Grammatically yours

It's not uncommon to run into grammatical errors in day-to-day life at work and outside. Most people would agree. Some would cringe while some would just move on without paying any sort of attention. For a while now, I have been part of the former group. On occasions, I have just about managed to hold myself back and not make any comment. Correcting others is fraught with risk. While I am open to corrections and suggestions, not everyone is. Hence I silently suffer the traumatic experiences that come with terrible grammatical errors. Yeah, call me pedantic and captious. I don't have an issue with that. The term 'Grammar Nazi' has been coined to refer to those pompous humans who are finicky about correct grammar and usage. Again, I don't mind being called one. I decided, after much postponement, that I should try and discuss a few frequently committed, terrible-sounding, cringe-worthy mistakes. I shall aim to point out the incorrect usage and provide examples for each that will (hopefully) clarify the context. It is not an exercise in vanity, ladies and gentlemen! Instead, it is a humble request to one and all to learn and unlearn as is appropriate. If the error spree continues, I believe the language might actually spring to life and turn into a staunch advocate of 'linguistic euthanasia'. I know that last bit was random but guess you get what I mean.

1. Lose/Loose - I start with one of the most astonishing errors. There is absolutely no reason to misspell and use one in place of the other since they are completely unrelated. Lose is the opposite of win. Loose is the opposite of tight and is used to refer to anything that is free and unbound. Correct usage - Please lose the habit of using loose in place of lose. Such loose usage will not go unnoticed.

2. Reply/respond/revert back - There are two different errors to be discussed here. Let me start with the more obvious and common one. Whenever the words reply & respond are used, there is NO NEED to use the word back. The prefix 're' serves the purpose itself. So, never use I must reply back to his mail. Instead, say I must respond/reply to his mail. Now the second mistake - usage of the word revert. This word is often incorrectly used in place of reply/respond. Let's take an example. I shall revert to you on this issue. Firstly, revert does not mean reply/respond. Revert means to go back to an earlier state/position/statement/strategy. An example would be - Following the injury to Neymar, Scolari was forced to revert to the 4-3-3 formation. So don't ever use revert in place of reply/respond and compound the error by adding a 'back' following the word.

3. Your/You're - The use of the apostrophe is risky unless one is certain about his/her grammar. When in doubt, it is best to avoid an apostrophe. However, for those who seek adventure, read on. The word your is used to point to something that belongs to you. For example, I could say - Where is your book? How is your preparation coming along? The word you're, however, is nothing but a shortened form of 'you are'. An example sentence would be - If you're tired, you should consider taking a rest.

4. Many/much - An interesting error. People with fairly impressive grammatical know-how have blundered on this front. Many is used when it is followed by a 'countable' quantity. Many runs, many wickets, many people etc. However, much is used along with words that are 'non countable'. Examples include much knowledge, much emotion etc. Never use - He knows much people. It's always many people.

5. Amount/Number - A concept similar to the previous one. Use number whenever you can count and amount in scenarios when the word that follows cannot be counted. The correct usage would be number of coins but amount of money. And all you 'legendary' commentators out there who enlighten us with their brilliant, insightful lines - it's number of runs and number of wickets. Quit using amount of runs, amount of matches. As far as I know, it's incorrect!

6. Less/Fewer - An extension of the same concept. Use fewer when you can count and less in sentences where the word that follows cannot be counted. Lesser money but fewer coins, lesser respect but fewer friends.

7. Don't/doesn't - Another of those errors that almost always passes by unnoticed. This is a classic subject verb agreement error. Use doesn't with the singular forms - he/she and don't with the plural form - they. However, when the pronoun is I/you, always use don't. Example - He doesn't believe in working hard. I don't agree with his views.

8. Went/gone - It does not seem like a common error but believe me, it does occur with an alarmingly high frequency. Went is the direct past tense of 'go'. So an example would be - he went to the movie yesterday. On the other hand, gone is a part participle form of 'to go'. The usage would be - He had gone home by the time I arrived. I have gone to that city before. Never use 'he had went'.

9. Its/It’s – Lets/Let’s - Yet again, the apostrophe strikes. It's refers to 'it is'. Let's refers to 'let us'. One's refers to 'one is'. Examples - It's a great day today. Let's go out in the evening. One's supposed to stay home during a curfew. However, its is a possessive form like his/her. Example - The dog is sleeping in its kennel. Lets is used in a similar manner too. Example - The school lets the students take a week off before the final exams.

10. Their/there/they’re - They're stands for they are. Example - They're happy to travel to Bangalore next week. 'There' can be used in various contexts. Examples include - there is a dog outside the house. Keep the book there. 'Their' is a possessive form. He brought their book today. Their performance in this tournament has been encouraging.

11. Than/from - Less common but does crop up occasionally. Than is more often used in a comparative sense. Example - Jim's performance on this exam is better than Tom's. From (and not than) is used to indicate some kind of a difference. Example - His taste in music is different from mine. Ideally don't use 'different than' even though American English seems to accept the usage of different than.

12. I/me/myself - I is the nominative case and is used as the subject. Example - John and I are going out. I am responsible for this incident. 'Me' is used as an object form always. Never say 'Ram and me'. Instead - She gifted me a book. My friends dropped me off at the airport. 'Myself' is a reflexive pronoun. So it is mighty inappropriate to say 'Myself is X' when asked what your name is. Instead - I hate myself for the stupid performance in the game is correct.

13. Was/were - Was is the past tense of is. Were is the past tense of are. There is generally no confusion on this front since was and were are used with the singular and plural forms of the nouns/pronouns. Also ensure that you say everyone/everybody was, none of them was. But the scenario where an error usually occurs is when the subjunctive (hypothetical, supposition) mood is used in a sentence. Never say 'If i was the king'. It is not possible (or is nearly impossible and is more like a wish). So say 'If i were the king'.

14. A/an/the - Now why on earth would someone mess up articles? Sometimes the simplest of rules can be the hardest ones to matter. Use 'A' before a consonant sound and 'An' before a vowel sound. Most examples are obvious. The interesting ones are 'a European' because the sound is that of 'Y'. It is also 'a year' and not 'an year'. People tend to believe that 'year' starts with an 'e' sound but it doesn't. There is a subtle difference. Also, use an MBA and an MS (starts with an 'e' sound) but 'a Master's'. Use 'the' when you are being more specific. Example - The car he came in was damaged in an accident. Also when 'the' is followed by a word beginning with a vowel sound pronounce 'the' as 'dhee'. Example - 'dhee apple, dhee elephant'. Otherwise pronounce as 'the'.

15. Quiet/quite - Ah, focus guys. Just a slight misplacement can change the meaning rather drastically. It is quiet inside the library. Something is not quite right today.

16. Between/among - Use between when you have two people involved and among when the number of people involved is greater than two. Example - It is extremely difficult to predict the result of a contest between the two teams. There is a consensus among all students in the college. Also use between whenever there is a clearly defined one-to-one relationship - like say agreement between the merchant and workers etc.

17. Of/off - Of is mostly used as a preposition. The Merchant of Venice is one of Shakespeare's finest works. 'Off' can be used as an adverb (turn off the fan before going out) or as a preposition (During a fight, he threw his brother off the cliff).

18. Said/told - Said is the past tense of say and told the past tense of tell. There are subtle differences between the two and can be clarified better with the help of a few examples. - He told me a story. Tell/told need an object. Said can be used without an object too. 'He said he was busy' but 'he told me that he was busy'. Also for quotes, said is used. Churchill said "blah..blah..blah".

19. Stationary/stationery - Very very common mistake. Stationary refers to something fixed or immobile. Example - The batsman's powerful shot flew past the stationary fielder. Stationery, on the other hand, refers to office supplies. Example - He went to the stationery store to pick up his monthly quota of office supplies.

20. Everyone/everybody makes (and not make) - Now this classic subject verb agreement discussion. When in doubt think singular. It's everyone/everybody makes mistakes (although make 'sounds' good). None of us likes (not like) to lose. Ram, together with, (along with) his friend, goes to the school. But when you use 'all', go with the plural. - All of us want India to win the final.

21. Who/whom - Toughie and often confusing. Typically, who refers to the subject in a sentence. Example - Who is coming home today? Who bought this car? Whom, on the other hand, refers to the object. Example - Whom are you going to pick in your team? It becomes easy to think of he/him first and then work backwards to decide if who/whom should be used. He is coming home today - so say Who is coming home? Similarly, you will pick him in your team. Hence use whom are you going to pick?

Of course there are many more errors that we encounter. But I guess this set deals with the ones that occur with high frequency. I believe this is quite a useful resource. Mastering grammar is not easy and requires tons of effort and constant reading. I certainly am striving to get better every day and remain hopeful that people around also do the same. If that happens, I can lead a cringe-free life and avoid writing such blogs.