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Common Errors(for Class)

The document outlines common English grammar errors, focusing on mistakes related to prepositions, subject-verb agreement, and the use of articles. It provides examples of incorrect sentences and their corrections, emphasizing proper usage in various contexts. Additionally, it includes explanations for the correct forms and patterns to follow when constructing sentences.

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3 views

Common Errors(for Class)

The document outlines common English grammar errors, focusing on mistakes related to prepositions, subject-verb agreement, and the use of articles. It provides examples of incorrect sentences and their corrections, emphasizing proper usage in various contexts. Additionally, it includes explanations for the correct forms and patterns to follow when constructing sentences.

Uploaded by

jnukim8
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Common

Errors
A1

• Point out the mistakes in the following


sentences:

– He is good in English.

– She is poor in Mathematics.


Common error 1:
Use of prepositions

– He is good in English.
–  He is good at English.

– She is poor in Mathematics


–  She is poor at Mathematics.

• Poor in  having very little of something


• E.g. Our company has been poor in money lately.
• Phrases having the same meaning as ‘good at’:
– Excel in
• E.g. She excels in foreign languages.

• Phrases having the same meaning as ‘poor at’:


– Bad at
• E.g. He is bad at Chinese.
– Weak in
• E.g. He is weak in Chinese.
A2
• What’s wrong with the following sentences:

– Having just joined the company, she is junior than everybody.

– The boss in team A is superior than the one in team B.


Common error 2:
Prepositions used with adjectives

– Having just joined the company, she is junior than


everybody.
–  Having just joined the company, she is junior to
everybody.

– The boss in team A is superior than the one in


team B.
–  The boss in team A is superior to the one in
team B.
General pattern:
Adjectives of comparison + to/than

– Pattern 1: senior, junior, superior, inferior + to


• E.g. Spain is superior to the Netherlands in World Cup
2010.

– Pattern 2: better, worse + than


• E.g. The performance of the Netherlands is worse than
that of Spain in World Cup 2010.
A3
• Is there anything wrong in the following sentences?

– Either the boy or his friends has taken the watch.

– Neither the girl nor her classmates is using the badminton court.
Common error 3: Subject-verb agreement in either…or and neither…nor

• The verb agrees with its nearest subject.

– Either the boy or his friends has taken the watch.


–  Either the boy or his friends have taken the watch.

– Neither the girl nor her classmates is using the badminton


court.
–  Neither the girl nor her classmates are using the badminton
court.
–  Neither the girl’s classmates nor the girl herself is using the
badminton court.
• Both the boy and the girl are tutored by the teacher.
A4

• Which of the following two sentences


contain a mistake:

– 1) Peter is intelligent but his younger brother


stupid.

– 2) Mary is a smart girl but her two younger


sisters stupid.
Common error 4: Sharing verbs

• (1) is correct because the first subject (Peter) and the second
subject (his younger brother) are both singular noun, and
therefore, CAN share the same singular verb ‘is’ (which can be
omitted).

 1) Peter is intelligent but his younger brother (is) stupid.

• (2) is incorrect because the first subject (Mary) and the second
subject (her two young sisters) are singular and plural nouns
respectively, and therefore, CANNOT share the same verb.

 2) Mary is a smart girl but her two younger sisters are


stupid.
1.It takes me a hour to reach the temple.
• It takes me an hour to reach the temple.

• - words beginning with ‘h’ such as:


• - hour, honour, honest, heir (adjective) are considered silent, so the
vowel following it takes ‘an’ for the article.
- hence an hour, an heir, an honour etc.
2.An European visited India.
•A European visited India.

• - 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.
• Game came to an end soon.
•The game came to an end soon.
• particular game
Omission of a or an after the verb to
be.
• I'm not student, I’m teacher.

• I'm not a teacher, I'm a student.


Indefinite articles are used:

• - with countable nouns when we don't know exactly which one we


are referring to. For instance,
• The teacher is talking about a ten year old boy
• I saw a movie last night
• I ate an apple pie today
• It costs a hundred rupees
• I eat an orange every day for breakfast
• We also use definite article with:
- countries whose names include words like kingdom, states
or republic-the United Kingdom, the Kingdom of Nepal
and The Republic of Congo or The United States of America.
- mountain ranges, group of islands, rivers, seas, oceans and
canals- the Himalayas, the Atlantic, the Arabian Sea, The
Gibraltar, The Andamans, The Rocky Mountains, The
Bahamas
- newspapers-The Times of India, The Washington Post, The
Hindu
- organisations: the United Nations, The IIMs, The University
of Oxford
- with superlatives: the brightest student, the longest river,
the most significant achievement
While referring to a particular member of a group.

For instance
• Be a responsible citizen of the country
• Raghav is an amazing dancer
Definite Article
• There is only one definite article, 'the'. Definite article is used before a
noun when we believe the listener knows exactly what we referring to
- because there is only one.
• For instance,
• The President of India is going to visit the US soon
• The apple pie I tasted yesterday was delicious
• the movie I saw last night was boring
• the fajitas were spicy
• Amitabh Bachchan is the one and only mega star
Omission of a or an after the word
half.
• He drank half glass of milk.

• He drank half a glass of milk.

• Half a glass (a n hour , a day , a mile , etc.) is the shortened form of


• half of a glass (of an hour , of a day , of a mile , etc )
Errors in using Prepositions:

• Divide this apple among Robert and David.

• Divide this apple between Robert and David.


• For more than two-among
Correct the Mistakes
1. We are only five on our team.
2. I would rather to work from home than come to the office.
3. We’re used to have a lot of work to do, so meeting the deadline
won’t be a problem.

4. Probably, I’ll go to the beach on Saturday.


5. The Old Man and the Sea was written for Ernest Hemingway.
6. Our office is near to the airport, so it will be easy for you to get here.
1. We are only five ……There are five of us on our
team.

We say there are five of us, there are seven of them, there
are three of you, etc. We don’t normally say We are five,
they are seven, etc.
2. I would rather to work from home than come to
the office.
After rather, we use the base form of the verb (I’d
rather go/work/eat/see, etc.).

Infinitive does not act as a verb.


3. We’re used to have having a lot of work to do, so meeting the
deadline won’t be a problem.
To talk about something that someone is accustomed to doing, we use
the following formula:
Subject + verb to be + used to + gerund
Examples:
I’m used to getting up early, so I don’t mind coming in at 7 a.m.
I’m used to get up early, so I don’t mind coming in at 7 a.m.
She’s not used to speaking English on the phone, so it sometimes
makes her nervous.
She’s not used to speak English on the phone, so it sometimes makes
her nervous.
Note that we often use this grammatical structure to talk about why
something is (or isn’t) a problem.
4. Probably, I’ll probably go to the beach on Saturday.
Probably typically goes before the main verb or after the verb to be.
Note that the negative would be I probably won’t go to the beach on
Saturday.

5. The Old Man and the Sea was written for by Ernest Hemingway.
In the passive voice, we use by to talk about who created something (a
painting, a book, a story, etc.).
6. Our office is near to the airport, so it will be
easy for you to get here.
We say close to or near, but not near to.

We have many stuffs a lot of stuff to do this


week, so I don’t know if I can go to English class.
Stuff has no plural form. It is a non-count noun.

Despite Even though/Although I was tired, I came


to work today.
We use despite/in spite of before a noun or
gerund. We use even though/although before a
subject and a verb.
Sources :
• https://www.businessenglishresources.com/learn-english-for-business/student
-section/practice-exercises-new/common-english-mistakes-error-correction-ex
ercise-2-intermediate/2/
• http://vdvdvdvdvdvdvdv.blogspot.com/2012/02/5-common-english-grammar-
mistakes.html#!/
2012/02/5-common-english-grammar-mistakes.html
• http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/fragments-and-run-ons/
• http://booksoulmates.blogspot.com/2011/02/grammar-101-apostrophes.html
• http://www.englishliteraturenotes.com/Grammar/Fragments.html
• http://www.prismnet.com/~hcexres/style/long_sentences.html
• http://www.iup.edu/page.aspx?id=62009
• http://depts.dyc.edu/learningcenter/owl/agreement_pa.htm
•

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