COMMON ERRORS IN EVERYDAY LIFE: TALKING ABOUT TIME

 

                COMMON ERRORS IN EVERYDAY LIFE: TALKING ABOUT TIME

Dear readers, in the previous post, we discussed the common errors in terms of “Talking about People and Society” that we commit in our daily conversations. In this post, let us explore more about communicative errors in terms of “Talking about Time”. Some of the important errors that tend to occur naturally in our conversation are briefed below:

Look at the following statements:

1.   Today morning I met Principal.

I met Principal this morning.

 Use ‘this’ to talk about things which happened or likely to happen in the same day we are speaking. 

 

2.   I came to Coimbatore three years back.

I came to Coimbatore three years ago.

 If what we did in the past is still important use ago and not back. It is advisable to use ago in daily conversation.

 

3.   Last to last year we were in Madurai.

The year before last we were in Madurai.

Last to last is an Indianism. To talk about something that took place before last week/month/year use week/month/year before last.

 

4.   I will visit Ooty next to next week.

I will visit Ooty the week after the next.  

 To talk about the future events, we should use week/month/year after next.

 

 5.   We will see you after a week.

We will see you in a week’s time.

 We should use ‘in time’ expression to say how long before something happens in the future.

  

6.   I am working for two hours now.

I have been working for two hours now.

Abhi has been studying in Vidyalaya for the past two years.

 Use Present Perfect Continuous Tense, i.e., have/has + been + verb with ing to talk about durations with for.

 

7.   Naveen did not had his breakfast.

Naveen did not have his breakfast.

I did not see you yesterday.

 Do not use Past form of the verb when it is preceded by did/did not in a sentence. Main verb must be in the Present form.

 

8.   My father has returned from Delhi last evening.

My father returned from Delhi last evening.

 Do not use the Present Perfect Tense (have/has + past participle of the main verb) with determiners of the past time (last, yesterday). To talk about a completed action mentioning past time, use the Simple Past Tense.

 

9.   If you will study seriously, you will score well.         

If you study seriously, you will score well.

 If the verb in the main clause is a future auxiliary (will/shall), then the verb in the If Clause should be in the Present form.

 

10.      I will call you after reaching the railway station.

I will call you after I reach the railway station.

‘After’ is followed by the verb in the Simple Present when the conjunction (after) is used to talk about the future.

 

 

Reference:

Saumya Sharma. (2017). Common Errors in Everyday English

 

Author:

K. Nandhakumar

Assistant Professor of English

Sri Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya College of Arts and Science (Autonomous)

Coimbatore- 641 020