COMPETITIVE EXAMINATIONS ORIENTED

Courtesy: FPSC Examiner Report

AAMIR AYOUB
 grammatical errors Verbs and tenses
should maintain agreement with the subject

verb, tenses, and spelling can be

accumulated for constructing meaningful sentences

articles, verbs, adjectives and nouns

•Using 'and' with two singular subjects takes a plural verb.
•Using and with two verbs directing to a singular subject takes a
singular verb.
•Indefinite Pronouns are singular. (someone, anyone, somebody,
everyone)
• Each of, One of, and None of

• Nouns used with a quantifier (some, any, all, most) can be

singular or plural

• Some of the policies (They) were rejected whilst others were

approved. (policies = plural countable noun)
• Some of the research (It) was conducted at the University of
Melbourne. (research = uncountable noun).
• After a subject joined by either … or, neither … nor, or not only
… but also
Sometimes the subject is separated from the verb by
such words as along with, as well as, besides, not, etc

Use a singular verb with distances, periods of time, sums

of money, etc., when considered as a unit.
portions—e.g., a lot, a majority,
some, all. If the noun after of is singular, use a singular
verb. If it is plural, use a plural verb.
If a subject consisting of two singular nouns connected by
and, refers to the same person or thing, use a singular
verb.
• Incorrect – What type of the books you like to read?

• Incorrect – What sort of an insect is that?

• Use a plural verb after ‘A large number of’/’A number of.’
• Example:

• Use a singular verb after ‘The large number of’/’The number of.’
• Example:
 Avoid having a participle phrase at the beginning of a sentence that
doesn't have a clear noun to modify.

Ensure that the participle phrase reflects a logical sequence of

events in relation to the main clause.

Personal Actions:
• She washed herself.
• He taught himself how to play the piano.
Emphasis or Intensification:
• I myself witnessed the incident.
• The president himself addressed the nation.
Reciprocal Actions:
• They hugged each other.
• The friends congratulated themselves on their
success.
Daily Activities:
• She dresses herself every morning.
• He prepares his breakfast by himself.
Opinions and Feelings:
• She congratulated herself on a job well done.
• He blamed himself for the mistake.
After Certain Prepositions:
•She bought a gift for herself.
•He decorated the room with his own hands.
After Certain Verbs:
•They found themselves lost in the woods.
•The cat groomed itself.
Impersonal Expressions:
•One should always take care of oneself.
•People tend to enjoy themselves at parties.
Idiomatic Expressions:
•She pulled herself together before the presentation.
•He talked to himself while working.
In Commands:
•Get yourself ready for the meeting.
•Let's remind ourselves to stay positive.
• Time Limit:

Negative Construction

Continuous Action:
Conditional Statement

Equivalent to "If not": "Unless

Negating Possibility:
Using "Until" Instead of "Unless": Don't use "until" when
you mean "unless." They have different meanings. "Until"
refers to time, while "unless" refers to conditions.

Misplacing "Unless": Place "unless" at the beginning of the

conditional clause, not at the end of the sentence.
Comparisons of Subjects:

• Correct: She runs faster than I do.

• Incorrect: Her runs faster than me do.

• Correct: He and I are studying for the exam.

• Incorrect: Him and me are studying for the exam.
Comparisons of Objects:

• Correct: He greeted her more warmly than me.

• Incorrect: He greeted she more warmly than I.

• Correct: The teacher praised us and them for our efforts.

• Incorrect: The teacher praised we and they for our efforts.
Use Consistent Verb Tenses:

Maintain Consistent Grammatical Forms

• Parallel Phrasing:

Use Parallel Structures with Correlatives:

Parallel Comparative Structures

• Use Commas in Coordinate Adjectives

• Maintain Parallelism with Paired Conjunctions
If the main statement is affirmative, the question tag is usually
negative.

If the main statement is negative, the question tag is usually

affirmative.

• When the main statement includes "let's," the question tag is "shall
we?"
• A pronoun comes after the noun and should be able to refer
clearly to one, clear, unmistakable noun. This type of noun is
termed as antecedent.
• Example – Jane put the shoes in the rack but it slid down.

• ‘Jane put the shoes in the rack and the shoes slid down’ /or
• ‘Jane put the shoes in the rack and the rack slid down’
• Transformation with Participle Phrase
• Using Coordinating Conjunctions

• Using Semicolons
Joining with Conjunctive Adverbs