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
