Rules of Correction

by

Muhammad Umair Akhtar

CSS-2019. PMS17/18
 1
• When two nouns are joined by
either – or
neither- nor
not only , but also
verb will be according to second noun

1. Neither Akram nor Aslam was present

2. Not only teachers but also headmster was
present
 2
• When two nouns are joined by ‘and’ , they
act as collcetive noun and plural verb is used
then.
• Akram and Aslam have arrived

• When two nouns are joined by ‘and’ , but they

represent a single person , then singular verb
is used
• The orator and advisor has arrived
• The orator and the advisor have arrived
 3
• Any is used when comparing more than two
objects
• He is more intelligent than any of 5 brothers
• Either = two
• He is more intelligent than either of the two
brothers
 4
• Each other = 2
• One another = 3
• Two wrestlers met each other
• Three wrestles met one another
 5
• Verb after relative pronoun ‘who’ , ‘that’ will
be used according to the noun before it
• It is he who has done this work
• It is they who have done this work

• Relative pronoun comes exactly after its

antecedent
• I have listened to the speeches of Qaddafi
who considered himself beset ( right)
• I have listened to the Qaddafi’s speeches who
considered himself the best ( wrong)
 6
• Same is followed by ‘ as ‘ , ‘that’
• Such is followed by ‘ as’
• This is not the same coat as mine
• This is such an interesting lesson as I have
never read.

• Who = human beings

• That, which = animals, non living things
• He is the person who helped me
• Panda is the animal that is faithful
 7
• One should be used till end
• One must be too busy in one’s work
• One must be too busy in his work

• Reflexive Pronouns are himself, myself,

yourself, itself, themselves . Reflexive pronoun
is necessary after transitive verb
• He availed himself of the opportunity
• Avail, revenge, resign, enjoy.
 8
• Reflexive pronoun always comes after the
Noun or Pronoun
• He himself did this (right)
• He did this himself (wrong)

• Few = Nothing
• A few = certain number
• The few = all
• He read few novels ( Didn’t read any)
• He read a few novels ( To some extent)
• He read the few novels he had ( all he had)
 9
• Same goes with little , a little , the little.

• Some = positive
• Any = negative
• He bought me some gold
• He did not buy any gold

• Adjective will come immediately after noun to

which it qualifies
• William , the conqueror , visited timbaktu
 Rules of Correction
by

Muhammad Umair Akhtar

CSS-2019, PMS 2017, PMS 2018
Lec -3
 10
• Latest = This is the latest news
• Later = He came later than me in the party
• Latter = Wasim and Imran are good sports
men , latter is PM right now

• Less = quantity
• Fewer = Numerical
• I drank no less than two seers of milk
• No fewer than 20 soldiers were killed
 11
• Farther = away
• Further = More
• What further suggestions do you suggest
• My home is farther than GC university

• Elder = Siblings
• Older = other people
• Jamal is elder to Aziz
• Akram is older than Aslam
 12
• Many a = singular
• Many a children is born every month
• When two adjectives come together, first one
becomes adverb
• Iam feeling excellent well ( wrong)
• Iam feeling excellently well.

• The come before whole

• Jamal read the whole book
 13
• If whole comes before proper noun, whole is
followed by of
• The whole of Arab world was affected due to
Arab Spring

• If two adjectives come in one sentence , the

smaller adjective come first
• I saw a new and beautiful book.
 14
• Both is followed by ‘the’
• He attended both the lectures

• If reflexive pronoun comes after both, then

of does not comes after both
• He lost both his books

• Than is used with comparative degree

• Akram’s knowledge is deeper than khalid’s
 Rules of Correction
by

Muhammad Umair Akhtar

CSS-2019
PMS 2017
PMS 2018
 15
• Adjectives ending at ‘ or’ take ‘to’ not ‘ than’
• Aslam is superior to Akram in rank

• In comparison , any is followed by other

• She has sweeter voice than any other singer

• The is used with superlative degree

• He is the cleverest of all boys.
•
 16
• In superlative degree , the other is not used
• Khalid is the most intelligent of all students (
Right)
• Khalid is the most intelligent of all other students
( wrong).

• Perfect, square, universal, eternal, empty,

extreme, round, unique, ideal, infinite,
complete. These words are never brought in
comparison.
• It is a more perfect technique ( Wrong)
• It is a perfect technique ( Right)
 17
• When two adjectives are used with a noun , if
one adjective is superlative , other will also
have to be superlative
• He is the fairest and richest man in town (
right)
• He is the fairest and rich man in city ( wrong)

• When two adjectives of a person are compared

, first one gets suffex ‘er’
• He is more brave than wise
 18
• Prefer and preferable are followed by ‘ to’
• He prefers oranges to mangoes
• Milk is preferable to tea

• Nouns singular in form , but plural in

meaning take plural verb
• Four dozen cost rupees 90.
 19
• Sumera as well as her sister was present
• Khalid as well as his friends were present

• Either, neither, each, every one must be

followed by singular verb.
• Neither of his two sons is handsome
• Either of his two sons is intelligent
• Mathematics, economics, physics, news, wages
. These words seem plural but are used as
singular
• Mathematics is his favorite subject.
 20
• If two words express one idea, singular verb will
be used.
• Bread and butter is the important food

• When plural verb denotes a whole unit , singular

verb is used
• Ten miles is a long distance
• Hundred rupees is a great sum

• Means is used according to meaning

• Many illegal means were adopted ( plural)
• The only means of getting success is hard work (
singular)
 21
• Books , novels are counted as singular
• Great Expectations is a novel written by
charles Dickens

• As is not used after name, consider, call ,

term
• I called him as a fool ( wrong)
• I called him a fool
 22
• As is used after Regard, describe, represent,
portray, define , mention, treat, depict
• I regard him as my elder brother

• Must= obligation, determination

• Ought to = Moral duty
 23
• Lest is followed by ‘should’
• That is followed by ‘May’
• I shall keep my promise lest you should be
deceived
• I shall keep my promise that you may not be
deceived
 24
• Use of conditionals

• If you work hard , you will pass

• If you worked hard, you would pass

• If you had worked hard, you would have

passed
 25
• In conditional sentences when wish is
expressed plural verb is used.
• If he were you, he would have come

• Would represents a habit

• I would wakeup early every morning
• Would is used to represent polite manners
• Would you mind telling me your name ?
 26
• Used to represents past
• I used to play cricket
 27
• Drown = living beings
• Sink = non living entities

• The ship sank in the sea

• Man drowned in the sea

 28
• We are looking forward to see you ( wrong)

• We are looking forward to seeing you ( right)

• Looking forward to is always followed by

gerund
 29
• I suggest you to kindly grant my application
• (wrong)

• I suggest you kindly to grant my application.

• In one clasue, adverb is associated with that

verb
 30
• Present gerund participle is not used with the
past

• He left for lahore on last Monday, arriving

there on Wednesday ( wrong)

• He left for lahore on last Monday and arrived

there on Wednesday ( right)
 31
• Trying to escape, his enemy attacked him ( wrong)

• As he was trying to escape, his enemy attacked him ( right)

• Provide the sense of completion to sentence.

• Some words when used in the start donot need sense of

completion

• Considering, touching, concerning, allowing, taking,

speaking, regarding

• Considering his sound health, he should have easily gained

the victory
 32
• Words like prevent, hinder, prohibit, persist,
succeed, fond, despair, think take gerund
after them

• Donot prevent him to read ( wrong)

• Donot prevent him from reading ( right)

 33
• If a pronoun comes before gerund, its
possessive case will be used in sentence.

• It is of no use you doing this ( wrong)

• It is of no use your doing this ( Right)
 36
• Overall alignment of sentence should be right
to bring out the clear sense of sentence.

• The giving to the courts the power to review

cases will do no good ( wrong)

• Giving courts the power to review cases will

do no good ( right)
 37
• Some wrongly written sentences that need to be
amended.
• Reading poetry gives greater delight than reading prose
( right)
• The reading of poetry gives greater delight than
reading prose ( wrong)

• I ask your favour of granting my application ( wrong)

• I ask the favour of your granting my application (

right)
 38
• Unless = condition not met
• Until = refers to a time threshold

• I will quit my job unless I get a pay hike.

• You can go out and play until it gets dark.
 39
• Difference between very and much
• Very = positive sense
• Much = used for comparison

• His behavior in the club was very good.

• His condition is much better now- a-days.

 40
• Nothing else is followed by but

• It is nothing else than deception ( wrong)

• It is nothing else but deception. ( right)

 41
• Two Negatives cannot come together

• I could not see him no where ( wrong)

• I could not see him any where ( right)

• Ever and never should not be mixed with seldom

• We seldom or ever see those happy who are
dishonest ( wrong)
• We seldom or never see those happy who are
dishonset.
 42
• Too is used for comparison
• This problem is too difficult to be solved.

• Correct use of First

• Firstly you should make your character,
secondly your health ( wrong)

• First you should make your character,

secondly your health ( right)
 43
• When an adverb is describing another adverb
or adjective , that adverb will come before
that adverb or adjective which it is describing

• He is a lazy person rather (wrong)

• He is a rather lazy Person (right)
 46
• Adverb of frequency comes before that verb
which it describes

• He always speaks the truth ( right)

• He speaks the truth always ( wrong )

• There are six main adverbs of frequency that we

use in English: always, usually , often,
sometimes, rarely, and never
 47
• Adverb always comes between auxiliary verb
and main verb.
• I have told him often to improve his hand
writing ( wrong )

• I have often told him to improve his hand

writing (right)
 49
• Though – but
• Though he is poor, but he is honest.

• Use of No sooner , as soon as

• No sooner part is covered with had, second part is
covered with simple past.

• No sooner had I stepped out, than it started raining

• As soon as , both parts of sentences are covered

with simple past.
• As soon as we got out of the car, it started raining.
 50
• Use of not only but also

• He is not only a cricketer but also a footballer

• Such is followed by as
• We like such persons as are honest

• When such is used in the start of sentence , it is

followed by that
• Such was his aim that could never be
accomplished
 51
• Both is followed by and not as well as
• Both Akram and Aslam were present in the
meeting ( Right)

• Both Akram as well as Aslam were present in

the meeting (wrong)
 52
• And , but are used to join the clauses .

• And is used to add the clause

• I went to Store and bought many books.
•
• But is used to say opposite to previous
clause.

• I went to Store , but could not buy any book.

 53
• No other is followed by than
• He has no other intention than to pas the
exam

• Not is not used with unless

• Unless my result is not cleared, I shall not
apply ( wrong)
• Unless my result is cleared, I shall not apply.
 54
• Were is used after ’ as if ‘ and ‘ as though’
• He talks as if he were a king.

• As long as represents a duration in which a

task is taking place.
• As long as you remain addict to smoking, you
cannot improve your health.
 55
• The is used with the names of
• Rivers, gulf, ocean, sea, group of islands,
mountains, Books.
• To specify any thing
• The dog is a faithful animal
• When singular noun represents the whole
class
• The pen is mightier than sword.
• The is not used before the nouns which are
singular but plural meaning
• Cattle , furniture, business

• Before proper noun

• The khalid ( wrong )

• Before abstract noun

• The Milk ( wrong )

• Before metals
• The iron ( wrong)
 56
• With superlative degree
• He is the most intelligent of all
• Before the common nouns which are unique
• The earth, the sky, the moon.

• When adjective is used as a noun

• The poor are often rich
 57
• Use of article ‘am ’
• To convert a common noun into proper noun
• A Quaid –e- Azam is needed again

• For singular objects.

• Sixteen annas make a rupee
 58
• Use of an ; before the vowel or the words
making vowel sound
• An idiot, an unknown person,
• The words making vowel sound
• An hour , an honest man, an M.A ,
• While comparing two adjectives
• He is a better poet than a dramatist
•
 59
• Since = definite time
• For = Indefinite time
• I have been living here since 1990
• I have been living here for 10 years

• After = past time

• In = future time
• He will come here in a few days ( not after)
• He came here after a few days ( not in )
 60
• In = Name of countries
• Big towns
• At = small towns and villages
• He lives at DHA in Lahore.

• In = already placed
• In to = state of motion towards soemthing
• He jumped into the river
• He is in the room
 61
• Besides = apart from
• Beside = Near by
• He sat beside me
• Besides this , you also need to go to school.

• Between = two
• Among = More than two
 62
• Prevent, prohibit, insist, hinder , refrain take
from afterwards.
• I prevented him from going there

• Words Recommend, Resemble, order, obey,

combat, violate donot take any preposition
afterwards
• The girl resembles her mother
 63
• With a view to is followed by gerund
• With a view to doing this work, he went out (
right)

• With a view to do this work, he went out.