SOME EASILY AVOIDABLE MISTAKES

I. Despite and In spite

Despite and Inspite are used to express the concept of contrast. They can be
used interchangeably. They mean the same as ‘although, though or even
though’. But although, though and even though are subordinate conjunctions.

despite + noun phrase

inspite of + noun phrase

e.g

Despite/Inspite of his physical handicap he is a successful business man.

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Although + subject + verb + (complement)

Though + subject + verb + (complement)

Even though + subject + verb + (complement)

e.g

Although he is physically handicapped, he is a successful business man.

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II. Hope and Wish

These two verbs, while they are similar in meaning, are not all the same
grammatically. The verb ‘hope’ is used to indicate something that possibly
happened or will possibly happen. The verb wish is used to indicate something
that definitely did not happen or definitely will not happen.

e.g

We hope that they will visit.

We hope that they visited yesterday.

We wish that they could come.

Wish is also used to express unreal condition.

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Present wish

I wish I were a singer.

If I were a bird I would fly.

If I were you I would not attend this meeting.

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Past unreal condition

If you had been here last night, you would have seen the film.

Had you seen the movie, you would have loved it.

Had he prepared well, his presentation would have become a huge success.

Had you taken precautions, you would not have caught flu.

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Past wish
She wishes that she could have been here earlier.

We wish that you had been at Paris last night.

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In these sentences the word ‘that’ is optional.

Future wish

We wish that you could come to the party tonight.

She wishes that she were coming with us.

I wish I had enough time to finish the proof correction.

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III Some Adverbs

hardly, barely, scarcely, seldom, rarely, never.

These words which are similar in meaning, denote negative or restrictive ideas.

I have hardly any money.

Hardly had he finished his work when somebody knocked at the door.

We hardly go to movies.

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‘Barely’ is often used with adjectives such as enough and sufficient.

These people have barely enough to eat.

After the loss in business he has barely enough to support himself.

Kuwait lies barely 48 km from the Iranian coast.

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If any of these adverbs occur at the beginning of a sentence, the subject must
follow the verb as in a question:

Rarely and seldom are broad negatives

Rarely do we come across such good people.

Seldom have I seen such beautiful flowers.

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IV. Conditional sentences (hypothetical and impossible)

In these conditional sentences past perfect will be followed by perfect

conditional.

1. If you had bought a car a year ago (Past Perfect), it would have cost you
much less than now. (Perfect Conditional)

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2. Had you bought a car a year ago (Past Perfect inverted), it would have cost
you much less than now. (Perfect Conditional)

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turn:____________________________________________________________
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V. Had better

The meaning of had better (I’d better) is similar to should.

1. I’d better do something.

I should do something (or) it is advisable for me to do something.

If I do not do this, something bad might happen.

2. I have to meet Supria now, I had better go now.

3. You had better take an umbrella, it may rain.

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turn:____________________________________________________________
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ERROR SPOTTING IN ENGLISH GRAMMAR

Use of Articles :

e.g. 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.

e.g. 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.

e.g. 3

Game came to an end soon. ans: The game

- we are talking about a particular game.

e.g. 4

Rich should help poor. ans: The rich ... the poor

- rich / poor represent the people representations use ‘the’

Errors in using Prepositions:

e.g. 1

Divide this apple amoung Robert and David. ans: between

- amoung (to be used for more than two)

e.g. 2

Divide this apple between the girls. ans: amoung

- between (to be used for only two)

e.g. 3

I go to school on bus / on bike ans: by (for vehicles)

- use ‘on foot’ to mean ‘we walk’ to school.

e.g. 3
 She aims to do well in the exams. ans: use aim ‘at’

- She aims at doing well in the exams.

e.g. 4

The patient is now free of danger. ans: free from

- use free ‘from’ danger/risk/disease.

e.g. 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:

e.g. 1

Rosy and Sarah is friends. ans: are friends

- use plural verbs for ‘and’.

e.g. 2

She or he have done well. ans: has done

- when ‘or’ joins two subjects, the verb agrees with the second subject.

David or his
She or he is... friends are... My friends or I am...

e.g. 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.

e.g. 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.

e.g. 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.

e.g. 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:

e.g.

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:

e.g. 1

As we were late so we apologised. ans: As we were late we apologise

- use either ‘as’ or ‘so’

- do not use both ‘as ... so’. Each sentence should use only one conjunction.

e.g. 2

ans: The woman is so poor that he

The woman is so poor and she cannot save anyting. cannot save anything.

- use ‘so’ with ‘that...not’.

e.g. 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:

e.g. 1

Much water are wasted. ans: Much water is wasted.

- use ‘is’ - singular verb.

- reason -> ‘much’ is used for uncountable nouns.

e.g. 2

Many students has turned up for the seminar. ans: Many students have turned u

- use ‘have’ -> plural verb.

- ‘many’ is used for countable noun.

SIMPLE SENTENCE PATTERN DEFINITION

There are five important components in a sentence.

e.g.

Subject (S) Verb (V) Object (O)

Complement (C) Adverbial (A)

1. SUBJECT (S)

Definition :

To get ‘S’ ask the quesiton ‘Who?’ before the verb.

e.g.

Nancy danced well (Here “Nancy” - Subject)

The child broke the glass (Here “The child” - Subject)

consists of nouns or pronouns

Subject (S) occurs before a verb

 

2. VERB (V)

Definition :

In every sentence the most important word is the verb. A verb shows action or
activity or work done.

e.g.

He is a doctor (“Be” form verb)

Jems wrote a letter (Main verb)

The baby is crying (auxiliary verb + Main verb)

consists of (a) auxiliaries

Verb (V) (b) finite verbs

(a) Auxiliaries

e.g.

am, is, are ,was, were

has, have, had

does, do, did

Modals : can, could; will, would; shall, should; may, might; must

Semi-modals / Quasi Modals : dare to; need to; used to; ought to

(b) Finte verbs - denote action

e.g.
 talk, sing, write, make, dance, play, cook, leave, teach, sleep

- verbs occur after the subject

- vebs occur before the object

3. OBJECT (O)

Definition :

To get the object ‘O’ ask the question ‘What’ or ‘Whome’. ‘What’ is for things
and ‘Whome’ is for persons. Persons may be nouns or pronouns.

e.g.

He bought a pen (a pen = Object)

He handles the computer (computer = Object)

I saw him (him = Object)

Object (O) - consists of nouns or noun phrases or noun clauses

- direct object

(a) Do - answers the question ‘what’

e.g.

S V O (what)

I Like Animals

- indirect object

(b) IO - answers the question ‘whom’

e.g.
 S V IO (whom) DO

I gave Rosy a pen

4. COMPLEMENT (C)

Definition :

The words required to complete the meaning of a sentence are

called Complement of the sentence.

e.g.

S V C

He Is a dentist

She Became a journalist

It Grew Dark

Complement (C) - from the word ‘complete’

- completes the meaning in the sentence

- with out it the, meaning is incomplete

- with out it the, meaning changes

occurs in two pattern. (i) S V C pattern. (ii) S V O C pattern

(i) In S V C pattern, the complement C

- complements the subjects

- tells about the subject

 - wihtout it the, meaning changes

- without C, the sentence is incomplete or the sentence changes its meaning

- use to be forms, grew, became, seems for verb

e.g.

S V C

They Are players

She Was angry

It Seems absurd

(ii) In S V O C pattern

- the complement tells about the object

- the complement and object are of the same person or thing

e.g.

S V O C

They Called David a genius

I Found Her Crying

They Elected Michle Leader

Types of Complement

1. Subject Complement

Definition :
The complement which expresses the quality or identity or condition of the
subject is calledSubject Complement.

e.g.

She is a doctor She looks sad

2. Object Complement

Definition :

The complement which expresses the quality or identity or condition of an

object is calledObject Complement.

e.g.

They made her angry She called him a liar

Adjunct or Adverbial

Definition :

To get ‘A’ ask the question why, when, where or how.

The use of adverbial is optional whereas complement is essential. It has adverb

phrase, adverbial clause, noun-phrase and prepositional phrase.

e.g.

Why? (reason) When? (Time) Where? (Place) How? (Manner)

due to cold now, later here, there by bus / cycle

through floods after 2 years every where through efforts

under compulsion when young in the sky by mixing

Carefully in the morning at home by hard work

Adjunct - A - answers the questions where? when? how? why?
- without A, any change in the meaning of the sentence

Examples of Adjuncts in sentences

e.g.

S V A

She Comes every day

- Sit Here

EXAMPLES OF SENTENCE PATTERNS

Abbreviations for important components in a sentence.

Subject (S) Verb (V) Object (O)

Complement (C) Adverbial (A) Direct Object (DO)

Indirect Object (IO)

There are basically five sentence patterns in English Grammar. They are

e.g.

SV Subject + Verb

SVO Subject + Verb + Object

SVIODO Subject + Verb + Indirect Object + Direct Object

 SVC Subject + Verb + Complement

SVOC Subject + Verb + Object + Complement

Note : Adjunct or Adverbial could be added to all these five patterns.

e.g.

Subject Verb Object Examples - (SVO)

S+V+O

I / finished / the work

I / like / puppies

David / scolded / the boy

We / received / the parcel

She / sings / a song

They / did / a lot of work

He / resembles / her father

Many students / witnessed / the play

The police / arrested / the thief

I / want / one of these books

I / love / England
 Peter / secured / admission

A huntsman / pursued / a wild animal

Many critics / criticised / the play

My mother / is teaching / French

She / is / intelligent

Subject Verb Adverbial Examples - (SVA)

S+V+A

He / came / to the party

They / came / suddenly

It / is going / away

The train / arrived / late

They / will come / later

It / rained / last night

She / worked / in a second-hand bookshop

They / went / to the market

He / reads / slowly

The noise / faded / away

Subject Verb Complement Examples - (SVC)

 S+V+C

They / are / players

Her father / is / a doctor

I / am / an Indian

The class / became / noisy

Her eyes / are / beautiful

Mother Teresa / is / India’s gift to the world

Our headmaster sideline / was / a lending library

The leaves / turn / yellow

Her dreams / have come / true

They / worked / hard

The tea / is getting / cold

It / was / a very pleasant talk

Adverbial Subject Verb Examples - (ASV)

A+S+V

Soon / we / wake up

Nicely / he / replied
fondly / she / asked

Yesterday / I / came

Tomorrow / she / leaves

Subject Verb Object Complement Examples - (SVOC)

S+V+O+C

They / made / him / captain

They / named / him / Robert

They / elected / him / president

They / elected / him / speaker

They / made / him / the Mayor

They / made / David / Chairman of the Rotary club

The news / made / his name / popular

She / made / him / happy

She / learnt / music / last year

She / got / her shoes / wet

She / recognised / him / as a genius

He / panted / the wall / white

 England / declared / me / a jew

He / made / his son / a doctor

Subject Verb Indirect Object Direct Object Examples - (SVIODO)

S+V+IO+DO

We / whish / you / Happy new year

The principal / gave / him / the medal

He / gave / her / a watch

She / sold / him / her house

Paul / gave / his wife / a gift

The Headmaster / showed / her / the result

He / sent / us / some foreign stamps

The doctor / gave / her / medicine

Sarah / sent / Paul / a gift

She / offered / me / a firm hand shake

They / sold / him / pictures

Subject Verb Object Complement Adverbial Examples - (SVOCA)

S+V+O+C+A
She / made / her views / clear / at the outset

The company / appointed / him / clerck / last week

They / named / their baby / Sarah / in the church

They / took / the child, / unconscious / to the hospital

She / made / his intentions / clear / now

She / had made / his life / a success / long back

I / lost / my purse / with money / in the bus

The governor / has sworn / him / chief minister / yesterday

Subject Verb Object Adverbial Examples - (SVOA)

S+V+O+A

The boy / kicks / the ball / with force

She / made / a new dress / yesterday

The kidnapper / locked / the child / in a lonely house

He / threw / the chair / out

She / invited / the guests / to get in

They / played / the match / in broad daylight

The thieves / broke open / the lockers / in the bank

I / shall meet / you / at the railway station

You / will understand / the truth / one day

She / lost / her father / last week

She / shot / the tiger / at once

You / will understand / the truth / one day

He / wrote / a letter / from Paris

They / want / money / immediately

He / got / his shoes / wet

They / had / their lunch / in the late hours

He / felt / a hand / on his shoulder

Subject Verb Object Adverbial Adverbial Examples - (SVOAA)

S+V+O+A+A

I / met / Sarah / at the theatre / yesterday

He / practised / pistol shooting / in the firing range / in London

Everyone / relished / the dinner / in the hotel / yesterday

She / enjoyed / the music recital immensly / yesterday

They / pushed / the bus / from behind / to make it move

I / will close / the shop / early / today

The rider / brought / the news / typed / at night

He / left / the book / on the table / at once

Subject Verb Complement Adverbial Examples - (SVCA)

S+V+C+A

The child / fell / asleep / soon

You / seem / tried / to day

It / is / dark / everywhere

She / became / wise / thereafter

They / reached / home / late

The train / left / the station / on time

She / got / well / soon

He / became / popular / at once

I / am / a programmer / in this company

She / acts / well / at all times

My father / is / an engineer / in India

He / got / well / slowly

 I / am / the principal / here

Dr.David / is / famous / in his locality

David / is / a doctor / at Paris

She / was made / the Mayor / last week

Mr.Obama / was elected / the President / last month

Adverbial Subject Verb Object Examples - (ASVO)

A+S+V+O

Everyday / she / was / late

In broad daylight, / she / fell / unconscious

Often / Akbar / got / mad

This year / she / is / the captain

During day time / he / is / an honest man

Adverbial Subject Verb Indirect Object Direct Object Examples - (ASVIODO)

A+S+V+IO+DO

Last night / She / gave / him / food

Last week / he / gave / his son / new shirts

Every day / she / teaches / them / science

Everywhere / people / gave / the President / a welcome

During lunch / I / served / him / ice-cream

Adverbial Subject Verb Object Complement Adverbial Examples - (ASVOCA)

A+S+V+O+C+A

In the end, / the judge / declared / the culprit / innocent, / after the trial

Yesterday / the man / murdered / a woman / in rags, / mercilessly

In ancient times / people / shot / deer / dead / in the forest

Last month / they / christened / the child, / John / in the Chruch

Next Sunday / we / will paint / the car / red / in the meeting

Every day / she / noticed / the poor, / half dead / in the street corners

Adverbial Adverbial Subject Verb Complement Examples - (AASVC)

A+A+S+V+C

In the prayer hall, / during whorship / they / are / silent

Every day, / in the hostel, / she / is / asleep

Next month, / in Bombay, / they / have / a meeting

Every week, / in her garden / she / is / at work

Last week, / in Paris, / she / worked / as a professor

Verb Object Examples - (VO)

V+O

Perdon / me.

Call / him.

Try / it.