Common errors in English usage - misspelled words list - daily 10 words - Part 28

STRAIGHT/STRAIT

If something is not crooked or curved it's straight.
If it is a narrow passageway between two bodies of water, it's a strait.
Place names like "Bering Strait" are almost always spelled "strait."

WHOLE-HARDILY/WHOLEHEARTEDLY

If you want to convey your hearty congratulations to someone, you do so
not "whole-hardily" but "wholeheartedly"--with your whole heart.

TO HOME/AT HOME

In some dialects people say "I stayed to home to wait for the mail," but
in standard English the expression is "stayed at home."

PARALYZATION/PARALYSIS

Some people derive the noun "paralyzation" from the verb "paralyze," but
the proper term is "paralysis."

REFER BACK

Some people argue that "refer back" is redundant, but you can refer

ahead as well as back. "Refer back" is standard usage.

INCENT, INCENTIVIZE

Business folks sometimes use "incent" to mean "create an incentive," but

it's not standard English. "Incentivize" is even more widely used, but

strikes many people as ugly.

DOUBTLESSLY/DOUBTLESS

Leave off the unnecessary "-ly" in "doubtless."

ETHNIC

it's misleading to refer to minority groups as "ethnics" since everyone

has ethnicity, even a dominant majority.

FOR

Sentences like "I want for you to weed the garden" and "I asked for you

to bring a dessert" are not formal English. You can improve either sort

of expression by leaving out the "for."

CATCHED/CAUGHT

The standard past tense form of "catch" in modern English is not

"catched," but "caught."