NOUNS

-A noun is a word that names something: either a

person, place, or thing. In a sentence, nouns can play
the role of subject, direct object, indirect object etc.
 ERRORS IN THE USE OF NOUNS

(A)Singular Nouns: Using an uncountable noun

as a countable noun with an indefinite article.

Wrong-Anita’s mother gave her an advice.

Right-Anita’s mother gave her some advice.(or a

piece of advice)

(B)Plural Nouns: Several nouns are always

plural. Pants, braces, glasses, goods, trousers
are examples of such nouns.

Her scissor is blunt - Incorrect

Her scissors are blunt - Correct

Incorrect : Please put your sign here.

Correct: Please put your signature here.

Incorrect: She is my cousin sister.

Correct: She is my cousin.

Expressions like cousin sister and cousin brother are

inappropriate.

Incorrect: I saw many deers in the jungle.

Correct: I saw many deer in the jungle.

 PRONOUNS

Pronoun is a word that is used instead of a

Noun.

For example:

• They went to the store.

• He runs a great shop in the town.

 ERRORS IN THE USE OF PRONOUNS

(i)Using the object form of pronoun after ‘than’

and ‘as’ in comparison.

•She is not as good singer as him - Incorrect

• She is not as good singer as he is. - Correct

(ii)Using the object form of pronoun after the

verbs am, is, are, was, were.

• It was him who stood first. - Incorrect

• It was he who stood first. - Correct

 ERRORS IN THE USE OF PRONOUNS

Incorrect: None but me turned up.

Correct: None but I turned up.

Incorrect: They are all wrong except I.

Correct: They are all wrong except me.

Incorrect: His teaching was like Buddha.

Correct: His teaching was like that of Buddha.

 ADJECTIVES
Adjectives are words that describe the qualities
or states of being of nouns. They can also
describe the quantity of nouns: many, few,
millions, eleven.
For example:
• Furry dogs may overheat in the summertime.
• James wore a beautiful hat at the party.
● My cake should have sixteen candles.
 ERRORS IN THE USE OF ADJECTIVES

(i)Use of double comparative and superlative.

• (W)-He is more stronger than me. - Incorrect

• (R)-He is stronger than me. - Correct

(ii) Use of superlative while making comparisons

between two things.

• (W)-This chair is the best of the two - Incorrect

• (R)-This chair is the better of the two - Correct

 ERRORS IN THE USE OF ADJECTIVES

Incorrect: Chennai is further from Delhi than

Gurgaon.

Correct: Chennai is farther from Delhi than

Gurgaon.

Incorrect: You have much dresses.

Correct: You have many dresses.

VERBS

Verbs are the action words in a sentence that

describe what the subject is doing.

For example:

• shila eats his dinner quickly.

• We went to the market.

• You write neatly in your notebook.

Errors in the use of verbs
Study the following sentences.

● Incorrect: She told to me an interesting

story.
● Correct: She told me an interesting story.

The verb tell is followed by an indirect object

without to.

● Incorrect: She told that she wouldn’t

come.
● Correct: She told me that she wouldn’t
come. OR She said that she wouldn’t
come.
● Incorrect: I want that you should be my partner.
● Correct: I want you to be my partner.
●
● incorrect: We discussed about his plans.
● Correct: We discussed his plans.
●
● Incorrect: He described about the situation.
● Correct: He described the situation.
●
● Incorrect: I have ordered for two cups of coffee.
● Correct: I have ordered two cups of coffee.
ADVERBS
An adverb is a word that is used to change, modify
or qualify several types of words including an adjective,
a verb, a clause, another adverb, or any other type of
word or phrase, with the exception of determiners and
adjectives, that directly modify nouns.
• It was an extremely bad match.
• There are quite a lot of people here. .
• Mandy drives carefully.
Common errors with adverbs

Error 1
(Incorrect): She is very much beautiful.

(Correct): She is very beautiful.

(Incorrect): I am very much sorry.

(Correct): I am very sorry.

The expressions very much and very many are

uncommon in affirmative sentences, but they are
possible in questions and negatives.
Error 2

(Incorrect): He was very foolish enough to trust her.

(Correct): He was too foolish to trust her.

(Correct): He was foolish enough to trust her.

(Correct: He was so foolish that he trusted her.

Enough cannot be modified by very.

Error 3

(Incorrect): I managed to do it anyhow.

(Correct): I managed to do it somehow.

Anyhow means in disorder. Somehow means by some

means.

Anyhow can also mean for certain.

E.g., He may not win but anyhow I shall.

Error 4
(Incorrect): He told the story in details.

(Correct): He told the story in detail.

Error 5
(Incorrect): Before long there was no one there.

(Correct): Long ago there was no one there.

We use ago to count from now.

We use before to count from a past moment.

PREPOSITIONS
Prepositions indicate relationships between
other words in a sentence. Prepositions tell us where
or when something is in relation to something else.
For example:
• Sam left his jacket in the car.
• Did you send that letter to your mother?
• We’re cooking for ten guests tonight.
• Dan ate lunch with his boss.
ERRORS IN THE USE OF PREPOSITIONS
(i)Use ‘of’ (not ‘over’) after ‘command’.
• (W)-You must have excellent command over spoken
and written English.
• (R)-You must have excellent command of spoken
and written English.
(ii)Use ‘on’ (not ‘for’) after ‘congratulate’ and ‘insist’.
• (W)-I congratulate you for your victory.
• (R)-I congratulate you on your victory.
• Incorrect: Send this letter on my new address.
• Correct: Send this letter to my new address.
• Incorrect: she goes in the school.
• Correct: she goes to the school.
CONJUNCTIONS
Conjunctions are words that link other words,
phrases, or clauses together. Conjunctions allow us to
form complex, elegant sentences and avoid the
choppiness of multiple short sentences.
For example:
• I tried to hit the nail but hit my thumb instead.
• You can have peach ice cream or a brownie
sundae.
• I have two goldfish and a cat.
 Errors in use of Conjunction:
1.‘Scarcely’ and ‘hardly’ is followed by ‘when’.
Example:
Incorrect -Hardly had I slept then the telephone rang.
Correct - Hardly had I slept when the telephone rang.

2· using ‘Though’ and ‘Yet’ in the same sentence

Example:
Incorrect- Though ram work hard yet he failed.
Correct - Though ram work hard he failed.
3· ‘No sooner’ is followed by ‘than’.
Example:
Incorrect- No sooner did he reach then it began to rain.
Correct- No sooner did he reach than it began to rain.
4· ‘Not only’ is followed by ‘but also’.

Example:
Not only did he help her, but also dropped her
home safely.

5.Unless means if…not. Therefore it is wrong to use

another not in a sentence with unless.
Example:
Incorrect: Unless you do not try, you will never succeed.

Correct: Unless you try, you will never succeed.

Interjection
An interjection is a word or expression that occurs as
an utterance on its own and expresses a spontaneous
feeling or reaction.
It is a diverse category, encompassing many different
parts of speech, such as
exclamations (ouch!, wow!),
curses (damn!),
greetings (hey, bye),
response particles (okay, oh!, m-hm, huh?),
hesitation markers (uh, er, um) and
other words (stop, cool).
Usually no errors are associated with Interjections
because they are isolated expressions and are
preceded by a sentence. Yet, some people use
interjections in opposite contexts.

For Example:

Incorrect

1. Yahoo! He has failed.

2. Hush! Tell everybody.
3. What pity? He won a lottery

Correct

1. Alas! He has failed.

2. Hush! Don't tell anybody.
3. What a pity! He lost his money.
 Subject-Verb Agreement
A “grammar help worksheet” by Abbie Potter Henry

(Subjects are in bold typeface and verbs are underlined)

Subject-Verb Agreement means that subjects and verbs must always agree in number.
Not only does a verb change its form to tell time, but it also can change its form to indicate how
many subjects it has.
For example, take the verb “run.” When we are in the present tense, the verb “run”
changes form to show that its subject is singular when its subject is anything but “I” or “you.”

Study the following chart.

Singular Subjects Plural Subjects
First Person: I run. We run.
Second Person: You run. You all run.
Third Person: He runs. She runs. The boy runs. They run.

Did you notice that in the third person singular, an “s” was added to the verb form? The
fact is that all present tense verbs have an “s” added to them when the subject is third person
singular.

Think for a moment about the verbs, walk, run, eat, sleep, try, study, and work. Now,
give these verbs the subject “I.” I walk; I run; I eat; the pronoun “I” is the only word that can
be a first person subject; likewise, the word “you” is the only word that can be a second person
subject. The present tense verb for you remains the same as for “I.” You walk; you run; you eat.

However, when we change the subject “I” or “you” to “he,” or “the cat,” we must add an
“s.” to each verb. The cat walks; the cat runs; the cat eats; etc. This is a simple rule that most of
us automatically use without even thinking, and it applies to every singular third person verb in
the entire English language, from walk/walks to run/runs to laugh/laughs to cry/cries. This also
includes the helping verbs do/does, is/are, and has/have.

While we are not likely to write or speak the following sentences: I walks; They walks;
The cat walk, if we do, we create a Subject-Verb Agreement Error.

Subject-Verb Agreement Errors are very serious and signal that the writer does not
have mastery over the English Language. Thus, it is important that writers understand the
following thirteen different situations that might cause subject-verb agreement errors. Because
of these special situations, there are thirteen corresponding rules to ensure that our subjects and
verbs always agree in number.

Once you have gone over these 13 rules and written your own example sentences, you
can practice your skill on the website Chompchomp.com. Once on the website, go to “Exercises”
and find “Subject-Verb Agreement.” Have fun and keep writing.

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 13 Rules of Subject-Verb Agreement
1. Two or more subjects joined by “and” are considered plural and require a verb form
without an “s.”
a. Example: Jan, John, and Bob walk to the store.
Bob and his brothers walk to the store.
Create your own examples here:

2. If a subject is modified by the words “each” or “every” that subject is singular and will
take a verb form that ends in “s.”
a. Example: Each boy and girl walks to the store.
Create your own examples here:

3. If plural subjects are joined by “or,” “nor,” or “but,” the verb must only agree with the
subject that is closest to it.
a. Example: Either Bob or his brother walks to the store.
Neither Bob nor his brothers walk to the store.
Not Bob but his brothers walk to the store
Not Bob but his brother walks to the store
Create your own examples here:

4. Indefinite pronouns* are usually singular and take a verb form that ends in “s.” (You will
find a list of indefinite pronouns at the end of this handout.)
a. Example: Everyone walks to the store.
b. Everything comes back eventually.
Create your own examples here:

*See page 5 for a complete list of these words.

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 5. The subject of a verb is never in a prepositional* or verbal phrase. Therefore, you must
isolate the phrase and find the proper subject.
a. Example: The mother duck (with all of her little ducklings) walks to the store.
The mother duck (including all her ducklings) walks to the store.
Create your own examples here:

6. Some indefinite pronouns and nouns will be singular or plural depending on the object of
the prepositional phrase. These words are always about number or amount such as: all,
half, some, none, most, part, etc.
a. Example: Some (of the students) are gone.
Some (of the cake) is gone.
The mother duck and all (of her ducklings) walk to the store.
Create your own examples here:

7. When a collective noun, such as family, group, committee, or class, is the subject, the
verb will end in “s.”
a. Example: My family with all my crazy cousins always walks to the store.
Create your own examples here:

8. A few nouns, such as economics, mumps, measles, or news end in “s” but are considered
singular. You can tell these “s” words are singular because if you take the “s” away, you
don’t have a noun. For example, economic and new are adjectives that describe a noun.
Mump and measle just don’t make any sense.
a. Example: Economics is her favorite subject.
Create your own examples here:

*See page 5 for a list of common prepositions.

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 9. When the subject is a unit of measurement of time, distance, money, weight, etc. The
unit is considered singular, and the verb will end in “s.”
a. Example: Ten pounds of chocolate is too much to eat at once.
b. Thirteen feet of kite string tangles very easily.
Create your own examples here:

10. In a question or in a sentence that begins with there or here, the verb will often come
before the subject.
a. Example: Where is my sweater?
There are my sweaters.
Create your own examples here:

11. The verb must agree only with the subject.

a. Example: The biggest problem we face is all the squirrels that have rabies
around here.
Create your own examples here:

12. Gerunds (“ing” words) can be subjects and follow all the same rules above.
a. Example: Running with ducks is my favorite sport.
Running to the store and flying through the air are my favorite sports.
Create your own examples here:

13. When using who, that or which, you must look to the noun these relative pronouns are
referring to in order to determine whether the subject is singular and will have a verb
ending in “s” or is plural and have a verb without an “s.”
a. Example: The girls who eat cake are happy.
The girl who eats cake is happy.
Create your own examples here:

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 Words that can cause confusion with Subject Verb Agreement

Indefinite pronouns that always take a singular verb form:

anybody either neither one

anyone everybody nobody somebody
anything everyone no one someone
each everything nothing something

Peculiar Pronouns and Nouns that can be singular or plural depending upon context:
(Notice these all refer to amount.)

all most some none half part

Common Prepositions
(Remember, a subject never shows up in a prepositional phrase, but these phrases often come
between a subject and its verb.)

about above across after among around as

at because of before Behind below beneath beside
between by during except for from in
in spite of into like near of on onto
over past through till to toward under
until up upon with without

Pronoun agreement
Pronouns that take the place of a noun must be either plural or singular just like the noun they
represent.
Example Everyone has his or her own way of thinking. Correct
Everyone has their own way of thinking. Incorrect

All the rules of pronoun agreement are based on the rules of subject-verb agreement.

Pronouns must also agree in person.

Example: I love the beach because I can get a good tan. Correct
I love the beach because you can get a good tan. Incorrect

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Phrasal Verbs
What are Phrasal Verbs?
A phrasal verb is a combination of words (a verb + a preposition or verb
+adverb) that when used together, usually take on a different meaning to
that of the original verb.
Phrasal Verb Examples

1. break down, check in, tear up

When we use phrasal verbs, we use them like normal verbs in a sentence,
regardless if it’s a regular or irregular verb.
1. Ella tore up the letter after she read it.
2. Their car broke down two miles out of town.
3. Did the manager deal with that customer’s complaint.
More phrasal verb examples:

1. Be sure to put on a life jacket before getting into the boat.

2. We left out the trash for pickup.
3. It’s time to get on the plane.
4. What will she think up next?
5. I’m having some trouble working out the solution to this equation.
6. We’re going to have to put off our vacation until next year.
7. Stand up when speaking in class, please.
8. We’ll have to wake up early if we want breakfast.
9. Take off your shoes before you walk on the carpet.
10. My dog likes to break out of his kennel to chase squirrels.
WORDS CONFUSED AND MISUSED