Has this happened to you.? You are listening to someone speaking and soon you lose the thread of what they are saying — because you are distracted by their grammatical errors, poor sentence construction, wrong method of splitting the sentence and repetition. Then you ask: “What was that person saying?” it is not difficult to speak without errors. “Errors in speaking” means your listeners will misunderstand you, or as in my case, will not pay attention to what you are saying. Faulty grammar and poor choice of words may lead your listener to think you are rude. Why do you have to say, “oh, no, that’s not what I meant!” Remember what Winston Churchill said: “All, men make mistakes, but only wise men learn from their mistakes.”
Here is a list of common conversation mistakes and the right way to speak those sentences:
Incorrect: My friend asked her that why she was late.
Right: My friend, asked her why she was late.
Incorrect: You should immediately inform him our mistake.
Right: You should immediately inform him of our mistake.
Incorrect: I will exptain you the what happened.
Right: I will explain to you, what happened.
Incorrect: He gave a speech which received nationwide attention.
Right: He made a speech which received nationwide attention..
Incorrect: She decided to give the exam.
Right: She decided to take the exam. [A teacher gives an exam, while students take the exam.]
Incorrect: There is no other alternative.
Right: There is no alternative.
Incorrect: She has learnt the speech word by word.
Right: She has Learnt the speech word for word.
[The phrase “Word by word” means “one word at a time “Word for word” describes the relationship between two sets of words. Word for word shows accuracy while word by word is about the method you use to learn something.]
Incorrect: Kiran secured only passing marks in English.
Right: Kiran secured only pass marks in English.
Incorrect: Hardworking children have a thirst of knowledge.
Right: Hardworking children have a thirst for knowledge.
Incorrect: My daughter pays more attention to music than study.
Right: My daughter pays more attention to music than to study.
Incorrect: Please see a dictionary for knowing the meaning of this word.
Right: Please consult a dictionary to find out the meaning of this word.
Incorrect: she has read just two fifth of this book.
Right: She has just read two -fifths of this book.
Incorrect: Please open your book on page fifty-two.
Right: Please open your book at page fifty-two.
[When you are referring to a particular portion of any page, it means you are talking about the text or content on that page and so you should prefer “on the page”. For e.g. The answer is on page 15. But, when you say “at page”, it means you are referring to entire content on the page.]
Incorrect: My mother likes the poetries of Ramanand.
Right: My mother Likes the poetry of Ramanand.
Incorrect: I have written the answer paper with ink.
Right: I have written the answer paper in ink.
[When you, write with something, it indicates your medium of writing or a tool that you use for writing. For e.g. Pen, pencil, chalk, etc. But, when you write in something, it shows your style of writing or the way (method) in which you want your writing to appear – either in ink, in gel etc.
Incorrect: I want a red pen to write.
Right: I want a red pen to write with.
Incorrect: My mother wilt teach you reading and writing Hindi.
Right: My mother will teach you how to read and write Hindi
Incorrect: Can you please tell me the cost of this book?
Right: Can you please tell me the price of this book?
[We tend to use ‘cost’ and ‘price’ interchangeably. When you purchase an item, the amount of money that you pay to the seller is a price. But the amount of money or expenses the seller spends to manufacture and market that product is its cost.]
Incorrect: We decided to pass away our time in the Library.
Right: We decided to pass our time in the library.
Incorrect: I beg pardon from you.
Right: I beg your pardon.
Incorrect: Please shut up! I have lost my patience.
Right: Please shut up! I have Lost patience.
Incorrect: Can I know the name of your favourite teacher?
Right: May I know the name of your favourite teacher?
Incorrect: Tomorrow, the classes will begin at 11 a.m. in the morning.
Right: Tomorrow, the classes will begin at 11 in the morning.
Incorrect: What is your good name?
Right: May I know your name?
Incorrect: The examination is approaching near and the syllabus is not yet completed.
Right: The examination is approaching and the syllabus is not yet completed.
Incorrect: Ask him to sit besides me while filling the admission form .
Right: Ask him to sit beside me while filling the admission form.
Incorrect: My neighbours son is in boarding.
Right: My neighbour’s son is in the boarding school.
Incorrect: The village girls go to school by foot.
Right: The village girls go to school on foot.
Incorrect: No Less than ten students were injured in the accident.
Right: No fewer than ten students were injured in the accident.
Picture Credit : Google