4.4 Language Skills — Grammar & Common Errors

Why Grammar Matters

You don't need to be a grammarian. You do need to write and speak well enough that your audience trusts you. Grammar errors are like spelling mistakes on a resume — small individually, devastating collectively.

A 2019 study by Grammarly found that professionals with stronger writing skills earned 19% more on average than those with weaker writing — controlling for years of experience and education. Grammar is one of the highest-ROI skills you can build.

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Common Grammar Errors — by Category

The syllabus explicitly mentions errors with: verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, tenses, conjunctions, punctuation, prefix / suffix, idiomatic prepositions. We'll cover each.

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1. Verb Errors

Subject-verb agreement

The verb must agree with the subject in number.

Irregular verbs

Common error: "I had went there yesterday" — wrong. "I had gone there yesterday" — right.

Tense consistency

Don't shift tenses without reason.

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2. Tense Errors

English has 12 tenses (3 times × 4 aspects):

When to use each (simplified)

Common tense mistakes

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3. Pronoun Errors

Pronoun agreement

The pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number, person, and gender.

Pronoun case — subject vs object

Tip: Remove the other person and check. "Rohit and I went" → "I went" ✓ (not "Me went")

"Who" vs "Whom"

• Who = subject (the doer)
• Whom = object (receives the action)

In modern informal usage, "who" is often used in both cases. Formal writing still distinguishes.

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4. Adjective and Adverb Errors

Adjective vs Adverb

• Adjective modifies a noun: fast car, careful student
• Adverb modifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb: drove fast, very careful, ran quickly

Comparative and superlative

Double negatives

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5. Conjunction Errors

Coordinating conjunctions (FANBOYS)

For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So

These join independent clauses (and need a comma before them when joining two clauses):

I went to the meeting, and he attended remotely.

Common errors

Correlative conjunctions

These come in pairs: either / or, neither / nor, both / and, not only / but also, whether / or.

Both halves should be parallel in structure.

Comma splice

A comma alone cannot join two independent clauses.

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6. Punctuation Errors

Comma rules

Apostrophe — common errors

Semicolon

Use a semicolon to join two closely related independent clauses:

I came early; the office was empty.

Colon

Use a colon to introduce a list or explanation:

Please bring the following: laptop, charger, ID card.

Quotation marks

• Double quotes for spoken / quoted text: "Hello," she said.
• Single quotes inside double: She said, "He told me 'come tomorrow'."
• (British style sometimes reverses these)

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7. Prefix and Suffix Errors

Common prefixes

Common suffixes

Common spelling errors with prefixes / suffixes

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8. Idiomatic Use of Prepositions

Prepositions are often idiomatic — they don't follow logical rules; they just are what they are. Common errors:

Prepositions of place

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Sentence and Paragraph Construction

Good sentence structure

A sentence has:

• Subject (who / what)
• Verb (action / state)
• Object (optional — what receives the action)
• Complement (optional — completing information)

Sentence variety

Mix short and long sentences. Avoid:

Good: vary lengths and structures.

Paragraph structure

A paragraph has:

1. Topic sentence — the main idea
2. Supporting sentences — details, examples, evidence
3. Concluding sentence — wrap-up or transition

Each paragraph = one main idea.

Transitions

Connect ideas smoothly within and between paragraphs:

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Common Errors — Quick-Reference Cheat Sheet

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Study deep

1. Native speakers make these errors too. Subject-verb agreement, who / whom, apostrophes — these trip up Indian and English-mother-tongue speakers alike. Don't feel bad; just learn the patterns.

1. Read out loud. Most grammar errors become obvious when you hear the sentence. If a sentence sounds off, it usually is.

1. Use grammar tools — but don't depend on them. Grammarly catches many errors but misses context. Hemingway flags long sentences. They help; they don't replace knowing.

1. Build a personal error list. Each time you make a mistake, note it. Within a month you'll see patterns — and fixing 5 recurring errors transforms your writing.

1. One book that changes everything: Strunk & White, "The Elements of Style". 100 pages; written in 1918; still the best short guide to English usage. Read it; apply it.

Key Terms — Lesson 4.4

The terms below cover the language-skills vocabulary every Unit-IV PYQ on grammar and sentence construction expects.

Grammar — The system of rules that governs how words combine to form sentences in a language. English grammar covers parts of speech, sentence structure, tenses, agreement, punctuation, and word order.

Parts of Speech — The eight (or nine) categories that every English word belongs to: noun (person/place/thing/idea), pronoun (substitute for noun), verb (action/state), adjective (describes noun), adverb (describes verb/adjective), preposition (relation), conjunction (joins), interjection (exclamation), and increasingly determiner (the, a, this, my) treated separately in modern grammars.

Noun — A word that names a person, place, thing, idea, or action. Sub-types: proper noun (Mumbai, Priya — specific, capitalised), common noun (city, girl), abstract noun (love, freedom), collective noun (team, herd), countable (book, books) vs uncountable (water, information).

Pronoun — A word that replaces a noun to avoid repetition. Sub-types: personal (I, you, he/she/it, we, they), possessive (mine, yours), reflexive (myself, themselves), demonstrative (this, that), interrogative (who, what), relative (who, which, that), indefinite (someone, anyone).

Verb — A word that expresses an action or state of being. Main verbs carry the meaning (run, write, think); auxiliary / helping verbs (be, have, do, will, can) help form tenses and moods.

Tense — The verb form indicating when an action takes place. English has 12 tenses combining time (past, present, future) with aspect (simple, continuous, perfect, perfect-continuous). I write, I am writing, I have written, I have been writing — each represents a different combination.

Simple Present / Past / Future — The three basic tenses. Simple present for routines and facts ("she runs"), simple past for completed past actions ("she ran"), simple future for upcoming actions ("she will run").

Present / Past / Future Continuous — Tenses showing action in progress at the specified time. "She is writing", "She was writing", "She will be writing".

Present / Past / Future Perfect — Tenses showing completion before a reference point. "She has written" (completed before now), "She had written" (completed before another past event), "She will have written" (completed before a future event).

Active vs Passive Voice — Two grammatical voices. Active: subject performs the action ("The team shipped the build"). Passive: subject receives the action ("The build was shipped by the team"). Active is preferred in technical writing for clarity and concision; passive is sometimes appropriate (when the actor is unknown or unimportant).

Subject-Verb Agreement — A core rule: the verb must match the subject in number (singular/plural) and person. "The team is" (team treated as singular collective), "The teams are" (plural). Errors: "The list of items are long" (wrong — subject is "list", singular) → "The list of items is long".

Adjective — A word that describes a noun — red car, intelligent student, three books. Sub-types: descriptive (red, tall), demonstrative (this, those), possessive (my, your), interrogative (which, what), numeral (three, first), comparative (taller), superlative (tallest).

Adverb — A word that describes a verb, an adjective, or another adverb — typically ending in -ly (quickly, beautifully). Indicates how, when, where, how much, or how often. "She drives carefully", "He is very tall", "She speaks too quickly".

Comparative and Superlative — Three forms of comparison adjectives/adverbs: positive (tall), comparative (taller — comparing two), superlative (tallest — comparing three or more). Common errors: "more better" (double comparative), "most fastest" (double superlative) — both wrong.

Preposition — A word showing the relationship between a noun/pronoun and another word — usually about position, direction, time, or means. "The book on the table", "She arrived at noon", "He came by car". Indian English has historic mis-prepositions: "discuss about" (drop "about"), "comprise of" (drop "of"), "married with" (use "to").

Conjunction — A word that joins words, phrases, or clauses. Coordinating (and, but, or, so) joins equals; subordinating (because, although, when, if) joins a dependent to an independent clause; correlative (either...or, neither...nor, both...and) come in pairs.

Subject and Predicate — Every complete sentence has both. The subject is what the sentence is about — "The students studied hard." The predicate is what's said about the subject — "studied hard." Without either, you have a fragment.

Sentence Types (Structure) — Four sentence structures: simple (one independent clause — "She runs"), compound (two or more independent clauses — "She runs and he walks"), complex (one independent + one or more dependent — "She runs when it is sunny"), compound-complex (combines both).

Sentence Types (Function) — Declarative (states a fact: "She runs"), interrogative (asks: "Does she run?"), imperative (commands: "Run!"), exclamatory (expresses strong feeling: "How fast she runs!").

Run-On Sentence — Two independent clauses joined without proper punctuation or conjunction. "She runs he walks" is a run-on; fix with semicolon ("She runs; he walks"), period ("She runs. He walks"), or conjunction ("She runs and he walks").

Sentence Fragment — An incomplete sentence — missing subject, verb, or both. "Because it rained." (subordinate clause without main clause) is a fragment. Fix by joining to a main clause: "We stayed inside because it rained."

Comma Splice — A specific run-on error: two independent clauses joined only by a comma. "I came, he left" is a comma splice; fix with semicolon ("I came; he left") or conjunction ("I came, but he left").

Apostrophe — A punctuation mark with two main uses: showing possession ("Priya's book") and indicating contraction ("it's" = "it is"). Common error: confusing "its" (possessive — no apostrophe) with "it's" (contraction of "it is"). Memorise: it's = it is; its shows possession.

Articles (a / an / the) — The three English articles. A before consonant sounds ("a book", "a university" — "u" sounds like "yu"); An before vowel sounds ("an apple", "an hour" — silent "h"); The for specific items the reader already knows. Indian English often drops articles incorrectly ("She is teacher" — should be "She is a teacher").

Punctuation — Marks that clarify meaning and structure in writing — period (.), comma (,), semicolon (;), colon (:), question mark (?), exclamation mark (!), quotation marks (" "), apostrophe ('), hyphen (-), dash (—), parentheses ( ). Misuse causes ambiguity; correct use is professional.

Oxford Comma / Serial Comma — The comma before "and" in a list of three or more items: "I'd like to thank my parents, the Pope, and my dog" (with Oxford comma — three separate items); "I'd like to thank my parents, the Pope and my dog" (without — could imply the Pope and the dog are the parents). Oxford comma is preferred in academic and technical writing for unambiguity.

Topic Sentence — The sentence (usually first) that states the main idea of a paragraph. Strong paragraphs have a clear topic sentence; supporting sentences develop it; a concluding sentence wraps up or transitions.

Transition Word / Connector — Words that link ideas within and between paragraphs — "However" (contrast), "Therefore" (cause-effect), "For example" (illustration), "First / Next / Finally" (sequence). Skilled use makes prose flow.

Prefix and Suffix — Word-building elements. Prefix is added to the start ("un-" + "happy" = "unhappy"; "re-" + "do" = "redo"). Suffix is added to the end ("happy" + "-ness" = "happiness"; "teach" + "-er" = "teacher"). Knowing common prefixes and suffixes massively expands vocabulary.

Double Negative — Using two negatives in the same clause, which formally cancel each other out. "I don't know nothing" formally means "I know something." Standard English forbids double negatives; informal speech sometimes uses them for emphasis.

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Common exam question: "List common grammatical errors in English with corrections." — Pick 8-10 from the categories above (subject-verb, tenses, pronoun, adjective/adverb, comparative, apostrophe, preposition, double negative, comma splice).

Common exam question: "Explain the use of prefixes and suffixes with examples." — List 10 prefixes (un-, dis-, in-, re-, pre-, post-, anti-, bi-, tri-, over-, etc.) and 10 suffixes (-ful, -less, -able, -ation, -er, -ist, -ism, -ness, -ly) with meanings and examples.

Common exam question: "Discuss idiomatic use of prepositions." — Common errors: discuss (no "about"), comprise (no "of"), comply with, capable of, married to, different from; prepositions of place (in, on, at).

Common exam question: "How do you construct effective sentences and paragraphs?" — Sentence: subject + verb + object/complement; vary length; avoid run-ons / fragments / comma splices. Paragraph: topic sentence + supporting + concluding; one main idea per paragraph; use transitions.

Self-check

Recall the grammar rules and the common-error fixes — answer, then check.

1. How many tenses does English have, and from which two dimensions? (12 — three times [past, present, future] × four aspects [simple, continuous, perfect, perfect-continuous])
2. What does the mnemonic FANBOYS stand for? (For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So — the coordinating conjunctions)
3. What is the difference between "its" and "it's"? ("its" is possessive; "it's" = "it is")
4. Correct this preposition error: "Discuss about the issue." ("Discuss the issue" — drop "about")
5. What is a comma splice? (joining two independent clauses with only a comma — e.g. "I came, he left")
6. Which classic 1918 style guide does the lesson recommend? (Strunk & White, "The Elements of Style")