pay it back someday.

 

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