Technical English 2 - module 1

Technical English - 2
Module 1
EXCELLENCE REDEFINED
Identifying Common Errors In Writing And
Speaking English
• Steps for Identifying Errors
• Subject-Verb Agreement
• Noun – Pronoun Agreement
• Adjective, Adverb, Verb, Sequence of Tenses.
• Misplaced modifiers, Articles and Prepositions
• Common errors in Conjunctions, Idioms and
Phrases.
• Word order, Errors due to confusion of words.
• Gender, singular and Plural
Steps for identifying errors
• Read the entire sentence till the end and prevent
yourself from making mistakes. (even if you feel
confident)
• Check the underlined section or given options
individually.
• Quickly look over the other answer choices to
confirm that none of them contain an error.
• Always make sure you can explain to yourself what
the solution is for the error you have identified.
Some major types of errors
• Errors related to Noun/Pronoun Agreement.
• Errors related to Subject-Verb Concord.
• Errors related to Preposition Usage.
• Errors related to Usage of Articles.
• Errors related to Misplaced Modifiers.
Errors – Noun/Pronoun Agreement
Exercises on Noun/Pronoun Agreement
Subject Verb Concord Rules
• Rule 2
– When 2 nouns refer to just one idea, the verb used is singular.
Example:
Bread and butter (is/are)his staple food.
Madam, the horse and carriage (is/are)ready.
• Rule 3
– When phrases such as with, along with, besides, in addition to,
as well as combine two nouns, the verb relates to the first noun.
Example:
The film director, as well as the entire unit, (reaches/reach) the city
in the afternoon.
Besides the decked-up wife, the unkempt husband (was/were)
seen.
• Rule 4
– When 2 nouns are joined by the coordinating conjunction not
only…but also, the verb needs to agree with the nearest
noun/noun phrase.
Example:
Not only the child, but the parents are also responsible for the lack
of togetherness in the family.
Not only the parents, but the child is also responsible for the lack of
togetherness in the family
• Rule 5
– Units of measurement and titles with plural forms take singular
verbs
Example:
The Sound and Fury (is/are) a brilliant Novel.
Five thousand rupees (is/are) a paltry sum today.
• Rule 6
– Subjects comprising or denoted through any, no, every, each ,
everyone, someone, somebody, one, none, what, which, etc.
usually take a singular verb.
Example:
Everyone (is/are)required to attend the meeting tomorrow.
Someone (has/have)left the letter for you.
No answer (was/were) available in the books.
One (need/needs) to be responsible in life.
Who really (bothers/bother)about cleanliness?
• Rule 7
– Pair nouns such as scissors, spectacles, etc. take plural forms.
Example:
My trousers (is/are) missing from the suitcase.
Be careful! There (are/is) scissors in the drawer.
• Rule 8
– Two singular nouns joined by either…nor, neither…nor take a
singular verb.
– However , when one of the nouns is plural, the verb chosen
is plural which is placed closer to it.
Example:
Either the farmer or the son (has/have) destroyed the crop.
Either the farmer or the sons (has/have) destroyed the crop
• Rule 9
– When the subject of a sentence is complex, the main noun
decides whether the verb will be singular or plural.
Example:
Many members of the opposition (feel/feels) that such reforms
would help the society.
• Rule 10
– Nouns connected with one of, a large amount of, a huge
quantity, a portion of, etc. take singular verbs.
Example:
One of the brothers (is/are)feeling sick.
A large population of India still (live/lives) below poverty line.
A large amount of rain water (is/are)wasted.
• Rule 11
– Nouns connected with a lot of, lots of, number of, majority of,
normally take a plural verb.
Example:
A lot of our customers (have/has) given positive feedback.
Majority of people in this country still (believe/believes) in hero
worship.
• Rule 12
– Collective nouns such as jury, group, committee, team, etc. take a
singular verb if the reference is to their togetherness and a plural
verb when the purpose is to suggest their division ,discord or lack of
togetherness
Example:
The jury (were/was) divided over the quantum of punishment.
The committee (is/are) of the opinion that the fight arose due to lack of
caution
• Rule 13
– Certain nouns, which end in –s in spellings like news, names of some
games and sports, names of some subjects, etc., take a singular verb.
Example:
His physics (is/are) very poor.
Athletics (are/is) an exciting sport.
TV news (has/have) become quite loud these days
Exercises on Subject Verb Concord
Errors related to Preposition Usage
Since prepositions depend a lot on
collocations, pick the right prepositions by
following the commonly practiced
grammatical
conventions.
Exercise on Prepositions
Articles : A, An
Articles :The
Errors in Articles
Exercise - Articles
Errors due to Misplaced Modifiers
Exercises on Misplaced Modifiers
Exercises on Misplaced Modifiers
Word Order
• Word order refers to the
way words are arranged in
a sentence.
• The order of words in
English is important if you
want to communicate your
thoughts and ideas.
• English has a strict word
order in basic sentences:
Subject + Object
Word Order
This image is in black

and white. White
and black sounds
strange to native
speakers. Black and
white sounds
correct.
Basic word order in English
The basic word order of an English sentence
is Subject + Predicate.
The predicate is the part of the sentence that tells
something about the subject. The predicate always includes
the verb.
So, Subject + Predicate word order can be broken down into
smaller pieces like this:
Subject + verb
Or
Subject + verb + object
Example:
Correct: She smiled at the boy.
Incorrect: At the boy she smiled.
The sentences above are simple English sentences.
The subject always comes before the verb.
Word Order - SVOMPT
Word order: adjectives
Word Order – Adjectives – Example
Word order: Adverbs
• We can also make sentences more descriptive and
complex by adding adverbs.
• An adverb is a word that describes or gives more
information about a verb, an adjective, another adverb,
or even an entire sentence.
Examples: yesterday, quickly, really, heavily, fast,
sometimes, hard, suddenly, today, too, never, very, etc.,
Examples:
– The teacher quickly taught the students.
– Yesterday, the teacher taught the students.
– Yesterday, the teacher quickly taught the students.
– The teacher quickly taught the students yesterday.
Placement of adverbs in a sentence
Adverbs and adverb phrases can be placed in three places
in a sentence:
1. At the front of the sentence, before the subject
– Yesterday, the teacher taught the students.
– Suddenly, I ran to the door.
– At the corner, she turned right.
2. At the end of a sentence, after the object

– The students will take the test tomorrow.
– John invited his friends too.
– She will arrive home in an hour.
Placement of adverbs in a sentence
3. In the middle of a sentence (before or after the verb or
in the middle)
• Before the verb:
She often studies before class.
Jack rarely checks his mailbox.
• After the verb:

The student works quietly at her desk.
Billy looks fondly at his mother.
• In the middle of a group of verbs:

The teacher will quickly teach the students.
Lisa has nearly finished the race.
Word order: Indirect object
• An indirect object is a person or thing that the action is
done to or for.
• A direct object is a person or thing that is affected by
the action of the verb. The direct object receives the
action of the verb.
• The indirect object can be placed before or after
the direct object in a sentence depending on whether
you use the preposition "to."
Examples:
He gave flowers.
He gave flowers to his mother.
The indirect object comes before the direct object if to is not used.
He gave flowers.
He gave his mother flowers.
Words Confused Or Misused
It's hard to deny the fact that the English language
has a lot of commonly confused words. They
either look alike, sound alike or, worst of all, look
and sound alike (but have completely different
meanings).
Here are some
more frequently
confused and/or
misused words to
add to your list
Commonly Confused Words
Commonly Confused Words
• accuracy, precision
“accuracy” is how close something is to the true value and to what degree it is free of error.
“precision” is the measure of the “fineness” of a value; usually measured in numeric terms.
Examples:
His shooting was very accurate in tonight’s game.
The laser-cut the diamond to a precision of .005.
• affect, effect
“affect” is usually used as a verb, to mean “influence”.
“effect” as a verb means to “cause” or “bring about” something. As a noun it means “impact” or
“result”.
Examples:
The cost of prescription drugs has seriously affected the cost of public healthcare.
His new strategy will certainly have an effect on the company’s bottom line.
• allusion, illusion, delusion
“allusion” is an indirect reference to something.
“illusion” is when something appears to be real but isn’t.
“delusion” is a persistent belief in something that is contrary to fact or reality.
Examples:
Her allusion to the manager’s wife was completely unfounded.
The mist hanging over the river created an optical illusion.
The delusion that all doctors are infallible still persists in some quarters.
• alternate(ly), alternative(ly)
To “alternate”, means to do something in turns, one after another.
“alternative” refers to one or more choices or options.
Examples:
When training, every two minutes we alternate between wind sprints and jogging.
Our only alternative at this point is to go back the way we came.
(“alternate” can sometimes be used as a noun; e.g. we took the alternate route).
Conquer Commonly Confused Words
This isn't a comprehensive list of all the commonly
confused words in the English language. But it's a
good start. If you commit some of these pairs (and
triplets) to memory, along with practicing basic
vocabulary exercises you'll be ahead of the crowd.
Genders
In English, the four genders of noun are
masculine, feminine, common, and neuter.
• Masculine nouns refer to words for a male figure or male
member of a species (i.e. man, boy, actor, horse, etc.)
• Feminine nouns refer to female figures or female members
of a species (i.e. woman, girl, actress, mare, etc.)
• Common nouns refer to members of a species and don't
specify the gender (i.e. parent, friend, client, student, etc.)
• Neuter nouns refer to things that have no gender (i.e. rock,
table, pencil, etc.)
Singular and Plural
At first it seems like a simple rule of English: When you have
more than one of something, add an s. One apple. Two apples.
In fact, language can be a whole lot more complicated. Two
deer. Three teeth. Four mice.“English is an organic language—it
grows naturally by people using it,” here are some examples:
1 To make regular nouns plural, add -s to the end.
cat – cats house – houses
2 If the singular noun ends in -s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x, or -z, add -es to the end to make it plural.
truss – trusses bus – buses marsh – marshes lunch – lunches tax – taxes
3 In some cases, singular nouns ending in -s or -z, require that you double the
-s or -z prior to adding the -es for pluralization.
fez – fezzes gas –gasses
4 If the noun ends with -f or -fe, the f is often changed to -ve
before adding the -s to form the plural version.
wife – wives wolf – wolves
Exceptions:
roof – roofs belief – beliefs chef – chefs chief – chiefs
Singular and Plural
5 If a singular noun ends in -y and the letter before the -y is a consonant, change the
ending to -ies to make the noun plural.
city – cities puppy – puppies
6 If the singular noun ends in -y and the letter before the -y is a vowel, simply add an
-s to make it plural.
ray – rays boy – boys
7 If the singular noun ends in -o, add -es to make it plural.
potato – potatoes tomato – tomatoes
Exceptions:
photo – photos piano – pianos halo – halos
With the unique word volcano, you can apply the standard pluralization for words that
end in -o or not. It’s your choice! Both of the following are correct:
Volcanoes volcanos
8 If the singular noun ends in -us, the plural ending is frequently -i.
cactus – cacti focus – foci
9 If the singular noun ends in -is, the plural ending is -es.
analysis – analyses ellipsis – ellipses
Singular and Plural
10 If the singular noun ends in -on, the plural ending is -a.
phenomenon – phenomena
criterion – criteria
11 Some nouns don’t change at all when they’re pluralized.
sheep – sheep
series – series
species – species
deer –deer
You need to see these nouns in context to identify them as singular or plural. Consider the
following sentence:
Mark caught one fish, but I caught three fish.
Plural Noun Rules for Irregular Nouns
Irregular nouns follow no specific rules, so it’s best to memorize these or look up the proper
pluralization in the dictionary.
child – children, goose – geese, man – men, woman – women, tooth – teeth, foot – feet
mouse – mice, person – people
End Of Module-1

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Technical English - 2

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2. At the end of a sentence, after the object

• After the verb:

• In the middle of a group of verbs:

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