Such as

When you use this phrase, you are indicating that what follows is only a list of representative examples, and not an exhaustive list. It is therefore unnecessary ? and indeed, incorrect ? to follow the list with something like and so forth or etc., since these do the same work in a sentence as such as. So it is terrible English to write There are some composers whose music sounds easy but is actually very difficult to play, such as Bach, Haydn, Mozart, etc.

Instead write There are some composers whose music sounds easy but is actually very difficult to play, such as Bach, Haydn and Mozart.

Also, This property is found in languages such as Bengali is wrong. Here such as does no work, since no class of languages illustrated by Bengali has been identified. Write in Bengali or in Bengali and other languages.

Remember too that a word like such is typical of informal English, and it should never be used in formal writing. There is a word, derived from Greek, for using more words than are needed to give the sense. It is pleonasm. Hear with one?s ears and preceded his successor are pleonasms.

Not sure

What is wrong with He sure is a great guy!? Nothing at all, if one has generally decided not to be particular about things. This is just a harmless Americanism, much favoured by Page Three at the moment. But in formal English, this use of sure is unacceptable. He is surely a great guy is ?correct?, but its tone and meaning is entirely different. Here the surely adds emphasis, but in order to underline a lingering doubt about the person?s ?greatness?. It is as if the speaker wants to believe that the person is a great guy, and is looking for endorsement from others of this wish. Yet the question remains, in this way of putting it, ?Is he really a great guy??

Besides, to use surely and great guy in the same sentence is to mix up levels of language, to confuse an informal register with a punctilious one. You can also say He is definitely a great guy, and that would be closer to the spirit of the original sentence. But what is wrong with He is a wonderful person ?

Kind and sort

Although used very commonly in informal speech, phrases like these kind of and these sort of are unacceptable in formal writing. Kind and sort are grammatically singular. So write this kind of or these kinds of. Kinda or sorta are strictly out of order even in moderately formal writing.

Use kind of or sort of , in the sense of somewhat or rather , but even these are better avoided in careful writing. It was rather good is always preferable to It was kind of good.