COMMON GRAMMAR ERRORS
THERE VS. THEIR VS. THEY'RE They re: This is a short form of they are. E.g. They re the children of our neighbors. There: It can be used as an expletive to start a sentence or can be used to specify a place. E.g. I put the book there. There were many new students in the English classroom. Their: This is a possessive form of they. E.g. The parents left their son with the babysitter.
IT S VS. ITS It s: A short form of it is / it has It s wonderful to travel to new countries every now and then Its: A possessive form of it E.g. The school is having its monthly meeting on Thursday.
THAT VS. WHICH VS. WHO Who: refers back to a particular person E.g. Tom greeted the neighbor who lives next door That: can refer to either persons or things E.g. The book that I read last night was awesome The woman that I saw this morning is my friend s mother. Which: refers to animals or things, never to persons E.g. Have you seen the dog which was barking last night?
WHO S VS. WHOSE Who s = who is/has E.g. Who s going to Paris next week? Who s been to Paris before? Whose = belonging to a possession for people animals and things. E.g. Have you seen the man whose son is my classmate?
AFFECT VS. EFFECT Affect= means to influence. E.g. Pollution affects the environment. Effect= As a result/ A change that is a result or consequence of an action or other cause. E.g. There are many effects of air pollution on humans, animals and plants.
S VS. S s = belonging to a single person or object. E.g. The student s books are new. (One student). s = belonging to multiple people or object. E.g. The students books are new. (More than one student)
LAY VS. LIE Lay = to place or put. ( Lie, lay): It requires a direct object E.g. The parents lay down the lunch at 1pm. Lie = to recline. (lay, laid): It does not require a direct object E.g. Nour was so tired and she decided to lie down.
TO VS. TOO To = (preposition) used to express motion in the direction of (a particular location). E.g. Sara goes to the university by bus. Too = Can mean: To an excessive extent or degree or can mean: Also, or as well. E.g. I cannot drink the tea because it is too hot.
FEWER VS. LESS Fewer = a small number of. E.g. The classroom has fewer than 15 students. Less = to a smaller extent. E.g. He has less time to finish his work
MAY VS. MIGHT May: indicates a possibility E.g. He may have visited Paris before. Might: indicates uncertainty or doubt E.g. I might go to the party tonight.
NOR VS. OR Nor= (conjunction) nor is always used in the negative, we use after neither. E.g. She eats neither eggs nor cheese. Or= (conjunction) or is used to connect different possibilities. E.g. Is it sunny or cloudy today?
A VS. AN An: is an article that is used when the word starts with a vowel sound (a, e, i, o, u, y a) e.g. He ate an apple and an orange. A: is an article that is used when the word starts with a consonant e.g. He bought a new house and a car.
ACCEPT VS. EXCEPT Accept: is a verb that has several meanings: To hold something as true/ to receive something willingly/ to answer yes. E.g. My friend accepted my gift and she was happy. Except: The word except is most commonly seen as a preposition and it often means excluding or apart from e.g. I can eat everything except meat. However, it can also be used as a conjunction and it means but e.g. I would like to go to the party tonight, except I have a big exam tomorrow. Moreover, it can be used as a verb and it means to exclude e.g. You are excepted from the group.
BETWEEN VS. AMONG Between: is usually used to describe something being in the middle of two things. When used in this way, between is used with two separate, distinct things. e.g. The game is between the red team and the green team. Distribute the books between Sarah, Hala, Lana, and Majd. Among: The word among is usually used to portray the idea of being part of a group or in the midst of a group. Among is usually followed by a plural noun. e.g. There is a nice relationship among the employees.
FURTHER VS. FARTHER Farther: a measure of distance or length. E.g. The mall is farther away than I d thought. Further: more of E.g. We will discuss the research paper a little further during the next session.
IF VS. WHETHER If: It is used to introduce a conditional sentence. E.g. If I were you, I would buy a new car. Whether: is used to present alternatives not conditions. E.g. Sara doesn t know whether her brother would arrive next week or not.
MANY VS. MUCH Many: is used with a plural noun. If you can count it use many E.g. How many students do you have in the class? Much: is used with a singular noun. If you can t count it use much. E.g. How much time do we need?
YOU RE VS. YOUR You re: short form of you are. E.g. You re my best friend. Your: A possessive pronoun shows that something belongs to you. E.g. I found your cat in my back yard.
I VS. ME I: this is a first person singular subject pronoun. It refers to the person who performs the action. E.g. I will see you tomorrow. Me: this is an object pronoun. It refers to the person that the action is being done to. E.g. My mother gave me 50 riyals yesterday.
BEEN VS. BEING Been: is used after the verb to have E.g. I have been very busy lately. Being: is used after the verb to be E.g. These examples are being used in the article. Being a teacher is wonderful.
MAY VS. CAN Can: denotes ability E.g. I can go to the theatre with you. May: denotes permission E.g. May I have your attention please?
FEW VS. LITTLE Few: precedes plural countable nouns. (not many/ almost none) (more than few) E.g. The students have few pages to read. Little: precedes non countable nouns. (not much/ almost nothing) E.g. The students have little time left for the exam.
A FEW VS. A LITTLE A few: precedes plural countable nouns (some/ a small number) E.g. The students have a few pages to read. A little: precedes non countable nouns (some, a small amount) E.g. The students have a little time left for the exam.
ECONOMIC VS. ECONOMICAL Economic: Refers to the economy E.g. The country undergoes a bad economic and political conditions. Economical: Means not wasteful. E.g. My car is the most economical car in the world.
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