common errors of english including exercises.ppt
- 1. The Most Common Writing Errors For Formal and Academic Papers
- 2. Academic writing is different from creative writing or journalistic writing! • Do not write the way you speak. • Do not use slang. • Do not expect your reader to know what you mean. • Do not write in fragments. • Use complete sentences. • Always use Standard Written English (SWE)
- 3. Bad Habits to Avoid in Academic Writing • Second person “you” • Inconsistent person • Inconsistent tense • Abbreviations • Do not use: ya, thru, wanna, gonna • Do not use: etc., & • Avoid ending verbs with “en” or “in” instead of “ing”: waitin, watchen
- 4. Pronoun/Antecedent Agreement and Reference • Pronouns take the place of nouns (he, she, it, they, I, you) • The antecedent is the word to which the pronoun refers. For example: Mary went to the store and she bought candy. (Mary is the antecedent for the pronoun she.)
- 5. Mechanical Rules • Numbers – Never begin a sentence with a number.(Spell it out.) • All numbers below 100 should be spelled out. Those above 100 are optional but should be consistent.
- 6. Commonly Misspelled Words • your you’re • to too two • there their they’re • its it’s • quite quiet • than then • whose who’s
- 7. Unnecessary Repetition • A round circle • Refer back • An eyewitness present at the scene • The whole entire world
- 8. Words and Phrases to Avoid • A-lot is two words – very, thing, you, I • Avoid beginning sentences with conjunctions (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) • Avoid contractions • There are no such words as: theirself, hisself, alright. Write themselves, himself, all right. • Do not capitalize subjects like biology, math, science, history. • Use the word “finish” instead of “done” • Use “who” when referring to people. • The party would (of, have) made me happy.
- 9. Parts of Speech • Nouns – person, place, thing • Pronouns – take the place of a noun • Verbs – action words • Adjectives – Describes a noun or pronoun • Adverbs – Describes a verb, adjective, or another adverb • Prepositions – Form a phrase modifying another word in a sentence. Usually show movement such as around, under, over, into, through, etc. • Conjunctions – Connect words, phrases, clauses: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so • Interjections – Express surprise or emotion. (Oh! Hey! Wow!).
- 10. Review of The Notorious Confusables 1. His dismissal (affected, effected) me. 2. My goal is to (affect, effect) a change in this company. 3. We know that many obstacles (lay, lie) in our path. 4. You can (lay, lie) the report on my desk. 5. We were (all together, altogether) in the conference room.
- 11. Review 6. His argument was (all together, altogether) wrong. 7. Be sure to (bring, take) your laptop to the meeting in Chicago. 8. Please (bring, take) me that memo. 9. I (accept, except) your offer. 10. John’s boss (accepted, excepted) him from the general criticism.
- 12. Review 11. (Less, fewer) than 100 people work for our company. 12. Now that he’s earning (less, fewer) money, he’s making (less, fewer) large expenditures.
- 13. Spell-check won’t catch these! • cite/site • complement/compliment • council/counsel • farther/further • liable/libel • principal/principle • stationary/stationery
- 14. Avoid Redundancy in Speech and Writing At this point in time-NOW In spite of the fact that-ALTHOUGH Cooperate together-COOPERATE Owing to the fact that-BECAUSE,SINCE On account of the fact that-BECAUSE During the time that-WHILE In an efficient manner-EFFICIENTLY Where we’re at-WHERE WE ARE
- 15. Exercise 1-Common Errors • 1. I and he went to the park. • 2. They had been looking for me, you and Amir. • 3. The committee were divided on the question of whom to elect as chair. • 4. Inspite of our persistent efforts my group failed to meet the target.
- 16. Continued • 5. He is one of my acquaintance but I have no access to his house. • 6. One of my best friend lives near my house. • 7. Each of them were busy with their work.
- 17. Continued • 8. Either the architect or the builder were to blame. • 9. Neither of the bills are accurate. • 10.English cars are inferior in quality and in appearance than imported ones.
- 18. Answer Key-1 • 1. I and he went to the park. • He and I (2nd person,1st person always in the end) • 2. They had been looking for me, you and Amir. • Amir, you and me (3rd, 2nd, ist person)
- 19. Continued • 3. The committee were divided on the question of whom to elect as chair. • Was, Committee-collective noun ,singular verb • 4. Inspite of our persistent efforts my group failed to meet the target. • In spite of (written separately) or despite our ......
- 20. Continued • 5. He is one of my acquaintance but I have no access to his house. • Acquaintances (one of..... follows plural noun) • 6. One of my best friend lives near my house. • Friends (one of..... follows plural noun)
- 21. Continued • 7. Each of them were busy with their work. • Was (each....follows singular verb) • 8. Either the architect or the builder were to blame. • Was (either....or.....followed by singular verb)
- 22. Continued • 9. Neither of the bills are accurate. • Is (neither ….followed by singular verb) • 10.English cars are inferior in quality and in appearance than imported ones. • To (inferior, superior, junior, senior followed by to)
- 23. Quiz/Exercise 2-Common Errors • 1. Your’s sincerely. • 2. The driver who’s leg was amputated has had to take early retirement. • 3. My aunty and uncle are selling there car. • 4. The cat moves it’s tail with venom.
- 24. Continued • 5. He does’nt expect to pass the examination and he is thoroughly depressed. • 6. Their house is infront of our’s. • 7. Our rivals have been more aggressive in marketing then us.
- 25. Continued • 8. I went back to insure that the children were not upto any mischief. • 9. It has been snowing since four days. • 10.The principle of the college addressed the assembly. • 11.The new school regulations will have various different effects. • 12.The head came of the hammer, it broke the glass.
- 26. Continued • 13.The spokesman said, ‘No comment’, ‘No comment?’ said the journalist unbelievingly. ‘That’s what I said!’ Insisted the spokesman. ‘No comment.’ • 14.As she turned into the street, she abruptly applied the breaks in front of the five story building. • 15.The affects of the storm could be seen everywhere.
- 27. Answer Key-2 • 1.Your’s sincerely. • Yours • 2. The driver who’s leg was amputated has had to take early retirement. • Whose (who’s a short form of who is/who has) • 3. My aunty and uncle are selling there car. • their
- 28. Answer Key-2 • 4.The cat moves it’s tail with venom. • Its (it’s is short for it is/it has) (possessive its doesn’t have an apostrophe) • 5.He does’nt expect to pass the examination and he is thoroughly depressed. • Doesn’t (apostrophe is used where we omit a letter and the rest is joined together in short forms like couldn’t, won’t, aren’t)
- 29. Answer Key-2 • 6. Their house is infront of our’s. • In front of (written separately), ours • 7. Our rivals have been more aggressive in marketing then us. • Than(in comparative cases) • 8.I went back to insure that the children were not upto any mischief. • Ensure(make sure, en prefix for “to make/do enlist, entrust, enlighten) up to (written separately)
- 30. Answer Key-2 • 9. It has been snowing since four days. • For(for duration, since used when talking of starting point of some action like since 1999, since childhood) • 10.The principle of the college addressed the assembly. • principal
- 31. Answer Key-2 • 11.The new school regulations will have various different effects. • Various or different hence they are almost same things (repetition) • 12.The head came of the hammer, it broke the glass. • Off .and it (comma cannot be used in such cases)
- 32. Answer Key-2 • 13.The spokesman said, ‘No comment’, ‘No comment?’ said the journalist unbelievingly. ‘That’s what I said!’ Insisted the spokesman. ‘No comment.’ • The spokesman said, ‘No comment’. • ‘No comment?’ said the journalist unbelievingly. • ‘That’s what I said!’ insisted the spokesman. ‘No comment.’ • (Punctuation-Each new speech starts on a new line in a dialogue.)
- 33. Answer Key-2 • 14.As she turned into the street, she abruptly applied the breaks in front of the five story building. • Brakes, storey • 15.The affects of the storm could be seen everywhere. • Effects (affect-verb, effect-noun)