In present time, english has become a language of a large number of people in India. English language and its conversion with the local language and socio-cultural patterns, many superfluous expression has been developed, which are not acceptable in standard english. So english learners must be aware of such grammatical mistakes english and try to avoid using them while speaking and writing english.
Phrases or expression in english :-avoid grammatical mistakes
1.What to do: we are habitual to use this phrase in our day to day life,but it is not permissible in standard english .We should say; what am I to do?
2. The phrase family members. Many people use this phrase family members in their conversation, it is big grammatical mistakes in spoken english and often misused, but this phrase is incorrect. For example, His family members are not here. Instead we should say,: The members of his family are not here. It is also wrong to say ‘council members’ male members’ For instance, The male members of my family did not agree to this.Instead we should say: The men in my family did not agree to this.
3.On the contrary and on the other hand:
when two statements or ideas are opposed to each other, the second of these statement is introduced by ‘on the contrary‘ , ‘on the other hand’ implies a contrast or opposition of the first statement. The phrase ‘on the other hand’ is normally used when in the first part ‘on the one hand’ is expressed. Here is an some examples
- He is not my supporter; on the contrary he is my opponent.
- She has not finished his essays; on the contrary, she has just begun it.
- Failure on the one hand, and poverty on the other pained him much.
4.Addicted to
One thing you should remember, ‘addicted to‘ is always used in a bad sense. It is never used in a good sense .For example , we can never say,: He is addicted to singing.We can say, He is addicted to gambling. He is addicted to drink.
5. All right
We should keep in mind that these two words, should always be written as separate and we can not say together as ‘Allright’. It will be a grammatical mistakes in english. For example,
- Whatever you decide is all right with me.
- Not whatever you decide is allright with me.
6. Most of the people say ” I am reading in the tenth class,is incorrect.We should say I am in the tenth class.
7. Used to
Used to implies a past habit which now has been discontinued.Number of people used ‘used to” wrongly as an auxiliary to form of present tense denoting habitual action.So it is wrong to say, ‘We used to take our meals at ten’. Instead we should say ‘We generally dine at ten’.
8. It is a blunder to say that a man is ‘good in health‘. The correct expression is , ‘ in good health‘.
9. Find and find out: ‘Find’ means merely to discover, whether by accident or upon search ; but find out means making deliberate efforts to discover,so to find out a man means merely to discover him; and to find him out means to discover his true character or to detect some fault in him.
10. Lately and latterly
Though they are sometimes used interchangeably. The distinction between these two words should be understood well . Lately‘ means recently, without any suggestion as to a previous state of thing. Latterly also means recently,but it expresses comparison,and suggests a changes in situation or state of things . Examples –
- Have you talked to her lately?
- He was to remain active in the association, latterly as vice president,for the rest of his life…
Of a single individual act ,we should use lately, and not latterly because no comparison is involved.
12. No mention or no matter
when someone says thanks or thank you in return, we use these expression ‘ no matter; or no mention;.But the correct reply is ‘all right’ or that is all right.
So, these are the some common phrase and expression in English we should improve while speaking and writing.