Monday, 19 August 2013

Quick Tips For Sentence Corrections-------Use of different words in sentences.

Some  Quick Tips For Corrections

SET ONE

·       Little, A little. The Little


1. Little is negative in sense and means ‘hardly any’ ‘or not much’: as


There is little water in the jug.
meaning There is  no water in the jug.


2. A little is affirmative in sense and means some quantity though not much; as


I gave him a little money.
meaning I gave him some money.


3.The little is both  in affirmative as well as negative in sense. It means not much but all of that much.


I drank the little water that was in the jug.Meaning I drank that little water that was in the jug.


·       Few, A few, the few.


1. Few is negative in sense and means ‘not many’He has few books. Meaning no  books.


2. A few is affirmative in sense and means some or in small number.
He purchased a few more books. Meaning some more books.


3. The few is both affirmative and negative and means not many but that small number.


He took away the few books that I had.

Meaning that number books was small and he took away that small number of books.


·       Farther & Further


Farther  is comparative degree of ‘Far’. It implies distance.

There is a temple at the farther end of this street.

His house is farther from school than mine.


Further means additional,  in addition to

The child could not walk further.


·       Later, Latest; Latter, Last


Later and latest are comparative and superlative degrees of late. These two relate to time.


I shall reach there later on.What is the latest news of the day?


Latter and Last are also comparative and superlative degrees but relate to order.


John and Smith are fast friends. The former is more intelligent than the latter.He was the last to come but the first to go.


·       Some, Any


Some is used in affirmative and shows quantity.
Any also shows quantity but is used in negative and interrogative.


I gave him some money.Did you give him any money ?Has he any money on his person? (any means some)He did the work without any difficulty. (means no)He did not like any of these dresses.He did not give him any money.


In exception cases some is used in interrogative sentences also.


Will you lend me some money?Have you some money in your purse?


·       Much, Many, Many a, a great many, No, None


Much implies quantity, and Many refers to number :
I have much work to do.


Many boys are at work.
Many a is followed by singular verb.Many a boy is at work.


·       ‘A great many’ implies a large number, it is followed by plural noun and plural verb.


A great many members were present in the meeting.



No is used when the noun it qualifies is expressed, but

None is used when the noun it qualifies is understood.


No man was present in the hall.

None attended the meeting.


·       Each Other, One another


Each other refers to two while one another to more than two.


John and Smith are quarrelling with each other.John, Smith and Peter are talking with one another.


·       The number of  & A number of


If the number of is used as subject, verb is singular &If a number is used as subject, the verb is plural.


The number of participants was very small.

A number of persons was ready to accompany us.



·       Less  &  Fewer

Less is used in case of quantity and Fewer in case of number.


No fewer than a dozen persons  were present in the meeting.

He paid me less money.


·       Words showing time like Morning evening etc.


Words like morning, evening, afternoon have preposition of ‘in’ before them.


He went to Delhi in the morning and shall  return in  the evening. I shall go to see him in the afternoon.


But words  like Noon, Midday, Midnight and daybreak have preposition of ‘at’ before them.


·       Use of word ‘Only’


The word ‘only’ should be preceded immediately prior to the word it relates to.

He only makes a noise in the class……incorrect.Here only qualifies ‘makes a noise’ which is not correct.Only he makes a noise in the class…….correct.


Here it implies that it is he only who makes a noise in the class.






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