Grammatical Mistakes You Were Not Aware OfLooking for that one place where you find -All that YOU need; to help you clear the English section of competitive exams? Look no further! This blog post carries some of the most common grammatical mistakes you werent aware of and their correct answers.Not all is intended to be covered, nor all is intended to be explained-what is covered below should be enough for you to go ahead and attempt correctly 8 out of 10 questions on English, Grammar & related in any competitive exam be it CLAT, CSAT, UGC-NET, Bank PO, CAT, GRE, GMAT, SSC, NDA or any that happens in India.1. RedundanciesIt really hurts to overflow the ears with repetitive usage of similar meaning words.Classic Cases:a.) Blunder Mistake,b.) Return Back,c.) Added Bonus,d.) Happy 5thyear anniversary!!!!e.) Also (this one is often heard on cooking shows): Let the saucereduce down. How else can it reduce but down. Just say reduce and be done with it!Careful Tip:For Males:Dont just spend words extravagantly, sometimes its classy to bargain and spend the optimum words.For Females:Carry on with your judicious spending, it just works always!2.Two Villains Vs One VillainHeres one that really bothers me. Just read the next two lines:I couldnthelp but think/laugh/worry, etcI couldnthelp thinking/laughing/worrying, etc.Which one makes sense to you?Rule:Realize that using help and but together creates a double negative.Cricket tip:HelpingSALMANBUTTwhen he was caught on tape could act as somethingnegativefor you.Filmi Tip:Theone villain(one negative) theory has given us hits;Two villains(two negatives) create confusion, complexity and thus lead to flops (egregious errors).3.Collective NounsThere are instances where we use collective nouns as singular entities rather than plural like:The crowdwasrushing OrThe crowd wererushing(Both the forms are fine in appropriate situations)What presses the button is usage like The clubhaselectedtheirfirst president or The committeehaspassedtheirnew rule.Rule:Wecannot mix singular and plural forms like this?(If you stillthink we can, think questions likeHAS THEY?)Wouldnt it sound better like :1. The clubhaselecteditsfirst president. OrThe clubhaveelectedtheirfirst president.2. The committeehaspasseditsnew rule. OrThe committeehavepassedtheirnew rule.Fun Tip:Same Same Works in the Game.So If youre going to refer to a group (usually of people) with the pronoun they, or possessive pronoun their, then use the plural form of the verb in the same sentence. If you prefer to use singular pronouns, then thats OK too so long as you use the singular form of the verb!4. The Random ApostropheIm thinking of starting a Save the Apostrophe campaign because it is in danger of dying out altogether because of mass prostitution of usage. Unusual modern use of the apostrophe is in plural acronyms, like FAQs, NGOs, and CDs.Rule:S with an apostrophe indicatespossessionas in TheNGOs new projectwas a novel concept.Here with NGOs we are talking about the project initiated by the NGO. So when we need to talk in terms of multiplicity of number, we just need an s and not an apostrophe.Today most of theNGOsare doing really well.Some more examples to check out:a) Plots / Plots for sale.b) Learn ABCs/ ABCs of Economics5. Obsessed myselfNow that makes me gnash my teeth and curl my toes.I cook myself.Friends, understand that this means you are going to fry, bake, saut etcetera your own self instead of the food. So when you are trying to make your way to somebodys heart through food cooked by you, useI cooked food on my own.Only in case you have an intention of sacrificing your life and offering yourself in platter to somebody, use Ill cook myself.6.Gender BiasWoman/women used as an adjective rather than female likeWomen pilots. This seems to have become standard usage. Have you ever thought of saying man politicians or men doctors? No, right!Then why is it acceptable to say women lawyers?Empowering Tip:Fight for Gender equality while your English usage gets corrected along. So the next time you see doctor who is a lady, tag her female doctor.7.Direct Translation From HindiIt just wrecks my ear when I hear people say I called her again and again.Or even more nave Come Come sit sit(Hyperbole intended).Lovely Tip:The best way to keep the love of language is to give it wings of individuality and worst way to lose the same is to hold it tight with other languages.8. Effect Vs AffectJust remember the pictures that follow and youll never forget Effect Vs Affect.The venom affected the villain.The effect of nail was notorious.Affect:Affectwith an ameans to influence, as in, The venom affected the villian. Or to act as in She affected an air of superiority.Effect:Effectwith an e means a result as in The effect of the nail was notorious or The lighting effects were spectacular.Rule:Barring a few exceptions,Affectis used as a verb andeffectas a noun. Its easy to remember with the picture.TheVenomaffectedtheVillain, Remember the Vs in the sentence and youll remember that affected is averb. And Theeffectofnail wasnotorious, Remember the Ns and youll know that effect is anoun. And once you remember that Affect with an a is generally used as a Verb and Effect with an e is generally used as a Noun, youll get it in 95% of the sentences.EXCEPTIONS: Well,affectcan be used as a noun when youre talking about psychologyit means the mood that someone appears to have. For example, She displayed a happy affect. Psychologists find it useful because they know that you can never really understand what someone else is feeling. You can only know how theyappearto be feeling.And,effectcan be used as a verb that essentially means to bring about, or to accomplish. For example, you could say, Kapil Sabil hoped to effect change in the education system.9. And some moreIts just too common to encounter statements likemore better, more faster, more swifter.Before I explain, just carefully read the statement Women are more better mangers than men.When we compare two things, we use comparative adjectives like:Their report wasbetter thanour report orAkash iswiser thanMohanThese areperfectly legitimate sentences. We dont need to use more to compare the two things as the comparative form of the adjective has already been used.Forexample:1) Good , Better2) Loud, Louder3) Happy, HappierRule:Using a more with comparative adjectives is repetitive and so is incorrect.Scroll though someexamples:a) Her dress is more prettier than my dress.(Incorrect)Her dress is prettier than my dress. (Correct)b) The meal was more better than last night. (Incorrect)The meal was better than last night. (Correct)10. Regardless vs IrregardlessWe mistakenly use irregardless instead of regardless. Regardless means without regard or despite something. For example: I will eat ice creamregardlessof the fact that mom will get angry.Rule:Nowiris a negative prefix and if we use it with regardless, it gives us a double negative word that means Without without regardThe only reason people use it is that they follow the pattern of words like irresponsible and irrespective. Try for yourself:a) I am not going to school ____________ of the consequences.b) ___________ of the terror alerts, he went to buy a gift for her.11. So we use So so much that it is one of the most common error.Emphasizing the words in your statements to add the required intensity to your speech but why not do it in a grammatically correct way?So seems to add punch to a simple statement Im sooooo happy,which is fine in informal conversation. But in formal writing we need to hold our horses of intense emotions and understand the rule.Rule:When we use so with an adjective,sobecomes an indefinite adverb of degree instead of a vague intensifier. So, when I say Im so happy, it pops up the question how happy I am? Thus we need to pair it with that.For example:Im so happy that I feel like dancing on the rooftop.Here that answers:How happy I am?So the tip: When you use so as an adjective, link it with another clause like that.Practice time:a) I am _____ frustrated that I cant wait even for a second. (So/very)b) He was ________ excited. (So/very)12. LiterallyIm literally dying to correct this error. So would just start straight.Literallymeans Exactly, accurately, plainly but when I when I said Im literally dying to correct this error.Rule:I was trying to draw an analogy to exemplify the intensity of my emotion. So what I mean is figurative and not literal.Literal examples:a) Im (literally) starving to death.b) He is kicking ass at the kick boxing championship tournament.13. Dress sense vs Dressing senseWhen you turn around to check out your friends clothes and say with a WOW, Great dressing sense girl!, you are giving your language a dressing down because of incorrect usage.Rule:Somebodys taste in clothes or their ability to coordinate colors & styles effectively is Dress Sense. Dressing is a verb, an action. So Dressing Sense is the sense of doing the action.Thus, she has a good Dressing sense (Incorrect)She has a good Dress sense (Correct)Beautiful Tip:Dress up your language with correct usage.14. Suppose Vs SupposedNow both these words have different meanings. Lets check out:Suppose:1) To think. Like I suppose I should leaveSupposed:1) Required or obliged like You are supposed to complete your work2) Mistakenly believed or based on not very strong evidence like She is the supposed Boss.Lets just take one example:I amsupposeto go (Incorrect)I amsupposedto go (Correct)In the above sentence we mean required to go, so we should use Supposed. So far so good but the confusion also sets in with past form of the verb Suppose and the adjective Supposed (second meaning of supposed)Lets try and understand:A. After no response from her friend, shesupposedshe was not coming.B. Theirsupposedleader failed to support them in tough times.In the first sentence, the verb,supposed, follows directly after the subject. In the second sentence,supposedis in the adjective place in front of the noun. Dont forget the adjective form looks like the past tense, but it isnt really a verb. Try out some examples for more clarity:a) I ___________you will tell me when its time for dinner. (suppose/supposed)b) He is __________to be at work at 6:00 P.M.( suppose/supposed)15. Its Vs ItsIts raining or Its raining?I know while we talked about Apostrophes, we discussed that s with an apostrophe means possession. So keeping that in mind you would reject Its raining as incorrect.But this one is an exception to the Rule.Rule:Here Its is a contraction of it is or it has and here Its is a possessive pronoun.Forever Rule:Repeat your sentence out loud using it is instead. If that sounds goofy, its is likely the correct choice.Thus,Itsraining (Incorrect)Itsraining (Correct)Try some of these:a) This club has lost ______motto. ( its/its)b) _____ not easy to keep your word always. (its/its)16. Sex Vs GenderDo I sound alien when I say you can have amale sexwith afeminine gender or afemale sexwitha masculine genderIf I do, I wish to clarify that I am cent percent sure that what I am saying is possible under completely usual, normal circumstances.Rule:Sex is designation of male or female and Gender is designation of masculine or feminine tendencies. Though both these words are used interchangeably very often but its never too late to learn new things.Here are some examples:a) The participants were segregated according to sex and interests.b) The gender portrayed by the protagonists was the highlight of the play.17. Plural ManiaEven the people with command over the English language, sometimes err with plural forms of words.Hair Vs Hairs: We usually use Hair even when we are talking about millions of hair on somebodys head. Like: she has got beautiful hair.Rule:It is because we takehair as uncountableunless there is something in the sentence to suggest that they are countable. For e.g.She found two hairs in the dish plate.Now here, two signifies that they are countable, so we use Hairs.Consider the some words which we mess while using their plural forms:SingularPlurala) Criterion Criteriab) Crisis Crisesc) Formula Formulaed) Radius Radiie) Spoonful Spoonfulsf) Daughter-in-law Daughter-in-lawsg) Maid-Servant Maid-Servantsh) Man-servant Men-servant17. Do I hate moms ranting or I hate mom ranting?Confused? Read on for the confusion to settle. The words with +ing have three forms.1)Verb :Doing action like She is sleeping in her room (Here sleeping is an action)2)Participle (Modifier):Adjective like The sleeping girls smile is very beautiful (Here sleeping modifies noun Girl as an adjective does)Adverb like She sat sleeping in the class(Here sleeping modifies the verb Sat as an adverb)3)Gerund :Noun like Sleeping relieves stress (Here sleeping is a noun because you can replace it with something that is more obviously a noun: say Pen).The trouble is with possessives before a gerund, so we move to the basic question:Do I hate moms ranting or I hate mom ranting?Though mom may be irritating you, the real source of your irritation is the ranting itself and, therefore, the subject of the sentence. So you would say I hatemoms ranting and notmom ranting. (Of course, you dont hate your mom). Hererantingis the noun and subject, so the modifier needs the proper structurein this case, a possessive form: moms .Whose ranting is getting on your nerves? ThemomsHeres another example:I appreciate you working for me. Correct? or Incorrect?Just ask yourself, do I appreciate the work or the person? Of course, you appreciate the work done, soworkingisthe subjectof the sentence. So it should be I appreciate your working for meNot so Compassionate Tip:Put the deeds ahead of the person.Some more examples:a) I hate you spending. (Incorrect)I hate your spending. (Correct)b) I love that bird humming. (Incorrect)I love that birds humming. (Correct)18. Hopefully, I hope we get it rightThis word is used incorrectly so much (including by me) it may be too late. But lets make you smarter anyway.Hopefullyis anadverblike she looked hopefully at the ice cream. It modifies the verb looked. Here, she is looking in a hopeful manner, in a hope to get the ice cream. But the problem is when we use something likeHopefully, I will get that ice cream.Herehopefully is modifying the complete sentenceand not just the verb. Look at this sentence:Hopefully, Tarun stole the exam paperNow it could mean two things:1) Tarun stole the exam paper in a hopeful manner.2) Taruns friends are hopeful that he stole the paper.Rule:In order to avoid confusion or ambiguity in interpretation of the sentences, you should never start a sentence with hopefully.Other words that can function as sentence adverbs includefortunatelyandhonestlyFortunately, I was out by then. (Incorrect)Honestly, I wish I were somewhere else. (Incorrect)Both of them are modifying the complete sentence.So, it should be:I was fortunately out by then. (Correct)I honestly wish I were someone else. (Correct)19. Doubt that Vs Doubt whetherDoubt that is used when you are sure about something being false / negative. Basically, it is reflects surety from your side about some situation. And doubt whether is used in situations of uncertainty.Ido not doubtthat he will succeed. (negative sentence)Idoubt whetherthe news is true.(uncertain sentence)TIP:Weather forecasts by MET department are always uncertain. So, you can always be in doubt WHETHER the WEATHER will be pleasant today.ConnectWEATHER = WETHER = UNCERTAINTYHow did you find this article?Some of you would say Nice, some would say Ok while some would answer through web, google, website etc.My intention was to ask if this article was able to clarify your doubts but with sloppy usage my question was interpreted in other ways. Thus find is to be used when the intention is to ask How did you get to know about this article? or anything else.For example:How did you find this place/person?But when you wish to ask if I liked the place or the person, use verbs like Like. So to modify: How did you like this place/person?And so correcting myself, let me ask youHow did you like this article?