Common English Blunders

“I have two train of thoughts on that.”

Common English Blunders, Plurals

I heard this last week on a conference call.

Problem:
The speaker pluralized the wrong word.

Explanation:
Someone made a comment during a conference call.

The call’s facilitator responded to the comment by saying, “I have two train of thoughts on that.”

Given that “two” modifies “train” and not “thought”, the word “train” — not the word “thought” — should have been pluralized.

This type of mistake is a common English blunder in spoken American English because avoiding it requires one to think quickly beyond the common pattern of putting the pluralizing S or E-S at the very end of a concept, which in this case is “train of thought”.

Another example of this type of mistake is pluralizing “attorney general” by saying the incorrect phrase “attorney generals” instead of the correct phrase “attorneys general”.

Solution:
“I have two trains of thought on that.”

“Mobile Mikes Tile Service”

Apostrophes, Common English Blunders, Possessives

I saw this last Sunday on a sign.

Problem:
A possessive apostrophe is missing.

Explanation:
I saw a magnetic sign attached to a pickup truck last Sunday.

The sign’s title was “Mobile Mikes Tile Service”, with no apostrophe anywhere, and there was contact and other information beneath the title.

Nothing on the sign implied that there was more than one person named Mike, so I assume that there is just one “Mike” who runs the business.

Oddly, although many sign makers make the mistake of inserting an apostrophe where it does not belong, this sign’s maker omitted an apostrophe where it did belong.

Solution:
“Mobile Mike’s Tile Service”

“One of you are going home.”

Common English Blunders, Verbs

I heard this in a preview for a TV program that aired last night.

Problem:
The verb does not match the subject.

Explanation:
I was watching a preview for an upcoming episode of the “Hell’s Kitchen” television program when I heard chef Gordon Ramsay say, “One of you are going home.”

I believe that Ramsay succumbed to the common English blunder of getting distracted by the pronoun “you” right before saying a form of the verb “be”.

No matter whether the pronoun “you” is being used in its singular form or its plural form, “You are going home.” is correct.

But “you” is not the subject of the sentence.

Instead, the subject of the sentence is the word “One”, which acts in “One of you” as a singular noun that means a single person.

The solution comes from recognizing that singular nouns require the “is” form of the verb “be”.

Solution:
“One of you is going home.”