Many a time, while speaking in English or writing anything in English, we make mistakes without noticing the errors. Those errors look very simple and silly, but they make considerable damage to our communication/conversation.
Obviously, those who are learning English as Second Language, make these mistakes during conversations without having proper awareness of the right usage of words or phrases they are using in their conversations.
To help the learner of English as Second Language, we have come up with some words/phrases people often use in the wrong way while speaking or writing in English.
As we are now in the era of Covid-19, all the schools are closed, and online classes are being held. So the teachers can discuss these words/phrases with their students online and ask them to come up with more example sentences using the below discussed words/phrases.
We will update you with more ECR (Error, Correction, Rule) articles for the next few weeks. Please keep visiting this space.
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Error, Correction, Rule
Please note:E - stands for 'Error'C - stands for 'Correction'R - stands for 'Rule'{alertInfo}
Make prayer or say prayers
E - I make my prayer daily before I go to bed.
C - I say my prayers daily before I go to bed.
R - Make prayers is bad English. Say prayers is idiomatic. Say prayers means to ask for God's blessing.
Did a mistake or made a mistake
E - She did a mistake in answering the question.
C - She made a mistake in answering the question.
R - Make a mistake is a right usage.
Passed away or passed
E - The student passed away the examination.
C - The student passed the examination.
R - Passed away means died, so do not use the phrase 'passed away' in this context.
Chair's leg or leg of the chair
E - The chair's leg is broken.
C- The leg of the chair is broken.
R - The possessive form is used for persons and animals only. It's not used for things without life.
To write or to write with
E - I have no pen to write.
C - I have no pen to write with.
R - When the infinitive qualifies a noun, it must be accompanied by a preposition.
Few more examples:
I have no house to (live) live in.
she had many troubles to (suffer) suffer from.
For learning or to learn
E - She comes to my house for learning English.
C - She comes to my house to learn English.
R - Purpose is expressed by the infinitive, but not by the gerund. After verbs of movement, such as go, leave, come, etc. also infinitive should be used.
One more example:
Mr. Vedanth went to Delhi (for attending) to attend a meeting.
The dinner or dinner
E - We shall see him after the dinner.
C - We shall see him after dinner.
R - Definite article 'the' should not be used before breakfast, lunch, dinner, or supper.
Any of the two or either of the two
E - Any of the two trains goes to Bengaluru.
C - Either of the two trains goes to Bengaluru.
R - Either means one or the other of two. Any means one of three or more.
Returned back or returned
E - Krishna returned back from Kalaburgi last week.
C - Krishna returned from Kalaburgi last week.
R - Return means come back. Do not use back with return.
Kilometers are or kilometers is
E - Ten kilometers are not a long distance.
C - Ten kilometers is not a long distance.
R - When plural noun denotes some specific quantity, distance or amount considered as a whole, the verb is singular.
One more example:
A thousand rupees (are) is all the money he needs.