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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
