PROBLEM VOCABULARY AND PREPOSITIONS

The following words are often misused by native english speakers as well as non native speakers. Sometimes the spelling are so similiar that people fail to distinguish between them. Others are pronounced exactly the same, but they are spelled differently and have different meanings. Words in the letter category are called homonyms. Study the words, parts of speecg (noun, verb, etc)

ANGEL (noun) –a spiritual or heavenly being. The christmas card portayed a choir of angels hovering over the shephereds.

ANGEL (noun) –a figure out formed by two lines meetin at a common point. The carpenters placed the plunks at right angle.

Confusingly related words

1. Advice, Advise

Advice : Opinion given someone (noun form)

Advise  : Act of giving an opinion (verb form)

• She can give you a good advice will make you to be a better person
• I can find the best way to advise your brother

2. Affect, Effect

Affect  : Mean influence (usually a verb)

Effect   : End result of influence (usually a noun)

• This supplement can affect my concentration on work
• The effect of Tsunami was devasting

3. Save, Safe

Save     : Mean to keep or to save (verb)

Safe     : Mean giving protection (adjective)

• Please save this document
• I feel safe with you

The following suggestion will be useful in helping you improve ytour vocabulary.

1. Read well-written books,magazines, and newspapers, magazines such astimes and newsweek.
2. Look up every word that are unfamiliar to you in the practice test in this book and in other readingmaterial. keep a notebook of an familiar words, write the word,thedefinition,and an original sentences in your notebook and study it often.

3. Study the problem vocabulary items and two-word verbs (verbal idioms) in this book.
4. review your vocabulary word notebook often,repetition will help you to remember the meaning of difficult words

STYLE IN WRITTEN ENGLISH

Participles As Adjective 

In English grammar, participial adjective is a traditional term for an adjective that has the same form as the participle (that is, a verb ending in -ing or -ed/-en) and that usually exhibits the ordinary properties of an adjective. Also called a verbal adjective or a deverbal adjective. In the text English Grammar: A University Course (2006), Downing and Locke use the term pseudo-participial adjective to characterize the "increasing number of adjectives [that] are coined by adding -ing or -ed not to verbs but to nouns." Examples include enterprising, neighboring, talented, and skilled.

 Comparative and superlative forms of participial adjectives are formed with more and most and with less and least--not with the endings -er and -est.

Examples

Some participles (like 'bored' or 'boring') can be used as adjectives. These are used in a slightly different way from normal adjectives. We usually use the past participle (ending in -ed) to talk about how someone feels:

• I was really bored during the flight (NOT: I was really boring during the flight).
• She's interested in history (NOT: She's really interesting in history).
• John's frightened of spiders (NOT: John's frightening of spiders).

We usually use the present participle (ending in -ing) to talk about the person, thing, or situation which has caused the feeling:

• It was such a long, boring flight (so I was bored).
• I read a really interesting book about history (so I was interested).
• Many people find spiders frightening (so they're frightened when they see spiders).

PARALEL CONTRUCTION

Correlative conjunctions are pairs of joining words that we frequently use to connect two ideas together in a sentence. In this lesson, we will define what a correlative conjunction is, learn the most commonly used correlative conjunctions, and discover rules for using them in sentences

The most commonly used correlative conjunction pairs are:

• both...and
• either...or
• neither...nor
• not only...but also
• whether...or

Example

·  I want either the cheesecake or the frozen hot chocolate.

·  I’ll have both the cheesecake and the frozen hot chocolate.

·  I didn’t know whether you’d want the cheesecake or the frozen hot chocolate, so I got you both.

·  Oh, you want neither the cheesecake nor the frozen hot chocolate? No problem.

·  I’ll eat them both - not only the cheesecake but also the frozen hot chocolate.

·   I see you’re in the mood not for dessert but appetizers. I’ll help you with those too.

Redundancy

means superfluity or using words unnecessarily or using words for a second time. 

Example-1: 

• If all of us cooperate together, we will succeed. 

In this sentence, the words cooperate and together have been used. But both these words convey the same meaning. 

One of the two words should be dropped in order to make the sentence a correct one. 

• If all of us cooperate, we will succeed. 
• If all of us work together, we will succeed. 

Both these sentences are correct ones. 

Example-2: 

• The accused was guilty of false misstatement. 

This sentence uses false and misstatement whereas both these words convey the same meaning. 

The correct sentence is: 

• The accused was guilty of misstatement. 

STYLE IN WRITTEN ENGLISH

Question

In grammar, a question is a type of sentence expressed in a form that requires (or appears to require) an answer. Also known as an interrogative sentence, a question is generally distinguished from a sentence that makes a statement, delivers a command, or expresses an exclamation.

In terms of syntax, a question is usually characterized by inversion of the subject and the first verb in the verb phrase, beginning with an interrogative pronoun or ending with a tag question.

Linguists commonly recognize three main types of questions: Yes-No Questions, Wh-Questions, and Alternative Questions.

EXAMPLES AND OBSERVATIONS

• "This is a question that no one particularly wants to hear, but, where did they put his head?"
  (Xander in "Teacher's Pet." Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 1997)
• "I know this is a silly question before I ask it, but can you Americans speak any other language besides English?"
  (Diane Kruger as Bridget von Hammersmark in Inglourious Basterds, 2009)
• "Question is, what did camouflaged robot mercenaries want with you? And how did you get inside the TARDIS?"
  (The Doctor in "The Runaway Bride." Doctor Who, 2005)

Say or Tell

Say and tell are irregular verbs. The past simple of say is said, the past simple of tell is told:

They asked if I was looking for work and I said yes.

Then he told me how he had got the job by lying about his age.

We use say and tell in different ways in reported speech. Say focuses on the words someone said and tell focuses more on the content or message of what someone said:

‘Hello,’ she said.

Not: ‘Hello,’ she told.

She told him they were going on holiday. (The focus is on the information.)

We use say with direct speech. We don’t normally use tell in this way:

He said, ‘I’m not paying £50 for that.’

Sequence of Tenses 

In English grammar, the term sequence of tenses (SOT) refers to agreement in tensebetween the verb phrase in a subordinate clause and the verb phrase in the main clause that accompanies it.

"The ordinary sequence of tenses," say Bryan Garner, "is to have a past tense verb in the principal clause when the subordinate clause is in the past tense." Sometimes, however, this sequence is violated "by having the principal verb in the present tense" (Garner's Modern English Usage, 2016).

As observed by R.L. Trask, the sequence-of-tense rule (also known as backshifting) is "less rigid in English than in some other languages" (Dictionary of English Grammar, 2000). However, it is also true that the sequence-of-tense rule doesn't occur in all languages.

See Examples and Observations below. Also see:

• Agreement
• Backshift
• Indirect Speech
• Inflection
• Notes on Verbs
• Past Tense

EXAMPLES

"Most commonly [sequence of tenses] is a case of a past tense in a main clause being followed by a past tense in a subordinate clause. Compare:

(a)   I assume [you are going to be late].
(present followed by present)

(b) I assumed [you were going to be late].(past followed by past)

ANTECEDENTS OF PRONOUN

In English grammar, an antecedent is the noun or noun phrase that a pronoun refers to. Also known as a referent.

More broadly, an antecedent may be any word in a sentence (or in a sequence of sentences) that another word or phrase refers to.

Despite the implications of the term (Latin ante- means "before"), "an antecedent can follow rather than precede [the pronoun]: 'For his first Pacific voyage, Cook had no chronometer'" (Concise Oxford ompanion to the English Language, 2005).

See Examples and Observations below. Also see:

• Anaphora (backward reference) and Cataphora (forward reference)
• Editing Exercise: Correcting Errors in Pronoun Reference
• Endophora and Exophora
• Faulty Pronoun Reference
• Free (Nominal) Relative Clause
• Generic Pronoun
• Head
• Paycheck Sentence
• Pro-Form
• Pronoun Agreement
• Reference and Referent
• Relative Clause 

Etymology
From the Latin, "to go before"

EXAMPLES

In the following sentences, certain pronouns are in bold print, and the antecedents of those pronouns are in italics.

• "When giving treats to friends or children, give them what they like, emphatically not what is good for them."
  (G.K. Chesterton) 
• "When Mrs. Frederick C. Little's second son arrived, everybody noticed that he was not much bigger than a mouse."
  (E.B. White, Stuart Little. Harper, 1945) 

Relative Clauses and Relative Pronouns

Relative Clause

This is a clause that generally modifies a noun or a noun phrase and is often introduced by a relative pronoun (which, that, who, whom, whose). A relative clause connects ideas by using pronouns that relate to something previously mentioned and allows the writer to combine two independent clauses into one sentence. A relative clause is also known as an adjective clause. There are two types of relative clauses: restrictive and nonrestrictive.

Here are a few examples:

·                     The book that she read was important for her literature review. (restrictive)

·                     The participants who were interviewed volunteered to be part of the study. (restrictive)

·                     Walden University, which is entirely online, has main administrative offices in Baltimore and Minneapolis. (nonrestrictive)

Relative Pronouns

	Referring to a human	Referring to something other than a human	Possessive
Restrictive	who, whom, that*	which, that**	whose
Nonrestrictive (with commas)	who, whom	which	whose

*In APA, per Section 3.22, use who or whom instead of that when referring to a human.

**Although both which and that are grammatically correct in restrictive clauses, APA prefers that for restrictive clauses. See APA Section 3.22 for more information on this.

·                     Take this quiz on who, that, and which to test your understanding of relative pronouns.

·                     Use relative clauses to create more sentence variety.

Restrictive Clauses

Restrictive Clause

A restrictive clause restricts or defines the meaning of a noun or noun phrase and provides necessary information about the noun in the sentence.  It is not separated from the rest of the sentence by commas. Restrictive clauses are more common in writing than nonrestrictive clauses. A restrictive clause is also sometimes referred to as an essential clause or phrase.

Here are a few examples:

·                     The student who sits in the back of the room asks a lot of questions.

·                     The results that I obtained may invoke positive social change.

·                     The journalist whose story I read yesterday has won prizes for her work.

When the relative pronoun functions as the object of the sentence, it can (and usually is) omitted from the relative clause.

Here are a few examples:

·                     The results that I obtained may invoke positive social change.

·                     The article that I requested did not arrive on time.

·                     The participants who I interviewed met me at the local library.

Nonrestrictive Clauses

Nonrestrictive Clause

A nonrestrictive clause adds additional information to a sentence. It is usually a proper noun or a common noun that refers to a unique person, thing, or event. It uses commas to show that the information is additional. The commas almost act like parentheses within the sentence. If the information between the commas is omitted, readers will still understand the overall meaning of the sentence. A nonrestrictive clause is also known as a nonessential clause or phrase.

Here are a few examples:

·                     I want to thank my father, Mark Smith, for all of his love and support.

·                                             With the nonrestrictive clause omitted: I want to thank my father for all of his love and support.

·                     The hypothesis, which I tested throughout the research, was rejected.

·                                             With the nonrestrictive clause omitted: The hypothesis was rejected.

·                     I have found the article, which I have been looking for.

·                                             With the nonrestrictive clause omitted: I have found the article.

While that is sometimes used in restrictive clauses, it is not allowed in nonrestrictive clauses.

·                     CORRECT: Minneapolis, which has a population of about 400,000, is the largest city in Minnesota.

·                     INCORRECT: Minneapolis, that has a population of about 400,000, is the largest city in Minnesota.
 

·                     CORRECT: I had to fix my printer, which I bought less than a year ago.

·                     INCORRECT: I had to fix my printer, that I bought less than a year ago.

A relative pronoun cannot be deleted in a nonrestrictive clause.

·                     CORRECT: Minneapolis, which has a population of about 400,000, is the largest city in Minnesota.

·                     INCORRECT: Minneapolis, has a population of about 400,000, is the largest city in Minnesota.
 

·                     CORRECT: I had to fix my printer, which I bought less than a year ago.

·                     INCORRECT: I had to fix my printer,I bought less than a year ago.

Reduced Relative Clauses

In academic writing, relative clauses are often reduced for a more concise style. This also creates more sentence variety. When reducing a relative clause, it is necessary to delete the relative pronoun and either delete or change the verb. Here are some examples:

·                     Gun control is a controversial issue that isabout personal rights. (be + prepositional phrase)

·                     The steps that werefollowed were explained in the Methods section. (passive)

·                     Other researchers who are exploring the same topic have discovered similar solutions. (progressive verb tense)

·                     Participants who were available to meet in my office completed their interview there. (be + able adjective)

·                     Some of the subjects lived in urban areas that hadwith high crime rates. (haveas a main verb is replaced by with)

·                     In this paper, I reviewed many research articles that addressedaddressing the topic of gun control. (linking verbs or verbs describing facts can be changed to–ing clauses)

·                     The changes that areto be implemented with the new curriculum revisions are outlined in the handout. (to clauses)