English grammar is extremely difficult to master. Even a lifetime of study will not ensure complete knowledge of the language.

 

It is okay not to know, it is NOT OK to fake it.  

 

If you don’t know something, ask questions. This is wisdom, as we discussed earlier. A learning environment is a place to learn and one cannot learn without asking questions, questioning themselves, being open to being questioned, questioning others (students, teachers, parents, friends, associates, etc.)! 

 

In your case, pick up your grammar handbook and, Look it up!

 

As I stated earlier, this text will not teach you everything you need to know about English grammar. 

 

To get you started, I have identified some of the worst culprits, the grammar issues that are most common to many new students of formal English.

 

Everyone has his or her own style of writing. As you learn to write and are able to express yourself more clearly in English, you will develop and improve your own style of writing. 

 

When you try to do this, do it with the goal of having your readers understand what you are attempting to communicate.

 

Here I have listed some of the most frequent English grammar issues that students encounter when learning to speak, read and write formal or standard English:

​

1. Singular/plural Agreement

 

This is one of the fundamental grammar rules in English: the nouns must agree with each other and the nouns must agree with their adjectives. 

 

a. For example, in an essay about war, a student wrote:

 

Incorrect:  “People must lose their life.”

 

You will note that people is the plural form of the noun person.  If  a person dies, then a person loses his or her life (singular), but if people die (plural, more than one person), then they lose their lives:

 

Correct:           “A person must lose his or her life.” 

 

Or

 

Correct:           “People must lose their lives.”

 

b. Another student wrote:

 

Incorrect: “Many time we read in the newspapers about crime.”

 

The noun time (singular, which in this usage means occasion, event, occurrence, instance, or moment) does not agree with the adjective many (which means more than one). The sentence should read:

 

Correct: “Many times we read in the newspapers about crime.”

 

This type of error is very basic and stands out when a teacher reads your writing. 

 

To avoid singular/plural disagreements, you must carefully proofread your work, asking yourself each time, “Do the nouns agree? Do the adjectives agree? Have I used singular with plural or plural with singular?” (see proofreading steps in Chapter VII)

​

2. Subject and Verb Agreement

 

Another fundamental concept in English grammar is that the verb and the subject must agree in case (person) and number (singular or plural). The conjugation tables you will find in your grammar books demonstrate this. For each person (first person, second person, third person, see Chapter II), singular and plural, there is often a different form of the verb. 

For example, the third person singular (he, she, it, singular nouns) most often ends in the letter S.

 

Examples: He drinks, it walks, she dances, 

the car moves…etc.

More about Subject and Verb Agreement: If there is a singular noun, then there should be a singular verb. If there is a plural noun, then there should be a plural verb:

 

a. For example, another student wrote, in an essay about inter-racial marriages:

 

Incorrect: “As a matter of fact, there is a large amount of intergroups mixing their race and culture.”

 

First of all, intergroups is not a word.  The correct phrase is inter-racial groups.

 

Second, the singular verb form is (present tense of the verb to be) does not agree with the subject inter-racial groups (which is plural) and should be corrected as follows:

 

Correct: “As a matter of fact, there are a large number of inter-racial groups mixing their race and culture.”

 

b. In another example, a student wrote a sentence about society. Please note that this word is a collective noun, meaning that although it designates a group of people, it takes the third person singular (just like he, she and it), rather than third person plural (just like they). The student wrote:

​

Incorrect: “Society keep changing in response to how teenagers act.”

 

Here, the verb form keep (from the verb to keep, one meaning of which is to continue) has not been written in the singular form to accommodate the singular subject society.

 

Correct: “Society keeps changing in response to how teenagers act.” 

 

Or, depending on what the writer wanted to say, the sentence could be rewritten in the past tense as: 

 

Correct: “Society kept changing in response to how teenagers act.”

 

c. Another student wrote:

 

Incorrect: “However, technology also have its bad side.”

 

Here, the subject technology is singular but the verb have is plural. The sentence can be corrected using the present tense of the verb to have, as follows:

 

Correct: “However, technology also has its bad side.”

 

d. The last example comes from a student essay about “The Right To Be Different”, an American cultural value:

 

Incorrect: “The white and black men and women who gave testimony all said that the fact that they belong to another culture or carry a different skin color have not interrupted at all their normal life.”

 

First, what is the subject of the verb have?  It is “the fact that they belong to another culture or carry a different skin color”. 

 

The fact is a singular subject. Therefore, the sentence should be corrected using the singular form of the verb ‘to have’ which is has.

 

Second, the noun life refers to their (the pronoun that stands for “the white and black men and women who gave testimony”). This is a plural pronoun (with a plural antecedent, or, the word or words for which the pronoun stands). Hence, the plural form of the noun life is required, which is lives.

 

Correct: “The white and black men and women who gave testimony all said that the fact that they belong to another culture or carry a different skin color has not interrupted their normal lives at all”

 

3. Control over usage of verb tenses

 

Maintaining control over verb tenses is another major difficulty for students. Readers will find your thoughts difficult to follow if the tenses are not consistent. Remember, when you are writing you are creating a road map of ideas that the reader must follow (logically, conceptually) in order that they may understand you.

 

For example, a student wrote:

 

Incorrect: “Interracial relationships, or better defined as intermarriages, has been a major issue many years ago.”

 

First of all, the subject of the sentence, interracial relationships, is plural, not singular.

 

Furthermore, the verb form has been is the past progressive of the verb to be; indicating that the action referred to began in the past and is still continuing. This tense does not agree with the idea expressed by the phrase many years ago, which indicates that the action took place and ended in the past.

 

There is often more than one way to correct such an error, depending on what the student meant to write.

 

1. Either the grammar is incorrect because the tense used has been does not agree with the logic of the sentence, in that the action took place many years ago and should be correct as follows:

 

Corrected: “Interracial relationships, better defined as intermarriages, were a major issue many years ago.” 

​

2. Or the grammar is incorrect because the tense used has been does not agree with the logic of the sentence, in that the action began in the past and is still continuing and should be corrected as follows:

 

Corrected: “Interracial relationships, or better defined as intermarriages, have been a major issue for many years.”

 

The verb form have been of the verb to be and indicates that the action continues in the present. If the action were completed (no longer continuing), you could write had been a major issue.

            Hint: Begin your writing with the present tense!

 

I generally advise my students to remain in the same tense throughout their early attempts to write essays.  To make things easier for the student at the beginning, I usually suggest the present tense, but sometimes the past tense is required.

 

I explain to my students that staying in the present allows them to move back and forth in time easily, by using the simple future or the simple past tense.

 

Later, I tell them, when they have mastered these tenses, they can move on to more complicated temporal relationships (relationships having to do with time).  In other words, I tell the students to keep their writing simple in the beginning. What is more, I tell them that I know that they have complicated thoughts and they are used to (meaning comfortable with, or familiar with) expressing these ideas (often in their native language). 

 

However, I remind them that, for all human learning, there is a learning curve. I observe that one must crawl before on walks and then runs. I point out that that they are at the crawling stage now and need to build up their English expression skills before they will be able to express their more sophisticated ideas.

 

A Tip for remaining in the Present Tense:

 

Try writing in the present at first, allowing yourself the ease of staying in the same tense throughout your first few essays. Of course, when necessary feel free to use the past or future tenses. This will be easier to do when you begin in the present tense.

                                                

4. Prepositions

 

Prepositions include the words to, for, with, by, on, in, of, through and from, among others. They can be very troublesome, as certain prepositions belong with certain verbs.

 

For example, I tell my students we can:

 

1. talk to someone; as when I address you as your teacher in this book

2. talk with someone, as when you and a friend discuss something

3. talk of someone, as when I talk about Socrates and Plato

4. talk for someone, as when you represent another person

 

But we cannot:

 

1. talk through someone

 

1. talk by someone

 

1. talk from someone

 

1. talk in someone

 

1. talk on someone

 

Although they can be used as slang expressions, these constructions do not have a place in formal grammar.

 

Another example is that we can

 

sit on something, meaning to place oneself upon, as in, “Please sit on the chair”.

 

sit in something, also meaning to place oneself upon, as in, “Please sit in the chair”.

 

sit by something, meaning to place oneself down next to or alongside

 

sit with someone, also meaning to place oneself down next to or alongside

​

sit for someone, meaning take the place of someone

 

sit through something, meaning to endure something

 

But we cannot

 

sit from someone or something

sit to something or someone

sit of someone or something

 

The better grammar handbooks will contain a list of the most common prepositions and their correct usage. Look it up!

 

5. Articles: “a”, “an” and “the”           

 

In English, we constantly use these articles. We almost never use a noun without an article. Many new English speakers have difficulty with articles. Here my advice is, when in doubt include the article!

 

1. The article a is called the indefinite article in that it does not signify a specific item but rather refers to any of the type indicated.

 

For example: a dog indicates any dog, regardless of size, shape, breed, or any other characteristics of the animal.

Note: A changes to an before a vowel, as in an article, an oven or an idiot.

b. The article the is called the definite article in that it signifies a specific item.

 

For example: the dog indicates a specific dog. Not just any dog, but the particular dog that is being discussed or written about. 

Or the can indicate the category of all dogs, as in the sentence:

“The dog is a four legged animal.”

​

6. Denotation and connotation: Literal and figurative meaning.

 

As we have seen, English language words can have different meanings depending on how they are used. This is called the ‘literal meaning’ of a word. Essentially, this is the factual, exact, or accurate dictionary definition. This is also called the denotation; of the word, the sense, import, gist (slang), significance, implication, or substance of the meaning of the word.

 

However, English words (and sometimes expressions) often also have another type of meaning, called figurative meaning. This is the symbolic or abstract meaning of the term. This is also called the connotation of the word, meaning suggestion, implication, nuance, undertone, association, subtext, or overtone of the meaning of the word.

 

For example, the emotions that are associated with a word are part of the connotation. 

 

For example, when two people are in love, the dictionary (denotation) definition is that these two people feel great affection for each other. 

 

Yet, as people who have experienced love, we know that love is one of the two things (besides money) that can drive people crazy (that is, make them do things they ordinarily would not do).  Therefore, the denotation does not do the word justice. 

 

The connotation of the word involves the fact that people who are in love may well act differently, even if it merely means that their mood or the way they relate to the rest of the world is different.

 

7. Idioms, Proverbs, Aphorisms, Clichés 

 

There are a multitude of these expressions in the English language. Most grammar texts have a section listing the most common. 

 

As a writer, you should avoid the clichés and try to develop your own words to express your thoughts and observations. As a reader, you need to recognize and understand all these expressions.

 

Idioms are expressions that are unique to a specific language. 

 

For example, take the sentence, “Weakness in spelling is that student’s Achilles’ heel.”

 

In order to understand the meaning of the sentence, you must understand the idiom Achilles’ heel. This term means weakness, vulnerability, weak point, weak spot, vulnerable spot or failing. 

 

The idiom is an old one, originating in ancient Greek mythology: when Achilles was a young boy, his mother was able to dip him in a pool of magic water that made him invulnerable (unable to be harmed). 

 

When Achilles’ mother dipped him in the pool, she held him by the heel of his foot.  The spot where she grasped him did not touch the water and was not rendered invulnerable. 

 

Achilles grew up to be a great warrior (no surprise, because no one could harm him!) However, Achilles had a weak spot, his heel, and, when his enemies found out, they were able to defeat him. Thus, one’s “Achilles’ heel” is one’s weak spot. 

 

Proverbs and aphorisms are expressions that communicate accumulated wisdom, beliefs or superstitions, as in the following:

 

“Many hands make light work.” This means that if many people work together the work becomes easier. 

“Too many cooks spoil the broth.” This means that when too many people are in charge of something, the result may often not work out well.

 

“The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” This means that, although someone might be trying to help, often they can spoil the result (for example, because they don’t have enough information or because their good intentions conflict with another’s).

 

“An apple a day keeps the doctor away” This means that if you eat well and take care of yourself, you will be healthy and not need to see a doctor.

 

“A stitch in time saves nine.” This means that if you act swiftly enough in a situation, you might save a lot of later effort.

 

“Practice makes perfect” Which means the more you do something, the better you will become at it.

 

Clichés are expressions that have been used too often to describe some situation or circumstance. Writers only knowingly use a cliché when they can’t think of an original way of expressing themselves. College professors believe that students should not use clichés in their writing.

 

For example, the phrase, a dog is man’s best friend, is a cliché. So are the following:

 

“off the top of my head” (meaning without serious thought)

 

“from the heart” or “from the bottom of my heart” (meaning with sincere emotion)

 

There are several dictionaries of proverbs, clichés and idioms that are very useful for learning the meanings of these expressions.  Furthermore, as you begin to read more and more, you will come across these expressions in different places.  When you do, you should seek out an authority to help you determine the meanings.  In other words, 

 

Look it up!