Most commonly made grammatical errors!

Friday, November 20, 2015

English is one such language we all use on a day to day basis & it is quite possible to make mistakes while speaking or writing. We often make mistakes while conversing in English and even while writing it even though we have studied English in schools and colleges. This usually happens because when we speak the language, it sounds correct in our minds but is in fact incorrect grammatically.

But, do not worry! Here, we have compiled a list of the 5 most common grammatical errors so that you can avoid the same mistakes.

1) It’s/Its

These similar sounding words confuse many people hence it becomes important to understand the correct usage of these words.

Its- this is used to convey possession

It’s-this is a short form of “it is”

For example – a) The dog is wagging its tail.

b) It’s only 11 o’clock.

2) Me Vs I

This is one of the most commonly made errors. Most people understand the difference between the two but you will hear them making mistakes like- “Tom is taller than me.” This is an incorrect sentence. The correct sentence is “Tom is taller than I.” How do we know this is the correct usage? Well, try adding “am” at the end of the second sentence. “Tom is taller than I am.” Sounds correct, right? The reason is that we often omit the word “am” at the end of the sentence.

A quick tip – Whenever there is a comparison or a sense of comparison in a sentence, we use ‘I’ and not ‘me’.

3) Can/May

These two words are also often confused. You must have seen students ask -”Can I come in?” Well, if someone asks me that, I usually reply-“You can but you may not!”

This is because it is incorrect to say that!

Can is usually used to talk about ability. For example-I can do my homework on my own.

May is usually used for permissions. For example- May I come in? May I take that pen?

4) Usage of ‘The’

English grammar probably starts with teaching us the usage of ‘a/an/the’ but we still go wrong in using them.

Here is a list, where ‘the’ is not used.

a) Names of proper nouns. (specific names of people, place or thing)]

b) Countries, states, towns. However there are some exceptions to that like ‘The United States of America’ and The Netherlands’. However there is an explanation as to why these countries have ‘the’ before them.

5) Affect/Effect

This is a very easy mistake to make. These two words are often used interchangeably but that is not the right usage of the words.

Affect is a verb. For example – A lot of people were affected because of the famine.

Effect is a noun. For example – Teaching has a positive effect on students.

Another quick example-

The movie has a great effect on me. The movie affected me greatly. Did you understand how the sentence was constructed?

Hope you found the list useful. Try to avoid these mistakes and the next time someone around you makes these mistakes, you can correct them politely.