Some common errors in English usage

As a learner of English, one often makes mistakes in its usage. Some are influenced by his mother tongue and some are committed owing to lack of understanding of proper grammar.

In this post, I shall discuss some of these errors.

1 Using ‘send’ to mean ‘take one to a place by car or motorcycle’.
e.g. Mother sends my younger brother to school every day. [incorrect]
Mother takes my younger brother to school every day. [correct]
Mother drives my younger brother to school every day. [correct]

2 Using ‘call’ to mean ‘ask someone to do something’.
e.g. My brother called me to buy him a manila card. [wrong]
My brother asked me to buy him a manila card. [correct]

3 Using ‘borrow’ when ‘lend’ is intended.
e.g. Please borrow me your pen for a while. [incorrect]
Please lend me your pen for a while. [correct]

4 Using ‘repeat again’ when ‘repeat’ is enough to convey the meaning.
e.g He asked me to repeat again what I had said earlier. [wrong]
He asked me to repeat what I had said earlier. [correct]

5 Using ‘comprises of’ when ‘comprise’ only is enough to convey the meaning.
e.g Our team comprises of ten members. [incorrect]
Our team comprises ten members. [correct]

6 Using ‘eat’ when ‘take’ is more appropriate.
e.g. The patient eats the medicine prescribed by the doctor every day. [incorrect]
The patient takes the medicine prescribed by the doctor every day. [correct]

7 Using ‘pass up’ when ‘hand in’ is more appropriate.
e.g. The teacher asked his pupils to pass up their homework on time. [wrong]
The teacher asked his pupils to hand in their homework on time. [correct]