SENTENCE

CORRECTION
 Use of An
• An follows the sound, not the letter
• Used before a singular noun that starts with a
vowel sound.
• A/the university
• an hour
• A unit
 Use of the Definite Article “The”
• When speaking of a particular, or person
already referred to
– E.g: The book you want is not available

• With names of gulfs, rivers, seas, oceans,

groups of islands, mountain ranges
– E.g: The Himalayas, The Indus River
• With the names of certain holy books
– E.g: The Quran, The Bible
• Before common nouns which are names of
things unique in their kind
– E.g: The sun, the sky
• Before a proper noun only when it is
preceded by an adjective
– E.g: The immortal Shakespeare
• With the superlative degree of adjective
– E.g: Ali is the tallest boy in the class
• Before ordinal numbers first, second, etc
– E.g: The ninth chapter of our book is very difficult
• Before musical instruments
– E.g: He can play the flute
• Before an adjective when the noun in plurals
is to be made
– E.g: The rich are in luxury
• As an adverb in the following construction
– E.g: The higher you go, the cooler it gets.
 Omission of the Article

• Before proper nouns

• Before names of materials
– E.g: Gold is very precious.
• Before abstract nouns used in their general
sense
– E.g: Wisdom is better than wealth
• Before languages
– E.g: Urdu is our national language

• Before names of relations when they are

understood to be belonging to you
– E.g: Father gave me ten thousand rupees this
morning
Errors in the
Use of Nouns
Nouns that cannot be made plural
• Incorrect: The sceneries of Kashmir are very
beautiful
• Correct: The scenery of Kashmir is very
beautiful
• Incorrect: My father gave me two advices
which are very dear to me
• Correct: My father gave me two pieces of
advice which are very dear to me
• Use the following pattern instead:
• A piece of (information, news, work, advice,
knowledge, poetry, prose, criticism etc)
• An article of (clothing, luggage, furniture,
apparatus, jewelry, cutlery, crockery,
stationery, equipment etc)
 Nouns that have same Singular and
Plural Forms
• Incorrect: These sheeps will be slaughtered
early in the morning
• Correct: These sheep will be slaughtered early
in the morning
• Incorrect: These three trouts will weigh
approximately six pounds
• Correct: These three trout will weigh
approximately six pounds
• E.g:
– Swine
– Deer
– Salmon
– Fish
– People
– Innings
– crossroads
 Nouns that look plural but generally
used as Singular
• Incorrect: These news are really very
important
• Incorrect: Mathematics have never been my
favourite subject
• E.g:
• Electronics, linguistics, statistics, mechanics,
civics, aeronautics, economics, etc
 Nouns having Plural Form Only
• E.g:
– Trousers, Pants, scissors, glasses, etc
– Condolences, congratulations, troops, particulars,
belongings etc
 Nouns that Function as Hyphenated
Adjectives
• Avoid using plural form for any of these
adjectives even when the noun that follows is
plural
• E.g:
• Incorrect: They have bought a nine-bedrooms
house
• Incorrect: This wrestler will take part in 250-
pounds category
 The nouns (foreign) that have unique
plural forms
• E.g:
• Incorrect: This phenomena is worth noticing.
• E.g:
– Index, indices
– Stimulus, stimuli
– Curriculum, curricula
– Phenomenon, phenomena
– Bacterium, bacteria
Subject-Verb
Agreement
• Two or more singular subjects connected by
“and” usually take a verb in the plural
– Incorrect: Ali and Ahmed is here.
– Correct: Ali and Ahmed are here.
• If two singular nouns refer to the same
person or thing, the verb must be singular
– Incorrect: The Secretary and Principal are coming
– Correct: The Secretary and Principal is coming.
• If the singular subjects are preceded by each
or every, the verb is usually singular
– Incorrect: Every boy and girl were ready
– Correct: Every boy and girl was ready

– Incorrect: Each citizen should use their role.

• Two or more singular subjects connected by
neither…nor, either…or, verb must be
singular
– Incorrect: Neither he nor I were there
– Correct: Neither he nor I was there

– Incorrect: Neither him nor his friend were hurt.

• When subjects joined by or, nor are of
different numbers, the verb must be plural,
and the plural subject must be placed next to
the verb
– Incorrect: Neither the Teachers nor the
Headmaster was present
– Correct:
• When the subjects joined by or/nor are of
different persons, the verb agrees in person
with the one nearest to it.
– Incorrect: Either he or I is mistaken.
– Correct: Either he or I am mistaken.

– Incorrect: Neither he nor I are at fault.

Errors in the Use of
Verbs
• When there are two Subjects in a sentence
and they are not in the same Number, then
we have to use separate Auxiliaries (is, are,
am, was, were, have, has) for both of them.
– For example,
Incorrect: Three terrorists were killed and one
injured.
Correct: Three terrorists were killed and one was
injured.
• A single Verb should be made to serve two
Subjects, only when the form of Verb is same
for both the subjects.
Example:
– Incorrect: I am seventeen years old and my sister
fourteen.
Correct: I am seventeen years old and my sister is
fourteen
• Two auxiliaries can be used with one
principal Verb, only when the form of the
principal Verb is appropriate to both the
auxiliaries. ‘
– Example:
Incorrect- He never has, and never will take such
strong measures.
Correct- He never has taken, and never will take
such strong measures
• When there is only one auxiliary to two
principal Verbs it should be correctly
associated with the both.
– Example:
Incorrect- Ten candidates have passed, one failed.
Correct- Ten candidates have passed, one has
failed.
• Modal Auxiliaries are not used together. But
two Auxiliaries can be connected by a
Conjunction.
– For example,
– Incorrect-He should must do it.
– Correct- He should and must do it.
Errors in the Use of
Adjectives
• Superior, inferior, junior, senior, anterior,
posterior, prior, elder are followed by “to”
not “than”
– He is senior to me
• Comparison of the positive degree is made by
using as+ positive degree + as
– He is as brave as his father
• Use comparative degree for comparison of
two things
– Incorrect: He is the tallest of the two brothers
– Correct: He is taller of the two brothers
• When qualities of the same person/thing is
compared, comparative degree is not used.
More is used for this purpose
– Incorrect: He is wiser than brave
– Correct: He is more wise than brave
• Superlative degree can be used in two ways:
– He is the strongest man on earth.
– He is stronger than any other man on earth.
• Adjectives which are already perfect in their
meaning (unique, ideal, perfect, complete,
entire, etc) have no comparative or
superlative degree
– This is the most perfect novel of Hardy
• When two persons or things are compared, it
is important that the same parts of things
should be compared.
– Incorrect- The population of Bombay is greater
than Delhi.
– Correct- The population of Bombay is greater than
that of Delhi.
• Double comparatives and superlatives
should not be used.
– Incorrect- He is the most cleverest boy in the
class.
– Correct- He is the cleverest boy in the class.
• All the Adjectives which refer to the same
Noun should be in the same degree of
comparison.
Incorrect- He is the wisest and honest worker
in the office.
Correct- He is the wisest and most honest
worker in the office
• 'Elder' and 'eldest' should be used for
persons only, usually, they are used for the
members of the same family.
• 'Older' and 'oldest' are used for both persons
and things.
– Incorrect- He is my older brother.
Correct- He is my elder brother
• Little/Few : almost none
• A little/A few: some
• The little/The few: whatever quantity
available
– The doctor says there’s little hope of his recovery.
– There’s a little water in the jug that was sufficient
to satisfy my thirst
– The little water that was there in the jug was
undrinkable
• Very + Positive degree of adjective
• Much + Comparative degree of adjective
– Mount Everest is very high
– The climate of Islamabad is much better than that
of Multan.
• Later, latest refer to Time
• Latter, last refer to Position
• Farther means more distant, further means
additional
– Incorrect: I reached at 10 am, but he was latter
than I expected.
– Incorrect: He insisted on farther improvement
Errors in the Use of
Adverbs
• Use of “Too”
• Too means more than required, and it is used
with Unpleasant Adjective. So, we cannot use
too glad, too happy, too pleasant, too
healthy.
For example,
Incorrect- I am too glad to meet you.
Correct- I am very glad to meet you.
 ''Too .... To"
• A sentence which is based on ''Too .... To"
format, we cannot replace to with so that. If we
replace to with so that, too also must be replaced
with cannot.
For example,
Incorrect- He is too weak so that he cannot walk.
Correct- He is too weak to walk.
Correct- He is so weak that he cannot walk.
 At present, Presently
• 'At present' means 'at the present time',
'presently' means 'shortly'. These should not
be confused.
1. Incorrect- Nothing more can be done
presently.
Correct- Nothing more can be done at
present.
2. Incorrect- He will come back at present.
Correct- He will come back presently.
 Hard, Hardly
• 'Hard' means 'diligently', strenuously',
'Hardly' means 'scarcely at all'. These two
Adverbial forms of 'hard' must not be
confused.
1. Incorrect- He tried hardly to win the race.
Correct- He tried hard to win the race.
2. Incorrect- She has eaten hard anything
today.
Correct- She has eaten hardly anything today
 Ago
• Ago is always used with Past Indefinite Tense.
So, if ago is used in a sentence, that sentence
must be in the Past Indefinite Tense.
For example,
Incorrect- He has arrived a month ago.
Correct- He arrived a month ago.
• The sentence which starts with seldom,
never, hardly, rarely or scarcely takes an
inverse structure: Verb + Subject - Structure.
• For example,
Incorrect- Seldom I had seen such a beautiful
sight.
Correct- Seldom had I seen such a beautiful
sight.
Errors in the Use of
Conjunctions
• 'Both' should be followed by 'and'. It should be
used in the positive sense. In the negative sense,
'neither' ..... .'nor should be used in place of
'both'.
Incorrect- Both Ravi as well as Raja were present
there.
Correct- Both Ravi and Raja were present there
Incorrect: Both Ravi and Raja were not present
Correct: Neither Ravi nor Raja was present
• 'Either ... or', 'neither .... nor,
'both and', 'not only but also'
should be followed by the same parts of
speech.
Incorrect- He not only lost his ticket, but also
his luggage.
Correct- He lost not only his ticket but also his
luggage
• Two Conjunctions should not be used in the
same sentence.

Incorrect- Though she was tired, but she went on

working.
Correct- Though she was tired, she went on
working.
Incorrect: Because he is clever, therefore he gets
good marks
 No sooner…than
• No sooner is used to show that one thing
happens immediately after another thing. It
is often used with the past perfect, and
usually followed by than.
– Incorrect: No sooner had they started their walk
and it started to rain
– Correct: No sooner had they started their walk
than it started to rain
– Incorrect: They had no sooner arrived then they
were arguing.
Errors in the Use of
Pronouns
 Pronoun Cases
Subjective/Nomi Objective Possessive
native
I Me My, Mine
You You Your, Yours
He Him His
She Her Her, Hers
It It Its
We Us Our, Ours
They Them Their, Theirs
• A noun or pronoun is in the possessive case
when it is used to show ownership of an
object:
– Where did you find her book?
• Emphatic Pronouns cannot stand alone as
Subjects.
• Incorrect- Himself did it.
• Correct- He himself did it.
• The Indefinite Pronoun 'one' should be used
throughout if used at all.

Incorrect- One must not boast of his own

success.
Correct- One must not boast of one's own
success.
 Who or Whom
• When to Use Who
• In a sentence, who is used as a subject.
– Correct: Who would like to go on vacation?
• When to Use Whom
• Whom is used as the object of a verb or a
preposition
– To whom was the letter addressed?
– Whom do you believe?
– I do not know with whom I will go to the market
• Try substituting “he” or “she” and “him” or
“her” in a sentence to check the correct usage
of who and whom. If “he” or “she” fits, you
should use who. If “him” or “her” fits, you
should use whom. Keep in mind that you may
have to temporarily rearrange the sentence a
bit while you test it.
– Who/whom ate my sandwich?
– Who/whom should I talk to about labeling food in
the refrigerator?
 Win or Beat
• Incorrect: We have always won your team
• Correct: We have always beaten your team

• To win is to get something you wanted

• To beat is to overcome an opponent
 Last and Latest
• Incorrect: What’s the last news from the
Palace?
• Correct: What’s the latest news from the
Palace?

• Latest is the last upto the present

• Last is the final one
• E.g: Z is the last letter of the alphabet
 If I were
• You use the phrase if I were when you are
using a subjunctive mood (to talk about
hypothetical situations or things that are
contrary to fact)
• (if I were you, I would +verb)
• E.g: If I were taller, I would play basketball
• If I were you, I would enjoy my vacation.
 If I was
• When referring to something that actually
happened
• E.g: If I was late for curfew when I was young,
my parents grounded me.
 Many a…
• Many a is a somewhat archaic or poetic or
literary way of saying many.
• Takes single complement
– Many a time I had seen her in my dreams
– Many a girl appeared in examination
 Faulty Parallelism
• Use grammatically equal sentence elements
to express two or more matching ideas or
items in a series.
– Incorrect: The candidate's goals include winning
the election, a national health program, and the
educational system
– The candidate's goals include winning the
election, enacting a national health program, and
improving the educational system.
Conditional Sentences
 Zero Conditional
• The zero conditional is used for when the time
being referred to is now or always and the
situation is real and possible.
• The zero conditional is often used to refer to
general truths.
• The tense in both parts of the sentence is the
simple present.
• In zero conditional sentences, the word "if"
can usually be replaced by the word "when"
without changing the meaning.
– If you heat ice, it melts
– If it rains the grass gets wet.
 Type 1 Conditional
• The type 1 conditional is used to refer to
the present or future where the situation is
real.
• The type 1 conditional refers to a possible
condition and its probable result.
• if clause is in the simple present, and the main
clause is in the simple future.
– If you hurry, you will not miss the train.
 Type 2 Conditional
• The type 2 conditional is used to refer to a
time that is now or any time, and a situation
that is unreal.
• The type 2 conditional is used to refer to a
hypothetical condition and its probable result.
• If + simple past, Present conditional/present
continuous conditional
– If it rained, you would get wet
– If I spoke Italian, I would be working in Italy.
 Type 3 Conditional
• The type 3 conditional is used to refer to an
unreal past condition and its probable past result.
• if clause uses the past perfect, and the main
clause uses the perfect conditional/Perfect
continuous conditional
– If you had studied harder, you would have passed the
exam
– If I had accepted that promotion, I would have been
working as Manager in England.