Common Errors

Common Errors -Nouns

1.A collective noun takes a singular verb and a singular pronoun if it shows unanimity or homogeneity but
will take plural verb and plural pronoun if it shows the sign of division.
• E.g. The jury has given its decision. (Correct)
• E.g. The jury were divided in their opinion (Correct)
2.Young children and lower animals are considered as neuter gender.
• E.g. The baby loves its toys. (Correct)
3. Scenery, Information, Poetry, Furniture, Advice, Mischief, and Bread are the nouns which are used in
singular only. They are neither preceded by indefinite article nor pluralized.
E.g. The sceneries of Kashmir are very charming.
• E.g. Scenery of Kashmir is very charming.
• E.g. They gave me many informations about him.
• E.g. They gave me many pieces of information about him.
5. The possessive case “ ‘s’ “ is mainly used with the names of living things.
E.g. The table’s leg was broken. (Incorrect)
E.g. The leg of the table was broken. (Correct)
E.g. Rohit’s car was destroyed in a mob riot. (Correct)
6.Avoid the use of double possessive.
E.g. My brother’s secretary’s wife won a lottery . (Incorrect)
E.g. The wife of my brother’s secretary won a lottery . (Correct)
7Each,either,neither,one,everyone,none,nobody,anybody,anyone,anybody,everybody,someone and much.
E.g. Neither teacher plans to cover entire Syllabus.
8. Several ,few, both, many, others, are plural nouns and require plural verb
E.g. Several of his students work in his company.
9.When ‘every’ or ‘many a’ comes before a subject the verb should be singular.
E.g. Every man, woman and child remembers that cold night.
10.When two subjects are joined by conjunction neither _nor the verb only agrees with second subject.
E.g. Neither his father nor his friends come to his rescue in time of difficulty.
11. When two subjects are joined with conjunction ‘with’, ‘along with’ ,’in addition to’, ‘as well as’ ,the verb agrees
with first subject.
E.g. Rohit along with his teachers is going on a picnic.
Children along with their teacher are going on a picnic.
Ramesh in addition to his friends is taking part in the cricket
match.
 Rules -Pronouns
1.When two or more singular nouns are joined by “and” and refer to
– Separate persons, the pronoun must be plural.
– The same person, the pronoun must be singular.
Ex. Both Preet and Shagun showed his fondness for their father. (Incorrect)
Ex. Both Preet and Shagun showed their fondness for their father. (Correct)
Ex. The chairman and MD of the company granted their approval to the scheme.
(Incorrect)
Ex. The chairman and MD of the company granted his approval to the scheme. (Correct)
2. When two or more pronouns are joined by ‘or,’ ‘either-or,’ ‘neither-nor,’ the
pronoun and verb is placed according to the last subject.
• Ex. Neither father nor his son brought their identity card. (Incorrect)
• Ex. Neither father nor his son brought his identity card. (Correct)
3.If a pronoun comes after let or a preposition, it should be used in the objective case.
• E.g. Let you and I resolve this problem. (Incorrect)
• E.g. Let you and me resolve this problem. (Correct)
• E.g. Between you and I ,this problem will not be sorted out
• E.g. Between you and me this problem will not be sorted out. (Correct)
4. With the following verbs reflexive pronoun should be used.
Absent, Acquit, Apply, Avail, Enjoy , Exert ,forget, Pride, Resign
Eg. I absented from the class.(incorrect)
Eg. . I absented myself from the class.(Correct)
• With the following words reflexive pronoun is not used:
Bathe, break, feed, hide ,turn ,move, rest ,qualify, stop etc.
5.A reflexive cannot be used as a substitute for the subject.
Eg. Rajiv and myself decided to join politics.(incorrect)
Eg. Rajiv and I decided to join politics.(Correct)
6.After some compound conjunctions like as good as, as much as, as well as that are used for
comparison we should not put objective case but use nominative case.
Ex:
When it comes to give service, Andrew is as good as him.  ( Incorrect )
When it comes to give service, Andrew is as good as he.  ( correct )
7.Pronoun has to agree with the case and here it is objective case
When two clauses are joined by ‘than’ it becomes subjective case
hence I
He is taller than I (am )
He loves you more than ( he loves) me
8.When all three person pronouns are used together than 231 sequence is used
E.g. You , he and I go there
9.When only 2 person pronouns are used than (2 3), (2 1) and (3 1) are used
E.g. You and he went to school.
You and I went to school.
]He and I read the novel together.
10.When all three person pronouns are used together for some mistake or sin( bad sense ) or they are in
plural than sequence used is 123
E.g. I ,you and him are involved in theft.
we ,you and they went for party without permission .
11. when only 2 person pronouns 1 2 3are used in bad sense than sequence used is ( 1 2 ) (1 3) and (2
3)
E.g. I and you are guilty .
I and he are guilty.
You and he are guilty.
Rules :Adjectives

1.“Little” has a negative remain. “A little” has a positive meaning which means
some, though not much. “The little” means not much, but all these is.
E.g.: He has a little knowledge of politics.
E.g.: he has little knowledge of politics.
2.“Later & latest refer to time; Whereas “Latter& Last” refer to position.
• E.g. The later part of the novel is not neatly written. (Incorrect)
• E.g. The latter part of the novel is not neatly written (Correct)
• E.g. What is the last news? (Incorrect)
• E.g. What is the latest news? (Correct)
3.Elder and Eldest” are used for members of the same family. “Older and Oldest” are used in the
general sense.
E.g. Mohan is the eldest boy in the town. (Incorrect)
E.g. Mohan is the oldest boy in the town. (Correct)
4. With the following comparative degrees preposition “to” should be used.
“inferior superior; prior’ anterior; posterior; senior; junior”
E.g. He is senior than me. (Incorrect)
E.g. He is senior to me (Correct)

5.The comparative “-er” is not used when we compare two qualities in the same person or thing.
• E.g. Mohan is wiser than strong. (incorrect)
• E.g. Mohan is more wise than strong (Correct)
6.Double comparative and superlative should be avoided.
• E.g. He is more braver than Ramesh. (Incorrect)
• E.g. He is braver than Ramesh. (Correct)
7.“Less” denotes quantity whereas ‘Fewer’ denotes number.
• I require very little sugar .
• I take less sugar but lots of milk in my tea.
• Very few people were left in the end .
8.Cardinal Adjectives( one ,two ,three…..) if followed by Plural Noun and have Certain amount , certain
weight ,certain period ,certain distance and certain height, then the Verb used is singular .
E.g. Five rupees note is a very small amount .
Forty Kilometers is a long distance.
Six years is a long period.
Two tons of coal is not enough for him.
Rules : Conjunction
1.“Scarcely/Hardly” should be followed by conjunction “when/before”. Remember the pattern
• Scarcely + had+ Subject + Main verb (III form) + When + ………..
• Scarcely +did + Subject +main verb (I from) + when + ………………
Eg: He had scarcely arrived than he had to leave again. (Incorrect)
Eg: Scarcely had he arrived when he had to leave again. (Correct)
• Hardly  had I run into the room when a strange creature ran out.
•  Scarcely  had I solved one problem before another cropped up.
Hardly is followed by 'had' and 'third' form of verb. Proper way should be 'had
we reached’.
Hardly had we reached the platform when the train started.
2.“No sooner” is followed by conjunction “than”
It should also be noted that do/does/did or had must come immediately after 'No sooner’.
No sooner had we reached the station than the train left.
3. “Unless”, “Seldom”, “Hardly”, “Forbid” and “Lest” express negative purpose, thus should not be followed by
“not”
E.g. Walk slowly, lest you should not fall. (Incorrect)
E.g. Walk slowly lest you should fall. (Correct)
E.g. Unless you do not work hard, you will fail in the examination. (Incorrect)
E.g. Unless you work hard, you will fail in the examination. ( Correct)
E.g. My father forbade me to go out at night.
Rules :Article
1.All/Both/Double/exactly/just + The +noun
All/Both/Double/exactly/just + The + Adjective+ noun
• All the boys Just the right amount
• Both the boys Exactly the same colour
• Double the amount All the famous boys
• Double the right amount Both the intelligent boys
2 . Just +a/an +adjective +noun
Just an ordinary girl
Just a beautiful piece
3. How/so/too/as +adjective + A/An +noun
How beautiful a girl is ! Rohini is as experienced a teacher
How beautiful a girl is she !
Rohit is too weak a boy Rohini is as experienced an engineer
It is so fine a day
4.The choice between the two indefinite articles – a & an – is determined by sound. Words beginning with
consonant sounds precede ‘a’ and words beginning with vowel sounds precede ‘an’. There are some special
cases also. For instance,
• An honest An MA
• An MLA An heir or heiress
• An NCC cadet An X-mas tree
• An hour An honest
• An L.P. School
• A European A university A uniform A unit
• A uniform A one-eyed person
• A one- way ticket A year
• 5.’A’ sometimes comes before determiners, for example,  a few, a little, a lot of, a most, etc. but in the case
of many, a or an - comes after.
• Example:
• I have a few friends coming over.
• There is a little milk in the jar.
• Many a fan welcomed
2.Sometimes ‘the’ is used to generalize a group/whole class.
• Example:
• The dog is a faithful animal. (Refers to the whole species of dog.)
• The English are industrious. (Refers to the people of England as a nation)
• The honest are respected. (The + adjectives = plural noun)
• The poor are not always dishonest. (The + adjectives = plural noun)
3.To particularise a non-count noun ‘the’ is required before it.
• Example:
• The water of the Arctic ocean is freezing.
• Please return the money I lent you last year.
4.For mountains /rivers/Oceans/bay/gulf/group of islands/Ships/aeroplane/trains/Nationality/religious
book/direction/desert/religious communities/superlatives/ordinal adjectives(first , second etc) we use ‘the’
Rule :Adverb
1.When there is a use of Verb + Preposition + object are used then adverb of manner is used before
preposition or after object .
E.g. He laughed lovingly at her.
He laughed at her lovingly .
2.If verb + preposition +object are followed by who/which/that clause or other words than adverb of manner is
used right before preposition
E.g. He looked suspiciously at every one who got off the plane.
3. If a sentence has Adverb of manner, Adverb of place , and Adverb of time are used together then we follow
the sequence MPT.
E.g. He wrote the letter swiftly at home yesterday.
4.If verb-come , go, arrive and enter are followed by Adverb of place and adverb of manner are used together
than the sequence used is PM
e.g. Mr. Pathak went secretly there .
Mr. Pathak went there secretly .
Boys entered silently the class room.
Boys entered the class room silently.
5.When in a sentence Adverb of place, Adverb of frequency and adverb of time are used together than the
sequence used is PFT
E.g. He comes in a week two times here.
He comes here two times in a week .
 Place: at, in, on

At for a POINT (dog, money, love) 

In for an ENCLOSED SPACE 
On for a SURFACE 

At In On
At the bus stop In London On the wall

At the corner In the garden On the ceiling

At the entrance In a box On the floor

At the crossroads In a building On the carpet

At the top of the In a car On a page
page
Some other common uses of at / on / in 
At In On
At home In a car On a bus
At work In a taxi On a train
At school In a helicopter On a plane
At university In an elevator On a bicycle
At the top In the sky On the radio
At the bottom In the street On the left
At the side In a row On a horse
At reception In a boat On a boat
Some more Preposition

Prepositions use Example

into the cinema, into the car , jumped into
movement towards look into , turn into ,eat into ,break into
into inside something, Translate into ,milk changed into curd
to change medium Water turn into ice.
Also : Police inspector enquired into the
case
out of to leave a place/a out of the theatre, out of the car
thing
LINK stand by me, by the lake
near/next to/beside
Train will arrive by 9pm
Before or till given
time She will come by the end of this month
who made it a book by Mark Twain
By
During He travelled by night
Sun shines by day
Weight /
Apples sold by the kilo
measurement
10ft.by 8ft.
Prepositions use Example

through the tunnel, through the room

By means Through a news paper
through
From beginning to end Could not sit through the show
Experience Went through challenges
across opposite ends across the river, across the street

against against the wall, against the door

My father is below seventy

Lower than /less Income below 5000/-
Below
than/ inferior to
Work below my dignity

under Under the tree.

something/someone Writer is under the publisher
Under /less than Under age
Police arrested him under the warrant of
According to court.
Under my mother’s will
Some more Preposition
Prepositions use Example
Higher than There are above 50 students in the
class.
Superior to Expenses above means.
Above
He is an officer above suspicion
For level Mt. Everest is 8848 metre above sea
level
Clouds are over our head
Please spread clothes over the wire
All over English is spoken all over the world.
More than
Finish Rani is over forty.
Over
From one end to Game got over at 5pm
other Bridge over river.
Excess He is overweight.
Over works for his age.

Dog jumped upon the table .

Upon Things in motion Lion sprang upon the prey.
Some more Preposition
Prepositions use Example

during while in during the movie, during the flight,

during my stay

For for two days, for an hour

from / to from Saturday to Monday, from 5 to

9

the time period between 1986 and 2012, between

between from one to Saturday and Monday
another

until/till before a certain until/till Sunday,5 o'clock

time
from an earlier
Up to point to a up (to) now
later point
movement to the
on to top of jumped onto the table
something
Some more Preposition

Prepositions use Example

on the back side of

Behind a point in behind the car; behind her
Smile
space

By at the least by Tuesday, by next month, by

tomorrow

To movement to school, to work, to the station

towards