Common Grammatical Mistakes in English

We have been learning English Grammar since our school days, and most of us will confess taking this subject lightly in comparison to other subjects. However, once we start working and communicating as professionals either through face to face talk, telephonic conversation, email or chat, we realize the need to use correct grammar to avoid miscommunication and embarrassment too. Thus, it is important to identify and correct grammatical mistakes irrespective of your designation or profile.

Here, we have compiled a few Common Grammatical Mistakes in English that can be easily avoided with some focus and understanding:

1.  Which vs. That:

Many of us are not aware where exactly to use ‘which’ and where to use ‘that’. To avoid this confusion, remember that… ‘that’ is a restrictive clause and ‘which’  is used before everything else. Yes, ‘that' is a restrictive clause, which means that it plays a very significant role to the noun it is referring to. E.g. The pen that is black in color is mine. On the contrary, ‘Which’ is a non-restrictive clause. It's absence will not affect the meaning of sentence. E.g. I bought a new pen, which is working fine. Here, it is understood that a newly bought pen will most probably work fine. So, we needn’t use the words…which is working fine.

2.  Who vs. Whom:

This is another common error that we all make knowingly or unknowingly. Remember that ‘Who’ is a subjective pronoun (used if the answer is he, she, it, they, we), whereas, ‘Whom’ is an objective pronoun (used if the answer is them, him, her, us). So,  the words 'who' or 'whom' depends on whether you’re referring to the subject or object of a sentence. When you are confused, in the answer substitute 'who' with he/she/they,  and in the second case, use ‘whom’. E.g. Who is your teacher? Ans: He is my teacher. E.g. Whom did you give the keys? Ans: I gave the keys to him.

3. Lay vs. Lie:

‘Lay’ requires a direct subject and one or more objects. Remember we lay something somewhere. E.g. I lay the pen on the book or in the morning, I laid the pen on the book. On the other hand, the word 'lie', doesn’t need any object. It's present tense is 'Lie' and the past tense is 'Lay'. E.g. The village lies between the hills and the forest. E.g. I lay on the sofa.

4. May vs. Might:

'May' refers to a real possibility, something that is more likely to happen. And 'Might' is more uncertain and a remote idea. E.g. I may go to the gym today. This means that there is a possibility that I will go to the gym today. Similarly, She may cook vegetables today. He might workout for 5 hours today. (which is far from reality). Similarly, he might go for boating in the rain.

5. Fewer vs. Less:

Though ‘less’ and ‘fewer’ both mean the opposite for ‘more’, both have different implications. ‘Fewer’ is generally used for countable nouns (nouns that can be quantified) and 'less’ is generally used for uncountable nouns. E.g. There are fewer biscuits in tiffin box than in the tin. You should make fewer mistakes in your next exam. E.g. A theoretical class is less effective than a practical one. This chapter is less important than the previous one.

6. Farther vs. Further:

Again, we tend to interchange these two words, which actually convey very different meanings. Let’s begin…The word 'farther' refers to a quantifiable distance and on the other hand 'further' refers to an abstract length which cannot be always counted. E.g. How much farther we need to drive to reach the main city? His house is 2 km farther than mine from our school. E.g. It is already getting late. Further I don’t have a vehicle to commute today. The earthquake further affected the drought-prone areas.

7. Whether vs. If:

This is another grammatical mistake that we often make without realizing it. Many times we use 'whether' and 'if” interchangeably. However, to your surprise, these are two distinct words with distinct meanings. We use ‘whether’ where there are two or more alternatives. E.g. Such as I still need to decide whether to attend the party. Mac wondered whether he locked the door. On the other hand, there are no alternatives with 'if'. E.g. If you study hard, you will surely achieve success. If you reach home on time, give me a call.

8.  Affect vs. Effect:

The tricky words ‘affect’ and ’effect’ have affected many of us since childhood and their effect is felt even today while writing emails or attending a business meeting. You must have got an idea, where the difference lies…'affect' is a verb in most cases and 'effect' is a noun. E.g. Tsunami affected the lives of many people. Annie’s career was affected by her health issues. E.g. The effect of Tsunami was disastrous. Annie’s short career span is an effect of her health issues.

9. Since vs. Because:

'Since' refers to time (how much time has passed). 'Because' refers to causation. E.g. Since two years I haven’t visited my native place. Since last Friday, I am suffering from cold and cough. E.g. Because he was hungry, he ordered for more pizza. He felt very bad because he wasn't selected for the basket ball team. Are you for a tutor to help you with English? Post your learning need here...