When you get a word wrong

Common (CL) has a fixed dictionary and does not guess. Every mistake below is real and runs on this page. Each error says what went wrong and which word to use instead.

A word from another language

print "Hello"

Common error: Line 21: 'print' is not a Common word. Use 'show': show "Hello"

Forgot the quotes

show Hello, world!

Common error: Line 29: the words after 'show' need to be in double quotes: show "Hello, world!"

A typo

sey "Hello"

Common error: Line 37: I do not understand 'sey'. Did you mean 'set'?

A capital letter

Show "Hello"

Common error: Line 45: Common words are always lowercase. Write 'show'

An equals sign

total = 5

Common error: Line 53: Common has no '='. Write 'set NAME to VALUE' to store, or 'is' to compare

A symbol instead of words

set age to 20
if age > 18
  show "Adult"
end

Common error: Line 65: Common has no '>'. Write 'is more than'

A phrase that is almost right

set age to 20
if age is bigger than 18
  show "Adult"
end

Common error: Line 79: 'bigger' is not a Common word. Use 'more'

else instead of otherwise

if yes
  show "Yes"
else
  show "No"
end

Yes

Common error: Line 95: 'else' is not a Common word. Use 'otherwise'

A forgotten end

if yes
  show "This block never closes"

Common error: Line 106: this 'if' is never closed. Add a line with just 'end' after the lines it decides about

A command used as a name

set show to 3

Common error: Line 115: 'show' is a Common word: show VALUE  /  show ... end, so it cannot be a name. Pick another, like my_show

A misspelled variable

set greeting to "Hi"
show greting

Common error: Line 125: I do not know what 'greting' is. Did you mean 'greeting'?

Math on text

show "ten" * 2

Common error: Line 133: can only multiply numbers, not text and a number

An item that is not there

set pets to "cat", "dog"
show item 3 of pets

Common error: Line 143: there is no item 3. The list has 2 items

Single quotes

show 'Hello'

Common error: Line 151: text goes in double quotes, like "this"

Output before the mistake is kept

show "This line works."
show "So does this one."
show nonsense

This line works.
So does this one.

Common error: Line 163: the words after 'show' need to be in double quotes: show "nonsense"

Line numbers point at the line in this HTML file, so you can jump straight to the mistake in your editor. The full word list is in docs/dictionary.md, or run cl words.