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Common Errors - 1
Look at the following Telugu sentence:
e t
--- - --* -- --a.
. n
He gave us good advices.
h a
A Telugu person may try to translate the above sentence into English in the following way:

i b
For a native speaker of English the usage of 'advices' seems quite odd and funny because 'advice' is an
uncountable noun and it has no plural form. So the correct sentence is 'He gave us good advice'.

a t
If we have to speak or write in English accurately, we should keep in mind all the rules, exceptions and

p r
oddities of the language. We can avoid such errors by extensive reading, learning and practice.
Common Errors With Nouns
Incorrect
The sceneries
d u Correct
are The scenery is beau-
Explanation
The following nouns are
beautiful.

n a tiful. generally used in the singu-

lar form only and they are

.e e
The furnitures
damaged.
are The furniture is dam-
aged.
The machinery are not The machinery is not
not used with plural verbs:
advice, luggage, hair,

w w working properly. working properly.

machinery, information,
bread, equipment, alphabet,

e t
w The informations The information
about him is true. about him is true.
furniture, baggage, cash,
scenery, news, etc.,

. n
The committee, which
were formed in 2015,
The committee,
which was formed in
h a
Some collective nouns are
used with singular verbs
are made up of four
men and four women.
2015, is made up of
four men and four
i b
when they are used as a
body or group and not as
women.
The audience were The audience was
a t
members:
audience, board, commit-
spellbound. spellbound.

p r
The family are on hol- The family is on holi-
tee, crowd, family, jury,
ministry, mob, police, pub-
iday. day.

d u lic, staff, team etc.,

n
ed the thief. a
The police has arrest- The police have
arrested the thief.
But when the above nouns
denote members or individ-

.e e
The committee has The committee have
asked for sandwiches asked for sandwiches
uals, the verb is used in plu-
ral form.

ww
for lunch. for lunch.
The cattle is grazing The cattle are grazing Some nouns are singular in

w in the fields. in the fields.

The peasantry is very The peasantry are
happy. very happy.
form but plural in meaning
and they always take a
plural verb.
e.g.: infantry, gentry, cattle,
clergy, nobility, poultry etc.

R-25-6-16
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Incorrect Correct Explanation

Politics are an inter- Politics is an interest- Some nouns are plural in
esting subject.
The news are false.
ing subject.
The news is false.
form but they are used as
singular.

e t
Measles have broken Measles has broken
out in this area. out in this area.
e.g.:
Economics,
Mathematics,
Physics,
. n
Politics,
Mechanics,
h a
Linguistics,
Statistics,

Carroms,
i b
Measles, Mumps, Billiards,
Athletics,

a t Gymnastics, Innings, series,

news.
The scissors is very The scissors are very
sharp. sharp.
p r Some nouns are used only
as plural. They have no
My spectacle
missing. u
is My spectacles are

d
missing.
singular forms.
e.g.: jeans, pants, trousers,

n
His trouser is loose.
a His trousers are loose.
scissors, binoculars,
glasses, spectacles,

e e
I am allowed to stay in I am allowed to stay
the quarter.

.
in the quarters.
tongs, shoes, socks,
alms, oats, savings,
auspices, surroundings,

w wThe surrounding is not The surroundings are

clean. not clean. stairs, ashes, refresh-
ments, earnings, quar-
e t
w I bought shoe yester- I bought shoes yester-
day. day.
ters, arrears, assets, sta-

.
tistics (data), outskirts, n
His asset is seized. His assets are seized.

h a
thanks, premises etc.
He provided the He provided the blind
blinds with food. with food.
i b
The expressions 'the blind',
'the deaf', 'the unemployed',
'the dead', 'the poor', etc.,
The government The government
t
are plural.

ra
should pay attention should pay attention
to the problems of the to the problems of the The word 'the blind' refers
poors. poor.

u p
I have two son-in- I have two sons-in-
to all blind people.
Plurals of compound nouns
laws. law.

a d are formed by adding 's' to

the main word. e.g.: broth-

e n ers-in-law, commanders-in-
chief, passersby etc.

.e
There are thirty There are thirty girls 'Male and 'female' are used

ww
females in the class. in the class. as adjectives but not as
nouns.
Many males attended Many men attended

w the meeting.
It is my
Kartik's car.
the meeting.
friend's It is my
Kartik's car.
friend When two nouns are in
apposition, the 'apostrophe
+s' is added to the second
noun to show possession

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Incorrect Correct Explanation

I asked my cousin I asked my cousin Cousin is a genderless word
sister why she was
anxious.
why she was anxious. that's usually clarified by
saying he or she in the
context.
e t
Ramya bought five Ramya bought five
.
Words like dozen, score,
n
dozens mangoes.
Two lakhs students
dozen mangoes.
Two lakh students
h a
hundred, thousand, lakh,
million etc. do not take
applied for the civil
services exam.
applied for the civil
services exam.
i b
plural when preceded by a
numeral.

Give me a hundred-
rupees note.
Give me a hundred-
rupee note.
a t If a compound word is
formed by joining a definite
A three-men enquiry

p r
A three-man enquiry
committee has been
numerical adjective and a
noun (by a hyphen), the
committee has been
set up.
u
set up.

d
noun so used will always be
in the singular number.

n a
Common Errors With Pronouns

.e e
It is me who drew the
picture.
It is I who drew the
picture.
If a verb 'to be' has a
pronoun for its

w w If I were her, I would

accept the proposal.
w We enjoyed at the
If I were she, I would
accept the proposal.
complement, the pronoun
must be used in the
e t
We enjoyed ourselves
nominative form.

.
When the subject of the n
party.
You should avail the
at the party.
You should avail
h a
verb is the receiver of the
action, the action is said to
opportunity. yourself of the oppor-
tunity
i b
be reflected. Such verbs are
used reflexively.

Myself did all the

a
I myself did all the
t
Reflexive pronouns alone
work. work.

p r cannot be used for emphasis

and they should be

d u preceded by pronouns in
nominative case.
Yourself and I may be

n
asked to attend the a You and I may be
asked to attend the
A reflexive pronoun (e.g.:
myself, himself, them-

.e e
function. function. selves, yourself) cannot be
used as the subject of a
sentence.

ww
We have to sort out We have to sort out Verbs and prepositions
the differences the differences are followed by objective

w between you and I.

She is teaching
Bhavya and he.
between you and me.
She is teaching
Bhavya and him.
case of a pronoun.

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PRACTICE TEST
In each of the following questions, there are four sentences. Choose the correct sentence that has no
errors.
1. 1) I don't need your advices.

e t
2) The news is very disappointing.
3) Her hairs are very beautiful.
. n
4) He doesn't know the alphabets of the language.

h a
2. 1) Statistics is a difficult subject.
2) The police has arrested the thief.
i b
3) I met my cousin brother yesterday.

a t
3. 1) Majority is in favour of the proposal.
p r
4) While walking on the road we found a thousand-rupees note.

2) It is my friend's Kishen's house.

d u
n a
3) The scissors belongs to me.
4) That book is yours, not mine.
4.

e e
1) Neither Rishi nor Khyati are attending school tomorrow.

.
2) Six females are working in our office.

w w
3) He fell down from a ten-foot high wall.
e t
5. w4) I send herewith my hearty thank for your timely help.
1) You, I and he are allowed to go.
. n
2) I, you and he are allowed to go.
h a
3) You, he and I are allowed to go.
4) He, I and you are allowed to go.
i b
6. 1) I have eaten two breads.
a t
2) We have purchased many furnitures.
3) Let she say something.
p r
4) If I were he, I would not do it.
d u
7.
a
1) Poultry are domesticated fowl kept for eggs and meat.

n
2) The poors should be helped by the riches.

e e
3) My shoe is very expensive.

.
ww
4) Bring me two dozens oranges.
8. 1) My spectacle is on the table.

w2) He has three brothers-in-law.

3) Herself finished the project without taking help from anyone.
4) They who live in glass houses should not throw stones on others.

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9. 1) Somebody is crying in the room, isn't somebody?
2) One should respect once teachers.
3) Each of the girls have been given a mango.
4) Neither of the fans is working.

e t
10. 1) I enjoy during summer holidays.
2) We should avail ourselves of our opportunities.
. n
3) His trouser is very tight.

h a
4) Athletics are good for health.

ANSWERS
i b
1-2; 2-1; 3-4; 4-3; 5-3; 6-4; 7-1; 8-2; 9-4; 10-2
a t
p r Writer: CVS Ravindranath

d u
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