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.