Customer Reviews

Errors in English and Ways to Correct Them: Fourth Edition

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How often do you need a quick answer to a simple grammatical question? Just when should you (or would you) place (or put) a hyphen between (or inbetween) words?
Is it "its" or "it's?" "Shall I?" or "Will I?" Is your handwriting "legible" or "readable?" Do you "lend" money or "loan" money? Is your perfume "sensual" or "sensuous?" Did your last job interview go "nowhere" or "no place?"

A great copyeditor is a writer's best friend - and I have one sitting on my desk! His name is Harry Shaw.

"Errors in English" has a dictionary-like section that quickly provides the answers to questions like: Is Susan a "person" or an "individual?" Is that chewing gum sample "free" or "gratis?"

Shaw's book provides quick tips on correct sentence structure, word usage, spelling and punctuation. He even helps tackle the difference between the passive and the active, and so much more.... (Reviewed by: Marion E. Gold, Author of "Personal Publicity Planner: A Guide to Marketing YOU," and "Top Cops: Profiles of Women in Command." Marion is a past president of the Illinois Woman's Press Association)

Harry Shaw's _Errors in English_ has helped me correct my favorite errors (commas) for over twenty-five years. That the book weathered multiple military moves and was never dumped to shave a pound off the weight of even overseas household goods shipments, testifies to its usefulness. In leafing through it for an overall sense of the contents, I see crayon marks made by one of my children (the most recognizable symbol appears to be an orange upside-down 'e'). This tells me the volume did not spend its life safely wedged between other books on a high shelf; I kept it within reach.

The book is not only a reliable reference, but (for those interested in such things) is browsably entertaining on word choice, sentence structure, punctuation and a dictionary of terms. Did you know the origins for synonyms of cliché, trite and hackneyed, are the Latin "tritus" (past participle of terere) meaning "to rub, to wear out;" and the poor, worn-out horses -- presumably of the Hackney breed -- who pulled London taxis in the days before the internal combustion engine took on the job of hauling us around? Cliché itself derives from the French "clicher," "to stereotype."

No, the reader is not whipped along by Jason Bourne, but for a reliable read when the writer wants to fix the English on his page, Mr. Shaw comes through.