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Home  » Get Ahead » English Bloopers: 'She came in at 12:00 pm'

English Bloopers: 'She came in at 12:00 pm'

By Simran Singh, AS Sureshchandar, Chidambaram Jagadeesan, Dr.V.K.Kanniappan
Last updated on: July 11, 2007 18:10 IST
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Have your friends and colleagues been giving you a hard time about your English speaking skills? Don't get upset; instead, pick up a book and start reading! 

Just so you know that you're not alone, here are more English Bloopers. As always, they've been compiled and sent in by our readers.


Simran Singh
, 39 and in banking, sent a list of errors that she has seen at work:

Wrong: 'I am withdrawling Rs 400'

Simran says that many misspell this word in written requests. She has no idea why. It's 'withdrawing'.

Correct: 'I am withdrawing Rs 400'


Wrong: 'I bought the property threw my mother'

'Threw' is the past tense of 'throw'. 'Through' is the proper word.

Correct: 'I bought the property through my mother'


Wrong: 'I am do Rs 4000 as late payment'

This is another common misspelling. 'Do' is a verb. It should be 'due'.

Correct: 'I am due Rs 4000 as late payment'


And finally, here's a request she received from a customer.

'To who it may concern, I did not knew that my bill was over. Likewise, I cannot been expected to pay.'

The entire note is riddled with errors! It should be:

'To whom it may concern, I did not know that my bill was due. Therefore, I cannot be expected to have paid.'


AS Sureshchandar
says these time mistakes keep popping up wherever he goes!

Wrong:
He arrived yesterday night.
She came in at 12.00 P.M.
We will be leaving the day after day after tomorrow.

Correct:
He arrived last night.
She came in at Noon. (Noon and Midnight are separate from other times)
We will be leaving in a couple of days


Chidambaram Jagadeesan has read and heard the following common mistake

Wrong: Suppose if I come, we can go to the temple

'Suppose' and 'if' will not come together because both convey the same meaning.

Correct: Suppose I come, we can go to the temple.


Dr.V.K.Kanniappan M.S, D.O, 62 years, Professor of Ophthalmolgy, sent this story that demonstrates several common errors:

Wrong: Yesterday afternoon after coming from school Mala developed red rashes all over the body.
Correct: Mala developed red rashes all over the body after returning from school yesterday.

Wrong: First we suspected it may be chicken pox.
Correct: Initially we suspected that it may be due to chicken pox.

Wrong: What the reason is for food allergy?
Correct: What is the reason for food allergy?

Wrong: How many days it will take?
Correct: How long will it last?

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MORE English bloopers

We thank our readers for the witty emails detailing common English bloopers they've come across! Keep them coming in, and we'll keep publishing them. Three times a week, we'll provide articles featuring your responses.

If you'd like to share common bloopers you come across when people speak/ write in English, do mail your list of common bloopers, along with their correct alternatives to englishbloopers@rediffmail.com -- we'll highlight them right here as a helpful guide to those trying to improve their English. Also make sure you include your FULL NAME, AGE, OCCUPATION and the CITY you are based in.

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Simran Singh, AS Sureshchandar, Chidambaram Jagadeesan, Dr.V.K.Kanniappan