Even those of us who are well-versed in English end up making the silliest of errors in grammar. It is a very natural tendency, but error-spotting is not an art that one can’t master. It is just a matter of swearing by some guidelines and practice! Here are 26 tips for error-spotting in English.
26 Tips for Spotting Errors in English
TIP 1:
Certain nouns possess a singular form but still represent plurality, and thus, take a plural verb when used in a sentence.
E.g.: Cattle, peasantry, people, clergy, police.
Thus,
- The Police has come (Incorrect)
- The Police have come (Correct)
TIP 2:
Certain nouns always take the plural verb because their form is always plural.
E.g.: Scissors, trousers, spectacles, thanks, premises.
Thus,
- The scissors is kept on the table. (Incorrect)
- The scissors are kept on the table. (Correct)
Also read: How to Build Up Powerful English Vocabulary
TIP 3:
When a number is followed by a noun denoting measure, length, money, number or weight, the form of the nouns does not change so long as they are followed by another noun or pronoun.
E.g.: Million, pair, metre, year, dozen, foot, head.
Thus,
- This is a nine-metres cloth. (Incorrect)
- This is a nine-metre cloth. (Correct)
TIP 4:
When a number is followed by a noun denoting measure, length, money, number or weight, but these are not followed by another noun or pronoun, then they take the plural form.
E.g.: Million, pair, metre, year, dozen, foot, head.
Thus,
- This sari is nine yard long. (Incorrect)
- This sari is nine yards long. (Correct)
TIP 6:
Certain nouns, especially of the collective category, are used as singular when they specify a unit.
E.g.: Public, team, committee, government, audience, orchestra, company, jury.
Thus,
- The public were unanimous in their opinion. (Incorrect)
- The public was unanimous in its opinion. (Correct)
TIP 7:
Certain nouns, especially of the collective category, are used in plural when they specify a difference of opinion or class.
E.g.: Public, team, committee, government, audience, orchestra, company, jury.
Thus,
- The jury was divided in its opinion. (Incorrect)
- The jury were divided in their opinion. (Correct)
TIP 7:
If the pronoun ‘one’ is used, it must be maintained throughout the sentence.
Thus,
- One must respect his elders. (Incorrect)
- One must respect one’s elders. (Correct)
TIP 8:
The word ‘whose’ is used for living people and ‘which’ is used for non-living things or ideas.
Thus,
- Which box is kept on the table? (Incorrect)
- Whose box is kept on the table? (Correct)
TIP 9:
‘Less’ is used to denote quantity while ‘fewer’ is used to denote number.
Thus,
- No less than twenty people were (Incorrect)
- No fewer than twenty people were (Correct)
TIP 10:
‘One of’ is always followed by a noun in the plural form.
Thus,
- She is one of the least important person in the office. (Incorrect)
- She is one of the least important people in the office. (Correct)
TIP 11:
Only ‘than’ should be used after ‘no other’
Thus,
- I like no other movie but Titanic. (Incorrect)
- I like no other movie than Titanic. (Correct)
TIP 12:
After the word ‘Know’, ‘how, ‘what’ or ‘when’ should be used before using the infinitive.
Thus,
- I know to speak English. (Incorrect)
- I know how to speak English. (Correct)
TIP 13:
If the verb indicates a purpose, an infinitive must be used and if the verb indicates a cause, a gerund must be used.
Thus,
- He went to the mall for watching a movie. (Incorrect)
- He went to the mall to watch a movie. (Correct)
- He was suspended to show indiscipline. (Incorrect)
- He was suspended for showing indiscipline.(Correct)
TIP 14:
’As’ is not used with verbs like ‘appointed’, ‘elected’, ‘considered’, ‘called’ but it is used with the word ‘regard’.
Thus,
- He was elected as Secretary of the organisation. (Incorrect)
- He was elected Secretary of the organisation. (Correct)
- I regard Sahil my best friend. (Incorrect)
- I regard Sahil as my best friend. (Correct)
TIP 15:
Adverbs should not be confused with adjectives. An adjective describes the characteristic of the subject while an adverb describes the action of the verb.
Thus,
- The horse looked beautifully. (Incorrect)
- The horse looked beautiful. (Correct)
TIP 16:
Question tags are always the opposite of the sentence which means that if the sentence is positive, the question tag is negative and vice versa.
Thus,
- You were dancing, were you? (Incorrect)
- You were dancing, weren’t you? (Correct)
TIP 17:
An infinitive verb should never be split.
Thus,
- I request you to kindly tell me. (Incorrect)
- I request you kindly to tell me. (Correct)
TIP 18:
A pronoun after ‘like’, ‘unlike’ and ‘let’ takes an objective case.
Thus,
- You will never find a woman like she. (Incorrect)
- You will never find a woman like her. (Correct)
- Let I do it. (Incorrect)
- Let me do it. (Correct)
TIP 19:
The relative pronoun ‘that’ is used instead of ‘who’ or ‘which’ after adjectives in the superlative degree.
Thus,
- This is the best which she could do. (Incorrect)
- This is the best that she could do. (Correct)
TIP 20:
To show equality ‘as’is used both before and after the adjective.
Thus,
- I can run as fast, if not faster than you. (Incorrect)
- I can run as fast as, if not faster than you. (Correct)
TIP 21:
Even though ‘more than one’ indicates a plural sense, it agrees with a singular noun and takes a singular verb.
Thus,
- More than one students completed their project. (Incorrect)
- More than one student completed his project. (Correct)
TIP 22:
‘Scarcely’and ‘hardly’ are followed by ‘when’ and not by ‘than’.
Thus,
- Hardly had the teacher left the room than the pupils started enjoying. (Incorrect)
- Hardly had the teacher left the room when the pupils started enjoying. (Correct)
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TIP 23:
‘Though’ is followed by ‘yet’ and not by ‘but’.
Thus,
- Though he is poor but he is honest. (Incorrect)
- Though he is poor, yet he is honest. (Correct)
TIP 24:
‘Lest’must be followed by ‘should’ or by nothing at all and ‘Such’ must be followed by ‘as’.
Thus,
- Work hard lest you will fail. (Incorrect)
- Work hard lest you should fail. (Correct)
- Work hard lest you fail. (Correct)
- He is such a writer that everybody should read his books. (Incorrect)
- He is such a writer as everybody should read his books. (Correct)
TIP 25:
‘Unless’ expresses a condition and is always used in the negative sense. Thus ‘not’ is never used with ‘unless’.
Thus,
- Unless you do not work hard, you will not excel in the examination. (Incorrect)
- Unless you work hard, you will not excel in the examination. (Correct)
TIP 26:
‘When’denotes a general sense and ‘while’ implies a time duration of doing something.
Thus,
- When learning how to sing, the technique is of utmost importance. (Incorrect)
- While learning how to sing, the technique is of utmost importance. (Correct)
After reading these amazing error spotting techniques, do practise some exercises on the same to get a good grip on the topic. Keep looking at this space as we will be coming up with more related articles to make your preparation journey easy.