Common Errors Part 3 : Appraise and Apprise

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Appraise and Apprise

Appraise

Pronunciation : //uh PRAZE//
To determine/confirm the value or worth of something
To estimate / assess
To evaluate or set a price for something.  

For example :

"car inspection" "inspecting car" "sports car" "blue car" "appraise"
1) Please make sure you appraise the car before you buy it.
2) Before buying that antique chair, she had it appraised.
3) She appraised the risks and benefits carefully, before making the decision to accept the offer.
4) Once a year, they will appraise the staff's performance.
"house inspection" "inspecting house" "home" "appraise"
5) They appraised the contents of the house before selling it. 


Apprise
Pronunciation : //uh PRIZE//
To give notice.
To inform or notify someone.

For example :

1) They apprised her of her husband's death.
2) Please apprise her of her duties and responsibilities.
3) They did not apprise me of the terms and conditions.
"arresting" "police" "arrest" "crime"4) The police officer apprised him of his rights before arresting him.
5) They are doing everything to keep her apprised of the situation.
6) Her job is to apprise him as soon as the shipment arrives. 

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Common Errors Part 2 : Personal and Personnel

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Here is the second part of some of the most commonly confused words.

Personal and Personnel

Personal : Private or individual
Personnel : People employed in a company, organization, business or service.


Personal 

Personal
Coming from a particular person or individual. 
In other words : Private
Directed to a particular person.

For example :
1) In my personal opinion, you need to work harder.
2) She has been assigned a Personal Assistant. 
3) Please use your personal email "animated" "gif" "animated email" "sending email" "email" to send out information on private matters.
4) He did not expect such personal attacks during the meeting.
(to make personal attacks / personal remarks / personal comments : is to talk about someone's character, behavior, appearance or personality usually in a negative way) 
5) Would you get angry if I ask you a personal question like are you married?
"animated" "Car" "On the road" "driving"6) We have given this car  
to you for your personal use.
7) We should not allow our personal feelings to affect our decision. 


* the Personals (with “s” : Personals)
Is an advertisement / message in the personal column of a newspaper
Personal ad.
It's something like the Classifieds but it's more personal in nature. Mostly done by people looking for companionship and friendship.
"Organisation Chart" "Employees" "Staff" "Management" "Personnel" 

Personnel
Personnel
A group of people working for a company, organization.
employees or staff
For both one (singular) or many (plural), we use “Personnel”.
We CANNOT say : Personnels (X) – no “s”
For example :
1) All the personnel could not come to work because of the flood.

2) All the medical personnel have been asked to submit their report today.
3) The Management is good at encouraging the personnel to perform better.
 
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Common Errors Part 1 : Consent and Concern

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I've come across a few common mistakes made by the incorrect use of words that may sound similar. 
Here is one of them.
Consent
Consent means permission / approval / agreement

For example :
1) I need your consent before I can proceed further with the task.
"Consent"2) Without his consent, action cannot be taken.
3) Please give me your consent to my request.
4) He consented to the request for more staff.

* Another word that you can use is green light.
Green light also means permission / approval / consent.
For example :
"approved" "traffic light"1) She has received the green light to proceed with the project.
2) Without the government's green light, we cannot do anything.


 Concern
Photobucket "animated smiley" "gif" "Concerned Smiley" "Worried Smiley" "worry" "concern" "troubled smiley"
Concern means
1) To trouble or worry


For example :
A) I am concerned about her health.
B) Thanks for the concern.
C) I was touched with the concern she showed when her friend was in trouble. 

2) To be related or connected with something / To be interested in something
For example :
A) We should be worried as the flood situation in Thailand concerns us all.
B) Please pay attention as this announcement is of concern to all of us.
C) We did not have to worry as she concerned herself with every aspect of the project.
 
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Common Errors - Words with “S” Part 2

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Overseas and Oversea
Another common error is the use of the word “oversea”. The correct term is “overseas”. NOT “oversea”.
So please do not forget the 's'. It should be overseas.

overseas means over / across the seas. Another word that can be used to replace 'overseas' is 'abroad'.

"Aeroplane" "Flying" "Flight" "Flight take off" "overseas" "abroad" "flying off into the sunset"
For example :
She is planning to go overseas.
or
She is planning to go abroad.

Other examples :
1) She spends a lot of money when she goes overseas. / She spends a lot of money when she goes abroad.
2) She studied overseas as she has relatives there. / 
She studied abroad as she has relatives there.

* Difference between overseas and abroad.
When you use overseas to describe a noun (thing), for example, overseas trip, the word, 'overseas' has to come BEFORE the noun (thing or word) that you are describing.
For example :
"Travelling overseas" "Holiday" "lady on trip" "Returning from trip" "Vacation" "going on holiday"
1) When will she return from her overseas trip?
2) I met them during my overseas travels.
3) We need to have more overseas contacts.
4) He hopes to find some overseas employment.

However, when you use “abroad” to describe a noun (thing), the word has to come AFTER the noun you are describing.
For example :
1) When will she return from her trip abroad?
2) I met them during my travels abroad.
3) We need to have more contacts abroad.
4) He hopes to find some employment abroad. 

"travelling" "Job seeker" "Businessman travelling"

“oversee”
Please do not get confused with the word “oversee” even though it sounds the same as "overseas".
“oversee” means to supervise / manage / survey / monitor
"oversee" "Factory" "going to work" 
For example :
1) His job is to oversee all the factory workers.
2) I will oversee this project.


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Common Errors - Words with “S” Part 1

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1) Goods and Good
Goods
Goods (with 's') means property / merchandise / possessions / cloth or textile material
For example :
1) The goods from that factory are always of the highest quality.
"Goods" "Transport" "Goods Van" "Lorry" "Loading" "Loading Goods" "Transporting"
2) How are you going to transport the goods to him?
3) Top quality goods are hard to find.

* It is important to remember that goods are usually used in the plural sense (many), so you must use it with 's' : goods


Good
Good has a different meaning. Here are some of the meanings:
A) profit / advantage / worth / benefit
For example :
1) All their sacrifice is for the common good.
2) What is the good in making her angry?"Photobucket" "gif" "animated smiley" "angry"

B) Excellence / kind / of high morals / virtuous
For example :
1) She is a good girl.
2) She is not good enough for that position.
"Great Job" "Job well done" "Thumbs up"
3) I only sell good quality products. 
4) He was proud of her because she did 
a good job on the project.  

C) Idioms : come to no good
come to no good : To end in failure or become a failure / 
to end badly or to come to a bad end
For example :
1) They told me that my son will come to no good when he grows up. They are just jealous.
(jealous : envious)
2) The leader of that terrorist group came to no good in the end.
3) I know that no matter how hard he tries to be good, he will come to no good "Photobucket" "animated smiley" "gif" "up to no good" "evil" "Come to no good" "bad" in the end. 

* So in this instance, come to no good means that even though the person may be good at the beginning or come from a good background or even if they come from a bad background, when you say that they will come to no good, you are saying something bad will happen to them in the end / eventually. For example, they might be jailed or killed. 

D) Idioms : for good
"bon voyage" "leaving the country" "leaving" "journey"for good : finally / permanently / forever
For example :
1) They have been causing her so much trouble and pain, it's time she left them for good.
2) She plans to leave the country for good. 
(that means to leave and never come back)



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Common Errors with Nouns

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Both these words (either with 'ce' or 't') are nouns but they have to be used correctly depending on the context. Incorrect use of the word can change the entire meaning of your sentence.

1) Assistant and Assistance

Assistant : Person (who assists / helps)
"mean boss" "mad" "annoyed" "boss" "clip art"For example :
A) I recently hired an assistant.
B) I hate being his assistant as he is very hot-tempered.
C) Assistant Manager

Assistance : 
the help or support given (more of an action)
For example :
A) I need her assistance (this means I need her help).
IF YOU SAY : 
I need your assistant (that means you are saying, you need the person. For example, Ms. A is the assistant to Mr. B. If you tell Mr. B : I need your assistant = that means you need Ms. A).
B) Please give me your assistance.
C) Without her assistance, I could not have managed.
D) I need assistance with my work, so I hired a new assistant. 


2) Resident and residence

Resident : A PERSON who resides (stays) in a place.
"young doctor" "resident"For Example :
A) She is a resident of that hostel.
B) I was a resident there for many years.

Resident also refer to a junior doctor : 
For example : She is a third year resident.


Residence : PLACE, where a person stays or resides.
A) Her residence is in Penang 
(her home / house is in Penang)
This is different from : She is a Penang resident.
(resident is used because it refers to the person NOT the house)
"Wedding" "Venue" "Wedding Place"
(You CANNOT SAY: I'm a Penang Residence (X) because this means you are saying you are a house).

B) The wedding will be held at my residence. 

 

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