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Maybe a list of common errors in English usage would be more useful if it were a manageable list. How about the 20 most common errors in usage. I'd bet (but surely there are some studies on this) that the following would appear near or close to the top of the list:

it's for its; there for their; alright for all right; 'the reason is because', for 'the reason is that'; dangling modifiers; missing or unclear pronominal antecedents; and subject/verb agreement.




Loose vs. lose comes up far too often here.

Also: http://www.uta.edu/owl/top20.htm


I also notice a lot of "eke vs. eek" here. Turns out there's this property called onomatopoeia that escapes many people.


In fairness, "eke" is a rarely used word. No such excuses for they're/there/their though.


Whether it's used rarely or frequently, it's still incorrect and I see it all over the place, which was my point...


This one too is common:

http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/couple.html

From the outside it seems to be a US, West coast affection.


Yeah, that's more "slang dialect" than "error".

Also, did you mean "affectation"?


Mixing up "less" and "fewer" is quite common here as well.


also then for than


Umm.. What about then/than? That seems to be the most common mistake.




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