{"id":3615,"date":"2014-07-28T21:32:34","date_gmt":"2014-07-28T21:32:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/testpreparations.com\/help\/?p=3615"},"modified":"2014-12-02T08:25:27","modified_gmt":"2014-12-02T08:25:27","slug":"recognizing-nonstandard-english-diction-errors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/schooltutoring.com\/scholarship\/2014\/07\/28\/recognizing-nonstandard-english-diction-errors\/","title":{"rendered":"Recognizing Nonstandard English: Diction Errors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Overview<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Diction errors are types of errors when the incorrect word is used in a nonstandard way.\u00a0 Some word usage is colloquial: out of place in a formal essay.\u00a0 Other errors in word usage occur when similar words are used in the incorrect context.<\/p>\n

What about Lots or A Lot?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The use of lots<\/strong> or a lot<\/strong> is colloquial, as well as non-specific.\u00a0 Standard usage would refer to many, or very much.\u00a0 A sentence such as “I like to write a lot” could either mean that I like to write very much, or I like to write a great quantity.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Similarly, “A bunch of people were at the concert” should be restated as, “A group of people were at the concert” or “Many people were at the concert.”\u00a0 When referring to people, bunch<\/strong> is nonstandard.\u00a0 Bunches can refer to flowers, grapes, or bananas and be correct.<\/p>\n

What about Guy?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The word guy<\/strong> is also colloquial.\u00a0 Preferred usage would be “the man”, just as preferred usage for gal<\/strong> would be woman.\u00a0 Plenty<\/strong> as in the sentence, “It is plenty hot this summer” is colloquial.\u00a0 “It is very hot this summer,” is standard.\u00a0 In the same way, “It is awful hot this summer” is colloquial, and could be recast as “It is very hot this summer.”<\/p>\n

What about Aggravate?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The word aggravate<\/strong> means to make worse, and aggravated is not a synonym for annoyed (or any of the other synonyms for annoyed that are not standard usage). ” Her headache was aggravated by lack of sleep,” would be standard usage.\u00a0 “She was aggravated by the construction in the office building,” would not be.<\/p>\n

What about Anxious and Eager?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

“The students were anxious for change” is nonstandard, and should be replaced with “The students were eager for change.”\u00a0 The students did not fear change.\u00a0 Similarly, can<\/strong> refers to ability, while may<\/strong> refers to permission or likelihood.<\/p>\n

TestPrep Academy<\/span> is the premier SAT\/ ACT services company for high school studies. We offer instructional programs and curriculum for students preparing for the PSAT<\/a>, ACT<\/a> and SAT<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Overview Diction errors are types of errors when the incorrect word is used in a nonstandard way.\u00a0 Some word usage is colloquial: out of place in a formal essay.\u00a0 Other errors in word usage occur when similar words are used in the incorrect context. What about Lots or A Lot? The use of lots or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":7830,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2841,3019,3020,3016,3017,2851,3018],"tags":[3048,3069,3096],"class_list":["post-3615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-act","category-comprehension-and-grammar","category-essay-and-writing","category-resources","category-review","category-sat","category-writing-act","tag-colloquial-usage","tag-diction-errors","tag-formal-usage"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/schooltutoring.com\/scholarship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/schooltutoring.com\/scholarship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/schooltutoring.com\/scholarship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schooltutoring.com\/scholarship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schooltutoring.com\/scholarship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3615"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/schooltutoring.com\/scholarship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3615\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schooltutoring.com\/scholarship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/schooltutoring.com\/scholarship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schooltutoring.com\/scholarship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schooltutoring.com\/scholarship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}