Commonly Misused Words and Expressions

Each topic is addressed in a problem-oriented manner, with specific mistakes demonstrated by sample sentences taken from actual papers (and appropriately altered to clearly illuminate the problem under consideration). The examples consisting of these original sentences and their corrected versions form the backbone of each chapter, with the accompanying discussion focused on their elucidation. Although. as dictated by necessity, this discussion at times does become somewhat complicated and occasionally involves subtleties inherent in the English language and in the expression of ideas in science and mathematics, its purpose is always practical: to first identify the causes of and demonstrate the problems resulting from specific mistakes, and then to explain the use of alternative expressions and constructions allowing for their elimination.

The ultimate goal for students of a foreign language should be the development of an intuitive understanding. Without such an understanding, writing remains a mechanical operation that can never do justice to the ideas it is intended to convey. According to my personal experience, such an understanding can only be gained by studying many concrete examples. I hope that through contemplation of the examples presented here, readers will eventually develop an insight that transcends the set of 'microscopic' lessons they provide.