COMMON ERRORS IN ENGLISH.   

                        1. NOUNS AND NOUN PHRASES.

                                                    INSTRUCTIONS.

Rule-1.

‘Rices’, ‘Corns’, ‘food’, are used to denote different kinds of rice, corn, food and not a large quantity of these items. Similarly ‘advice’. ‘hair’, ‘offspring’ , ‘furniture’, etc.. do not take ‘s’ after them unless the other meaning  of the word is intended. ‘Advice’ means counsel , but ‘Advices’ means information, ‘Sceneries’ denote different  kinds of scenery.

 

Rule-2.

The following nouns are alike in the singular and the plural  ‘fish’, ‘deer’, ‘sheep’ , ‘pice’, trout’, ‘cod’, ‘salmon’, ‘canon’ etc…

 

Rule-3. 

Following nouns are always used in the plural; Shoes, socks, bellows, tongs, stockings, fetters, riches, cares, bowels, victuals, eaves, innings, and letters etc.

 

Rule-4. 

The following nouns are plural in form, but are used as singular: alms, news, gallows, amends, ethics, politics, mathematics, means (meaning wealth) etc.

 

Rule-5.

 

Nouns expressing number and weight (when preceded by numerals) are not pluralized as ‘five dozen apples’, ;two score mangoes’, ‘ twelve stone weight’, five head of cattle’, ‘two hundred rupees’, three thousand rupees’, etc. But we say : ‘There were thousands of people in the fair’. ‘Hundreds of boys came to watch the match’.

Rule-6.

‘Politics’, ‘ Mechanics’, ‘Optics’, ‘Mathematics’, ‘Physics’, etc.These words always take an ‘S’ after them, but they take singular verbs.

 

Rule-7

There are other nouns that always take a plural form and a plural verb.

 

Rule-8.

Some nouns have the same form in the singular as well as in the plural, e.g ‘swine’, ‘sheep’, ‘grass’, ‘score’, ‘fish’, ‘salmon’, ‘canon’,. etc.

 

Rule-9.

Abstract , proper, and material nouns have no plural except when they are used as common nouns.

Rule-10.

Avoid use of the double possessive , e,g, your’s.

Rule-11.

To change a plural noun into the possessive case remember that:

a) If it denotes persons (‘men’, ‘ladies’) and does not  end in ‘s’ an apostrophe is added before the ‘s’.

e.g ‘Children’s books’, ‘men’s garments’ etc.

b) Noun denoting objects also take an apostrophe before the ‘s’, e.g  ‘Death’s toll’, ‘Life’s burden’.

c) Apostrophe are also used in the following familiar phrases: ‘Out of harm’s way’. ‘to his heart’s content.

d) In plural nouns ending in (s) a single apostrophe is used after the ‘s’ e.g. ‘girls’ college , ‘boys’ school’. etc

 

                                Examples