As an editor, I spend the better part of my day going through my clients’ work with a fine-tooth comb and getting rid of errors that threaten to ruin an otherwise beautiful article or book. I love my job, and having done it for years, I can tell you there are certain errors I get tired of seeing. They just never seem to go away. Here are ten most common spelling mistakes Nigerians make:
1. Forgetting the hyphen when writing two-word numbers. E.g. “Twenty five” instead of “twenty-five”.
2. Writing “Grammer” instead of “Grammar’”. It’s ‘a’, people!
3. Spelling “altar” as “alter”. “He took her to the “alter” is incorrect. “Altar” = Holy place, sanctuary, church table. “Alter” = Change, amend, adjust.
4. Writing “in the morning” or “in the evening” after using “a.m.” or “p.m.” For instance, “8:00 p.m. in the evening.” The “p.m.” already indicates that it’s evening, so “in the evening” is redundant.
5. Writing a person’s name anyhow they feel it should be. This is actually lazy and disrespectful. When writing, take time to spell a person’s name properly: a good guide is to check how THEY spell their own name. If I had one naira for every time I’ve seen “Omawunmi” for “Omawumi”, “Stella Damascus” for “Stella Damasus”, or “Osibanjo” for “Osinbajo”, I’d be rich.
6. Writing single words as two words. Again, writers do this because they feel it should be so. I don’t blame non-writers – English can be hard – but if you call yourself a writer then you should make it your business to know that “straightforward” and “inasmuch” are single words and should not be written as “straight forward” or “in as much”.
7. Writing “everyday” when they mean “every day” and vice-versa. These are not interchangeable; they are different words with different meanings, and that little space makes all the difference. “Everyday” = ordinary, average, normal. “Every day” = Each day, daily, day by day.
8. Writing “loose” when they mean “lose”. “Loose” = not tight, unconstrained, free. “Lose” = miss, fail, be deprived of.
9. Switching between American English and British English. A writer shouldn’t have centre, center, favour, favor, realise, realize, organise, organize, colour, color, etc. all in one book or article. Decide which you are going to use, and be consistent.
10. Using “severally” for “several times.” This is the king of them all, and hardly a day goes by without it popping up. Again, these are not interchangeable; they are different words with different meanings. “Severally” does not mean “several times”. “Severally” = “individually”, “respectively”, “each”, “separately”.
For more tips on writing, spelling and grammar, check out the hashtag #YouNeedAnEditor.
