ERROR SPOTTING IN ENGLISH GRAMMAR
When Use Of Articles :
Example 1
| It takes me a hour to reach the temple. | ans: an hour |
– words beginning with ‘h’ such as:
– hour, honour, honest, heir historical (adjective) are considered silent, so the vowel following it takes ‘an’ for the article.
– hence an hour, an heir, an honour etc.
Example 2
| An European visited in India. | ans: A European |
– when ‘u’ or ‘eu’ takes a ‘u’ or ‘you’ pronunciation (‘y’ is a consonant) so the article ‘a’ should be used.
– hence a European, a university, a union, a unit, etc.
Example 3
| Game came to an end soon. | ans: The game |
– we are talking about a particular game.
Example 4
| Rich should help poor. | ans: The rich … the poor |
– rich / poor represent the people representations use ‘the’
Errors In Using Prepositions:
Example 1
| Divide this apple amoung Robert and David. | ans: between |
– amoung (to be used for more than two)
Example 2
| Divide this apple between the girls. | ans: amoung |
– between (to be used for only two)
Example 3
| I go to school on bus / on bike | ans: by (for vehicles) |
– use ‘on foot’ to mean ‘we walk’ to school.
Example 3
| She aims to do well in the exams. | ans: use aim ‘at’ |
– She aims at doing well in the exams.
Example 4
| The patient is now free of danger. | ans: free from |
– use free ‘from’ danger/risk/disease.
Example 5
| She called at her friend. | ans: called on |
– use called ‘at’ a place … his friend’s house.
– use called ‘on’ a person -> means to visit.
Agreement Of The Subject And The Verb:
Example 1
| Rosy and Sarah is friends. | ans: are friends |
– use plural verbs for ‘and’.
Example 2
| She or he have done well. | ans: has done |
– when ‘or’ joins two subjects, the verb agrees with the second subject.
| She or he is… | David or his friends are… | My friends or I am… |
Example 3
| The chief minister as well as his followers are at the meeting. | ans: – is |
| The boys with their teacher are out in the field. | ans: – are |
| The moon along with the stars shine at night. | ans: – shines |
– when using ‘with / along with / together with / as well as’ the verb should agree with the first subject.
Example 4
| Either my neighbour or her children is coming for dinner. | ans: are |
| Neither they nor I were mistaken. | ans: was |
– when using either-or / neither-nor the verb agrees with the second subject.
Example 5
| Each of them are England citizens. | ans: is |
| Everyone of the barrels are full. | ans: is |
| Not one of the boys are doing well. | ans: is |
| One of the boys are missing. | ans: is |
– sentences using ‘each of / everyone of / one of / not one of’ use the singular form of the verb.
Example 6
| None of them have arrived yet. | ans: has |
| None is genuine. | ans: are |
– None of -> uses singular verb. (has)
– None -> uses plural verb. (are)
Errors In Use Of Pronouns:
Example
| One must not reveal his secrets to all. | ans: one’s secrets to all |
– ‘one’ as a subject should use one’s.
– reason -> ‘one’ does not indicate the gender-where male / female.
Errors In Use Of Conjunctions:
Example 1
| As we were late so we apologised. | ans: As we were late we apologised. |
– use either ‘as’ or ‘so’
– do not use both ‘as … so’. Each sentence should use only one conjunction.
Example 2
| The woman is so poor and she cannot save anyting. | ans: The woman is so poor that he cannot save anything. |
– use ‘so’ with ‘that…not’.
Example 3
| She has been waiting for you since 3 hours. | ans: waiting for you since 3 p.m.. |
– use ‘since’ to denote the starting time of action.
– ‘for’ for calculating time.
waiting for you for 3 hours.
Errors In Use Of Plurals:
Example 1
| Much water are wasted. | ans: Much water is wasted. |
– use ‘is’ – singular verb.
– reason -> ‘much’ is used for uncountable nouns.
Example 2
| Many students has turned up for the seminar. | ans: Many students have turned up…. |
– use ‘have’ -> plural verb.
– ‘many’ is used for countable noun.