语法 | 20 Most Common Grammatical Mistakes (1-10)

The 20 Most Common Grammatical Mistakes And How To Avoid Them

‘Adapt’ and ‘adopt’ share similar spellings and similar meanings, but they are not one and the same.

To ‘adapt’ is to become or make something suitable to an environment or condition.

For Example:

“It took me a long time after college toadaptto life in the office.”

“An inability toadaptwill prove an obstacle on the road to success.”

To ‘adopt’ is to take something and use it as or make it your own.

For Example:

“Iadoptedhis policy of neutrality and stayed out of trouble.”

“We are planning toadopta child.”

"Lose"is a verb, to come to be without something; to suffer the loss of something.

For Example:

“I do not wish tolosemore weight.”

“I was about tolosemy ear ring.”

“She cannot stand the thought oflosinghim.”"Loose"is an adjective, free or released from attachment; not bound together; not strict.

For Example:

“My belt is veryloosearound my waist.”

“She likes to wear her hairlooseand free.”

“That is alooseinterpretation of our document.”

"Lose" is a verb, to come to be without something; to suffer the loss of something. "Loose" is an adjective, free or released from attachment; not bound together; not strict.

‘Will’ and ‘going to’ are the two forms of simple future used in English. They are used more or less interchangeably, but there are certain subtle differences between them that even many experienced English speakers are not aware of. The main rule to keep in mind is that: if the decision to act was made before the time of speaking, ‘going to’must be used; if not, ‘will’ must be used.Will

There are two primary distinct uses for‘will’:

To express voluntary action. Voluntary action refers to the following:

• Any action that the speaker offers toperform.

• “Iwilltakeyou up on that offer.”

• “Iwillgetyou your breakfast in bed.”

• Any action that the speaker declines toperform.

• “Iwillnot(won’t) be able to come for your party.”

• “Iwillnot do your work for you.”

• Any action that the speaker requests thelistener to perform.

• “Willyou come home on Friday night?”

• “Willyou take me to the amusement park?”

To express a promise.

“Iwillcome back to work as soon as I make a full recovery.”

“Iwillcall you later tonight.”

Going to

There is one primary distinction for use of ‘going to’: it is used to express plans, i.e. the intention of the speaker to do something in the future. This can take two forms:

To state such an intention:

"I amgoingfor the match on Thursday"

"I amgoing toensure that we have fun on this trip."

To ask about such an intention:

"Are yougoing towatch the match on Thursday?"

"Are yougoing tothe Zoo with the others?"

Will/Going to

Both ‘will’ and ‘going to’ can be used when making predictions about the future.

“It looks like itwillrain today”. = “It looks like it isgoing torain today.”

“I don’t think hewilldo it” = “I don’t think he’sgoing todo it.”

The main rule to keep in mind is that: if the decision to act was made before the time of speaking, ‘going to’ must be used; if not, ‘will’ must be used...

"Write"is a verb, to express in writing.

For Example:

“I want to learn how towritewell.”

“Did youwritethis?Writea letter to Mom”"Right"is an adjective, correct, justified, suitable, opposite of left.

For Example:

“The little boy knewrightversus wrong.”

“It’s therightway to do things.”

It is easy to confuse ‘ adverb, and although ‘besides’ is sometimes used in place of ‘beside’, they have distinct meaning.

‘Beside’means ‘by or at the side of’.

For example: “He stoodbesidehis new car proudly.”

As a preposition, ‘besides’ means ‘in addition to’ or ‘apart from’.

For example:“What are you working onbesidesthe research project?”

As an adverb, it means ‘furthermore’.

For example: “He was not selected because he did not have a good grasp of his concepts.Besides,he did not seem very keen.”beside’ and ‘besides’, but they are not one and the same thing. ‘Beside’ is a preposition, whereas ‘besides’ works as both a preposition and an

"Here" is an adverb, in this place; in this spot.

For Example:

“I amhereand planning to stay.”

“I wish you werehere.”"Hear" is a verb, to be within earshot; to perceive by ear.

For Example:

“Ihearyou.”

“We do not want tohearthe policies one more time.”

Many English speakers are confused about the usage of the words ‘can’ and ‘may’. For example, ‘Can I drink water?’ is incorrect. ‘May I drink water?’ is the correct phrase to use in this case.

The key difference between ‘can’and ‘may’is that ‘can’ talks aboutabilityand ‘may’ talks aboutpermission.

Can

Can is used in two cases:

To talk about ability.

“Icanfinish my homework by 5 pm.”

“Canyou finish your homework tonight?”

To ask or give permissioninformally(normally between friends)

“CanI use your pen?”

“Youcanuse my pen?”

May

May is generally used to ask or give permissionformally.

Let us take a situation between a student and a teacher.

“MayI drink water?

Teacher: Yes, youmay.”

Let us take a situation between two strangers.

“MayI borrow your pen?

Yes, youmay”

Both words sound the same when pronounced, but their meanings are very different. “Compliment”means to give praise, express admiration or giving congratulations. “Complement”, on the other hand, means completing something or to make something perfect. A good way to always remember the difference is to remember that the word with the “e” means complete. In fact, the word complete is almost entirely spelled within complement.

Complement

Complement is used when what you are trying to convey that something is essentially made complete with something else. For example, if you were describing colors that look good together or a relationship involving two people who seem well matched, complement is the correct choice. Complement functions as both a noun and a verb.

• Incorrect:“The striped throw pillowscomplimentedthe sofa colors quite nicely.” (This implies that the pillows gave praise to the sofa, which is impossible).

• Correct:“The colors in the pillowscomplementedthe stripes in the sofa very well.” (Complement is a verb in this sentence).

Compliment

Compliment is used when you are aiming to offer praise. For example, you might compliment someone on a new hairdo or on an outfit that is particularly flattering. In its plural form it can mean you are offering multiple expressions of praise, or it can mean best wishes. Compliment functions as both a noun and a verb.

• Incorrect:“She paid her boss acomplementabout how well her hair highlightscomplementher complexion”. (The first complement is incorrect because “her boss” does not complete anything, which is implied by spelling the word with an “e.”

• Correct:“She paid her boss a nicecomplimenton how well her new hairdocomplementedher complexion.”(Compliment is a noun in this sentence).

Apostrophes should be used to indicate possession, but there is one exception to this rule, and that is the word “it”. Unsurprisingly, this exception gets lots of people confused.

The rules:

• “It’s” is only ever used when short for “it is”.

• “Its” indicates something belonging to something that isn’t masculine or feminine (like “his” and “hers”, but used when you’re not talking about a person).

• If it helps, remember that inanimate objects can’t really possess something in the way a human can.

Hownotto do it:

• Its snowing outside

• The sofa looks great with it’s new cover

How to do it properly:

• It’s snowing outside

• The sofa looks great with its new cover

Its vs. it’s

This common mistake arises because the contracted form of “could have” – “could’ve” – sounds a bit like “could of” when you say it out loud. This mistake is made frequently across all three of these words.

The rules:

• When people write “should of”, what they really mean is “should have”.

• Written down, the shortened version of “should have” is “should’ve”.

• “Should’ve” and “Should have” are both correct; the latter is more formal.

Hownotto do it:

• We could of gone there today

• I would of done it sooner

• You should of said

How to do it properly:

• We could’ve gone there today

• I would have done it sooner

• You should’ve said

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