“In line” vs. “Inline”

Adjectives, Adverbs, Common English Blunders, Versus

I saw the wrong one used recently.

Problem:
“In line” and “inline” are not synonyms.

Explanation:
“In line” tells where and is an adverb: “Bob is in line to receive a raise.”
“Inline” tells what and is an adjective: “Bob enjoys inline skating.”

Solution:
Use “in line” when you want to indicate where something or someone is.
Use “inline” when you want to describe what something or someone is.

“Where are you at?”

Common English Blunders, Prepositions

I frequently hear this.

Problem:
The “at” in this question is unnecessary.

Explanation:
Any time that you see a sentence ending with a preposition, re-word it so that the preposition is not at the end. Trying this with the above question, we get, “At where are you?” With this re-wording, we see that “at” is unnecessary — because “where” implies “at”. Put another way, “where” is conceptually equivalent to “at” plus a location.

Solution:
“Where are you?”

“He looks different.” vs. “He looks differently.”

Adjectives, Adverbs, Common English Blunders, Versus

I sometimes hear the wrong one spoken.

Problem:
“Different” and “differently” are not synonyms.

Explanation:
“Different” is an adjective. “Differently” is an adverb.

Solution:
Use “He looks different.” when you want to say that someone’s appearance has changed.
Use “He looks differently.” when you want to say that someone’s perspective has changed or that someone’s perspective is different than someone else’s perspective.