Author: Kirk

“Cohort”

Nouns

Use of this word spans several disciplines.

Problem:
“Cohort” has multiple meanings.

Explanation:
Demographers, epidemiologists, and market researchers use the noun “cohort” to mean a group of individuals with a common statistical factor (e.g., age).

Historians use “cohort” to refer to an infantry company in a Roman legion.

However, the two most common uses of “cohort” are a group of people and an individual associate.

Talk about contradictory definitions!

So “cohort” is both a singular noun and a plural noun.

Solution:
Be careful with how you use the noun “cohort”; otherwise, your readers may misunderstand you or may challenge how you use it.

“She could of called.”

Common English Blunders, Devolution toward Simpler, Prepositions, Verbs

I sometimes see this type of misuse of “of”.

Problem:
The preposition “of” is the wrong word for this sentence.

Explanation:
Unfortunately, many use the preposition “of” when they should use the auxiliary verb “have” or its contracted form. As an auxiliary verb, “have” is used with past participles to form perfect tenses. For example, “I went to the store.” can be rewritten as “I have gone to the store.” or “I had gone to the store.” Another example: “They were the nicest neighbors.” can be rewritten as “They have been the nicest neighbors.” or “They had been the nicest neighbors.”

I believe that the use of “of” instead of “have” when the latter is appropriate represents

  • a laziness that favors contractions,
  • poor pronunciation and listening skills, and
  • ignorance about the basics of English.

The contraction “could’ve” is easier than the word sequence “could have” to say. This supports my “Devolution toward Simpler” hypothesis. Combine this laziness, poor pronunciation and listening skills, and ignorance about the basics of English, and you get “She could of called.” — ouch!

Solutions:
“She could’ve called.” or “She could have called.”

“Dependent” vs. “Dependant”

Adjectives, Common English Blunders, Nouns, Versus

I often see “dependant” used incorrectly.

Problem:
The preferred use of “dependant” is as a noun, not as an adjective.

Explanation:
Some dictionaries indicate that “dependent” and “dependant” are synonyms.

However, other dictionaries indicate that the preferred use of “dependent” is as an adjective and that the preferred use of “dependant” is as a noun.

One way to remember this distinction is to think of “confidant”, which is a noun, versus “confident”, which is an adjective.

Solution:
Use “dependent” when you’re modifying a noun to indicate contingent or relying on something or someone else; use “dependant” when you’re talking about a person who relies on or is supported by another.