Month: November 2007

“It is to provide more than 58,000 jobs.”

Common English Blunders, Verbs

I heard this during an NPR news story about a theme park in South Korea.

Problem:
The verb phrase “is to provide” is awkward (at least).

Explanation:
The reporter was discussing the theme park’s projected effect on employment in South Korea. Either she meant to say “will provide” or she left out “projected” (as in “is projected to provide”). If she intentionally left out “projected” so as to sound more sophisticated, she did not achieve her goal (at least not with me).

Solutions:
“It will provide more than 58,000 jobs.”
“It is projected to provide more than 58,000 jobs.”

“Each person was prettier than the next.”

Common English Blunders, Self-negation

I often hear this.

Problem:
“Each person was prettier than the next.” is the opposite of what is meant.

Explanation:
“Each person was prettier than the next.” means that the next person is not as pretty as the current person. This means that the persons are becoming uglier as one steps through the sequence. When people say, “Each person was prettier than the next,” what they want to say is that the persons are becoming prettier as one steps through the sequence.

Solution:
“Each person was prettier than the previous.”

“We’ll see who outdoes each other.”

Adjectives, Common English Blunders

I heard this from an HGTV host discussing two teams.

Problem:
The adjective “each” is incorrect for this sentence.

Explanation:
The adjective “each” essentially means every one of two or more considered one by one. “Each other” is inappropriate in this sentence. The speaker was referring to two teams of interior designers in an HGTV television program, and “who outdoes” refers to whichever team will outdo the other team.

Solution:
“We’ll see who outdoes the other.”