Hey beautiful people! We hope you all are doing well. We are here with another blog on Grammatical Errors for you.
Grammar has so many rules and it is almost impossible to learn all the rules at once. However, we can take one step at a time. You can take this step with these blogs or if you have been consistent with our blogs then keep on doing the same.
The 6 new rules of Grammar that you will learn today are very common and you will find at least one of them as a problem for you.
- Double Negatives
You must have been told many times that one should never use double negations. Negative sentences in English are created by adding a negation to the verb.
E.g. I will cook today. (Positive sentence)
I will not cook today. (Negative sentence)
Sometimes when nouns like nowhere, nothing etc. are used, the verbs should not be negated.
E.g. I will cook nothing. (Correct)
I will not cook nothing. (Incorrect)
Double negatives are created by adding a negation to the verb and to the modifier of the noun (adjectives, adverbs, etc.) or to the object of the verb.
E.g. I won’t cook nothing. (Verb negation + object negation)
Fun fact check – In many languages across the world, it is grammatically incorrect to use anything but double negatives.
- Pronoun-Noun agreement
If you think about what a noun is, you will find that it serves one of the two purposes – take the place of a noun or refer back to a noun in a sentence. Just like subject and verb, there should also be an agreement between the pronoun and noun of a sentence. You can check your errors based on the following rules.
- Remember to find the true subject
E.g. Each traveller should carry his or her own bag alone.
(The subject is ‘each’ and hence the pronouns are ‘his or her’ i.e. both are singular.)
All the travellers should carry their own bags.
(The subject here is ‘all’ and hence the pronoun is ‘their’ i.e. both are plural.)
- Using Article with Uncountable Noun
For those who don’t know about Countable nouns, it refers to something we can count and uncountable nouns refer to something we cannot count.
Countable nouns take definite or indefinite article when singular and definite (when referring to a specific object) and nothing otherwise, when plural. Uncountable nouns are not generally pluralised, but sometimes they are.
We cannot use indefinite articles with uncountable nouns. ‘The’ is sometimes used with uncountable nouns in the same way it is used with plural countable nouns, that is, to refer to a specific object, group, or idea.
E.g. please pass me a sugar. (Incorrect)
Please pass me the sugar.
Please pass me sugar.
- Present Tense
This is another very common mistake that people make. We are going to keep this one easy and short. You should use Simple present tense and not present progressive for normal routines, facts and habits.
E.g. I am waking up late everyday. (Incorrect)
I wake up late everyday. (Correct)
They are going to school everyday by bus. (Incorrect)
They go to school everyday by bus. (Correct)
- Double Comparative
You must have been told, “you should be more nicer to people”. Well, next time correct them for their bad grammar and tell them you are nicer to nice people only. This mistake is called double comparative. The most common error in this category is the usage of –er and more together. People make this mistake very often even without realizing it. But remember ‘DO NOT USE –er and more together.
E.g. I think my life would be more easier if I stop procrastinating. (Incorrect)
I think my life would be easier if I stop procrastinating. (Correct)
- Would vs. Will
They are both verbs and have similar meanings. However, both are used in different contexts which confuses many people. Well, reading this part would help you understand things better. Let us start with the fact that people think would is always used as the past form of the auxiliary word will, which is partially true. Would is indeed the past form of will, but it has many other uses too.
- Will: We use will to express beliefs and prediction about the present and future respectively.
E.g. My son will be arriving tomorrow.
- We use will to makes promises and offers.
E.g. I will finish my homework after the party.
- We use will to talk about what people want to do or are willing to do.
E.g. I will make chocolate cake for him on Christmas, like I do every year.
- Would: – To describe an Imaginary situation.
E.g. She would be really happy, if he proposes her.
- To express formal request or proposals.
E.g. Would you please sit down?
- In reported speech
E.g. She said that she would love to dance with you.
- To express liking, hearted and preferences for something (with words like love, hate, prefer and glad)
E.g. I would love to have some tea right now.
- To give an opinion on uncertain things.
E.g. I think it would hardly cost you around 40 dollars.
- After the word ‘wish’
E.g. I wish you would have asked me before investing such a big amount.
- To express refusal to do something.
E.g. She would not clean her room, even after being scolded by her mother.
- To describe past habits
E.g. When I was young, I would go to the clubs.
- To form conditional sentences
E.g. I would do your homework, only if you get me some chocolate ice cream right now.
We know that it’s a lot to take in at once but to simplify it, just remember: hypothetical situation – use would, predictions- use will. That would do the trick most of the time.
That is it for today. We hope you learned something new. Those who have read all our blogs must have been going around correcting people already. But for those who haven’t, you should definitely read them once. Click here for Most Common Grammatical Mistakes (Part – 1)!
Thank You.
