Author: Kirk

“… to advise every one of housekeeping items …”

Nouns, Pronouns

I saw this in an email message from a personnel department.

Problem:
The space between “every” and “one” does not belong.

Explanation:
The complete sentence in the email message was “The supervisors will hold a short meeting to advise every one of housekeeping items and scheduling information.”

“Every one” — with a space between “every” and “one” — is a noun phrase that means each person or thing.

An example of the correct use of “every one” (with the space) is “Every one of the plants had turned brown.”

“Everyone” — without the space — is a pronoun that means everybody in a group.

An example of the correct use of “everyone” (without the space) is “Everyone likes an end-of-year bonus.”

Solution:
“… to advise everyone of housekeeping items …”

“Chance that someday you will forget …”

Adjectives, Adverbs, Common English Blunders

I saw this in a television advertisement two days ago.

Problem:
“Someday” is an adjective, but an adverb is required here.

Explanation:
The verbiage displayed in the FedEx TV ad was along the lines of “Chance that someday you will forget to hit mute”, with no space between “some” and “day”.

“Someday” — without the space — tells you what.

For example, a “someday occurrence” is something that occurs at an indefinite future time.

In other words, “someday” is an adjective; it modifies a noun (such as “occurrence”).

In contrast, “some day” tells you when.

An example of the correct use of “some day” is “It will happen some day.”

The goal of the television advertising copywriter was to tell the viewer when he or she would forget.

Solution:
“Chance that some day you will forget …”

“Helpful” vs. “Helpless”

Adjectives, Outsider's Perspective, Versus

I heard one of these adjectives the other day and immediately thought of the other one.

Problem:
These two adjectives appear to be antonyms but are not antonyms in today’s usage.

Explanation:
The core definition of the adjective “helpful” is rendering or giving assistance or aid.

An example of the correct use of this adjective is “The helpful teller made all bank patrons feel good about the bank’s services.”

In other words, someone who is helpful is someone who is of service.

There are four basic definitions of the adjective “helpless”:

  1. dependent or weak, as in “He is helpless without his wife.”;
  2. incompetent or powerless, as in “The employee is helpless without her supervisor.”;
  3. involuntary or impossible to control, as in “They suffered from helpless crying upon seeing the effects of the tornado.”;
  4. unable to provide help, as in “The helpless waiters discouraged diners from returning to the restaurant.”

The fourth definition of “helpless” is obsolete, so “helpless” in today’s language is not an antonym of “helpful”.

Solution:
Remember that “helpless” can mean the opposite of “helpful” in older books but is not the antonym of “helpful” today.