108. Told and asked 

• Incorrect: I asked my servant to bring water. 

• Correct: I told my servant to bring water. 

• Incorrect: I told the teacher to excuse me. 

• Correct: I asked the teacher to excuse me.

 Use 'I told him to...' only towards a person to whom you have a right to give an order.

 Use 'I asked him to...' towards a person of whom you can or want to make a request only. 

 107. Thank you and please

 • Incorrect: 'I have a bad headache.' 'Please? 

• Correct: 'I have a bad headache.' 'I beg your pardon.' 

To ask people what they have said, we use

 'I beg your pardon' (formal) or 'sorry' (informal).

 ‘Please' cannot be used with this meaning. 

• Incorrect: 'Have you got a pen I could use?' 'Yes, please.' 

• Correct: 'Have you got a pen I could use?' 'Yes, here you are.'

We do not use please when we give things to people.

 • Incorrect: 'Thanks a lot!' 'Please' 

• Correct: 'Thanks a lot!' 'That's OK' Please is not used as a reply to 'thanks/thank you'. 

If a reply is necessary, we may say

 'Not at all' (rather formal), 

'You are welcome', 

'Don't mention it',

'That's all right' or 

'That's OK' (very informal).  

• Incorrect: 'Will you have some coffee?' 'No, please.' 

• Correct: 'Will you have some coffee?' 'Yes, please.' 

• Correct: 'Will you have some coffee?' 

'No, thank you.' 'No, please' is always wrong.

 'Yes, please' and 'No, thank you' are the polite replies when accepting and declining an offer. 

 106. Than and as Object pronouns (me, him, her etc) can be used after as and than, especially in an informal style.

 • She is taller than me. 

• He earns as much as her.

• She doesn't sing as well as him. 

In a formal style, we prefer subject + verb after as and than

 • She is taller than I am. 

• He earns as much as she does. 

• She doesn't sing as well as I do. 

Note that a subject form without a verb (e.g. than I) is unusual in this structure in modern English.

 • He ran as fast as me. OR He ran as fast as I did. (More natural than ‘He ran as fast as I’.) 

 105. Suggest 

The verb suggest is used with a that-clause or a gerund (-ing form). 

It cannot be used with a to-infinitive. 

• Incorrect: She suggested to consult a doctor. 

• Correct: She suggested consulting a doctor.

 • Correct: She suggested that I (should) consult a doctor. 

 103. Singular and plural nouns 

The pronouns another, anything, each, everyone, everybody, anyone, someone, somebody, no one, none, much, person, either and neither are  singular and should be followed by singular verbs. 

The pronouns all, some, most, many and people are plural and should be followed by plural verbs. 

• Incorrect: Every people know this. 

• Correct: Every man / everyone knows this.

 • Incorrect: Everyone in the class have handed in work. 

• Correct: Everyone in the class has handed in work. 

• Incorrect: Neither of the boys are correct. 

• Correct: Neither of the boys is correct. 

• Incorrect: Each of the boys were given a prize yesterday.

 • Correct: Each of the boys was given a prize yesterday. 

 102. Sincerely

 • Incorrect: Your sincerely... 

• Incorrect: Your's sincerely 

• Correct: Yours sincerely 

 101. Search and search for 

• Incorrect: When we searched it we found it. 

• Correct: When we searched for it we found it.

• Incorrect: I searched him. 

• Correct: I searched for him. 'I searched him' is only correct when it means 'I looked in his pockets' or something similar. 

 100. Scarcely...when 

It is wrong to use than instead of when in these sentences. 

• Incorrect: Scarcely had I reached the station than the train steamed out. 

• Correct: Scarcely had I reached the station when the train steamed out. 

When scarcely begins the sentence, the auxiliary had must come immediately after it. 

• Incorrect: Scarcely I had solved one problem when another cropped up.

 • Correct: Scarcely had I solved one problem when another cropped up. 

• Correct: I had scarcely solved one problem when another cropped up. 

 92. Positive or comparative? 

• Incorrect: He is becoming strong.

 • Correct: He is becoming stronger. 

• Incorrect: She is getting young. 

• Correct: She is getting younger. 

The sentence 'He is becoming strong' is of course correct English, but the English language has a special fondness for the comparative adjective, instead of a positive adjective, when growth or change is implied in a sentence. 

For example when we are talking of a boy's progress in class, we often say 'He is working better now' thinking of a time past when he worked less

 91. Participles

 • Incorrect: Having bitten the postman, the farmer decided to shoot the dog. 

• Correct: The dog having bitten the postman, the farmer decided to shoot it. 

 Here the first sentence means that it was the farmer who bit the postman and not the dog. 

The participle is a verb-adjective. 

It should be related to a proper subject of reference. 

If the subject is lacking or if a wrong subject is used, the whole sentence will be wrong.

 • Incorrect: Being a rainy day, we didn't go out. 

• Correct: It being a rainy day, we didn't go out. 

• Incorrect: Being too costly for him, he could not buy the watch. 

• Correct: The watch being too costly for him, he could not buy it. 

 90. On the whole and the whole of 

On the whole is used to sum up your opinion of something which is good and bad in parts.

 For instance, you may say, 'The script of the film was bad, but the story was excellent. 

On the whole I enjoyed it.'

 • Incorrect: It is a very good film. I liked it on the whole.

 • Correct: It is a very good film. I liked the whole of it.

 89. On time and in time

 • Incorrect: The meeting must start exactly in time. 

• Correct: The meeting must start exactly on time.

 On time = at the planned time; neither late nor early 

In time = before the last moment; with enough time to spare 

 88. Only 

The word only should be written in front of and next to the word or phrase it modifies. 

Compare:

 • Only John may play in the garden. (= John and nobody else may play in the garden.)

 • John may play only in the garden. (= John may play nowhere else.) 

• John may only play in the garden. (= John may play - but do nothing else - in the garden.) 

 87. On and in 

Use on when the meaning is clearly 'on top of'. Example: 'on a table'. Use in when 'on top of' is not appropriate. 

• Incorrect: He rides in a cycle. 

• Correct: He rides on a cycle. 

• Incorrect: He rides on a car. 

• Correct: He rides in a car. 

• Incorrect: He sat on a tree. 

• Correct: He sat in a tree. 

 86. Numbers 

Write the numbers of kings and queens in Roman characters.

 • Elizabeth II • King George VI Write ordinal numbers (first, second, third etc.) up to twelfth in words except in dates. 

• Incorrect: 

He came a 3rd time. 

• Correct: He came a third time. Write dates thus, 'May 12th' or '12th May' and not thus, 'the 12th of May' or 'the twelfth of May'.

 Write cardinal numbers up to twelve in words, except when telling the time.

 Write cardinal and ordinal numbers above twelve and twelfth in either words or figures as seems in each case the more convenient. 

 85. Nouns with identical singular and plural forms 

Some nouns have identical singular and plural forms. 

Examples are: sheep and deer. 

• This deer is hungry.

 • These deer are hungry. 

 84. Nouns with no plural forms 

Some nouns do not have a plural form.

 Examples are: scenery, furniture, wheat, dust, silverware, information, news, luggage, bread, advice, chess, chewing gum, equipment, grass, permission, publicity, rubbish, traffic etc. 

• Switzerland is known for its scenery. (NOT Switzerland is known for its sceneries.)

 • We bought some furniture yesterday. (NOT We bought some furnitures yesterday.)

 • Have you received any information? (NOT Have you received any informations?)

 • I packed my luggage. (NOT I packed my luggages.) 

• There are no loaves in this shop. (NOT There are no breads in this shop.) 

Nouns that do not have a plural form are usually treated as uncountable nouns. Most uncountable nouns have countable equivalents. 

Advice (uncountable) - a piece of advice (countable) Bread (uncountable) - a piece of bread / a loaf / a roll Equipment - a piece of equipment / a tool Baggage - a piece of baggage Furniture - a piece of furniture / an article of furniture Grass - a blade of grass Information - a piece of information Lightning - a flash of lightning Luck - a bit of luck / a stroke of luck News - a piece of news Poetry - a poem Travel - a journey / a trip Work - a piece of work / a job

 • We bought a piece of furniture yesterday. (NOT We bought a furniture yesterday.) 

• We heard a piece of news. (NOT We heard a news.)

 • I need a piece of equipment to fix this. OR I need a tool to fix this. (NOT I need an equipment to fix this.) • I am learning a new poem. (NOT I am learning a new poetry.) 

• He gave me some advice. OR He gave me a piece of advice. (NOT He gave me an advice.) 

 83. Nouns that do not have a singular form 

Some nouns do not have a singular form. Examples are: oats, cattle, pants, scissors, tongs, shears, trousers, binoculars, shorts and tweezers. 

We cannot say a pants or a cattle. 

• The tongs were by the fireplace. (NOT The tong was by the fireplace.)

 • Tweezers are useful when handling stamps. (NOT A tweezer is useful when handling stamps.)

 The singular aspect of the word is usually indicated by using 'a pair of'. 

Compare: 

• The scissors are in the drawer. 

• A pair of scissors is in the drawer.

 • The garden shears were used to clip the hedge. 

• A pair of garden shears was used to clip the hedge. 

• Trousers were hanging in the cupboard. 

• A pair of trousers was hanging in the cupboard.