Common English Blunders

“Ourself”

Common English Blunders, Pronouns

I heard this on National Public Radio.

Problem:
The pronoun “ourself” is nonstandard.

Explanation:
The pronoun “ourself” has only a couple of entries in most dictionaries. The first entry typically says used as a reflexive pronoun in royal proclamations. The second entry typically says that “ourself” is nonstandard.

In other words, “ourself” in most situations is an incorrect replacement for the reflexive pronoun “ourselves”. The word “ourself” is incorrect because “our” is plural and takes the plural “selves” (instead of the singular “self”).

I suspect that the increasing use of “ourself” outside of royal proclamations is due to increasing misuse of the reflexive pronouns “himself”, “herself” and “yourself” in non-reflexive situations. For example, many people have become accustomed to saying “yourself” when the correct pronoun is “you” instead.

Solution:
“Ourselves”

“Healthy” vs. “Healthful”

Adjectives, Common English Blunders, Devolution toward Simpler, Versus

I often hear “healthy” — as in “healthy food” — when people mean “healthful”.

Problem:
The adjective “healthy” should not be used when one specifically is referring to something that brings about good health.

Explanation:
The primary definition of the adjective “healthy” is having or enjoying good health. The primary definition of the adjective “healthful” is conducive to good health. The secondary or tertiary definition of “healthy” has become conducive to good health, which is unfortunate and should be avoided.

I believe that the use of “healthy” in place of “healthful” supports my “Devolution toward Simpler” hypothesis. It’s simpler to say “healthy” than to say “healthful”, so many will call something “healthy” when what they really mean is “healthful”.

Still, it is worthwhile to use the appropriate word. Otherwise, you risk confusing the reader or listener.

For example, a healthy steer is different than a healthful steer. The first steer has good health; the second steer — presumably because of the eating of the beef produced from it — contributes to good health. Some vegetarians can reasonably argue that steers can be “healthy” but not “healthful”.

Solution:
Use “healthy” when you’re referring to possessing good health or characteristic of good health; use “healthful” when you’re referring to contributing to good health.

“That” vs. “Which”

Common English Blunders, Pronouns, Versus

I often see “which” where “that” is appropriate.

Problem:
The pronoun “which” is not interchangeable with the pronoun “that”.

Explanation:
Some speakers and writers tend to favor “which” over “that” because they believe that “which” sounds more elegant or sophisticated than “that”. Unfortunately, most of the time they should use “that” instead of “which”.

When used to introduce a clause, these two pronouns are not interchangeable. Only one of these examples is correct: Nobody likes a cat that scratches. vs. Nobody likes a cat which scratches. The first example is correct.

One way to remember which pronoun to use (no pun intended) is to see whether you can put the clause inside commas. You would not write Nobody likes a cat, which scratches. because you need the scratching behavior to identify the cat. The comma in this example tells the reader that the clause is unnecessary, which is not your intent. The clause is necessary to identify the cat. You should instead write Nobody likes a cat that scratches. (notice the lack of commas).

Here are two more examples, and each shows correct use of “that” or “which”:

  • Joe’s car, which could go from zero to sixty miles per hour in three seconds, won the contest for the fastest car on the drag strip.
  • The car that won the contest for the fastest car on the drag strip was Joe’s car.

Notice that we can remove the “which” clause and its commas without destroying the significant point of the first example: Joe’s car won the contest for the fastest car on the drag strip.

Solution:
Use “that” when when you must keep the (“that”) clause to maintain the point of the sentence. Use “which” when you can maintain the point of the sentence after dropping the (“which”) clause. Also, make sure that “that” clauses do not go inside commas and that “which” clauses do go inside commas.