ABC of Common Grammatical Errors: For Learners and Teachers of English

394 Pages·1995·8.46 MB·English

by  Nigel Turton

Macritan Heinemann Engich Language Teaching
‘Between Towns Road, Oxord OX« 3PP
‘dion of Mactan Publishers Lined
‘Companis and representatives troughout the word

1S0N 0:39 56704x

“Txt © Nigol Turton 1998
‘Design and mustaton © Macmilan Pushers ited 1905

errands ns Eat Per Pg Les
Fist publishes 1995

‘All igs reserved. No reproduction, copy or wansmission of
‘tis pubicaton may be mado without writen permission.

No paragraph of his pubcaton may be reproduced, copied of

‘Any person who does any unauthorised atin relation otis publication
‘may be lable criminal presecuten and eh ams for damages,

This book prints on paper stable or ecycting and
made fom fly managod and sustained forest sree,

‘catalogue record fortis bok avait rm the
‘aon Libary.

Printed in Hong Kong

2003 2002 2001 2000 1999
“oi 2 1 wo
Introduction

‘What is the purpose of the book?

‘The ABC of Common Grammatical ror racial relrence book or
learrers and teacher of Engh asa second or oign language. He man
purpose isto provide ntrmedate and advanced learners wih easy accees 0
{he ermaton they ood a adoro core! tox grammatical ears. Up unt
‘now, this imation has boon spread across grammar reference book, Usage
(us and learners detonaries Inthe ABC, avaliable forthe fst ie
vit a sing volume.

For wachers of Engle, the ABC rovdes a comprehensive cecklst oars
grammatical eros together wih Gear expanatons of te relevant gramme
Poms. (See A note for eachers below

Which errors are dealt wth?

“Tne ABC deals wih he grammatical eos that loamors make again and again,
eovers rors n system grammar and erosin word grammar, System
‘grammar includes such areas as subject-verbagreoment ens ut, the
Bassve, question forms. Word grammar. smetmesealedukago cons of
‘es that contol he use of pacar worés. For example, wo alow somone fo
{osomatting, bt we let someone do someting who), We hope that
“Sorneone wilde something, but we wish hal someone would someting. We
{per cu eters (wt), but we Open our ma without) We ean say Iseame
‘hat she kes you but not ‘She ceoms tal she hes you” System rors and
worderors are conbinedin the ABC wihina single siphabetic! arrangement.
The ABC contains common’ ero, A conan eri one that & made
‘requenty by learners of various language backgrounds. An err tat s made,
{or exampe, oly y Hafan earners of Ergish snot includ

‘The ers have been gathered tom a large comps of win texts prodied by
learsers at itermecate and vanced loves of protiency In wew otis
potion range, some othe errors inthe ABC may soom surringy
‘tomertary (eg. ‘She ive in Pars insteadof'She ies in Pari), lt ehov be
‘emerbered however, tha even aavancedleamers sometimes make base,
mistakes

‘Te made of correct usage ompioyed inthe ABC standard British English
Dilerences between Bash English and American Engieh usage ae described
atthe rotvant ears.

How do Iind the information | need”

Wen you ned information about a word eer, you bok othe ntormation in
the same way that you woud look or wen venga normal ctonay. For
‘example, you do not know whether o say ook foward fo se you! ook
‘onward fo sein yu, you ust um othe Gy fr tok forward to,

mines dating with systom orcs ae also arranged aphabetcay. For example,
Imagine fat you have made a mstake nthe use othe present prec ese
(Cet have oughta new computer last week) Inthe ABC you wl ind the
Intrmaton you need a the erry fr present perfect tense: use nis usual
alphabetical positon among te pos.

you try to uae a tradonal gamma book fot tho purpose of ear correction,
‘yu encour a mumibr ot uiis The main poder ist you usualy 30
ot ko whore ook For exami, nto case o | have bought a new
‘Comput last wook, the relevant inormation wil x0ba0 be chown a >
Section dealing wih the past simple tense, However, you know tat he
intrmaton you nee sto be found under ths hex, is quesbonaie
‘shothr you wou have made the mstaxo in tho et pace The ero-based
‘rganzation of te ABC ges you a betta chance a cng ntrmaton you
‘ed ard treng it uicsy. Won you mako an rin tho use of parla
oe, you jst ok Up the erty or that sare tose,

present perfect tense: use

1 [52 Two seen Ge fimin London st saw to im in London ist wook

% InFrance the deat penatyhas In France the deat penay was
‘been abolehedin 1861. abotshed a 1985

617

‘hon wo mention somthing whic took place ata particular ie inthe past
(e.g Tast weok, in 1951, yestreay, wo mors ago), wo se te past imple
tonse, nor the present peers, sas it

nike word ror, many system errors may be caselfedin more than one way.
For example, the ere 1 have Goughta new computer ast week coud be placed
Lndor the headings tense, present perfect tense or have +-ed.n ow o his,
beter you bgino use the ABC is recommended that you spond just a fow
mines examining the ist f erties fr sytem eros atthe back of he Book.
“This ist shows you aa gnce al the major categois of stom erred
‘hat names and whore ft tem. Atha same time, once you ave bagun 0
Use the ABC, you wil Sscover hat ne ents for system eror ad word erors
fr often Saga ned.

last 443

% have arvedin England ast iy. | aod in England as July

Wi tas right, tat woo, we usuay uso the past simple tonto, => 617.1
‘What do the entries contain?
‘Atnough the ABC's a reference book, algo provides appari for active
tearing, For his reason, th norma sequence oexplanaton olowed by
‘examples has been dlberaoly reversed. The ante inthe ABC bogin with
‘xanpes of incorrect and caret usage. Each prof entances contains ype
of puzzle, whch you ae itd te save by earetly comparing the ert
Sentance andthe correction. I you are succestlclvng the pusze en
‘working ot the le for yourso, wha you have iarnedby your own elt is
mortal tobe remerbored,

Each ofthe oor sentences contain tone eer. To avoid contusion,
_acsionalorors that were presenti the source matral have been

coneeted

Below he examples of incorect and comect usage, tare is normaly an
fexplanaton of he rue which has been broken However, some fhe word
fonts have a coss-eorence to another part of he book where the
‘wpanatin is located

‘As with ll eerence matrils hat eal with grammar, the use of technica toms
has been uravodabl, The tecnical ems used inthe ABC are explained ine
Giossan.

How isthe warning sign used?

‘Most of he examples of lamer usage inthe ABC ae leary ungrammatia.

‘These leaner Englah sentences are marked wih oss () as noorect,

However, instead ofa cross, hee is sometimes a warsng sgn). This sgn has

‘tree tnctone

1 Some examples ofeamer usage are grammatical in American English —
29, ‘accommodation’ (wits) ~ but ungrammatial in Bish Engi¢h, The

‘waning ign eraws attenton to sch cases,

“The warning sign also draws attonon o example of usage which are

unacceptable used in he wrong ereumetanoes For example, to use of fr

{a conjunction, although granmateal Is rested to formal or berry

yes

{3 The ia funeton of he warring signi to mark areas of usage ha re
Influenced by opinions, passa down rom one generation tothe next about
‘hats ‘good granar ana whats bad. One o! hese opinions, or example,
'Sthat sentence should rot begin wih coorsatingcanuncion, such ae
‘and or but. Informal ses, we endo flow these so-called prescptve
‘les since we donot wsh 9 seem uneducated. Ohare, we take ite
ates of hem.
A note for teachers

‘As teachers f English know ol 100 wal some learners a inthe habit ct
‘sting searching questone about spect pon of usage, eg Whe s cooct:
Each poof shoos was 10 gt Each pa of shoes wee 100 Bg? Most
‘grammar elerence books begin hor descriptors at the este ove (9.
Subjec-verb agreement) and work down towards the word lve More often
‘han rot, however, the description stops short of the parcular word that the
learner needs io krow about, suchas par

‘The ABCbagis atthe word level and works upwars. takes ass staring
‘ont nt pst the wore ha earmars actualy Use, bu the words hat me and
{ime again cause om aleuty. As a esut fis btm up eertatin, he
‘ook conta answers To many of he awaware questions.

[shoul be very pleased to hear rom teachers who come across gaps inthe
‘ABC. Peace wrte ome co hisemian Edyeation Us, Hodis, Basingstoke,
Hamoshire RG21 2XS, Eniar.
Glossary

‘bstract noun An abstract nounis aroun that refers to a conto etn,
0.0, danger, hope, courage, luck, happiness, peace, seni, success

sctve See masse

cjectve An adjective ls a word that as us what a person, ting ple, es
"ala woman," ive sear, The questons were acu

‘adjective phrase An adjocive pase is a group of words in wich the mal
word an ajecve: The Noor was very dy These shes ae lar to
expensive ‘She isnt al enoigh

‘sdverb An advo a word which talus ‘haw when’ now ote, whee ee,
‘something happens: closed the door quiet We saw her yesterday: "They
‘oft gp Mere Adverbs aso tel us abou the degree or extent of comeing

vero; too quick fay mportant, "que a good ea See alsa une

_adverblal An advortial isa word vase of clause which els us ‘how, when!
‘where’ why et, something happen: e ative yestrday ‘Ho rived
about a wevk ago" He ad aves belor I reached he station,

‘averbial clause An adverbial clause is a ype of subordinate clase which els
Show, when, whore, why someting happens: Whe Iwas having
‘reatas the telephone rang” ve come oEnglané fo prove ny Engish

‘adverbal phrase An adverbial phrase i group of wore in which he main
word is an adverb: Me should drive more careful" Shel be back fai soon

‘affirmative A sitement arch contains a word such a not, nar, rarely aid
10 be negative don ike coflee: A statement whch doesnot canton @
ogatve Wor isso be ‘fiat Ike cote.

‘greement When we say that wo words ina sentence must ogre’, we mean
thal fey must have the same grammatal fests. For exam the
subject fa sentence is plural, he vrb must aso be pura: "The gis my
{cass are French Silay, the subject ofa stones is thi person
‘Sega, we have to use airs person sigur pronoun to refer back i

"Mr Jones's a good eater, tthe alvays aves lao The pronaun he
shares the same granmatcaleaure ae Mr Jones

lantecedent An antecedents tbe word or pase that a pronoun or éteriner
‘eters back o: "Tim kes onons but his wile hates thom Inti santence, the
Pronoun them ers back o (and agroes wih) onions, which he anfecscet,

‘apposition To give mere infomation about someone or something, we
‘sometimes fofow a noun phrase wih a second noun pvase: Mr ian, fhe
headmaster, used olay rug for Wales The two noun pases are sao
bon apposition

sttributive Wen we use the words ‘atte and preccatve' we a aking
‘about achectves and the positons na sontence, An adjective tha spaced
‘before nouns sald to be naive potion: He gave me the cvtect
answer An adjective thats placed ater a inkng ver such as bos sai tobe
impredcatve poston: is answer was corect

auxlary verb An auslary ver (9.6, have, do, can. must wi) is used
oto a main verb fo make tenses, queston, passive forms, ec:‘She has
Tester passpo ‘Did you goto the mesting? The new fant wil be
‘lveregomorow: See also wan Vena, Vera PHRASE

bare itntve Soe nro

clause A causes usualy ethor a sartone She ave an hour ate) ota
‘major pat ofa sortonce (She avd an hou le + Because her car broke
own.) Seo also wan cine, svoOrOMATE LAE

collective nun A colectva noun a word whic eer oa grup, 29. come,
“amiy, eam, When ts snguar,acallecive noun may normaly bo Used wi)
{singular or lira ver: The commitee has have aly roaches a docsion

“comparative & comparative the form of an adjective or aver that end in er
‘oF hat begins wih vats: My ca sade than yours: "The leathor bag is
‘nore expensive than the plastic One See aso suPeRATVe

complement A complement cometines caled a subject corplmont) is
‘nomial a word or pase which descbes the subject: Ts apples
‘olious He wile became a music teacher" Smokingis bad for your
health inlay, an object complement describes the object ound is row
ook very interesting Tne tim made her famous almost oveigh.

compound A compound is a combinaton of wo or more words that we Use as 2
‘Single wor 'a fac, "a woweekhelday "a sie yoar olden, a poloe
‘ter

condilonal A conditional case ao calls an 'iclause) a ype of
Subordinate clause that begin wih unless, ec" Mary had arrived on te,
‘wo would have caught the warn’ Less requonty,acondtonal cause may
‘begin win subject wer nvarson Had known tha you worl, would Mave
come 0 see you" Acondtonal sentence ne hat contains acondonal
‘ause

conjunction A conunction sa word such 3s and, er, but, because When,
‘athough which oes to pars ta sence, or shows how they are relate:
“Would youth fea or coffee? There are wo apples and ves oranges. She
‘kes you Because you never get angry: ‘Although twas late, te shaps were
‘sit open:

‘consonant A consonant (or consonant sound) i @spesch sound thats made
'y blocking or partly bloking hea Fam the lungs. For exami, he sounds
tthe begining of fake, gh and se eo consonants

context When a words used in speech or wing, tere are normaly words
‘ele and words ator These surrounding words are known asthe
‘Context. Contet leo meane the socal station in which language used

contracted A conractod form (rcotracton) isthe short form ofa word that
‘wo se n everday conversation Fr example, instead of saying have done
It; we nomaly say Tve core

coordinating conjunction & coordinating conjunction (2g. ano, bu cused
"o ik Wo equal pars ofa santnce: Woulé you Ine ea or cates? inves
‘hm o come ans down. "Tom plays lobe bu Peter prefers tennis:

coordination Cooxdnation the inking of equa grammatical unis, usualy by
‘means of and, e, but
‘countable noun A countable noun or count noun) ea noun wit bth singular
‘0d plural forms: eg. 'a char = "two cha, a ad's chiro See aso

defining See carve cane

‘demonstrative The deonsavesthietheee and thattose tl us whether
‘something i near ho speaker ota dance om the speater, These words
_a16 used as both determiners and pronouns,

eterminer A determiners word thats requeny used a the beginning o a
‘noun phase, eg. a/an the, hs, Pa, hese, my, your, te, same, any more,
‘many, al Doth, each, every.

direct object See casecr

‘drect speech Soe norcr src

lsjunet A disjunct is a wort or pase that we use fo express ou atu to
“what we are about o say, © 9. unfortunatly, ck, of course, natural on
the whol in she. fo bo precise.

‘double genitive A coxtie gonitves a suc in whch afi folowed by a
possessive frm: 'a tend of my father's, a neighbour of min

‘empty subjectobect The term empy subject retest house of tan there
in sentonces ne it's getng ates cold inher "k woud be quicker oe
{he jo yourselt' Theres olen your steve: "There's someone wating 1
100 you "There's been an acid In these sentences, rand More ae
‘empl of meaning’ they mera il the subes poston. Sma, its
sometines used as an empy object e.g, "You may fd ie fo obtain the
tke Tike when fm bu)

‘nite ita ver is aver which has a nse: They are wating for you “She
sen{me a posta "Mave you seen my keys? Aine ase fs use hat
contains ante verb,

‘A non-inte verb oes not have a tense heard someone coming in’ "We
went 0 see tim caled Midnight Express" Anon fe cause © a cause
that contains a non nie ver,

first person See renscn

fixed A fixed expressions one whose frm cannot be changed in any way 69
‘2n fe whole, needless 083, could do wih, a couple of atone up OF,
‘ouples of, ee).

{ormal Fora yes are hase in which word and srctres are carey
chosen, Such yes are used in business laters, acadomi textbooks, News
broadcasts, public ceremonies, normal sis aro tose in whch
language is used spontaneous, asin everyday conversation,

{gender n some languages, each oun has a grammatical gander. In French, for
‘example, tho wor for house is feminine wheres tho wor fo ste
‘masculine. In Enlsh,noune do not have grammatical gender

‘enitve The genive (or possessive orm oa noun ends wih 's (apostrophe
‘3) oF ''(8 + apostioph). Tomsbicyle'a girs senoo!. Gentve forme
otten express arelatonship of possession (my wiles car), bl hoy express a
numberof ther relaionsps as wall For example, hy are comny used
wn te word: a mont’ salary Yodays lesson tres week” ene
‘We do not normaly use tho ~s5'gniive with inanimate nous, Istad, we
tend to use the of genie: the end ofthe roa, th Back oh Mouse
oradable A gradabieaslocive sone hat can be used with very, 00 ec also
‘has compaatve’syparaive forms: James isa very abo, much alr than
‘Mark, but John isthe flest Uke tal adjectives Such as medical and dead
_afeungradabe. We do nt normaly say very doad or more mecca

head Te head ofa pase i tho word thats mostidiqualtid by al he ther
"word inthe vase: 'The Wo books tha you lent me were extremely
intresting

IMelause Seo conemons.

Imperative Tho imporatv form of aver is tho same a he bar intitve:
"Camehore. Have sea Tiy one of hese cakes Imperative causes bain
witha vor inthe imperative. Wo use ther for commands, sugpestons,

Indefinite pronoun indott pronouns are word such as somebody,
‘something, anyone, nobody, evening. They are indefinite’ because they do
ot oor aparulr person or hing

Indirect object Soe oxect

Indiret speech Direct speech is speech tat is witen down without changing
‘he words a the speaker. These word are usualy enclosed within inverted
‘commas: ‘Dent bela indrect speech (or Teprid speech is speach hats
Feportod inthe words of ho reporter: She tl him nt fo be ate

Infinitive Teint sometimes cal ho present intve) she base form
‘ot vet (fo) be.) 9) Know, et The base frm sueed sometimes with
{o (He wants fo stayin bed) and sometimes without fo (He should stay
ba). The form ath foi eal a toinintve te form wihout ois eased a
‘ar infiv Seo algo rete NPE

Infinitive clause An intinve clase i typeof subordinate clause which begins
wit an infinitive: Tve come to Engjand fe vist my sister” twas good fo see
You agan"'Al you can ie ask for your money back

Intintve marker The fine marke i 0 We Use ko make a fines
ko fo eather again

Informal Soe Foran

sing clause An ing ise type o subordinate cause in wich he fet vero
isan ing form: Paying the piano canbe very relaxing. "Sha hates s3yrg
ody f anyone’ The man sting next to me started 1 laugh

-ingtorm An ng er th orm of ver that nd ning "H's Hashing i
“nner he string othe news. "Sting behind me were two German gis.

Intansitir An tenis aype of adverb which ‘engine the meaning of
the folowing wor: "vor srange extremely cisapported, absolute,
smazing

Imterrogtive An itecopative clase is clause that has he fom ofa questo:
"ave you seen my umbrola anytere?” "Where does e ive” Note, however
that interrogate clauses ae not always questions you ae going ou. would
you post ete for me? (=a request)

intransitive Soe rasive

Irregular Seo reo

linking adverb Liking adverbs are words sh a8 tarefore, however
‘moreover, nevertheless, We use these words f0 show ha connection betwaen
‘at wo are aout o say and what we have just said. Most cminae realize
that they may be caught. Neverteess, they are preparod to ako tek