Palindromes are sequences that read the same when read from left to right and right to left.
eg. mom, dad, nun, Nitin, Arora, radar, pop, tat, madam, malayalam, did, eye.
egs. of sentence Palindromes:
1) Able was I ere I saw Elba
2) A man, a plan, a canal, Panama
3) Madam I'm Adam
4) Niagara O Roar Again
Generate more palindromes on your own.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
ANAGRAMS
Anagrams are jumbled words.
1) DICTIONARY = INDICATORY
2) ELEVEN PLUS TWO = TWELVE PLUS ONE
3) MOTHER-IN-LAW = WOMAN HITLER
4) GEORGE BUSH = HE BUGS GORE
Can you generate more anagrams of this sort?
1) How many meaningful words can be generated using all the letters of the word POST once?
2) How many meaningful words can be generated using all the letters of the word TIME once?
3) How many meaningful words can be generated using all the letters of the word STAPLE once?
Ans. 1) 5 (STOP, POTS, OPTS, SPOT, TOPS)
Ans. 2) 3 (EMIT, ITEM, MITE)
Ans. 3) 5 (PASTEL, PLATES, PETALS, PLEATS, SEPTAL)
Did you know that the sentence "THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPED OVER THE LAZY DOGS" has all the English alphabets in it?
1) DICTIONARY = INDICATORY
2) ELEVEN PLUS TWO = TWELVE PLUS ONE
3) MOTHER-IN-LAW = WOMAN HITLER
4) GEORGE BUSH = HE BUGS GORE
Can you generate more anagrams of this sort?
1) How many meaningful words can be generated using all the letters of the word POST once?
2) How many meaningful words can be generated using all the letters of the word TIME once?
3) How many meaningful words can be generated using all the letters of the word STAPLE once?
Ans. 1) 5 (STOP, POTS, OPTS, SPOT, TOPS)
Ans. 2) 3 (EMIT, ITEM, MITE)
Ans. 3) 5 (PASTEL, PLATES, PETALS, PLEATS, SEPTAL)
Did you know that the sentence "THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPED OVER THE LAZY DOGS" has all the English alphabets in it?
10) Errors in Degrees of Comparison
There are three degrees of comparison:
1) Positive - (so, as)This movie is as good as that movie.
2) Comparative - (than)He is better than I am.
3) Superlative - This is the best book that I have ever read. (Climax - the highest degree)
eg.1) The trio kept the secret among (between, among) them. (Between - two, among - more than two)
eg.2) Of the two friends Ram and Shyam, the former (first, former) is smarter.
eg.3) Of the three subjects English, Hindi and Marathi, I like the last. (last, latter)
And this brings us to the end of the ERROR TERROR class. Some exams like SNAP,NMAT and CET might also test you on word spelling errors.
Is 'accomodation' spelt correctly or is it 'accommodation'?
1) Positive - (so, as)This movie is as good as that movie.
2) Comparative - (than)He is better than I am.
3) Superlative - This is the best book that I have ever read. (Climax - the highest degree)
eg.1) The trio kept the secret among (between, among) them. (Between - two, among - more than two)
eg.2) Of the two friends Ram and Shyam, the former (first, former) is smarter.
eg.3) Of the three subjects English, Hindi and Marathi, I like the last. (last, latter)
And this brings us to the end of the ERROR TERROR class. Some exams like SNAP,NMAT and CET might also test you on word spelling errors.
Is 'accomodation' spelt correctly or is it 'accommodation'?
9) Errors in sentence construction
The foll. words need the counterpart words whenever necessary:
Either ............or
Neither............nor
not..........but
not only..........but also
No sooner..........than
Hardly/Scarcely...........when
so.........that (whenever required)
If..........(then) (not compulsory)
eg. If Ram goes, then Shyam will go/ If Ram goes, Shyam will go.
1) This story is too good to be true.(Remove too)
This story is so good that it cannot be true.
2) As soon as the teacher entered the class, the students stopped shouting.(Remove 'as soon as')
No sooner did the teacher enter the class than the students stoppped shouting.
Either ............or
Neither............nor
not..........but
not only..........but also
No sooner..........than
Hardly/Scarcely...........when
so.........that (whenever required)
If..........(then) (not compulsory)
eg. If Ram goes, then Shyam will go/ If Ram goes, Shyam will go.
1) This story is too good to be true.(Remove too)
This story is so good that it cannot be true.
2) As soon as the teacher entered the class, the students stopped shouting.(Remove 'as soon as')
No sooner did the teacher enter the class than the students stoppped shouting.
8) Errors in Double Negatives
Words like 'no', 'not','never','neither','nor',cannot',"ain't",doesn't","weren't","wasn't","couldn't","shouldn't","hadn't","wouldn't","isn't","didn't" are all negative words.
There are words like 'seldom', 'hardly','rarely','scarcely','barely' which do not have the 'no' or 'not' in them but are also negative.
In the foll. sentences there are two negative words used, we need to remove one of them otherwise there will be an error of double negative.
1) He seldom doesn't come to my house.(Incorrect)
He seldom comes to my house.
2) She barely doesn't do her homework on time.(Incorrect)
She barely does her homework on time.
3) They scarcely weren't interested in the project.(Incorrect)
They were scarcely interested in the project.
4) Isn't there no other way of doing this project on time? (Incorrect)
Is there no other way of doing this project on time?
Isn't there any other way of doing this project on time?
There are words like 'seldom', 'hardly','rarely','scarcely','barely' which do not have the 'no' or 'not' in them but are also negative.
In the foll. sentences there are two negative words used, we need to remove one of them otherwise there will be an error of double negative.
1) He seldom doesn't come to my house.(Incorrect)
He seldom comes to my house.
2) She barely doesn't do her homework on time.(Incorrect)
She barely does her homework on time.
3) They scarcely weren't interested in the project.(Incorrect)
They were scarcely interested in the project.
4) Isn't there no other way of doing this project on time? (Incorrect)
Is there no other way of doing this project on time?
Isn't there any other way of doing this project on time?
7) Errors in Redundancy of words
Redundant words are unnecessary words that can be removed from the sentence.
1) She seldom ever comes to my house.(ever is redundant)
2) He is a most unique person. (most is redundant)
3) I am feeling hungry, sleepy, tired and thirsty(feeling is redundant)
4) I get up at 7 am in the morning (in the morning is redundant)
1) She seldom ever comes to my house.(ever is redundant)
2) He is a most unique person. (most is redundant)
3) I am feeling hungry, sleepy, tired and thirsty(feeling is redundant)
4) I get up at 7 am in the morning (in the morning is redundant)
6) Errors in Modifiers
Modifiers are words like adverbs and adjectives which modify other words.
When the modification does not take place correctly, then errors can arise in sentences.
a) Dangling Modifier
eg. Having finished his homework, the T.V. set was switched on.(Incorrect)
Having finished his homework, he switched on the T.V. set.
In such a case, it is as if the T.V. set finished the homework. We need to introduce the subject from outside.
b) Misplaced Modifier.
eg. Tired and thirsty, the heavy wagon collapsed along with the horse.(Incorrect)
Tired and thirsty, the horse collapsed along with the heavy wagon.
In such a case, the subject is there in the sentence but words may not be in the correct place.We need to reaarange parts of the sentence.
c) Squinting Modifier.
eg. Running quickly makes her breathless.
In the above sentence let us put a pause in different places:
1) Running quickly/ makes her breathless. (Whenever she runs very fast, she becomes breatheless.
2) Running/ quickly makes her breathless. (Whenever she runs a little, she becomes breathless very fast).
In the above cases, 'quickly' is a squinting modifier which modifies either 'running' or 'makes'. Therefore corrections as below need to be made so that the separate meaning are correctly depicted:
1) Running fast makes her breathless.
2) Running makes her breathless quickly.
When the modification does not take place correctly, then errors can arise in sentences.
a) Dangling Modifier
eg. Having finished his homework, the T.V. set was switched on.(Incorrect)
Having finished his homework, he switched on the T.V. set.
In such a case, it is as if the T.V. set finished the homework. We need to introduce the subject from outside.
b) Misplaced Modifier.
eg. Tired and thirsty, the heavy wagon collapsed along with the horse.(Incorrect)
Tired and thirsty, the horse collapsed along with the heavy wagon.
In such a case, the subject is there in the sentence but words may not be in the correct place.We need to reaarange parts of the sentence.
c) Squinting Modifier.
eg. Running quickly makes her breathless.
In the above sentence let us put a pause in different places:
1) Running quickly/ makes her breathless. (Whenever she runs very fast, she becomes breatheless.
2) Running/ quickly makes her breathless. (Whenever she runs a little, she becomes breathless very fast).
In the above cases, 'quickly' is a squinting modifier which modifies either 'running' or 'makes'. Therefore corrections as below need to be made so that the separate meaning are correctly depicted:
1) Running fast makes her breathless.
2) Running makes her breathless quickly.
5) Errors in Tenses
I am sure 'tense' means 'tension' to most of you but in sentences 'tenses' are very important as they indicate time.We also need certain aspects like 'Simple','Progressive','Perfect' and 'Perfect Continuous' to indicate how the action occurs in the Past, Present and Future Tense.
Let us see with an example of the verb 'go'
A) PRESENT TENSE:
Simple Present tense indicates universal truths, habitual actions.
eg. He goes to Career Launcher (everyday).
Present Continuous tense indicates an action that happens at the time of speaking.
eg. He is going to Career Launcher.
Present Perfect tense indicates the recent or unknown past time.
eg. He has gone to Career Launcher.
Present Perfect continuous tense indicates an action that started in the past but is continuing even now.
eg. He has been going to Career Launcher.
eg. I have been staying in Mumbai for the past ten years.
B)PAST TENSE:
Simple Past tense is used to indicate short and long events in the past.
eg. He went to the market.
Past Continuous tense is used to indicate two simultaneous actions in the past or an action happening at the specific time
eg. I was eating lunch when the doorbell rang.
Past perfect tense indicates that something occurred before another action in the past or something happened before a specific time in the past
eg. The child had slept before its mother reached home.
Past Perfect continuous tense indicates that something started in the past and continued until another time/ event in the past
eg. He had been waiting for half an hour before the train arrived.
(C) Future Tense
Simple Future tense indicates a specific time in the future when the action takes place
eg. I will meet him later.
Future Continuous tense indicates an action at a particular moment in the future
eg. I will be visiting the dentist at 9 a.m. tomorrow.
Future Perfect tense is used to indicate an action that is completed before something in the future OR to indicate the duration before something in the future
eg. By next year, I will have taken GMAT.
Future Perfect Continuous tense is used to indicate a continuous action that started at some point and continues into some point in the future
eg. The teacher will have been reading the novel for two hours by the time the train arrives.
Let us see with an example of the verb 'go'
A) PRESENT TENSE:
Simple Present tense indicates universal truths, habitual actions.
eg. He goes to Career Launcher (everyday).
Present Continuous tense indicates an action that happens at the time of speaking.
eg. He is going to Career Launcher.
Present Perfect tense indicates the recent or unknown past time.
eg. He has gone to Career Launcher.
Present Perfect continuous tense indicates an action that started in the past but is continuing even now.
eg. He has been going to Career Launcher.
eg. I have been staying in Mumbai for the past ten years.
B)PAST TENSE:
Simple Past tense is used to indicate short and long events in the past.
eg. He went to the market.
Past Continuous tense is used to indicate two simultaneous actions in the past or an action happening at the specific time
eg. I was eating lunch when the doorbell rang.
Past perfect tense indicates that something occurred before another action in the past or something happened before a specific time in the past
eg. The child had slept before its mother reached home.
Past Perfect continuous tense indicates that something started in the past and continued until another time/ event in the past
eg. He had been waiting for half an hour before the train arrived.
(C) Future Tense
Simple Future tense indicates a specific time in the future when the action takes place
eg. I will meet him later.
Future Continuous tense indicates an action at a particular moment in the future
eg. I will be visiting the dentist at 9 a.m. tomorrow.
Future Perfect tense is used to indicate an action that is completed before something in the future OR to indicate the duration before something in the future
eg. By next year, I will have taken GMAT.
Future Perfect Continuous tense is used to indicate a continuous action that started at some point and continues into some point in the future
eg. The teacher will have been reading the novel for two hours by the time the train arrives.
4) Errors in Subject Verb Agreement
Verb represents what the subject does; it must agree with the subject in number, person and gender
1) He runs, They run, The sun rises, The suns rise (Singular verb has a 's', 'es' after it)(Plural verb does not have a 's', 'es')
2) Ram and Shyam are going to the market.
Ram along with Shyam is going to the market.
The king, along with the queen, prince, princesss; together with his noblemen, courtiers and ministers; riding on horses, camels and elephants is coming to visit the villagers.(The verb should be 'is' and not 'are')
This is because 'and' is additive and takes a plural verb. However in sentences where subject 1 and subject 2 are separated by 'along with', 'together with','accompanied by','in addition to', 'as well as'; only the first subject is to be considered. The verb is singular if S1 is singular, otherwise it is plural.
3) Bread and butter is kept on the table.(Bread and butter refer to the same idea 'breakfast', used figuratively, singular verb 'is')
Sense and sensibility is a good book.
4) shoes, socks, trousers, spectacles, binoculars, scissors - a pair of
5) The chairman and secretary is negligent of his duty. (Here chairman and secretary refer to the same person with two different designations).
The chairman and the secretary are negligent of their duty. (2 different people)
6) Indefinite pronouns anyone,someone,everyone,no one,any,each,none,either, everything,something,anybody,neither,nobody always take a singular verb.
eg. Someone has done a shoddy job.
7) Indefinite pronouns, ‘some’and ‘all’ take a singular or plural verb depending on whatthey are referring to
e.g. (i) Some of the boys are playing in the park.
(ii) Some of the rice is left in the plate.
8) Collective nouns usually take a singular verb.
eg. The family is having dinner, the team is playing cricket, the team members are playing cricket, the team of cricketers is practising, the jury has taken a decision, the jury is unanimous, the news is read.
Exception - The jury are undecided. (The collective noun loses its collectivity - no unity when there is a division)
9) Nearest subject rule
Either the president or the minister is negligent of his duty.
Either the president or the ministers are negligent of their duty.
Either the ministers or the president is negligent of his duty.
10)Other rules:
1.When using as well as, except, in addition to, no less than, and with, the noun before these phrases determines the number..e.g
2.Measurements of money, time, and distance usually require a singular verb.
e.g.One hundred dollars is a lot of money for a jar of pickle.
3.When the word number is preceded with the word a, use a plural verb. When the word number is preceded with the word the, use a singular verbe.g.
A number of cars are parked in the compound.
The number of stars in the sky seems countless.
4.When 'none'means 'no one' or 'not one', use the singular form of the verb. e.g
None of them is able to do that job.
When 'none' means or suggests more than one thing or person, use the plural form of the verb.e.g.None are helpless because they can always try.
5.Here and there cannot be subjects. Therefore, if a sentence begins with here or there, look for the subject and write the correct form of the verb.
Here is my shirt. (shirt is singular)
Here are my shoes. (shoes is plural) .
1) He runs, They run, The sun rises, The suns rise (Singular verb has a 's', 'es' after it)(Plural verb does not have a 's', 'es')
2) Ram and Shyam are going to the market.
Ram along with Shyam is going to the market.
The king, along with the queen, prince, princesss; together with his noblemen, courtiers and ministers; riding on horses, camels and elephants is coming to visit the villagers.(The verb should be 'is' and not 'are')
This is because 'and' is additive and takes a plural verb. However in sentences where subject 1 and subject 2 are separated by 'along with', 'together with','accompanied by','in addition to', 'as well as'; only the first subject is to be considered. The verb is singular if S1 is singular, otherwise it is plural.
3) Bread and butter is kept on the table.(Bread and butter refer to the same idea 'breakfast', used figuratively, singular verb 'is')
Sense and sensibility is a good book.
4) shoes, socks, trousers, spectacles, binoculars, scissors - a pair of
5) The chairman and secretary is negligent of his duty. (Here chairman and secretary refer to the same person with two different designations).
The chairman and the secretary are negligent of their duty. (2 different people)
6) Indefinite pronouns anyone,someone,everyone,no one,any,each,none,either, everything,something,anybody,neither,nobody always take a singular verb.
eg. Someone has done a shoddy job.
7) Indefinite pronouns, ‘some’and ‘all’ take a singular or plural verb depending on whatthey are referring to
e.g. (i) Some of the boys are playing in the park.
(ii) Some of the rice is left in the plate.
8) Collective nouns usually take a singular verb.
eg. The family is having dinner, the team is playing cricket, the team members are playing cricket, the team of cricketers is practising, the jury has taken a decision, the jury is unanimous, the news is read.
Exception - The jury are undecided. (The collective noun loses its collectivity - no unity when there is a division)
9) Nearest subject rule
Either the president or the minister is negligent of his duty.
Either the president or the ministers are negligent of their duty.
Either the ministers or the president is negligent of his duty.
10)Other rules:
1.When using as well as, except, in addition to, no less than, and with, the noun before these phrases determines the number..e.g
2.Measurements of money, time, and distance usually require a singular verb.
e.g.One hundred dollars is a lot of money for a jar of pickle.
3.When the word number is preceded with the word a, use a plural verb. When the word number is preceded with the word the, use a singular verbe.g.
A number of cars are parked in the compound.
The number of stars in the sky seems countless.
4.When 'none'means 'no one' or 'not one', use the singular form of the verb. e.g
None of them is able to do that job.
When 'none' means or suggests more than one thing or person, use the plural form of the verb.e.g.None are helpless because they can always try.
5.Here and there cannot be subjects. Therefore, if a sentence begins with here or there, look for the subject and write the correct form of the verb.
Here is my shirt. (shirt is singular)
Here are my shoes. (shoes is plural) .
3) Errors in Parallelism
Parallelism basically demands adherence to a proper structure in a sentence. Words need to be in a correct form.
eg.1) Reena loves to sing, cricket and dancing (Wrong)
Reena loves to sing, play cricket and dance (Either use the to......to form or the ing.......ing form)(Correct form of the activity, consistency in the use of participles and gerunds)
eg.2) The children loved the merry-go-round, the roller-coaster, the giant wheel and the swinging (Wrong)
The children loved the merry-go-round, the roller-coaster, the giant wheel and the swing. (Use noun form throughout)
eg.3) All business students should learn word processing, accounting, and how to program computers (Wrong)
All business students should learn word processing, accounting, and computer programming (Parallelism of verbs)
eg.4) The French, the Italian, Portuguese and British are attending the concert. (incorrect)
The French, the Italian, the Portuguese and the British are attending the concert.
(Correct use of article or preposition throughout)
eg.5) The students hit upon an innovative, inspiring, motivating thought that was beneficiary. (incorrect)
The students hit upon an innovative, inspiring, motivating and beneficial thought.
(Parallelism in adjectives)
eg.6) I wish to either join IIMA or XLRI (Incorrect)
I wish to join either IIMA or XLRI.(Common verb 'join',it will come before either...or)
eg.7) I wish to take either my parents to the cinema or go by myself.
I wish to either take my parents to the cinema or go by myself.(Uncommon verbs 'take' and 'go')
eg.8)Those who read and travel are likely to be more knowledgeable than the people who read but don't travel.(Incorrect)
Those who read and travel are likely to be more knowledgeable than those who read but don't travel.(Parallelism in pronouns)
eg.9)Smriti is tall, fair, beautiful and angry. (Incorrect)
Smriti is tall, fair and beautiful.(Do not compare abstract with concrete)
eg.10)I have been to Paris and saw the Niagara falls. (Incorrect)
I have been to Paris and have seen the Niagara falls. (Consistency in Tenses)
eg.11)Peter is famous more for his ability than how big his muscles are.(Incorrect)
Peter is famous more for his ability than his strength.(Consistency in comparisons)
eg.12)Ramesh like watching movies more than his sister.(Incomplete comparisons)
Ramesh likes watching movies more than his sister does.
eg.13) He has both experienced the joys of innovation and the sorrows of redundant efforts (incorrect)
He has experienced both the joys of innovation and the sorrows of redundant efforts.
(Place correlative conjunctions immediately before the parallel terms)
eg.14) One must read good books if you wish to do well in English.(Pronoun shifts)
One must read good books if one wishes to do well in English.
eg.1) Reena loves to sing, cricket and dancing (Wrong)
Reena loves to sing, play cricket and dance (Either use the to......to form or the ing.......ing form)(Correct form of the activity, consistency in the use of participles and gerunds)
eg.2) The children loved the merry-go-round, the roller-coaster, the giant wheel and the swinging (Wrong)
The children loved the merry-go-round, the roller-coaster, the giant wheel and the swing. (Use noun form throughout)
eg.3) All business students should learn word processing, accounting, and how to program computers (Wrong)
All business students should learn word processing, accounting, and computer programming (Parallelism of verbs)
eg.4) The French, the Italian, Portuguese and British are attending the concert. (incorrect)
The French, the Italian, the Portuguese and the British are attending the concert.
(Correct use of article or preposition throughout)
eg.5) The students hit upon an innovative, inspiring, motivating thought that was beneficiary. (incorrect)
The students hit upon an innovative, inspiring, motivating and beneficial thought.
(Parallelism in adjectives)
eg.6) I wish to either join IIMA or XLRI (Incorrect)
I wish to join either IIMA or XLRI.(Common verb 'join',it will come before either...or)
eg.7) I wish to take either my parents to the cinema or go by myself.
I wish to either take my parents to the cinema or go by myself.(Uncommon verbs 'take' and 'go')
eg.8)Those who read and travel are likely to be more knowledgeable than the people who read but don't travel.(Incorrect)
Those who read and travel are likely to be more knowledgeable than those who read but don't travel.(Parallelism in pronouns)
eg.9)Smriti is tall, fair, beautiful and angry. (Incorrect)
Smriti is tall, fair and beautiful.(Do not compare abstract with concrete)
eg.10)I have been to Paris and saw the Niagara falls. (Incorrect)
I have been to Paris and have seen the Niagara falls. (Consistency in Tenses)
eg.11)Peter is famous more for his ability than how big his muscles are.(Incorrect)
Peter is famous more for his ability than his strength.(Consistency in comparisons)
eg.12)Ramesh like watching movies more than his sister.(Incomplete comparisons)
Ramesh likes watching movies more than his sister does.
eg.13) He has both experienced the joys of innovation and the sorrows of redundant efforts (incorrect)
He has experienced both the joys of innovation and the sorrows of redundant efforts.
(Place correlative conjunctions immediately before the parallel terms)
eg.14) One must read good books if you wish to do well in English.(Pronoun shifts)
One must read good books if one wishes to do well in English.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
2) Errors in Pronouns
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We have already seen that pronouns are very important. Let us study pronouns in detail.
A sentence usually has a verb. eg. Go.
In some case, there is both a subject and a verb.eg. The sun rises.There is no need of an object in a sentence.
Subject - Doer of an action/ speaker
Verb - Action
First person - The one who is speaking
Second person - The one who is spoken to
Third person - The one who is spoken about
Subjective pronouns refer to the subject (doer of action across all persons)
Objective pronouns refer to the object (the action is done on them)
Possessive pronouns indicate possession or belonging. eg. This is my book.
Reflexive pronouns - Here the subject is the same as the object.
SUBJECTIVE –
First Person Pronouns - I, we
Second Person Pronouns - you, you
Third Person Pronouns – he, she, they
Impersonal Pronouns – it, who, that
OBJECTIVE -
First Person Pronouns - me, us
Second Person Pronouns - you, you
Third Person Pronouns – Him, her, them
Impersonal Pronouns – it, whom
POSSESSIVE -
First Person Pronouns – my,mine,our,ours
Second Person Pronouns - your, yours
Third Person Pronouns – his,her(s),their(s)
Impersonal Pronouns – its, whose
REFLEXIVE -
First Person Pronouns - myself, ourselves
Second Person Pronouns - yourself, yourselves
Third Person Pronouns – himself, herself, themselves
Impersonal Pronouns – itself
a) Difference between 'who' and 'whom'
'who' is a subjective pronoun.'whom' is an objective pronoun.
eg. My uncle who is abroad is coming to India for vacations.(Here uncle is the subject).
eg. John is the actor whom everybody loves.(Here everybody is the subject and John is the object).
b) Difference between 'who' and 'that'
'who' is used for persons.'that' is used for animals, things and persons of lower respect. Hence it would be wrong to say ' My dog who guards the house.....'
The correct statement would be 'My dog that guards the house....'.But it is right to say 'The milkman that gets us the milk....'
c) Difference between ''its" and "it's"
"its" is a possessive pronoun."it's" is not a pronoun. It is a short form of "It is"
eg. It's growing dark.
eg. Its tail is black in colour.
d) Difference between 'that' and 'which'
'which' provides simple (general) information whereas that is used for a
restrictive clause or to make the meaning more specific.'which' is also used for animals and objects.
eg. Go get the red book that is on the table.
This sentence implies that there are many books in the room and you have to get a specific book viz, the red book on the table.(specifying or restricting the choice)
eg. Go get the red book which is on the table.
This sentence implies that there is a single book in the room (generalising)
e) Reflexive pronoun - Here subject is same as the object.
eg.I looked at myself in the mirror. (Here myself is a reflexive pronoun)(If you notice, there is no pronoun next to or very close to the word 'myself')
f) Emphatic pronoun - Used for emphasis.
eg. You yourselves have to complete the job on time. (Here yourselves is an emphatic pronoun, there is a pronoun 'you' close to 'yourselves')
g) Demonstrative pronoun - In the sentences below,'that', 'these', 'those' are demonstrative pronouns.
eg. I want that camera, I wish to purchase those pictures, I need to borrow these books.
Have fun and learn to identify pronoun errors.
Pronouns, prepositions and articles are very important error types in the Parts of Speech section
Friday, May 29, 2009
1) Errors in parts of speech
There are 8 main parts of speech:
a) Noun - Noun basically means name.Name of person, place, animal, thing, feelings/ emotions etc. are nouns. Nouns are of the foll. types: Proper noun, common noun, abstract noun and collective noun.
Proper noun - Proper or particular name of person, place, animal, thing, feelings eg. Rajesh
Common noun - Class name eg. boy, girl, furniture
Abstract noun - Name of feelings and emotions eg. joy, friendship, anger
Collective noun - a set of or a group of things eg. an army of soldiers, here army is a collective noun and soldiers is a common noun
Some difficult collective nouns:
a brace of ducks, a murder of crows, a babble of barbers, a gaggle of geese, an eloquence of lawyers, a bench of judges, a parade of elephants, a number of mathematicians, a watch of nightingales, a pride of lions, a leap of leopards, a parliament of owls, a crash of rhinoceroses, a congress of baboons, a constellation of stars, an archipelago of islands, a quiver of arrows.
Nouns can also be classified as countable and uncountable:
For countable nouns (like students, benches...) one generally uses 'few', 'fewer','number'.
For uncountable nouns (rice, milk, sand,oil, diesel, petrol) one generally uses 'less', 'lesser', 'amount'
b) Pronouns - (Pro-for) Pronouns are used in place of nouns. eg. he,she,it,they,them,themselves,yourself,himself,her,his,our
c) Verb - Verb denotes action. Without verb one does not have a sentence.
d) Adverb - Adverbs modify verbs.eg. She sang marvellously.
Here marvellously is an adverb.
e) Adjective - Adjectives qualify nouns. eg. red apples. Red is an adjective.
f) Prepositions - These come before nouns/pronouns and denote relationship between words.eg. The cat jumped over the wall. Here 'over' is a preposition
Other examples include in, on, at, over, above, below, beneath, underneath, across, through, beside
g) Conjunctions - These join words, phrases, clauses and sentences (as well as other parts of speech) eg. and, either, or, neither, nor, if, so, hence, because, moreover, therefore, since
Contrasting conjunctions - but, yet, inspite, despite, though, although, even though
Conjunctive adverbs - however, nevertheless, nonetheless, whereas
h) Interjection - Words expressing deep feelings. eg, Wow, Hurray, Alas, Oh
Others include the foll. elements:
i) Infinitive - to + (verb). eg. to sing
j) Articles - a, an, the. 'a' and 'an' are indefinite articles and are used for only singular elements.'The' is a definite article and can be used for both singular and plural. Did you ever wonder why it is 'an honest', 'an hour', 'a united', 'a unique', 'a year', 'a unicorn', 'an MBA' ?
k) Participle - Verb which stops acting as a verb and begins to act as an adjective. eg. He is a confused man (He himself is confused)
eg. He is a confusing man (He confuses others)
Normally 'confuse' is a verb. In the above sentences, confuse is used as adjective. Participles can be past participle and present participle.
l) Gerund - Verb which stops acting as a verb and begins to act as a noun. Gerunds are also called as Verbal Nouns.
eg. My mother approves of my singing on stage.
eg. Swimming is my favourite hobby.
In the above sentences, 'singing' and 'swimming' are gerunds. Possessive (my,our) pronouns are generally used with gerunds whenever necessary.
a) Noun - Noun basically means name.Name of person, place, animal, thing, feelings/ emotions etc. are nouns. Nouns are of the foll. types: Proper noun, common noun, abstract noun and collective noun.
Proper noun - Proper or particular name of person, place, animal, thing, feelings eg. Rajesh
Common noun - Class name eg. boy, girl, furniture
Abstract noun - Name of feelings and emotions eg. joy, friendship, anger
Collective noun - a set of or a group of things eg. an army of soldiers, here army is a collective noun and soldiers is a common noun
Some difficult collective nouns:
a brace of ducks, a murder of crows, a babble of barbers, a gaggle of geese, an eloquence of lawyers, a bench of judges, a parade of elephants, a number of mathematicians, a watch of nightingales, a pride of lions, a leap of leopards, a parliament of owls, a crash of rhinoceroses, a congress of baboons, a constellation of stars, an archipelago of islands, a quiver of arrows.
Nouns can also be classified as countable and uncountable:
For countable nouns (like students, benches...) one generally uses 'few', 'fewer','number'.
For uncountable nouns (rice, milk, sand,oil, diesel, petrol) one generally uses 'less', 'lesser', 'amount'
b) Pronouns - (Pro-for) Pronouns are used in place of nouns. eg. he,she,it,they,them,themselves,yourself,himself,her,his,our
c) Verb - Verb denotes action. Without verb one does not have a sentence.
d) Adverb - Adverbs modify verbs.eg. She sang marvellously.
Here marvellously is an adverb.
e) Adjective - Adjectives qualify nouns. eg. red apples. Red is an adjective.
f) Prepositions - These come before nouns/pronouns and denote relationship between words.eg. The cat jumped over the wall. Here 'over' is a preposition
Other examples include in, on, at, over, above, below, beneath, underneath, across, through, beside
g) Conjunctions - These join words, phrases, clauses and sentences (as well as other parts of speech) eg. and, either, or, neither, nor, if, so, hence, because, moreover, therefore, since
Contrasting conjunctions - but, yet, inspite, despite, though, although, even though
Conjunctive adverbs - however, nevertheless, nonetheless, whereas
h) Interjection - Words expressing deep feelings. eg, Wow, Hurray, Alas, Oh
Others include the foll. elements:
i) Infinitive - to + (verb). eg. to sing
j) Articles - a, an, the. 'a' and 'an' are indefinite articles and are used for only singular elements.'The' is a definite article and can be used for both singular and plural. Did you ever wonder why it is 'an honest', 'an hour', 'a united', 'a unique', 'a year', 'a unicorn', 'an MBA' ?
k) Participle - Verb which stops acting as a verb and begins to act as an adjective. eg. He is a confused man (He himself is confused)
eg. He is a confusing man (He confuses others)
Normally 'confuse' is a verb. In the above sentences, confuse is used as adjective. Participles can be past participle and present participle.
l) Gerund - Verb which stops acting as a verb and begins to act as a noun. Gerunds are also called as Verbal Nouns.
eg. My mother approves of my singing on stage.
eg. Swimming is my favourite hobby.
In the above sentences, 'singing' and 'swimming' are gerunds. Possessive (my,our) pronouns are generally used with gerunds whenever necessary.
The Ten Commandments of Sentence Correction
I know that most of you students might dread the word 'Grammar'. In this post, I would like to simplify Grammar rules so that you are able to do well in the Verbal Ability section of any Bschool test. There are 10 main rules for sentence correction:
1) Errors in Parts of speech
2) Errors in Pronouns
3) Errors in Parallelism
4) Errors in Subject verb Agreement
5) Errors in Tenses
6) Errors in Modifiers
7) Errors in Redundancy of words
8) Errors in Double Negatives
9) Errors in Degrees of Comparison
10) Errors in Sentence construction
lets see each of these error types separately.
1) Errors in Parts of speech
2) Errors in Pronouns
3) Errors in Parallelism
4) Errors in Subject verb Agreement
5) Errors in Tenses
6) Errors in Modifiers
7) Errors in Redundancy of words
8) Errors in Double Negatives
9) Errors in Degrees of Comparison
10) Errors in Sentence construction
lets see each of these error types separately.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Read for speed
Since CAT is going online, you can actually begin to practise reading online. I am mentioning some websites which you can browse through so that you can read across subject domains and
improve your reading speed
Politics
http://www.magportal.com/c/soc/intl/
http://www.buzzle.com/chapters/archives-234.asp
Geography
http://geography.about.com/cs/a.htm
http://www.ezgeography.com/
Economics
http://economics.about.com/cs/a.htm
http://www.europe-economics.com/pubs/articles.htm
Management
http://www.magportal.com/c/bus/strat/
http://www.see.ed.ac.uk/~gerard/Management/
Science
http://www.firstscience.com/site/archive.asp
http://www.sciam.com/
http://www.sciencedaily.com/
Happy reading
improve your reading speed
Politics
http://www.magportal.com/c/soc/intl/
http://www.buzzle.com/chapters/archives-234.asp
Geography
http://geography.about.com/cs/a.htm
http://www.ezgeography.com/
Economics
http://economics.about.com/cs/a.htm
http://www.europe-economics.com/pubs/articles.htm
Management
http://www.magportal.com/c/bus/strat/
http://www.see.ed.ac.uk/~gerard/Management/
Science
http://www.firstscience.com/site/archive.asp
http://www.sciam.com/
http://www.sciencedaily.com/
Happy reading
Read for speed
Religion/Mythology
http://www.buzzle.com/chapters/archives-238.asp
http://www.religion-online.org/
Philosophy
http://www.essortment.com/in/Philosophy.General/index.htm
http://www.prs-ltsn.leeds.ac.uk/philosophy/articles/index.html
Psychology
http://www.uncommon-knowledge.co.uk/psychology.html
http://www.articlesfactory.com/articles/psychology.html
Sociology
http://soc.sagepub.com/reports/mfr1.dtl
http://www.aboutsociology.com/sociology/List_of_sociology_topics
Literature
http://www.essortment.com/in/Literature.General/index.htm
http://www.buzzle.com/chapters/archives-251.asp
History
http://www.historynet.com/
http://www.essortment.com/in/History.Events/index.htm
http://www.buzzle.com/chapters/archives-238.asp
http://www.religion-online.org/
Philosophy
http://www.essortment.com/in/Philosophy.General/index.htm
http://www.prs-ltsn.leeds.ac.uk/philosophy/articles/index.html
Psychology
http://www.uncommon-knowledge.co.uk/psychology.html
http://www.articlesfactory.com/articles/psychology.html
Sociology
http://soc.sagepub.com/reports/mfr1.dtl
http://www.aboutsociology.com/sociology/List_of_sociology_topics
Literature
http://www.essortment.com/in/Literature.General/index.htm
http://www.buzzle.com/chapters/archives-251.asp
History
http://www.historynet.com/
http://www.essortment.com/in/History.Events/index.htm
Friday, May 22, 2009
Faculty at CL are friends, Results are guaranteed
Needless to say, the online test pattern does not discount or belittle classroom teaching. Career Launcher invests heavily in training of faculty. The Company has excellent and dedicated faculty who are experts in their own subject domain. These faculty regularly appear for all the B-School tests year after year and update themselves as well as the study material with changes in the test patterns. Faculty are mentors here – students can approach them and get their doubts solved. The student-faculty interaction is ever so rich and profound that even weak students manage to perform so well at entrance tests. Online practice is integrated in classroom teaching. Also the kind of analysis available post any test is amazing. Students can benchmark their performance with more than 60000 students throughout the country in the Mocks. Detailed analysis and feedback with scope of improvement is available to students. So accurate is CL’s Percentile Predictor that one can say with confidence that a student’s performance in CL’s Mock CAT’s is a mirror to his performance in the actual CAT. Success stories are been told and retold over here. This year one out of every 3 IIM students is a CL student. CL’s students have also grabbed all the top ranks in Maharashtra CET08. Don’t you want to be a part of the inspiring and winning team? Career launcher with its technological prowess and strong academic base can definitely make your dreams come true. No one else is as worried about your career as Career Launcher is. Leave others far behind in the race to the IIMs.
Tech savvy and more
Specific to CAT09, Career Launcher has always been stressing the fact confidently that the CAT will go online from this year. The Academic Phi Lab (the Content Development team of CL) has done excellent research – it has a database of more than a lakh questions which are tagged as easy, moderate and difficult. There have been more than 2 lakh submissions of online tests already. Students will have the freedom to generate their own tests. Even before students enroll with us, they take an online Diagnostic test to see where they stand and an analysis of their strengths and weaknesses is given to them by expert counselors and faculty. Students can also avail of online career counseling. As they go further in their CAT preparation, students can take a number of topic tests, review tests, section tests and mock tests online from the comfort of their own homes. Each student has an online SIS (Student Information System) where information regarding B-Schools, tests, complete analysis of tests etcetera is being continuously displayed. Students are encouraged to read e-books, newspapers, books and magazines online. Excellent infrastructure has been put in place – there are fully equipped computer labs at every CL centre. Products like Pegasus On Demand enable students to learn all concepts of entire lectures online. To make a long story short, Career Launcher is the only player that offers unlimited proctored mocks in a simulated environment. The test series package includes a huge battery of unlimited proctored and unproctored Mock CAT’s as well as Non-CAT mocks.
Career Launcher is ready to bell the online CAT. What about you?
Here I would like to speak of one company which is ready to bell the Online CAT.
Career Launcher India Limited is one edu-corporate that has been preparing students through the online mode for a decade. This company has technology and innovation running in its veins. CL is the only test prep company which is CAT Online ready. For the past ten years, CL has been conducting a number of tests, doubt sessions and lectures online for all its students. Training and testing has also been conducted online for CL’s other products like LST (Law School Tutorials).
Career Launcher India Limited is one edu-corporate that has been preparing students through the online mode for a decade. This company has technology and innovation running in its veins. CL is the only test prep company which is CAT Online ready. For the past ten years, CL has been conducting a number of tests, doubt sessions and lectures online for all its students. Training and testing has also been conducted online for CL’s other products like LST (Law School Tutorials).
LST
Hi Guys,
Ever heard of LST (Law School Tutorials) - the best preparatory school for Law entrance tests like CLAT. Go to www.lawentrance.com
Regards
Ever heard of LST (Law School Tutorials) - the best preparatory school for Law entrance tests like CLAT. Go to www.lawentrance.com
Regards
Online CAT
CAT Going Online - Luck is when preparation meets opportunity The race to the IIM’s has taken a new turn. CAT – the mother of all entrance tests – is in a new avatar. The toughest B-School entrance test for the premier IIM’s and other B schools in the country is taking a giant leap – from a simple Paper pencil mode to the virtual screen. The IIM’s have declared that CAT09 will be a CBT (Computer Based test). The IIM’s have been contemplating the online mode for quite some time now (since the infamous CAT03 paper leak) and it is for the first time in 2009, that the CAT will be conducted online.
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