Author: Kirk

“Jon is suppose to present it.”

Common English Blunders, Devolution toward Simpler, Passive Voice, Verbs

I saw this in an instant message.

Problem:
The verb “suppose” is incorrect here.

Explanation:
The statement is written in abbreviated passive voice, albeit incorrectly. The subject of the sentence (Jon) is acted on by a verb, and we do not know who is supposing that Jon will “present it”. A statement in active voice must identify the person who is supposing that Jon will “present it”.

“Jane supposes that Jon will present it.” is an example of a statement in active voice. We get “Jon is supposed by Jane to present it.” when we rearrange the statement to put it into passive voice. Abbreviating this statement, we correctly get “Jon is supposed to present it.” in abbreviated passive voice.

In other words, “supposed” — not “suppose” — is the passive form of the verb “to suppose”.

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

  • ignorance about passive voice, and
  • a laziness that favors more easily pronounced words.

The word “suppose” is easier than the word “supposed” to say. Throw in a lack of understanding how sentences in the active voice are converted to sentences in the passive voice or abbreviated passive voice, and it’s no wonder that some English speakers choose “suppose” (incorrectly) instead of “supposed” in a statement made in the passive voice or abbreviated passive voice.

Solution:
“Jon is supposed to present it.”

“ingenius products”

Adjectives, Common English Blunders, Misspellings, Nouns

I saw this in a blogger’s post.

Problem:
The word “ingenius” is a misspelling of an adjective.

Explanation:
Try to look up “ingenius” at Dictionary.com. What you’ll find is “No results found for ingenius.” and a “Did you mean … ?” question.

The correct spelling of the adjective is “ingenious”. The fragment gen in the adjective “ingenious” is the base of the verb gignere, which means to bring into being.

In contrast, the English noun “genius” is from the Latin word genius, which means talent, spirit, or guardian deity.

So a “genius” is someone who is talented, whereas something that is “ingenious” is characterized by originality of invention. There is no such word (except as a brand name) with the spelling “ingenius”.

Solution:
“ingenious products”

“Miniscule”

Adjectives, Common English Blunders

I occasionally see this in writing.

Problem:
“Miniscule” is meaningless.

Explanation:
People use “miniscule” as if it were an adjective that means small or tiny. Unfortunately, this is a misspelling of “minuscule” (notice the “u”), which means lowercase or (of letters) small.

In other words, “minuscule” is a typesetting word. Its complementary typesetting word is “majuscule”, which means uppercase or (of letters) capital.

I believe that those who use “miniscule” are not hearing “minuscule” pronounced correctly (or they’re mis-hearing the pronunciation) and they believe that it sounds more intelligent than “small” or “tiny”. Well, it doesn’t sound more intelligent to those who know what the proper word is and what that word means. They should stick with “small” or “tiny” and leave “minuscule” to typesetters.

Solution:
Never use “miniscule”. Use “minuscule” when referring to lowercase letters; use an adjective such as “small” or “tiny” when referring to size.