SPEAK RIGHT, MIND YOUR GRAMMAR

SPEAK RIGHT

With

Charles Akinriyibi

Less, fewer (countable nouns)
Don’t say: There were less people.
Say: There were fewer people.
‘Less’ is used before uncountable nouns while ‘fewer’ is used before countable plural nouns
better/more better
Don’t say: My opinion is more better than his.
Say: My opinion is better than his.

‘Better’ and ‘more’ already both have comparative markers, so it is wrong to use two comparative markers together. It will lead to tautology(unnecessary repetition).

I/me

Incorrect: The deal is between you and I.

Say: The deal is between you and me.

‘I’ is the subject of ‘me’. Objects are used after prepositions. So, only the object of ‘I’ can be used after ‘between’ since it is a preposition.

well/good
Don’t say: She feels well.
Say: She feels good.
‘well’ is the adverb of ‘good’. Only adjectives can be used as the complements of stative verbs. Therefore, that informs the correct use of ‘good’ instead of ‘well’.
Linking verbs take the adjective form (bad/badly)
Don’t say: The meat smells badly. I feel badly.
Say: The meat smells bad. I feel bad.
Close friend/tight friend

Incorrect: He is my tight friend.

Say: He is my close friend.
Beside (means “next to”)/besides (means “in addition to”)
Don’t say: Ask him to sit besides me.
Say: Ask him to sit beside me.
eat your cake and have it/have your cake and eat it
Don’t say: You cannot eat your cake and have it.
Say: You cannot have your cake and eat it

If you think that someone wants the benefits of doing two things when it is only reasonable to expect the benefits of doing one, you can say that they want to have their cake and eat it. Idiomatic expressions are fixed, so it cannot be the other way.