by : Marc Slater

Looking to build your vocabulary? If you are keen to be held in high regard in your career and personal relationships, it's important to check that you are not making simple and embarrassing mistakes with certain common words.

Even a smart and capable worker can let herself down by presenting ideas and proposals logically and sensibly - but using simple, common words the wrong way.

Some of these common mistakes will stand out a mile to colleagues and bosses, and if you make them you are seriously compromising your potential at work. So if you really want to get that promotion or pay rise, perhaps now is the time to eliminate these mistakes from your vocabulary once and for all.

A good vocabulary building software program will give you a fully comprehensive solution to this problem. To start you off, though, here is a list of common mistakes that you need to learn to eliminate from your speech and written work if you are to stand out as an intelligent and competent person at work and in business.

• Using "Loose" instead of "lose"
  
• Confusing "it's" and "its"
  
• Not being sure when to use "They're", "their" or "there"
  
• Choosing "i.e." (meaning "that is") when you mean "e.g." ( "for example")
  
• Mixing up "effect" and "affect"
  
• Wrongly using "you're" instead of "your"
  
• Mixing up "different than" and "different from"
  
• Using "could of" instead of "could have"

These mistakes are incredibly common. And the strange thing is that most people, when they think about it, DO know the correct usage. It is often simply an over-reliance on automated spell checkers that is the root of the problem.

The good news is that when you make a commitment to build a great vocabulary, not only will you learn many new and valuable words to help you get ahead, you will also be getting practice with words you already know. In fact it is often the words that you do know but are not confident with, or make mistakes with, that trip you up the most often.

Also, as you work on your vocabulary, you will naturally develop a greater eye for detail and a better focus on the words you use. Mistakes like those we mentioned, and others, will start to jump out at you and beg to be corrected rather than lurking mischievously in the background to be spotted, too late, by someone else!