Use of Articles,Nouns,Pronouns Some important

rules
Rule1:Countable nouns take a or an:a in the case of countable noun giving out a
consonant sound,and an in the case of a countable noun giving out a vowel sound.
Examples.
1.He has written a letter to his friend.
2.I saw an elephant in the zoo.
3.Please give me a one-rupee coin.
4.He is an honest worker.
5.He is an M.B.A holder.
Rule2:Article The should be used with the names of the following
Rivers,mountains,monuments,great books,ocean,islands,descriptive names of
countries,newspapers,directions,unique things etc..
Examples:
1.The Ganges is a holy river.
2.Medicinal herbs are found in Himalayas.
3.The sun rises in the East.
4.The Gita is a sacred book of Hindus.
5.The U.S.A is the most powerful country in the world.
Rule3.The definite article TheShould be used with the superlative and comparative
degrees.
1.He is the strongest man in the group.
2.The more he works, the more he earns.
Rule4 :The definite article the is omitted with the names of
persons,games,diseases,days,months,etc.
Examples.
1.He plays tennis in the evening.
2. He has been suffering from malaria for the last two weeks.
3.Sunday is a holiday.
4.Ram is a brave boy.
5.He will leave for England in January.
Rule5:Dear, fish, sheep, swine, pice, apparatus, yoke, etc. are some of the nouns
which have the same form both in singular and plural.
Example.
1.His father had a hundred sheep.
2.Deer are grazing in the field.
Rule6:Some nouns like
bellows,scissors,spectacles,trouser,riches,drawers,remains,assets,breeches,credentia
ls etc..are used only in plural.
1.The mortal remains were consigned to the flames.
2.His trousers are torn and worn out.
3.Riches do many things.
However some of the nouns though plural in form are commonly used in singular.For
example, Mathematics, Politics, News, Mechanics, News, innings, wages etc.

Examples.
1.No news is good news.
2.Team India won by an innings.
Rule7:Some of the collective nouns like , People, cattle, poultry, gentry,offspring,
police etc.. are singular in form but always used as plural.
Example:
1.Catttle are grazing in the field.
2. she was the mother of many offspring.
Rule 8:Scenery,furniture ,information , poetry, mischief, advice etc.. are some of
the nouns used in the singular only.
1. They had too much furniture for the small apartment
2.The scenery of Kashmir is very charming.
3. The signal contained thousands of bits of information.
Rule9:Verbs like avail, absent, acquit, enjoy, reverse, resign, pride, exert etc. are
followed by reflexive pronouns.
Examples.
1.He absented himself from the meeting.
2.He will avail himself of this chance.
3.He acquitted himself creditably.
Reflexive pronouns are never used with the following verbs:
Keep,feed,break,qualify,smokes,spread,conceal, hide, qualify etc..
Examples.
1.He hid behind the bushes.
2.He fed on labours of others.
3.He kept away from college.
Rule10:When two nouns are joined by eitheror, neither.nor the verb agrees
with the subject nearest to it.
Examples.
1.Neither you nor he is to blame.
2.Either kamala or her friends have been responsible for this incident.
Rule 11:When two nouns are closely connected the apostrophes is added only two
the second;
Example:
1.Ram and Raghus house.
2.Anita and Aruns wedding.
Each of two or more nouns implying separate possessions must take separate
possessive sign;
Example :
1.Mohans and Haris farms.
2.Shellys and Keatss poems.
Rule12: A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in person,number and
gender.Where the pronoun one is used, it should be used throughout.

Example.
1.One must do ones duty well.
2.Every man must discharge his duty well.

English language common errors-Practice questions:

1.Many a man /have /been working / under me.
Ans.Change have to has. Many a is always followed by a singular noun and a
singular verb.
2.I have/two sister-in-laws/whose husbands /are settled in dubai.
Ans:Replace sister-in-laws by sisters-in-law.
3.In my youth I used to visit Sharmas and Chawlas company.
Ans: Delete S from Sharmas -rule 11
4.This girl /wrote an essay/so well that/her teacher was exceedingly pleased with
her.
Ans:Substitute an by the before essay.The sentence lays emphasis on essay.
5.Different/authorities defines/intelligence in/different ways.
Ans:Change defines to define to make it agree with plural noun authorities.
6.Everyone of the students/has brought/his/identity card.
Ans:Where the number is limited or is implied to be limted each one will be a better
usage than every one.
7.India is /one of the leading /film producing country /in the world.
Ans:Change country to countries.The word countries has not been used for
India but for countries which produces films and out of which India is one.
8.Let you and I /ponder over the basic/ question that students/do not get good
guidance.
Ans:Subtitute I by me.Let is always followed by objective form of pronoun.
9.None of two girls/ who were present/there appeared to be inclined / to listen to
sane advice.
Ans: Substitute none by neither.None is used in reference to more than two.In
reference to two ,neither is used.
10.None of us were /really very happy/when the guests/ got entry into the house.
Ans:Replace were by was.None takes a singular verb.But when none is used
alone,it takes plural verb.Eg:None are doing as bad as.
11.He didnt do anything;/he fed himself /on the /labours of others.
Ans:Delete himself after fed.See rule9.
12.Paradise lost is / one of the worlds epics/which have carved out immortal
/niches in the literary history of the world.
Ans: Add the before Paradise lost.See rule2.

13.The man and his horse/which you saw /on the road yesterday /are dead.
Ans:Change which to that .Relative pronoun referring to man and animal
together is that instead of which.

14.There were /ten women passengers in/ the cabin; they quarrelled with each
other/ over sitting space .
Ans:Change each other to one another .Each other is used in reference to two; in
reference to more than two one another is used.
15.Rahul, the proprietor /and the manager/of the firm, was deeply loved /by his
employees.
Ans:Delete the before manager.When two singular subjects refer to the same
person,only first one should be preceded by article.

Spotting Errors

Here we are sharing second part of "English language:"spotting error" for

bank exams". Before reading this make sure that you already read ENGLISH
LANGUAGE:"SPOTTING ERRORS" FOR BANK EXAMS(PART1). Some common errors
occur in the use of Adjectives and Adverbs are explained here.

Adjectives,Adverbs,Adverbial order-Some important rules.

Rule1.The comparative adjectives like inferior,superior,prior,posterior,preferable
etc. are followed by to
Examples:
1.Death is preferable to dishonor.
2.He is senior to me in service by five years.

Rule2:when two persons or things are compared with each other, the latter term of
comparison must exclude the former by the use other.
Example:
1.He is more intelligent than any other student of the class.
2.No other leader in the country is as popular as Jawaharlal Nehru.

Rule3:Less refers quantity only, whereas fewer denotes number.

Example:
1.No fewer than fifty persons were killed in the attack.
2.We do not sell less than one quintal of wheat.

Rule4:Use of Little, a little and the little.

Little-it has a negative meaning and means hardly any
a little-it has a positive meaning and means some, though not much.
The little- means not much, but all that is.
Example:
1.He has liitle knowledge of politics( means practically no knowledge).
2.There was a little milk left in the pot.(some, though not much).
3.He sold the little gold he got from his mother.(not much, but all that is).

Rule5:When two persons or things are compared , it is important to see that

comparison is between them only.
Incorrect:The population of Mumbai is greater than Delhi.
Correct:The population of Mumbai is greater than that of Delhi.

Incorrect:Shelleys poems are more lyrical than Byron.

Correct: Shelleys poems are more lyrical than that of Byrons.

Rule6:Adjectives should not be used instead of adverbs

Example:
Incorrect:He retuned quicker than I expected.

Correct:He returned quickly than I expected

Practice Questions for "English language Spotting Error".

1.Though the first portion/ of the book was dull,but / the later part was/ quite
interesting.
Ans:Subtitute but by yet or delete but. Though is always followed by yet or
simply comma.

2.Everyone agrees/ that Rahul is wiser than/all the members/ of the family.
Ans:Put other after all.Refer Rule2.

3.Watch /how careful /the sparrow knits /the straws into one another to form a nest.
Ans:Change careful to carefully to make it an adverb.

4.Like the commission has recommended/ in its / report the rules need to be
enforced more strictly.
Ans:Replace like by as.

5.Although he/ only earns eight hundred rupees a month,/ he manages to

support /his family adequately.
Ans:Change the position of only. Put it before eight hundred rupees. As a general
rule only or even should be placed immediately before the word it is intended to
qualify.

6.After toiling very hard/ over a long period/ he found/ he had hardly made no profit
at all.
Ans:Change no to any .Hardly is a negative word and hence should not be
followed a negative word.

7. It seems evidently/ to me that the visits they /made to the island /were not very
frequent.
Ans: Change evidently to evident to make it adjective.
8.I had/ gone/ to Calcutta/ to deliver few good.
Ans: Add a before few to make it positive.

9.He got to the top/ and was very disappointed / when he found that someone
else/had reached it earlier.
Ans:Replace very by much. Past participle is normally preceded by much as
present participle is normally preceded by very.

10. The students should / do their lessons regular/ from beginning /of the term.
Ans: Change regular to regularly to make it adverb of manner.

11.It is always easy / to talk about a /thing than to do /it ourselves.

Ans: Change easy to easier to make it a comparative degree.

12.I often gave/ him money and/ I gave /him few yesterday.
Ans: Replace few by some. Few denotes number and some denotes a quantity or
an amount.

13. My all hopes /were dashed to the ground/ when I came to know /that my son
had fallen in bad company.
Ans:Put all before my.

my all is a faulty expression. Rectify it as all my.

14. We seldom /or ever see / those happy/ who are selfish.
Ans:Replace ever by never. Seldom is a negative word and it must be paired
with a negative word.

15.Two first /chapters of this/ book are /very interesting.

Ans:Replace two first by first two.

Spotting Errors

Here we are sharing third part of "English language:"spotting error" for bank
exams". Before reading this make sure that you already read ENGLISH
LANGUAGE:"SPOTTING
ERRORS"
FOR
BANK
EXAMS(PART1) and ENGLISH
LANGUAGE:"SPOTTING ERRORS" FOR BANK EXAMS(PART2). Some common
errors
occur in
the
use
of Verb,
Infinitive
,verbal
Nouns,
Gerunds ,and Participle are explained here.

Common Errors in the use of Verb, Infinitive ,verbal Nouns,

Gerunds , Participle( Some important rules)
Rule1: In case of two nouns or pronouns connected by not only but also, the
verb agrees with the second noun or pronoun.
Examples
1.Not only the teacher but also the students were ready to go.
2.Not only the mother but also the children were laughing loudly.

Rule2:When two subjects are joined by as well as, the verb agrees with first one.
Examples.
1.The principal as well as professors was present in the ceremony.

Rule3:No future after temporal conjunctions. The clause beginning with until,
when, before ,after and if etc. remain in the present tense.

Examples:
1.If it rains he will not come.(not will rain)
2.When he goes there, he will meet his friend.(not will go)

Rule4:Either , Neither, each, every one ,none, must be followed by a singular

verb.
Examples :
1.Neither of his two sons is settled in life.
2.Either of these two boys is at fault.
3.None of the five girls has books.

Rule5: None when used alone takes a plural verb though it looks properly singular.
Example:None are so deaf as those who will not hear.

Rule6:If the singular subjects are preceded by each or every the verb is usually
singular.
Example:Every man and every woman was shocked at the death of Jawaharlal
Nehru.

Rule7:When the subject of a verb is relative pronoun, the relative should be refered
to its true antecedent or antecedents to regulate the number and person.
Incorrect: Shakespeare was on of the greatest geniuses that has ever lived.
Correct: Shakespeare was on of the greatest geniuses that have ever lived.

Rule8:When the verb comes before its subject it may agree with the first one.
Example:
1.Here is described the charm and the loveliness of the Srinagar valley.
2.Such was the tact, intelligence and heroism of the leader.

Rule9:present perfect tense , since it denotes present time, cannot be qualified by

any adverb or adverbial phrase denoting past time as last, formerly,
ago ,yesterday, etc.
Incorrect:I have met him yesterday .
Correct:I met him yesterday .

Rule10:Continuous tense in place of perfect continuous is incorrect when time is

mentioned or implied.
Incorrect: I am doing this work for2 hours.
Correct: I have been doing this work for 2 hours.

Rule11:The particle should not be left without agreement or with no agreement at

all
Incorrect:Trying to escape ,his enemy overpowered him.
Correct:As he was trying to escape ,his enemy overpowered him.

Incorrect:Being a cold day ,he could not go out.

Correct:Its being a cold day, he could not go out.

Rule12:If a pronoun precedes a gerund , it must normally be possessive.

Incorrect:I do not like him mixing with bad people.
Correct:I do not like his mixing with bad people.

Practice questions.
1.The Student were /officially told that they are /not to cross the road /against the
red light.
Ans:Change are to were. The verb in the reported part must agree in tense with
the verb of reporting verb.

2.Being a fine day /we went/ out for picnic /at Shimla.

Ans:Add it before being. Refer rule11.

3.She said/ that /she will help me /whenever I was in difficulty.

Ans:Change will to would in order to get it to agree with the past tense of the
reporting.

4.I have been knowing / him for the last four the last four years,/ yet I havent been
able to /establish a friendship with him.
Ans: Change have been knowing to have known. Verb of perception are not
normally in continuous or perfect continuous tense.

5.More leisure/ as well as an abundance of / goods are attainable / through

automation.
Ans:Replace are with is.When two subjects are joined by as well as the verb
agrees with the first subject.

6.You will not be allowed/ to go home/until you do not complete/ the job properly.
Ans: Delete do not .Until is negative . Hence use of double negative will be wrong.

7.Our manager does not believe / that we are/ working sincerely/ and with interest
for all these years.
Ans: Substitute are working by have been working.Refer rule10.

8.My elder brother and sister/ helps me / in/ my home work.

Ans:Change helps to help.The two separate nouns joined by and take plural
Verb.

9.If Preethi had worked hard/ she will/ have got/ the job she desired.

Ans:Replace will by would.

10.I am waiting / for you/ at this spot/ for the last four hours.
Ans:Replace am waiting by have been waiting .Refer Rule10.

11.Neither the master nor /the /servant are responsible /for this sad event.
Ans: Replace are by is.Refer Rule4.

12.Our priest say / if you pray sincerely /God will listen to /your prayers/
Ans: Change say to says to make it singular with singular subject.

13.None of my brothers are/ helping me /in/ my work.

Ans: Change are to is. Refer Rule4

14.Did I not told/ you that it was quite / necessary/ to be in time?

Ans:Change told to tell.The verb is used in first form with the helping verb did.

15.Motion sickness is affecting/ women more / often than men but/ the reason is
unknown.
Ans:Change is affecting to affects. Continuous tense is normally not used with
verbs of perception.