Paul Brians (1942-) earned his Ph.D. in Comparative Literature at Indiana University and joined the Department of English at Washington State University in 1968. He taught literature, interdisciplinary humanities, and world civilizations courses. He retired in 2008 and now lives on Bainbridge Island.
This is the new website featuring Brians’ Common Errors in English Usage, photography, and various study guides and other helpful resources.
Books by Paul Brians | Paul Brians Vita | “Politics & Me”: 2008 Retirement address | Illustrated History of WSU Student Activism in the 60s | Paul Brians’ Weekly Podcast
Paul Brians’ e-mail: paulbrians@gmail.com
Common Errors in English Usage
What is an error in English?
The concept of language errors is a fuzzy one. I’ll leave to linguists the technical definitions. Here we’re concerned only with deviations from the standard use of English as judged by sophisticated users such as professional writers, editors, teachers, and literate executives and personnel officers. The aim of this site is to help you avoid low grades, lost employment opportunities, lost business, and titters of amusement at the way you write or speak.
Read more about the book on the William, James site. Shipping within the US is free if you order here.
Books by Paul Brians
- Common Errors in English Usage (3rd Edition, November 2013)
- Nuclear Holocausts: Atomic War in Fiction 1895-1984 (1987)
- Reading About the World, Vols. 1 & 2, 3rd edition (1999)
- Modern South Asian Literature in English (2003)
- Four Seasons on Bainbridge Island, 2010
- Bawdy Tales from the Courts of Medieval France (1975)