Following the immense popularity of the Most Common PSLE Mistakes List that I compiled last month, my O-level students have urged me to write a similar article for them. After weeks of painstaking effort, here it is! Even though the earlier list was termed ‘for PSLE’, I earnestly recommend all O-level candidates to read that list first. This is because the basic foundations of English built during primary school is a cornerstone to your success at O-level.
For enquiries about 2018 O-level English Exam Crash Course (max 5 students per group), please visit https://www.eventbrite.sg/e/o-level-english-exam-crash-course-tickets-45187037646?aff=eac2 or contact us at 9747-0937 now. Limited seats left!
Dangling Modifiers
This mistake happens when a descriptive phrase doesn’t apply to the noun that immediately follows it. It’s easier to see in an example
After declining for months, Mr Lee tried a new tactic to increase profit.
What exactly is declining for months? Mr Lee? In reality, the sentence was trying to say that the profit was declining, not Mr Lee. To fix this problem, try flipping around the sentence structure (though beware of passive voice):
Mr Lee tried a new tactic to increase profit after it had been declining for months.
Better, right?
Assure/Insure/Ensure
All of these words have to do with “making an outcome sure,” which is why they’re so often mixed up. However, they aren’t interchangeable.
“To assure” means to promise or say with confidence. For example, “I assure you that he’s good at his job.”
“To ensure” means to make certain. For example, “Ensure you’re free when I visit next weekend.”
Finally, “to insure” means to protect against risk by regularly paying an insurance company. For example, “I insure my HDB house because everyone does so”
To/Too
We’ve all accidentally left the second “o” off of “too” when texting in a hurry. In this case, the mistake goes beyond that, involving commas. Let’s review some usage rules.
“To” is typically used before a noun or verb, and describes a destination, recipient, or action. Take these examples:
My friend drove me to my doctor’s appointment. (Destination)
I sent the files to my boss. (Recipient)
I’m going to get a cup of coffee. (Action)
“Too,” on the other hand, is a word that’s used as an alternative to “also” or “as well.” It’s also used to describe an adjective in extremes. Have a look:
My colleague, Peggy, teaches at the university too.
She, too, is vegan.
We both think it’s too cold outside.
You might have noticed that there’s some interesting comma usage where the word “too” is involved. We’ll cover commas a bit more later, but when you’re using the word “too” to replace “also” or “as well,” the general rule is to use a comma both before and after. The only exception occurs when “too” is the last word in the sentence – then, follow it with a period.
Since/As/Because
People sometimes think these three words have the same meaning. But “since” and “as” refer to time, while “because” describes the reason for something.
It’s incorrect to say, “He went home since the play was over.” Instead you would say, “He went home because the play was over.”
But if you’re talking about timing, you’d say, “Since the play ended, he’s gone home.”
And if you say, “He went to the store as his brother dug the ditch,” it sounds like you’re saying: While his brother was busy digging the ditch, he was shopping.
However, if you want to explain that the reason he went to the store was because his brother was digging the ditch and couldn’t go, then you would simply say, “He went to the store because his brother dug the ditch.”
Nor/Or
Use “nor” before the second or farther of two alternatives when “neither” introduces the first. Think of it as “or” for negative sentences.
For example, you would say, “Neither my boss nor I understand the new program.”
On the other hand, when you use the word “not,” you can also the use the word “or.” So you’d say, “He is not skilled at math or science.”
Use of Commas
There are entire courses on correct comma usage, but let’s go over some of the most common comma use cases here.
To separate elements in a series.
Each element in a series should be separated by a comma. For example: “I brought a jacket, a blanket, and an umbrella to the park.” That last comma is optional. It’s called an “Oxford comma”.
To separate independent clauses.
You can use commas to separate independent clauses that are joined by “and,” “but,” “for,” “or,” “nor,” “so,” or “yet.” For example, this sentence is correctly written: “My brother is very smart, and I’ve learned a lot from him.”
An independent clause is a sentence that can stand on its own. Here’s how to test it: Would the second part of the sentence (following one of those coordinating conjunctions) make a full sentence on its own? If so, add a comma. If it doesn’t, leave it out.
To separate an introductory word or phrase.
At the beginning of a sentence, we often add an introductory word or phrase that requires a subsequent comma. For example:
In the beginning, I had no idea how to use a comma.
Or:
However, after reading an awesome article written by Ms Felicia, I understand the difference.
Other common introductory words and phrases include “after,” “although,” “when,” and “while.”
Semicolons
Semicolons are used to connect two independent clauses that, though they could stand on their own, are closely related. For example, you could use a semicolon in the sentence: “Call me tomorrow; I’ll have an answer for you by then.”
Notice that each clause could be its own sentence. But stylistically, it makes more sense for them to be joined. (If there’s a coordinating conjunction between the two clauses, like “and,” “but”, or “or” – use a comma instead.)
You can also use semicolons to separate items in a list when those items contain commas themselves:
There are two options for breakfast: eggs and bacon, which is high in protein and low in carbs; or oatmeal and fruit, which is high in carbs but has more fiber.
Using ‘they’ as a singular pronoun
This mistake is gradually being more common — and more accepted.”They” is strictly a plural pronoun. So it’s incorrect to say, “Everybody raise their hand.” Instead you could say, “Everybody raise his or her hand” or, better yet, “All the people raise their hands.”
Likewise, you wouldn’t want to say, “The team arrived really late at their hotel.” Instead you could say, “The team arrived really late at its hotel” or “The players arrived late at their hotel.”
Farther/Further
People often use “farther” and “further” interchangeably to mean “at a greater distance.”
However, in most countries, there are actually subtle differences in meaning between the two. “Farther” is used more to refer to physical distances, while “further” is used more to refer to figurative and nonphysical distances. So while Paris is “farther” away than Madrid, a marketing team falls “further” away from its leads goal. (Note: The word “further” is preferred for all senses of the word in the U.K., Australia, Canada, and elsewhere in the Commonwealth of Nations.)
The word “further” can also be used as an adjective or as an adverb to mean “additionally.” For example, “I have no further questions.”
Irregular verbs
The English language has quite a few surprises. We can’t list all the irregular verbs, but be aware they do exist. For example, no past tense exists for the word “broadcast.” “Broadcasted” isn’t a word. You’d say, “Yesterday, CNN broadcast a show.”
“Sneak” and “hang” also fall into the category of irregular verbs. Because the list of irregular verbs (and how to conjugate them) is so extensive, you’ll have to look into them individually
Ending sentences with prepositions
Prepositions are any words that a squirrel can “run” with a tree (i.e. The squirrel ran around, by, through, up, down, around, etc. the tree).
For example, “My boss explained company policy, which we had to abide by” sounds awful.
In most cases, you can just transpose the preposition to the beginning of the clause. “My boss explained company policy, by which we had to abide,” or better yet, rephrase the sentence to avoid this problem: “My boss explained the mandatory company policy.”
Lie/Lay
It’s incorrect to say, “I’m going to lay down.” The word “lay” must have an object. So you can say, “I lay this blanket on the bed.”
However — and this is tricky — “lay” is also the past-tense version of “lie.” So you can say, “I lay down on the bed yesterday.”
Passive Voice
If you have a sentence with an object in it, basically a noun that receives the action – passive voice can happen to you. Passive happens when the object of a sentence is put at the beginning of a sentence instead of at the end. With passive voice, your writing comes across as sounding weak and unclear.
Hold up. Re-read that last paragraph I just wrote. There’s way too much passive voice. See how it seems kind of jumbled and not quite punchy? Let’s try that again.
Passive voice happens when you have an object (a noun that receives the action) as the subject of a sentence. Normally, the object of the sentence appears at the end, following a verb. Passive writing isn’t as clear as active writing. Your readers will thank you for your attention to detail later. Make sense? Active voice makes your writing seem more alive and clear.
Whether/If
“Whether” means “this one or the other.” “If” refers to one thing that might or might not happen.
It would be incorrect to say, “Whether I have a beer, I’m going to go waterskiing anyway.” Instead you’d say, “If I have a beer, I’m going to go waterskiing anyway.”
On the other hand, you’d say, “I enjoy hanging out with my friends whether we’re drinking water or beer.”
Referring to a Brand or an Entity as “They”
My close friend, an ex-MOE examiner made me aware of this mistake. “A business is not plural,” he shared. “Therefore, the business is not ‘they.’ It’s ‘it.'”
So, what’s the problem with this sentence?
To keep up with their changing audience, Singtel rebranded in 2014.
The confusion is understandable. In English, we don’t identify a brand or an entity as “he” or “she” — so “they” seems to make more sense. But as that examiner pointed out, it’s just not accurate. A brand or an entity is “it.”
To keep up with its changing audience, Singtel rebranded in 2014.
It might seem a little strange at first, but once you start correctly referring to a brand or entity as “it,” the phrasing will sound much more natural than “they.”
Continous/Continual
“Continual” means something happens repeatedly but not necessarily all the time. “Continuous” means something never stops.
So you’d say, “He let loose a continual stream of obscenities,” implying that he stopped to take a breath at some point.
And you’d say, “The water gushed from the pipe continuously.”
Mixing up subject (and possessive pronoun) and verb agreement
This rule seems a bit counterintuitive, but most plural subjects take verbs without an “s.” For example, “she types,” but “they type.”
The pronoun agreement comes into play when you add a possessive element to these sentences. “She types on her computer,” and “they type on their computers.”
As a caveat, the pronoun “someone” requires “her or his” as the possessive.
Misplacing adjectives and modifiers
An example of a wrong sentence: “It was a red boy’s bicycle.” The sentence is incorrect because it implies that the bicycle belonged to a red boy. So think about how you’re assembling strings of words and check to see if the arrangement makes sense. In this case, you would say, “It was a boy’s red bicycle.”
For enquiries about 2018 O-level English Exam Crash Course (max 5 students per group), please visit https://www.eventbrite.sg/e/o-level-english-exam-crash-course-tickets-45187037646?aff=eac2 or contact us at 9747-0937 now. Limited seats left!
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