Of. Do not use in place of have in such combination as could have, would have, should have, may have, and the like.
Avoid the redundant usage of the word of in such phrases as beside of, off of, taste of, feel of, and similar expressions.
Off. Never use of or with off.
Correct: Take those boxes off the shelves.
Correct: The letter must have been brushed off the desk.
Do not use off with buy.
Correct: We bought it from Rustan's.
O.K. A colloquialism meaning to accept or to approve. It should not be used in formal writing, although it has been accepted in informal or colloquial expressions.
Correct: The Manager approved (NOT O.K.'d) my proposal.
Onto. Say preferably on, upon, or to.
Correct: He climbed upon the table.
Ought to of. Incorrect. Instead, say ought to have.
Over with. With is unnecessary. Simply say, "The game is over (concluded).
Pair, set. Singular in number; not to be used for the plural form pairs.
Correct: The girls found five pairs (NOT pair) of scissors and six sets (NOT set) of books during the treasure hunt.
Pants. A colloquialism for trousers.
Party, person. Party denotes one person who is a participant in a legal contract. Except in legal phrases, it denotes a group of persons. Individual denotes a specific object or human being. Person denotes any human being or corporation.
Correct: He is the person (NOT party) who placed the order.
Correct: The parties to the contract were present.
Incorrect: The party who called was a man.
Correct: The person who called was a man.
Phenomena. A plural form. See Data.
Phone. A colloquialism for telephone.
Plenty. Do not uses as an adjective or adverb. It is correct only as a noun.
Incorrect: The magician had plenty tricks.
Correct: The magician had plenty of tricks.
Incorrect: He was plenty tired after working all night.
Correct: He was very tired after working all night.
Practicable, practical. Practicable means capable of being put into practise. Practical means valuable in actual practise (all the time). Use practical with persons or things. Use practicable with things only; never use practicable with man.
Correct: Your plan for a sales campaign may be practicable (useful), but it is not practicable (capable of being put into practise) at this time.
Prefer. Should not be followed by than. Use rather than, to, or above after prefer.
Incorrect: I should prefer going to Manila than to Mandaluyong.
Correct: I should prefer going to Manila rather than going to Mandaluyong.
Correct: I prefer studying electronics to studying accounting.
Preventative. Preventive is considered preferable by many authorities. "Proper training and good environment are preventives (NOT preventatives) against crime."
Principal, principle. Principal is an adjective meaning chief or of first importance. It is used as a noun in the sense of a school principal, a principal in transaction, or a sum of money; a principle is a fundamental truth or law.
Correct: The principal source of our raw material is Mindanao.
Correct: Mr. Torres is the principal of the school.
Correct: The bank pays very little interest on one's principal.
Correct: A man of principle is one who acts with the fundamental laws of duty and morality.
Proposition. Do not use indiscriminately for plan, recommendation, idea, and the like. Proposition means a thing proposed of; it should not be used as a verb.
Proven. Use only as an adjective; the verb is proved.
Correct: He has proved (NOT proven) the problem.
Provided, providing. Provided is a conjunction meaning if or on condition that; while providing is a transitive verb form which must be followed by an object.
Quite. This word means wholly, completely, or entirely. It may be used colloquially to mean very, rather, or somewhat.
Correct: Your attitude in the matter is quite (entirely) correct.
Colloquial: Our terms are quite (very) liberal.
Colloquial: The order was quite (rather) large.
Quite a. This expression is used only colloquially to express the idea of considerable.
Colloquial: Quite a number of employees are out on disability.
More formal: A considerable (OR large) number of employees are out on disability.
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