COMMON ERRORS IN ENGLISH (PART 1)

COMMON ERRORS IN ENGLISH 

Who doesn't make mistakes? Every one does. As the title and the thumbnail say, this is the first write-up on Common Errors in English. Today, I am going to talk about 5 errors in English usage. It is entirely based on my experiences as a teacher. Being one, I do get to interact with a lot of people. Some of them are students; some of them are teachers. Just don't get offended if it turns out you have been making many of these mistakes. 

Let's begin.

1. Using ‘about’ with ‘discuss’

You should not use ‘about’ after ‘discuss’. For example,

'They discussed about their financial condition.'

Just drop the ‘about’. That’s it. 
'They discussed their financial condition.'

But, if you are really in love 😆😆😆 with prepositions, and want to use one, just say

'They had a discussion on/about their financial condition.'

2. Using ‘as’ with ‘consider’

I often come across people who make this mistake.

Now, the sentence, ‘Consider me as your friend’, might look innocent. But, it isn't. We don’t use ‘as’ with ‘consider’.

So, the correct sentence would be 

'Consider me your friend.'

3. It’s vs Its

Let me give you two sentences:

'Its Thursday tomorrow.'

'Its brown legs.'

Both these sentences are incorrect. Why? It’s because we didn’t use the apostrophe.

'It’s Thursday tomorrow.'

'It is Thursday tomorrow.'

'It’s brown legs.'

'It has brown legs.'

There you go. Remember, ‘it’s’ with the apostrophe is the shortened version of ‘it is’ and ‘it has’. So, it basically means that if you want to say ‘it is’ and ‘it has’, you can write ‘it’s’ with the apostrophe.

However, 'its' denotes possession, or ownership. 

For example,

'It's (It is) a tulip. Its petals are beautiful.'

4. Incorrect placement of ‘concerned’

'She went to Prof. Roy because she had to submit the assignment to the concerned teacher.'

This looks fine. Doesn’t it? Then? Well, the problem lies with the meaning this sentence conveys.

You see... If you place ‘concerned’ before the noun, it means someone is worried.

So,

'The decision is taken by the concerned teachers.' is a correct sentence. It means that the teachers were worried and, that is why, they have taken the decision.

But, if you place ‘concerned’ after the noun, it refers to someone who is associated with the task.

For example,

'She went to Prof. Roy because she had to submit the assignment to the teacher concerned.'

Here, the use of ‘concerned’ refers to the teacher who is supposed to deal with the assignments.

5. Use of a singular noun in the expression, ‘One of the +’

A lot of people make this mistake. So, focus.

'Stree is one of the hit film of 2018.'

This one is pretty easy to understand. It would be

'Stree is one of the hit films of 2018.'

In the similar manner, we can say

'one of the seats'
'one of the apples'

If you are preparing for competitive exams, 
try to get these books.

That’s it for today. I'll be back with the second write-up on Common Errors in English soon. 

Until next time, this is RB, signing off.

© RB