Commonly confused words and phrases #1

There is no doubt that the English Language has many words and phrases that can be easily confused. Here are three to take note of.

1.     Less/fewer

Less is used when talking about things that are uncountable or have no plural.

Example: The moon has less light

Fewer is used for countable nouns and plural form

Example: Women commit fewer crimes than men.

2.     Revert back 

Revert means to change to a previous state or action. So for example, someone might revert to a childlike state after a traumatic incident. So although revert has, in a sense, the meaning of return it certainly should not be used with back. Why not just use reply or get back to me?

 3.     Discuss about

Discuss, by definition, means to have a dialogue about a subject. The word ‘about’ is thus already included in the meaning of the word “discuss” and therefore not needed.

Stay tuned for another 4 next week!