| 1. |
a--Use before words that begin with consonants: a primate; a cannon
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| 2. |
an--Use before words that begin with a vowel: an orange; an enemy
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| 3. |
already--by this time
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| 4. |
all ready--[all] completely prepared
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| 5. |
accept--receive, accept
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| 6. |
except--means "to leave out" or"other than"
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| 7. |
loose, lose--loose means not tight; lose means to misplace
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| 8. |
a half a--use a half or half a; do not include two A's
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| 9. |
had better-- write should or ought to; had better is slang
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| 10. |
may be--is a verb phrase
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| 11. |
maybe--means perhaps
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| 12. |
being as, being that--slang; use because or since
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| 13. |
fixing to--regional slang; avoid using this in most cases, write what
you really mean to say: fixing to leave = planning to leave; fixing dinner
= cooking dinner; fixed her hair = combed her hair
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| 14. |
were--a past tense verb;
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| 15. |
we're--we are;
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| 16. |
where--a location
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| 17. |
who's--means who is;
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| 18. |
whose--possessive of who (Whose cat is it?)
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| 19. |
at, to--remove at the end of clauses beginning with "where": "Where
are you working at?" or "Do you know where are you going to?"
|
| 20. |
alright, all right--avoid alright because it is slang; use all right
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| 21. |
your--your is possessive;
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| 22. |
you're--contraction of you are
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| 23. |
let's us--let's means let us; the second us is redundant
|
| 24. |
got to--slang; use have to, has to, or must
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| 25. |
it's--contraction of it is;
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| 26. |
its--possessive (belonging to)
|
| 27. |
anyways, anywheres--remove the s
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| 28. |
could of, would of--slang, write could have or would have
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| 29. |
reason is because is redundant; write "reason is that"
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| 30. |
use to, suppose to--misspelled; write used to and supposed
to
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| 31. |
off of--remove the "of"
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| 32. |
too = also or excessive
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| 33. |
to = preposition
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| 34. |
on account of--avoid; use because of or because
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| 35. |
lots, lots of, alot--avoid; use many, much, a great deal, often
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| 36. |
their (possessive);
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| 37. |
they're (they are);
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| 38. |
there (location)
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| 39. |
remove the ly from "secondly" or "thirdly" (to open paragraphs)
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| 40. |
cannot means can't; do not write can not as 2 words
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