Some Common Errors in English

All of us know English. We can chat with our friends in English, read English books and ofcourse watch English movies and understands them. But we cant get more marks in English paper of bank exams. Some times we feel disappointed by seeing our English marks lesser than our expectations. Whats the problem ? Well the problem is "we Neglect some basic things!!! we know everything, but we don't mind forgetting them. Lets have a look at some common errors in English. Just read these point twice or thrice so that you can get 5 marks at least for sure :)

Wrong	Correct
The Titanic drowned in the sea	The Titanic sank in the sea
Higher we go, cooler we feel	The higher we go, the cooler we feel
She quickly did the job.	She did the job quickly.
He is my older Brother	He is my elder Brother
Most unique opportunity	Unique opportunity
It is much hot today	It is very hot today
Rich should be kind to poor	The rich should be kind to the poor
S/He is my Cousin brother/sister	S/He is my Cousin
She quickly did the job	She did the job quickly.
One must do his duty	One must do one’s duty
Do you know to Dance?	Do you know how to Dance?
Have you bought some apples?	Have you bought any apples?
No less than 50 persons Killed	No fewer than 50 persons Killed
The climate of Goa is better than Nagpur	The climate of Goa is better than that of Nagpur
Many a man were here	Many a man was here
My state of health	The state of my health
I don’t know the English alphabets	I don’t know the English alphabet
May I take your leave	May I take leave of you
Excuse me being late	Excuse my being late
He rarely goes out, doesn’t he?	He rarely goes out, does he?
He admitted that he was in wrong	He admitted that he was in the wrong
The number of people are small	The number of people is small
My little sister goes to the school by bus	My little sister goes to school by bus
The series of lectures were boring	The series of lectures was boring
English teacher	Teacher of English
He lives in a boarding	He lives in a boarding house
You are wiser than old	You are more wise than old
A good play of football	A good game of football
He behaves as if he was a king	He behaves as if he were a king
Chennai is further than Delhi	Chennai is farther than Delhi
They were counting on me helping them	They were counting on my helping them
This drawing is more perfect than the other one	This drawing is perfect than the other one
Word by word translation is not necessary	Word for word translation is not necessary
Two third of the book	Two thirds of the book
No space in this compartment	No room in this compartment

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Thats all for now Friends........ Happy Reading  :) 

07:27 - By Unknown 0

 Noun and Case

The Case is of 3 types,

1. Nominative Case (Subjective Case)
2. Accusative Case (Objective Case)
3. Possessive Case 

Now have a look at an example for proper understanding,

1. Sachin is a Cricket player (Nominative)
2. We like Sachin (Accusative)
3. This is Sachin's Bat (Possesive)

Possessive Case :

• 'S (apostrophe)  --- This is used for Human-beings / Living Things
• Of    -------- Non Living / Living Things

Note : Usually we don't use 'S(apostrophe S) for Non Living Things.

• ✔  This is Ravi's Book
• ☓  The building's roof needs to be repaired
• ✔ The roof of the building needs to be repaired

Exceptions : 

• There are some exceptions for the above mentioned case. We can use  'S(apostrophe S) for Time, Distance, Weight etc
• An Hour's Time
• A Ton's weight

Note : When a singular noun, which doesn't end in S (Hissing sound), The possessive case takes "S"

• Kamal's Pen
• Karthik's Watch
• Ramu's Dress

Note : When a singular noun, ends in S(Hissing Sound), the possessive case takes only apostrophe ( ' ) at the end (no need to add S)

• Keats' Poetry
• Lotus' Petals

When a plural noun doesn't end in S, the possessive case takes apostrophe S ('S)

• Children's specialist
• Women's college
• Men's single

When a plural noun ends in 'S', the possessive case takes only apostrophe at the end.

• Boys' Hostel
• Girls' College

When two persons and one possession in the sentence, the possessive case should be added to the latter

• ☓  I went to Raju's and Rani's house but i found the couple absent
• ✔  I went to Raju and Rani's house, but i found the couple absent (Whats the difference? here Raju and Rani are couple. So obviously they live in the same house :) so two persons and one possession, so we should use 'S to the latter (Rani)

When two different things are referred to, the possessive case should be added to both 

• ☓ India and China's problems are different
• ✔  India's and China's problems are different (because, here india and china are different countries and cant be same)

The comparison should be made between the same cases

• ☓   India's problems are the same as Pakistan 
• ✔  India's problems are the same as Pakistan's 

In apposition, the possessive case should be added to the latter

• ☓   This is Prime minister's manmohan singh's speech
• ✔  This is Prime minister manmohan singh's speech

Both of and apostrophe cannot usually be used i none sentence

• ☓ This is the house of Gandhi's 
• ✔ This is the house of Gandhi 

Note : But the following expression is an exception

• Its ----->  Of  It
• It's ----->  It is, It Was, It Has

• Hers ---> Of  Her
• ☓  Her's --> Her was, Her is (but these are wrong expressions)

• yours ---> Of Your
• ☓ Your's ----> Your Is, Your Was (How horrible it is... so thats the reason why, our teachers tell us dont use apostrophe while writing yours faithfully at the end of letter. But we neglect it ;)

Note : Dont use apostrophe for pronouns

• He is my friend
• He is a friend of mine
• He is her friend
• He is a friend of hers

• He is a friend of my brother  ✔
• He is a friend of my brother's   ☓

Care should be taken while using a relative pronoun

• I have seen many of amitabh's movies who is considered a great actor  ☓
• I have seen many movies of amitabh, who is considered a great actor   ✔

• I have read Shakespeare's four great tragedies who is the greatest writer in English  ☓
• I have read four great tragedies of Shakespeare who is considered the greatest writer in English  ✔
• I have read the four great tragedies of Shakespeare which are worth reading  ☓
• I have read Shakespeare's four great tragedies which are worth reading  ✔

In compound nouns the possessive case should be added to the last word

• He is my brother's-in-law friend  ☓ 
• He is my brother-in-lwas's friend  ✔

In the sentences with "One of These" the possessive should be used carefully

• I met, the minister at one of my friend's house   (this means, I have number of friends, and i met the minister in one of those friend's house)
• I met the minister at one of my friend's house  (this means, my friend have number of houses and i met the minister in one of those houses)

Thats all for now Friends. All The Best

07:21 - By Unknown 0

 Noun and Number

All of us know what is noun and what is number. But there are some issues in Noun and Number which makes us confused often. Lets discuss them

• Some nouns always singular  in number, so they take the singular verb
• Scenery, Luggage, Information, Advice, Machinery, Stationary, Poetry, Issue (Children), Rice, Soap, Bread, Brick etc
• (There are no plural forms for the above words)
• Two cakes of Soap (Not Two Soaps)
• Two Pieces of brick (Not Two Bricks) 
• ☓ The sceneries of Kashmir are beautiful 
• ✔ The scenery of Kashmir is beautiful
• Some nouns are always plural in number. So, they take a plural verb.

• Alms, Thanks, Goods, Regards, Wishes, Proceeds, Premises, Credentials, Riches, Pants, Pantaloons, Jeans, Tights, Shorts, Pajamas, Scissors, Forceps, Spectacles, Binaculars ets
• ☓  Convey my regard and wishes to your parents
• ✔ Convey my regards and wishes to your parents
• ☓  I have never used such a scissors in my life
• ✔ I have never used such scissors in my life
• ✔ I have never used such a pair of scissors in my life
• Some nouns appear plural. But they are singular in number. So we should take a singular verb
• Wages, Summons, Gallows, News, Politics, Electronics, Billboards, Measles, Mathematics etc
• ☓  The court has issued two summons to the minister, but he hasn't turned up yet
• ✔ The court has issued two summonses to the minister, but he hasn't turned up yet
• ☓ I have a good news to tell you 
• Here there is no plural for News. We shouldn't use articles for these type of words.
• ✔ I have good news to tell you 
• ✔  Measles is a disease (not are)
• Some nouns appear singular but they are plural in number. So, they take a plural verb.
• Cattle,  Infantry,  Police,  Poultry,  Swine,  Artillery,  Peasantry,  Gentry etc
• ☓ This cattle is mine
• ✔  These cattle are mine
• Some nouns can be used either as singulars or as plurals without changing their form
• Sheep, Deer, Offspring, Species, Aircraft, Space Craft, Salmon, Yoke etc
• ☓  These are many sheeps in the fields 
• ✔ There are many sheep in the fields

Formation of Plurals :

• Boy   -------------  Boys
• Man    -------------  Men
• Tooth    -------------  Teeth
• Dog    -------------  Dogs
• Ox    -------------  Oxen
• Child    -------------  Children
• Belief    -------------  Beliefs
• Sheaf    -------------  Sheaves
• Leaf    -------------  Leaves
• Datum    -------------  Data
• Stratum    -------------  Strata
• Matrix    -------------  Matrices
• Brother    -------------  Brothers 
• Brother - In - Law     -------------  Brother - in - Laws  ☓ 

                                                                                       Brothers - in - Law   ✔ 

• Man - Servant     -------------  Men - Servants

Thats all for now friends, see you tomorrow

07:18 - By Unknown 0

 Omission of Articles

Till now we have learnt where should we use A , An and where should we use THE. Now we shall learn where shouldn't we use these articles. Following are the conditions where we shouldn't use any article.

• Before the common nouns man, woman, god, heaven, hell, when used in general sence
• Man is mortal but God is immortal
• Man proposes but god disposes
• Everybody wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die
• Note : But when particularized 'the' definite article is used.
• The man who is standing at the door is my uncle
• When it means one, the indefinite article is used.
• There is a man at the door
• Before abstract nouns, when generalized 
• Honesty is the best policy
• Beauty should lie in one's heart
• Bravery is the sign of man
• Note : But when these are particularized, THE is used
• The honesty the auto-driver showed was finally rewarded
• Before material nouns when Generalized
• Water is essential for all
• Sugar is sweet
• Wood is used for making furniture
• Gold is a precious metal
• But when particularized, THE definite article is used
• The water in this pond is pure
• The gold used for making this chain was 22 carat
• Before places like Church, Temple, Mosque, School, College, University, Hostel, Library, Class, Hospital, Jail (Prison) etc. When they are visited for their primary purpose
• ☓  He was an atheist, but now a days he is going to the church
• ✔ He was an atheist, but now a days he is going to church
• ☓   You should go to the school regularly in-order to get good marks
• ✔  You should go to school regularly in-order to get good marks
• ✔ I went to the church to meet my friend (here i dint go for the primary purpose(prayer))
• ✔  The man was put in jail for killing a woman
• ✔  The injured were taken to hospital
• ☓   The injured were taken to the hospital
• But when these places are visited for their secondary purpose the definite article should be used.
• He went to the temple to meet the priest
• My father came to the school to talk to my class teacher
• I went to the hospital to see and console a patient
• But when it means one, the indefinite article is used
• There is a school at the end of the street
• Before Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch, Dinner etc, when used in general sense
• we usually take lunch at 1
• Breakfast is served between 7 and 9
• But when these are particularized, by an adjective, the indefinite article is used.
• We had a delicious lunch yesterday (here the lunch is particularized, so we used an indefinite article "a")
• We are going to have a healthy breakfast
• Before plural nouns, when generalized
• Tigers are ferocious animals
• Cows are domestic animals 
• Children like chocolates
• Note : Here if we represent singular instead of plural, then we should use articles
• The tiger is a ferocious animal
• A tiger is a ferocious animal
• Tigers are ferocious animals
• In expressions like Go to bed, Take heart, Lose heart, Send word, Set fire
• Please switch off all the lights before going to bed (not going to the bed)
• Dont lose heart when you are on the verge of danger (not lose the heart)
• The house was set on fire (not on the fire)

That's all for now friends, prepare well. Good day

07:15 - By Unknown 0