Sentence corrections:
Here are some more examples, the explanations
are simple, brief and to the point. Study them carefully. You would do well
even to memorize some of the clarifications-especially those pertaining to the
errors you weren’t aware of before you happened to study this note.
1.Possessive form
• Don’t say. This room’s window is open
• Say. The window of this room is open
• The possessive form is used for
persons and animals only. For things without life (which can’t possess), the
object with of should be used.
• Note. However, We say, a day’s
work, a night’s rest, Bombay’s Population
2. Misuse of the cognate object
• Raju plays a very good game (don’t say
a very good play)
• However we say, to sing a fine
song, to fight a good fight, to dream a strange dream, to live a long life, to
die a sad death
3. Say as follows
• Say. In my opinion he is right
• Don’t Say. According to my opinion he is right
4. at the end and in the end
• At the end means at the farthest point or part as There
is a holyday at the end of this month
• In the end means finally or at last as In the end
they reached the city
5. A country and the country
• A country means is a place like India, England,
the USA etc
• The country means it is a part of a country
consisting fields, forests, deserts, mountains etc
• Say I spend my holidays in the country
6. Tell or speak the truth, not say
truth
• He always speaks (or tells) the truth
• Similarly, to tell a lie
7. Turn (Switch) the light on, or off not open or shut the light
• But we light, blow out, or put out
a lamp, ca candle, or a fire
8. Take an examination not give an examination
• The pupil took an examination
• Note The teacher gives or sets the
examination, the student takes or sits for the examination
9. To be busy, not to have work
• Don’t Say. I have much work this morning
• Say I am very busy this morning
• But we can say, I have a lot of
work to do this morning
10.Mount or get on a cycle
• Don’t Say. He rides his cycle and goes home
• Say He gets on his cycle and goes home
11.Dismount or get off a horse or cycle,
not come down from a horse or cycle
• Say. They got off (not came down) their
cycles and went in
• Note. We alight from or get out
of a carriage or a motorcar, but we get on or off the train
or the bus
12.What do you call…..?, not How do you call…?
• Say. What do you call this in English?
• Don’t Say. How do you call in this English?
• Note But if the questions is not about a
thing, but some expression we should say How do you say this in English?
•
13.Don’t say Both of them did not go to school
• Say. Neither of them went to school
• Remember that both is changed
into neither in negative sentence
14.Don’t use also or too in
a negative sentence instead of either
• Don’t Say. John has not come also
• Say. John has not come either
15.If a negative word is used in a
sentence, the conjunction or must be used instead of and
• He did not speak loudly or (not and)
clearly
• However, if the subjects are
different, the conjunction and is used as
– He did not write, and I did not feel
at rest
16.A watch is slow or fast,
not goes behind or in front
• Say. My watch is two minutes slow (not
behind)
• Note We can also say - My watch losses or
gains
17.Have one’s hair cut, not cut one’s hair
• Don’t Say. I am going to cut my hair
• Say. I am going to have my hair cut
18.Don’t say “How is he going with his
work?”
• Say. How is he getting on with his work?
19.Avoid saying – today morning,
today afternoon, today evening, yesterday night, this night
• Say. This morning, this afternoon, this
evening, last night, tonight
20.Take exercise, not make exercise
• Don’t Say. You ought to make exercise daily
• Say. You ought to take exercise daily
21.A person can pay another person, he
can also pay a bill, an account or a subscription but pays for a thing
that he buys
• How much did you pay for this book?
• Did you pay your fee?
22.Reply to a person, a letter, but we answer a person, a letter
• Please reply to Ravi as soon as
possible earlier
Please answer
Ravi as soon
as possible earlier
(observe the preposition to in above examples)
23.Search for a lost thing, not search a lost thing
• Say. They are searching for the ball
• To search with out ‘for’ means to look
in one’s pockets or house as – The Policeman searched the man and his house
24.Speak to and speak with
• I shall speak to him – means, I shall
do all the speaking
• I shall speak with him – means, I
shall a conservation with him
25.Supply a person with something, not supply a person something
• Say. Can you supply me with all I need?
• Similarly, Provide a person with all (s)he
needs
26.Dispose of a thing, not dispose a thing
• Say. He will dispose of all his property
27.Don’t omit the indefinite article in
the following expressions
• To make a mistake
• Ti make a fortune
• To make a will
• To make an impression
• To make an experiment
• To make an attempt
28.Wish for a thing, not with a thing
• Say. He does not wish for any reward
29.Write to a person, not write a person
• Say. I shall write to him tomorrow
• Note, But when the direct object of write
is expressed, the preposition is omitted, as I shall write him a letter
30.To know how, after the infinitive to know,
the verb is always introduced by the adverb how, eg-
• He knows how to swim
• But He knows his work well
31.After the word lest do not omit
should
• Don’t Say. He ran lest he miss the train
• Say. He ran lest he should miss the train
32.In making a comparison between one
person or thing and all others of the same kind, the word else must be
used after everybody, anybody, anything etc
• Say. He is stranger than anybody else
33.enjoy
• Don’t Say. I enjoyed during the holidays
• Say. I enjoyed myself during the holidays
• (or) I enjoyed my holidays
34.Had better is used instead of better
• Don’t Say. Better go home at once
• Say. You had better go home at once
35.Comprise (=consist of)
• Don’t Say. The book comprises of five chapters
• Say. The book comprises five chapters
36.Say. Does he resemble (not to) his
father?
• But. He has not resemblance to his father
(or) There is not resemblance between them
37.When we are speaking of a space of
time in the future, we must use in and not after, Here in means
after the end of
• Don’t Say. I may be able to go after a week
• Say. I may be able to go in a week
• Or
I may
be able to go in a week’s time
38.In means after the end of, within means
before the end of -
• Don’t Say. I’ll come back in an hour (if you
mean before the end of an hour)
• Say. I’ll come back within an hour
39.Shall and may
• May I shut the door? Means that, I wish the door closed and
I ask your permission to shut it
• Shall I shut the door? Means that, I want to know whether you
wish the door closed
40.Say and tell
• “To say” is used in two ways (i) when referring
to a person’s actual words and (ii) in indirect speech if the sentence does not
contain an indirect object
• He said, “I shall go home” (direct speech)
• He said that he would go home
(indirect speech)
• “To tell” is used in indirect speech when the
sentence contains anindirect object
• He told me that he would go home
COMMON IDIOMS WITH “SAY”
AND “TELL”
|
To
say one’s prayer |
To
tell the truth |
|
To
say grace |
To
tell a lie |
|
To
say “good morning” |
To
tell a story |
|
To say something or nothing |
To
tell the time |
|
To
say no more |
To
tell a secret |
|
To
say good word for |
To
tell the price |
|
To
say so |
To
tell one’s fortune |
|
|
To
tell one’s name |
41.make and do
• “To make” primarily means to construct or
manufacture something, while “to do” means to accomplish a thing
COMMON IDIOMS WITH “MAKE” AND “DO”
|
To
make a mistake |
To
do good |
|
|
To
make a promise |
To
do evil |
|
|
To
make an excuse |
To
do one’s best |
|
|
To
make haste |
To
do one a favor |
|
|
To
make fun of |
To
do wrong |
|
|
To
make progress |
To
do a problem |
|
|
To
make a noise |
To
do business |
|
|
To
make an experiment |
To
do away, with |
|
|
To
make a bed (= to prepare the bed for sleeping upon) |
To
do gymnastics |
|
|
|
To
do exercises (not physical) |
|
|
|
|
|
42.Wear and put on
• “To wear” means to have upon the body as a
garment or as an ornament, to put on denotes simple act
• This man always wears black shoes
• I put on my clothes in the morning
• To dress has nearly the same meaning as to
put on, but the object of the dress is person and not thing, as – He
dressed himself and went out, The mother has dressed her baby
43.Tear and tear up
• To tear means to divide along a straight or
irregular line, something by accident
• To tear up means to destroy by tearing to pieces
• Note, The word up is often used with
verbs to express to the idea of greater completeness, as burn up, drink up,
dry up, cut up, eat up, shut up, use up
44.Grow and grow up
• To grow means to become bigger,
• To grow up means to become a man or woman
• Babies grow very quickly,
• When I grow up I shall become a
teacher
45.Pick and pick up
• To pick fruit or flowers means to pull them
away with the fingers
• To pick up means to lift up from the ground
• We picked flowers in the garden
• The naughty boy picked up the stone
and threw at the dog
46.deal with and deal in
• To deal with means to have to do with
• To deal in means to buy and sell
• The book deals with common errors
• A book-seller deals in books
• Note, to deal with also mean (i) to
do business with as – “I will not deal with that shop-keeper again”, (ii) to
arrange a matter as – “The headmaster will deal with the question”
47.Interfere with and interfere in
• To interfere with means to be an obstacle to,
• To interfere in means to take part in other people’s
affairs without any right
• The noise interfere with my work
• I never interfere in his affairs
48.Steal and rob
• The object of steal is the
thing taken by the thief, such as money, a watch, a bicycle etc
• While the object of rob is the
person or place from whom (or which) the thing is taken, such as a man, a
house, a bus, a train etc
• Someone has stolen by watch
• The dacoits got into the train and
robbed the passengers.
• To revenge oneself is to punish for a wrong done to
oneself,
• To avenge is punish on behalf of another,
usually the innocent or weak
• I revenged myself for the insult
• He now avenged his son’s murder
50.Made of and made from
• Made of is used if the material of which the
thing is made can still be seen,
• Made from if the material can no longer be seen
• Tables are made of wood
• Bread is made from wheat
51.We replace one thing by another, but we substitute one thing for
another
• The replaced gold by paper-money
• The substituted paper-money for gold
52.To win and to beat
• To win is to gain something for which you
have tried,
• To beat is to overcome an opponent
• The girls beat the boys and so won the
prize
53.Drown and sink
• To drown is used only of living things, and
means to die in water
• To sink is used of persons or things, and
means to go down to the bottom of water
54.Don’t say Leave the other end of the string
• Say Let go of the other end of the string
• Leave cannot be used in the sense of let go
(=give up one’s hold)
55.Don’t say, I shall sleep early tonight
• Say I shall go to bed early tonight
• To go to bed denotes the act of lying down on a bed
in preparation for going to sleep. Thus, we can say that a person went to
bed at nine O clock, but he did not sleep until eleven O clock
• Go to sleep means to fall asleep, as – He went
to sleep while he was in the Cinema
56.Don’t say, The man was found in his office
• Say The man was in his office
• In English the verb to be found
generally means to be discovered as – Diamonds are found in Africa and
in India. Therefore, he was found in his office would suggest that the
man had hidden himself in his office and was later discovered by someone
57.Don’t say, My English book is with my brother
• Say My brother has my English book
• Avoid using ‘to be with’ in the
sense of to have, to be with means to be together or in company
of as – He is with his parents
58.I don’t have/I haven’t
• Don’t Say, I don’t have time to see you today
• Say: I haven’t time to see you today
• I don’t have is used for things occurring
habitually; as, “I don’t have fruits for breakfast”
• I haven’t is used to refer to particular
occasions, and means; as, I haven’t something now
59.Leave for, Give up
• Don’t Say: I have now left smoking
• Say: I have now gave up smoking or I
have stopped smoking now
60.Care for, take care of
• Don’t Say: He doesn’t care for money
• Say: He doesn’t take care of his money,
To care for means to like
61.Flown for, flowed
• Don’t Say: The river has flown over its banks
• Say: The river has flowed over its banks
• Flown is the past participle of fly
62.Very and too
• Very simply makes the adjective or adverb
stronger, too means more than enough, or so much that something else
cannot happen as a result
Here
it is very hot in the summer. (not too
hot)
• It is now too hot to play football
63.Very and much
• Very is used with adjectives and adverbs in
the positive degree, and with present participles used as adjectives (like interesting)
• Much is used with adjectives and adverbs in
the comparative degree, and with past participles
• He is very strong man
• It is a very interesting book
• He is much stronger than I am
• I am much obliged to my friend
64.Too much for very much
• Very much is used instead of much for
greater emphasis
• Too much denotes an excessive quantity of
degree as He at too much, and became ill
• Don’t say: (i) He likes the cinema too much, (ii) He
is too much stronger than I am, (iii) I was too much astonished at the
news
• Say: (i) He likes the cinema very much, (ii)
He is very much stronger than I am, (iii) I was very much astonished
at the news
• Note: Much and very much cannot be used
with certain verbs, like work, try, train, think, to be hurt, to be injured
• Thus, we say: He works very hard. He
tried very hard. It is raining hard. He thinks deeply. He was badly hurt. He
was seriously injured.
65.Mend, correct and repair
• Mend is used with the leather goods,
clothes, purses, valets etc. Thus we say, I gave my shoe for mending
(not for repairing)
• Correct is used with the language items like
spelling, pronunciation, vocabulary, hand-wring etc. We say, You have to
correct your hand-wring or pronunciation
• Repair is used with furniture, roads,
machinery, houses, buildings, electronic and electrical goods etc, So say: Please
repair my TV set
• Discover is used when the things, which were
buried long ago, were uncovered. So we say Columbus discovered America.
Carter discovered Tutankhamen’s tomb
• Invent is used for the things that were
brought out first time in the history with one’s own research. So we say Alexander
Fleming invented Penicillin. Edison invented electrical bulb
• Found is used when the lost things are
appeared. So we say I found my cycle which I lost last week.
67.Leave, sail
• Don’t say: He is leaving to Delhi
• Say: He left (or leaves or is
leaving)for Delhi
• Verbs like leave, sail takes
preposition for instead of to, as in Bassanio sails for
Belmont
68.Assassination, Murder, Kill, encounter
• Assassination is used when the high rank people of the
society are killed by someone intentionally. Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated
at Perumbudur
• Murder is used when the act was done
intentionally for a gain. He murdered his neighbor for a petty issue
• Kill is used for accidents etc. Two
people were killed in a road accident.
• Encounter is used when a person was killed by
the authoritative people like Police, Army etc. Three people were
encountered in Warangal
69.Discuss, describe etc.
• Don’t say: We are discussing about the issue.
• Say: We are discussing the issue
• The verbs discuss, describe,
mention, remark, notify, clarify etc do not take any preposition.
• Note: The above verbs, when they are used as
nouns/gerunds, take preposition. Ex- Our discussion was about Indian
politics.
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