You might find this list of words and phrases used incorrectly in India, interesting.
Affect: is a verb meaning to have an influence on. Often confused with effect which is the noun. So we say: The girl's headache affected her performance, but the noise had no effect on her.
All right: is two words. Do not spell it" alright" or " allright"
Alternatives: a choice between two things. If there are more than two, use choices.
Among: used when there are more than two things. If there are two things, say between.
Anxious: means to be troubled or worried. It is sometimes wrongly used to mean eager.
Beside: means at the side of. Besides means in addition to.
Canvass: means to ask for something. Do not confuse it with canvas, which is a cloth.
Charge: there is often confusion between to charge with and to charge for. A person is chargedwith an offence (the man was charged with murder) People are charged for goods or services they receive (he was charged $20 for his ticket).
Chronic: means long-lasting. When talking about illness, it is often confused with acute, which means severe.
Continual: means happening lots of times. Do not confuse with continuous, which means happening all the time without a break.
Council: is a meeting. Counsel is advice. A councillor is an elected representative on a council. A counsellor is someone who gives advice. We also refer to lawyers in court cases as counsel, because they give legal advice.
Decimate: literally it means to kill one in ten. Today it is used to describe heavy casualties. It does not mean to destroy.
Disappeared: traditionally only ever used as an intransitive verb (i.e. without an object), as in "the rabbit disappeared". Now in some versions of English it is used as a transitive verb (i.e. with an object, usually human) to mean to intentionally make someone disappear, as in "the regime disappeared hundreds of dissidents", though this form is still unusual in British, Australian or American English.
Disinterested: means not being directly affected by the issue one way or the other. Do not confuse with uninterested, which means lacking any kind of interest.
Hang: a criminal is hanged, clothes are hung.
Immigrant: a person who comes into the country to live permanently. It is confused with an emigrant, who is a person who leaves his or her own country to live permanently in another country. An emigrant from one country becomes an immigrant into another.
Invaluable: means of too much value to be priced. It is often wrongly used to mean without value.
Less: confused with fewer. Less refers to quantity (less water, less flour, less fruit). Fewer refers to number (fewer boys, fewer coconuts).Comment : This word is the single greatest example of incorrect usage of a word in India .Even bureaucrats and other educated people routinely use the expression " very less than "
Licence: in Commonwealth English, this is the noun. To license is the verb.
Literally: usually confused with figuratively. Literally means exact to the letter. If it happensliterally, it happens exactly the way it is described. People speak of being "literally dead on my feet". If they were, they would be dead.
Loan: is the noun. The verb is to lend.
Over: means above. When talking about numbers, use more than (there were more than 50 people in the hall).
Pin drop silence: There is no such silence. The correct expression is" one could hear a pin drop"
Practice: is the noun. To practise is the verb.
Principal: means the main one or the first. We speak of the principal instalment or the school principal. It is often confused with principle, which is a moral guideline.
Scots: these are people from Scotland, who are Scottish. Do not confuse it with the whisky calledScotch.
Stationary: is an adjective meaning standing still. It is confused with stationery, a noun meaning writing materials.
Treble: mean three times. Do not confuse with triple, which means three kinds. A treble chance gives you three chances of winning. A triple jump is an event involving three kinds of jumping action.
Ukraine: is the name of the country, not the Ukraine, which was a label used by the former Soviet Union to imply it was a region rather than an independent state.
Whisky: Scotch whisky is spelled without an `e'. Irish and American whiskey is spelled with an `e'.
Definite article: When it comes to using the definite article Indians are the most notorious. They use it liberally before proper names-" When is the Ravi returning from America?", " I believe the Modi delivered a good lecture". While " the United States of America" is correct usage," when are you going to the America" is wrong. This applies to the the United Kingdom also. There should be no definite article before England, Scotland and Ireland.
Indians often confuse past tense with past perfect tense
They also use " has asked" when what they mean is " asked". This aversion to past tense is puzzling. A whole chapter can be written about tenses
This list is by no means exhaustive
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