صفحات ۷۷ تا ۸۷

Miscellaneous examples

360 The subject of the sentence misplaced.

Don’t say: Last week Visited our school a man. Say: A man Visited our school last week.

360 The subject of the sentence misplaced.

In most English sentences place the subject first, the verb next, then the object, with the rest following.

361 The subject misplaced in questions.

Don’t say: You were at the cinema yesterday? They’ll come with us tomorrow? Say: Were you at the cinema yesterday? Will they come with us tomorrow?

In interrogative sentences place the subject after the verb. If the tense is compound, the subject comes after the auxiliary, and the rest follows.

Note: Exception to this rule is occasionally made in spoken English, out students are advised to follow the rule.

362 The subject misplaced in questions beginning with an interrogative word.

Don’t say: Why you were absent last Friday?

Say: Why were you absent last Friday?

In questions beginning with an interrogative word, like what, when, where, how, place the verb before the subject as in all questions.

363 The subject misplaced after never, etc.

Don’t say: Never I have heard of such a thing.

Say: Never have I heard of such a thing.

When never, seldom, rarely, neither, nor, not only, no sooner, are placed at the beginning of a complete clause, the verb must come before the subject as in a question.

364 All not used instead of Not all.

Don’t saiy: All people are not hard-working. Say: Not all people are hard-working.

The first sentence is wrong because it makes all people lazy.

Note: Similarly, Everybody doesn’t like dancing should be not everybody likes dancing.

365 The subject misplaced in indirect questions. Don’t say: The teacher asked me what games did I play?

Say: The teacher asked me what games I played.

In indirect questions follow the usual order of words: subject first and then verb.

366 The direct object misplaced.

Don’t say; He touched with his hand the ball. Say: He touched the ball with his hand.

The object of a transitive verb generally comes directly after the verb.

367 The indirect object misplaced.

Don’t say: I showed to her some of my stamps. Say: I showed some of my stamps to her.

If the indirect object ispreceded by a preposition, place it after the direct object.

Note: The indirect object usually comes first without a preposition. l showed her some of my stamps.

368 The qualifying adjective misplaced.

Don’t say: My uncle has a garden very large. Say: My uncle has a very large garden.

Put the adjective immediately before the noun it qualifies.

Have another look at …

Questions

Questions can be formed in three ways:

1 By putting the verb before the subject. Only use this method with the following twenty-one verbs: am, is, are, was, were; have, has, had; shall, should; will, would; can, could; may, might; must; need; dare; ought; used.

Examples: Are you ready? Can you write well? Will he come tomorrow? May I go now?

2 By using do, does, did, followed by the subject and then the infinitive (without to). Use this form with all verbs except the twenty-one given above. The word order is: Do (does, did) + SUBJECT + INFINITIVE

Examples: Do you come here every day? Does the child learn English? Did they go to the theatre?

3 By using question words. The question word always begins the question, but the verb must be put before the subject as in questions of types 1 and 2.

Examples: Why are you late? When did you come? Where is it? Whom did you see? Which book do you want? If the question word is the subject of the sentence, put the verb after the subject: Who wrote the letter? Whose dog bit the man?

369 The past participle misplaced.

Don’t say: The ordered goods haven’t arrived. Say:The goods ordered haven’t arrived.

The goods ordered is a shortened form of the goods which have been ordered.

370 The relative clause misplaced.

Don’t say: A girl has a pony who is in our class. Say: A girl who is in our class has a pony.

Put the relative clause immediately after the noun to which it refers.

Note: Enclose a relative clause that may be omitted between commas: My brother George, who is in another class, has a new bicycle. A relative clause that can’t be omitted is not enclosed within commas: The boy who spoke to me is my brother.

371 The conjunction misplaced in a time clause.

Don’t slay: Emma when she arrived the boat had already gone.

Say: When Emma arrived the boat had already gone.

Place the conjunction introducing an adverbial clause of time at the beginning of a clause.

372 Correlative conjunctions misplaced.

Don’t slay: Paul neither speaks English nor French. Say: Paul speaks neither English nor French.

Place correlative conjunctions (that is, conjunctions used in pairs, like neither nor, not oinly but also) before words of the same part of speech.

373 The ordlinal numeral misplaced.

Place ordinal numerals before cardinal numerals. There can’t be two first chapters, only one. Similarly, we must say, The last two (three, etc), and not The two last.

374 The indefinite article misplaced with such.

Don’t say: I never met a such good man before. I Say: I never met such a good man before.

Place the indefinite article a or an after such: such a good man.

375 The definite article misplaced with half.

Don’t say: The half year is nearly finished. Say: Half the year is nearly finished.

Half the year is shortened form of half of the year.

376 The most used instead of most of the.

Don’t say: The most of girls are not present. Say: Most of the girls are not present.

The phrase the most of is incorrect. Say, most of the.

377 The apostrophe (‘) misplaced with contractions.

Don’t write: Did’nt, has’nt, is’nt, are’nt, etc. Write: Didn’t, hasn’t isn’t, aren’t, etc.

378 Mentioning oneself first.

Don’t say: Only I and my mother are present. Say: Only my mother and I are present.

English idiom requires that when a person is speaking of himself/herself and others, he/she must mention the other person or persons first and leave himself/herself last.

Have another look at …

Correct order of words

1 Subject

2 Verb

3 Object

1 The object is usually, 1 The object is usually placed immediately after the verb.

Example: I speak English very well.

2 The indirect object usually comes before the direct object without a preposition.

Example: I gave him the money.

3 An expression of time comes after an expression of place.

Example: We stayed there all day.

4 Place adverbs of time and degree, such as always, often, never, nearly, hardly, scarcely, before the verb, or between the auxiliary and the verb.

Examples: I never see that man; or I have never seen that man.

Note: With the verb to be place the adverb after the verb: He is never late.

5 In indirect questions the subject comes first and then the verb.

Example: I want to know where they went.

6 In compound verbs with two auxiliaries, place not after the first one.

Example: She could not have been there.

7 In the negative infinitive, not comes before to.

Example: I told him not to go there.

Part 5

Confused words

Prepositions often confused

379 To and At.

(a) To.

Don’t say: We come at school every morning. Say: We come to school every morning.

(b) At.

Don’t say: Someone is standing to the door. Say: Someone is standing at the door.

Use to to express motion from one place to another, use at to denote position.

380 To and Till.

(a) To.

Don ‘t say: We walked till the river and back. Say: We walked to the river and back.

(b) Till.

Don’t say: I’ll stay here to next month. Say: I’ll stay here till next month.

Use to with distance, and till (until) with time.

381 In and At.

(a) In.

Don’t say: Liam has a flat at Paris. Say; Liam has a flat in Paris.

We use in to describe the physical location of something as part of a larger thing or place.

(b) At.

Don’t say: My mother is staying in 66 Argyle Street. Say: My mother is staying at 66 Argyle Street.

We use at when we’re talking about an address, a public place or building and cases in which the location is irrelevant but what we do there is what matters.

382 In and Into.

(a) In.

Don’t say: Gemma spent all the day into her room. Say: Gemma spent all the day in her room.

(b) Into. Don’t say: Richard came in the room and sat down. Say: Richard came into the room and sat down.

In denotes position inside something, while into denotes motion or direction towards the inside of something.

Note: Always write the preposition into as one word.

383 On,At, In. (Time)

(a) On.

Don’t say: My uncle will arrive at Saturday. Say: My uncle will arrive on Saturday.

(b) At.

Don’t say: I usually get up on seven o’clock. Say: I usually get up at seven o’clock.

(c) In.

Don’t say: She goes for a walk at the aftem Say: She goes for a walk in the afternoon.

(1) Use on with the days of the week or month: on Friday, on March 25, on New Year’s Day. (2) Use at with the exact time at four o’clock, at dawn, at noon, at sunset, at midnight. (3) Use in with a period of time’ in April, in winter, in 1945, in the morning Also at night and by day.

384 For and At. (Price.)

(a) For.

Don’t say: I bought a book at fifty pence.

Say: I bought a book for fifty pence.

(b) At.

Don’t say: I can’t buy it for such a high price.

Say: I can’t buy it at such a high price.

Use for if the actual sum is mentioned use at if the actual sum isn’t given.

Note: If the weight or measure follows the price, use at with the actual sum. That’ velvet is available at £5 a metre.

385 Between and Among.

(a) Between.

Don’t say: There was a fight among two boys. Say: There was a fight between two boys.

b) Among.

Don’t say: Divide the apple between you three. Say: Divide the apple among you three.

Use between for two only. Use among for more than two.

386 Beside. Don’t say: Charlie was standing just besides me. Say: Charlie was standing just beside me.

387 Except for Besides and or As well as

Don’t say: I have other books except these. Say: I have other books besides or as well as these means in addition to these).

Note: Excerpt means to leave out: Everyone was present except John.

388 By for With. Don’t say: The man shot the bird by a gun.

Say: The man shot the bird with a gun.

When you want to show the means or the instrument with which the action is done, use with. By denotes the doer of the action: The bird was shot by the man.

Note: The following take by and not with: by hand, by post, by phone, by one’s watch, by the hour, by the dozen, by the metre.

389 From for By.

Don’t saiy: Mary was punished from her father. Say: Mary was punished by her father.

Use by (not from) after the passive form to show the doer of the action.

390 From for Of or In.

Don ‘t say: He’s the tallest from all the boys. Say: He’s the tallest of all the boys.

Or: He’s the tallest boy in the class.

Precede adjectives (or adverbs) in the superlative degree by the and follow them by of or in.

391 For… for About.

Don’t say: The teacher spoke for bad habits.

Say: The teacher spoke about bad habits.

Don’t use for in the sense of about. The chief use of for is to convey the idea of being in favour of. If we say that the teacher spoke for bad habits it’s like saying that he/she spoke in favour of bad habits!

392 Since for For.

Don’t say: She’s lived here since two years.

Say: She’s lived here for two years.

Place the preposition for before words or phrases denoting a period of time: for three days, for six weeks, for two years. for a few minutes, for a long time. Use it with any tense except the present.

Note: For is often, Note: For is often omitted. We can say: I’ve been here for two years or I’ve been here two years.

393 From for Since.

Don’t say: Ian’s been ill from last Friday.

Say: Ian’s been ill since last Friday.

Place the preposition since before words or phrases denoting a point in time: since Monday, since yesterday, since eight o’clock, since Christmas. When we use since, the verb is usually in the present perfect tense, but it may be in the past perfect: I was glad to see Tom. I hadn ‘1’ seen him since last Christmas.

Note: From can also denote a point in time, but it must be followed by to or till: He works from eight o’clock till one o’clock without a break.

394 After for In.

Don’t say: I may be able to go after a week. Say: I may be able to go in a week. Or: I may be able to go in a week’s time.

When speaking of a period of time in the future, use in, and not after. Here in means after the end of.

395 In for Within.

Don’t say: I’ll come back in an hour — if you mean before the end of an hour. Say: I’ll come back within an hour.

In means after the end of, within means before the end of.