Follow the right grammar

Like George Bernard Shaw puts it- “there’s nothing like perfect English even for the native English speakers.” 

The reason behind it is that English keeps on modifying and almost every day there are a plethora of new words and new pronunciations of the already existing words going on. 

I heard someone pronouncing schedule (ˈʃɛdjuːl) as (ˈskɛdjuːl) the ‘श ‘ (sh) sound has been replaced by the ‘क‘ ( k) sound. 

Yet another changed pronounciation is of “ALGEBRA” /ˈaldʒɪbrə/  the ‘ऐ ‘ (ae) sound has been replaced by the ‘इ ‘ (e) sound. 

More on that some other day. Presently I am focussing on the basic grammatical errors that we all need to get into our heads. 

1. Loose and lose 

Spelt similarly but differ in meaning. Lose is a verb – to be unable to find something. E.g.- one could lose his keys or lose his favourite pair of jeans. 

Loose is an adjective – not fastened or attached tightly. E.g. – she wore loose clothes. 

2. ITS / IT’S

This ones a bit confusing. Apostrophes are always used to denote possessions. Bug there are always a room for exceptions and the word is ‘IT’ 

ITS denotes POSSESSION IN CASE OF OBJECTS while IT’S is short for ‘IT IS’

How to go about this-

• He drove the car in ITS maximum speed. 

• The sofa looked good with ITS  new cover.

• IT’S hot outside.

•IT’S not decided whether they’ll leave tonight or tomorrow. 

3.LAY and LIE

‘LAY’ THINGS DOWN and PEOPLE ‘LIE’ DOWN THEMSELVES. 

•I lAY  down the magazine on my lap.

•I LIE down every afternoon on my couch and that’s my happy hour. 

Another way to tackle with this lay lie problem is – 

 3. THE MOST TERRIFYING PUNCTUATION MARK

A semicolon (;) is used when a sentence could have been ended; but it wasn’t. 

Here are a few ways to get it all clear!

1. Semicolons connect independent clauses- 

Or a simple example: John has gone to the library ; Andrew has gone to play soccer. 

2. Conjunctions are DELETED

3. When considering a serial list 

I hope this has been helpful. 

* Some excerpts are taken from the internet so as to ensure a better understanding.