Wrong : I have visited Niagara Falls last weekend.

Right : I visited Niagara Falls last weekend.

Wrong : The woman which works here is from Japan.

Right : The woman who works here is from Japan.

Wrong : She’s married with a dentist.

Right : She’s married to a dentist.

Wrong : She was boring in the class.

Right : She was bored in the class.

Wrong : I must to call him immediately.

Right : I must call him immediately.

Wrong : Every students like the teacher.

Right : Every student likes the teacher.

Wrong : Although it was raining, but we had the picnic.

Right : Although it was raining, we had the picnic.

Wrong : I enjoyed from the movie.

Right : I enjoyed the movie.

Wrong : I look forward to meet you.

Right : I look forward to meeting you.

Wrong : I like very much ice cream.

Right : I like ice cream very much.

Wrong : She can to drive.

Right : She can drive.

Wrong : Where I can find a bank?

Right : Where can I find a bank?

Wrong : I live in United States.

Right : I live in the United States.

Wrong : When I will arrive, I will call you.

Right : When I arrive, I will call you.

Wrong : I’ve been here since three months.

Right : I’ve been here for three months

Wrong : My boyfriend has got a new work.

Right : My boyfriend has got a new job. (or just "has a new job")

Wrong : She doesn’t listen me.

Right : She doesn’t listen to me.

Wrong : You speak English good.

Right : You speak English well.

Wrong : The police is coming.

Right : The police are coming.

Wrong : The house isn’t enough big.

Right : The house isn’t big enough.

Wrong : You should not to smoke.

Right : You should not smoke.

Wrong : Do you like a glass of wine?

Right : Would you like a glass of wine?

Wrong : There is seven girls in the class.

Right : There are seven girls in the class.

Wrong : I didn’t meet nobody.

Right : I didn’t meet anybody.

Wrong : My flight departs in 5:00 am.

Right : My flight departs at 5:00 am.

Wrong: “I see a conflict of INTEREST as Mr A is our financial consultant and his firm is selling financial
products to us.

Right: “I see a conflict of INTERESTS as …”

(EXPLANATION: It takes more than one interest to conflict.)

Wrong: “Last month, I INFORMED that our production cost had been rising.”

Right: “… I INFORMED ALL OF YOU that …” or “… I REPORTED that …”.

(EXPLANATION: The word “inform”, unlike the word “say” or “report”, must be followed by an object.)

Wrong: “The reason for the increase in our cost IS BECAUSE commodity prices have been going up
relentlessly.”

Right: “The reason for the increase in our cost IS THAT commodity prices have …”.

(EXPLANATION: “Because” is used only when the sentence is written in a different way: “Our cost has
increased BECAUSE commodity prices have been …”.)

Wrong: “I don’t think SO that commodity prices have risen that much.”

Right: “I don’t think that commodity prices have risen that much.”

(EXPLANATION: The word “so” is redundant.)

Wrong: “Please do not repeat the mistake again.”

Right: “… Please do not repeat it.”

(EXPLANATION: “Repeat” means “do again”. So to “repeat again” means “to do again again”.)

Wrong: “After you have studied the proposed agreement, please REVERT to me.”.

Right: “… Please COME BACK to me.”

(EXPLANATION: “To revert to ” means to transform back into the shape of”.)
Wrong: “We should meet soon to discuss ABOUT the reception for our foreign visitors.”

Right: “… to discuss the reception for …”.

(EXPLANATION: “To discuss” means “to talk ABOUT”. So the word “about” is redundant.)

Wrong: “With regards to Project A, can you update me on its progress?”

Right: “WITH REGARD TO …”

Right: “AS REGARDS to Project A …”

Wrong: “Our team COMPRISES OF people from various disciplines.”

Right: “Our team COMPRISES people from various disciples.

Wrong: “The supplier will not be able to deliver the new desk-top computers in time. AS SUCH we have
to continue to use our existing computers for at least another week.”

Right: “… SO we have to continue …”

(EXPLANATION: We use “as such” only when we can answer the question: “As what?”.

Example: “John has just been appointed team leader. As such (as a team leader), he now has a greater
responsibility in the office.

Wrong: “Although Jane’s report is not exactly a well-written one, we can consider it AS completed since it
serves the purpose intended.”

Right: Drop the word “AS”.

Wrong: “I must catch HOLD OF the boss before he goes on vacation.”

COMMENT: The phrase “hold of” is redundant.

Wrong: “We spent half a day SEARCHING for a missing document.”

Right: “… SEARCHING THE OFFICE for a missing document.”

Right: “… LOOKING for a missing document.”

(EXPLANATION: “To search” means “to check or examine”. It must therefore be followed by a word
depicting a place or an area.)

Wrong: “I like my eggs HALF-BOILED.”

Right: “I like my eggs SOFT-BOILED.”

(EXPLANATION: So far there is no cooking equipment for boiling only half of an egg while it is still in the
shell.)

Wrong: “I go MARKETING only once a week.”

Right: “I go TO THE MARKET only once a week.”

(EXPLANATION: “Marketing” is done only by the marketing executives of a company.)

Wrong: “Why are you not DRINKING your soup?”

Right: “Why are you not HAVING your soup?”

(EXPLANATION: As soup typically contains solid ingredients, unlike water or milk or juice, it is generally
not appropriate to use “drink” to describe its consumption.)

Wrong: “Have you FINISH eating?”

Right: “Have you FINISHED eating!”

(EXPLANATION: “Finish” here is used as part of the verb “have finished”.)

Wrong: “This restaurant operates on a ‘first come, first SERVE basis.”

Right: ” … ‘first come, first SERVED basis.”

Wrong: ” No fish? Prawns ALSO CAN.”

Right: “No fish? Prawns ARE FINE TOO.”

Wrong: Cake-seller to customer: “Okay, two banana muffins and one peach tart. SOME MORE?”

Right: “… ANYTHING ELSE!”

Wrong: “Sorry. I LEFT only one Sri Lanka crab. CAN TAKE local crabs instead?”

Right: “… I HAVE only one small Sri Lanka crab LEFT. CAN you TAKE local crabs instead? ”

Wrong: “Please excuse me. I have to leave now to put my children TO SLEEP.”

Right: “… I have to leave now to put my children TO BED.”

(EXPLANATION: It is a criminal offence to put a person “to sleep”. In Singapore it carries the death
penalty.)

Wrong: “I SEND our son Joey to school everyday.”

Right: “I DRIVE/TAKE our son Joey to school….”

(EXPLANATION: To “send” someone means that you are not accompanying that person on the journey.)

Wrong: “John, you look groovy. You aim to win at the best DRESS competition tonight, don’t you?”

Right: “… You aim to win at the best DRESSED competition tonight, don’t you?”

(EXPLANATION: If it is a “best dress” competition, John would not be eligible unless he is a cross dresser.)

Wrong: “Do you like the FRAGRANCE of the wine?”

Right: “Do you like the BOUQUET of the wine?”

Wrong: “I can see that you prefer the champagne coloured roses THAN the red ones.”

Right: “I see that you prefer the champagne coloured roses TO the red ones.”
Wrong: “I will wait for you at Ya Kun while you are at the hair dressing SALOON.”

Right: ” … hair dressing SALON.”

Wrong: “We just met. Please don’t hold my hand here. AFTER people talk.”

Right: ” … OR people may talk (gossip).”

Wrong: “Can you call me BACK soon? ”

Right: Drop the word “back” as it is redundant.

Wrong: “Mary, I have a cocktail this Friday at the office. Would you like to join me?”

COMMENT: “A cocktail” means a glass of alcoholic drink. Mary may rather go to a “cocktail party”.

Wrong: “I saw you holding Bee Hong’s hands. You are both in love, ISN’T IT?”

Right: “… You are both in love, AREN’T YOU?”

Wrong: “Can you hold my hand as I am SCARED of the dark.”

Right: “… as the dark SCARES me.” or “… as I am AFRAID of the dark.”

Wrong: “Please SWITCH your mobile phone to silent mode.”

Right: “Please PUT your mobile phone on silent mode.”

Wrong: “Children, please OFF the lights when you leave the room.”

Right: ” … Please SWITCH OFF the lights …”

Wrong: “I will APPRECIATE if you can keep your voice down.”

Right: “I will APPRECIATE IT if you can keep your voice down.” or “I will appreciate your keeping your
voice down.”

(EXPLANATION: The word “appreciate” must be followed by an object.)

Wrong: “He is late. MUST BE he overslept or missed the bus.”

Right: “… IT MUST BE THAT he overslept or missed the bus.” or “… He MUST HAVE overslept or missed
the bus.”

Wrong: “LAST TIME we lived in a kampong house.”

Right: “PREVIOUSLY, we lived in a kampong house.” or “We USED TO live in a kampong house.”

Wrong: “It may rain this afternoon. You GOT bring umbrella OR NOT?”

Right: ” … DID YOU bring an umbrella!”

Wrong: “From the way he speaks, I would consider him AS a snob.”

Right: Drop the word “AS”.

Wrong: “You BETTER apologise to him as he is really mad.”

Right: “IT WILL BE GOOD if you apologise…”

Wrong: “Sorry, I am really busy with work Right now. Can we discuss tomorrow?”

Right: ” … Can we discuss IT tomorrow?”

Wrong: “You ONLY JUST found out about the sale? Today is the last day.”

Right: “You found out ONLY NOW about the sale? …”

Wrong: “I used to love durians, but NOT SO MUCH nowadays.”

Right: ” … but LESS SO nowadays,

Wrong: ” The Japanese numbers game sudoku is very popular among the staff of my office. MYSELF, I
took it up a year ago.”

COMMENT: Drop “myself”.

Wrong: “No idea.”

Right: “I don’t know.”