The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College The Grammar Business Part Three 7. Other Common Errors

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College 2 There is confusion between comprise consist of

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College 3 Both verbs mean the same thing but Consist is accompanied by ‘of’ Comprise isn’t followed by ‘of’

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College 4 And therefore you would say The team consists of eleven players –BUT The team comprises eleven players

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College 5 A common mistake is to write The team comprises of eleven players

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College 6 Quick test: which of the following sentences are correct? This cake mainly consists of flour, eggs, sugar and butter. The recipe comprises six items. My system comprises of first, a man and second, a woman. Your entire system consists rubbish. My confusion comprises not knowing when to use comprise and when to use consists of.

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College 7 Answers This cake mainly consists of flour, eggs, sugar and butter. The recipe comprises six items. My system comprises of first, a man and second, a woman.  Your entire system consists rubbish.  My confusion comprises not knowing when to use comprise and when to use consists of.

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College Next common mistake?

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College 9 Another common confusion is between imply and infer These verbs are used in similar places But their meaning is, in one sense, opposite If you ‘imply’ something, you’re on one end of the process If you ‘infer’ something, you’re on the other end

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College 10 To imply means to put a hidden meaning in

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College 11 To infer means to take a hidden meaning out

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College 12 So if I say What are you implying? I mean ‘what hidden meaning are you putting into what you say?’

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College 13 And if I say What are you inferring? I mean ‘what hidden meaning are you taking out of what I have just said?’

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College 14 Another significant difference between the two The verb ‘infer’ is often followed by ‘from’ And so I would say: “I infer from what you say that you don’t like me very much.”

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College 15 Quick test: which of the following sentences are correct? He implied three things: he didn’t trust her, he didn’t know her and he didn’t like her. She implied from this that she was going about the conversation the wrong way. Are you inferring that you don’t like me? She implied nothing; he inferred everything. The implications of what she said were plain enough: his inferences were wrong.

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College 16 Answers He implied three things: he didn’t trust her, he didn’t know her and he didn’t like her. She implied from this that she was going about the conversation the wrong way.  Are you inferring that you don’t like me?  She implied nothing; he inferred everything. The implications of what she said were plain enough: his inferences were wrong.

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College Next common error?

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College 18 Using ‘of’ instead of ‘have’ Here’s the sort of sentence where this happens She should have spoken to him - but then he should have spoken to her. Many people would write this as: She should of spoken to him - but then he should of spoken to her.

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College 19 Correct the following sentences: He had bought three of them but he could of bought four. If she had seen him, she could of told him. I really should of known. Of all the things to of happened, this is one of the worst.

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College 20 Answers: He had bought three of them but he could have bought four. If she had seen him, she could have told him. I really should have known. Of all the things to have happened, this is one of the worst.

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College And the next common mistake?

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College 22 Forgetting the ‘i before e’ rule Remember you learned this at school? It goes ‘i before e, except after c, when the sound is ee’ It’s an important spelling rule because some very common words have the letter combination ‘cei’ For example: receive, deceive, conceive

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College And the next?

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College 24 Using ‘a lot’ Many people use ‘a lot’ a lot It’s a very conversational expression so you shouldn’t use it in formal writing at all Instead you should use ‘a considerable number’ or ‘many’ But if you must use it, remember it’s two words, not one.

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College And finally

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College 26 Can you see what’s wrong with these sentences? Having opened the window, the wasp flew into the room. Being very fond of mint humbugs, I gave him the whole packet. Wagging its tail, I knew the dog was pleased to see me.

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College 27 You should notice that The first clause in the sentence e.g. ‘Having opened the window’ ought to describe the subject of the main clause - which is ‘the wasp’ But it doesn’t Having opened the window, the wasp flew into the room. The wasp didn’t open the window. Did it?

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College 28 And similarly e.g. ‘Being very fond of mint humbugs’ ought to describe the subject of the main clause - which is ‘I’ But it doesn’t Being very fond of mint humbugs, I gave him the whole packet. I am not fond of mint humbugs - he is.

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College 29 And therefore ‘Wagging its tail’ ought to describe the subject of the main clause - which is ‘I’ Wagging its tail, I knew the dog was pleased to see me. Who is wagging the tail here?

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College For a chance to revise these common mistakes Work through the exercises on Handout Six