Meaning & use
making a miscalculation
Last updated
“making a miscalculation” is a form of “make a miscalculation”.
Meaning
phraseidiomformal
Making an error in judging a situation or in calculating an amount, often with serious results.
Grammar: This is a verb phrase; it can be used in various tenses: 'He made a miscalculation', 'She is making a miscalculation'.
Patterns
- make a miscalculation about something
- make a miscalculation in something
The company's failure was due to making a miscalculation about consumer demand.
By making a miscalculation in the budget, the government lost millions.
Common combinations
- make a miscalculation about
- They made a miscalculation about the cost of the project.
- make a miscalculation in
- He made a miscalculation in his tax return.
- serious miscalculation
- Invading that country was a serious miscalculation.
Synonyms and how they differ
- make a mistake
- This is more general and less formal; a miscalculation specifically involves numbers or judgment.
- misjudge
- This verb focuses on judging wrongly, often without the idea of calculation.
Opposites
Word family
- miscalculate verb
- To calculate wrongly: 'He miscalculated the distance.'
- miscalculation noun
- An error in calculation or judgment.
Commonly confused: making a miscalculation or miscalculation?
making a miscalculation vs miscalculation
This is the noun; 'making a miscalculation' uses the verb 'make' plus the noun.
Practice
Which sentence uses the phrase correctly?
Choose one answer.
The correct preposition is 'about' when discussing the subject of the miscalculation. 'On', 'at', and 'with' are not used in this pattern.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “making a miscalculation”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.