Adjectives and Common Errors - I

 

                            Adjectives and Common Errors - I

Dear readers, in the previous post we discussed some of the common errors associated with articles that English as non-native speakers encounter in their daily conversation. This present post highlights the common errors that people tend to commit in terms of adjectives.

Adjectives are used to describe the quality and quantity of a noun. They are used to denote the colour, size, shape, age, and material of a person or an object.

This post briefs the contexts where adjectives are used inappropriately.

1.   This is a cotton and white shirt.                                      (Incorrect)

This is a white, cotton shirt.                                          (Correct)

The description of adjectives should follow this order- size, shape, age and colour, then origin, material, type and purpose.

2.   I am good to play chess.                                                   (Incorrect)

I am good at playing chess.                                             (Correct)

Many adjectives take preposition after it. Some prepositions are used before progressive verbs (verb + ing). For example,

I am interested in learning aeronautics.

Surya is nervous about writing the exam.

3.   We are happy meeting you.                                              (Incorrect)

We are happy to meet you.                                             (Correct)

Adjectives such as happy, surprise etc. are followed by the preposition ‘to’. Here the verb after the preposition does not take the progressive form (verb + ing).

4.   Students need more bigger classrooms to do experiment.     (Incorrect)

Students need bigger classrooms to do experiment.      (Correct)

Do not use more and comparative degree (-er) together, because they both give the same meaning.

5.   The earth is a very larger planet.                                     (Incorrect)

The earth is a much larger planet.                                 (Correct)

When we use ‘very’ avoid using the comparative degree (-er). Instead of ‘very’ ‘much’ can be used.

 Let us discuss some more ideas on the same topic in the next post.

 

Author:

Dr. K. Nandhakumar

Assistant Professor of English

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

Coimbatore- 641 020

 

Reference:

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