This includes English verbs, modals, tenses, conjunctions, prepositions, articles and suppositories like concepts.
A sentence with a phrase or word or a clause which will be in bold or underlined.
Four to five options will be presented following the question.
Things we will be doing :
Replace the underlined or bold word with an option so that the sentence becomes free of any grammatical mistakes.
Score Points:
Rules for sentence improvement and construction help us to mainly check correctness and effectiveness of sentences.
While choosing the answers we should have enough knowledge of standard written English.
We have to select that answer which is clear, without any ambiguity or redundancy.
Rules For Sentence Improvement and Construction
Type 1. Subject-Verb Agreement:
Under this, if the subject in the sentence is in the singular form then the verb will also be in the singular form and if the subject is in the plural form then the verb will also be in a plural form.
For example –
Manav is playing in the playing ground – here, "Manav" is singular, hence it takes a singular verb "is".
The parents know how to handle their naughty kids. – here, "parements" is plural hence takes a plural verb "know"
He is taller than you. – Here, "He" is singular hence it takes a singular verb 'is'.
Both Sunita and Rita love to have chocolates. – Here, with the use of 'and' we see that the two singular subjects "Sunita and Rita"; become plural hence it will take a plural verb "love"
Rules for Subject Verb Agreement:
Using 'and' with two singular subjects takes a plural verb.
Using and with two verb directing for a singular subject takes a singular verb.
Indefinite Pronouns are singular. (someone, anyone, somebody, everyone)
Agreement
Type 2. Modifier Words or Clauses
Modifier: A modifier is a word that modifies the meaning of a sentence (gives more information) about a particular subject.
There are two main types of modifiers:
Adjectives– it modifies a noun.
Adverb – it modifies verbs, adjectives or other adverbs.
Examples:
She is very excited for her first day at college. – Here, the verb excited is modified by 'very' which shows the extent of her excitement.
The room was beautifully decorated for the birthday party of Sam. – Here, the verb decorated is modified with 'beautifully'.
Ramesh was a sure fit to be the CR of the class. – Here, the verb fit is modified by the word 'sure'.
She practiced her session in the auditorium – here the noun sessions is modified by the collective adverb ‘in the auditorium’ thus modifying about the place of session.
Misplaced Modifiers:
Sometimes modifiers can be used in wrong places that change the subject which has to be modified.
Her father bought a pet dog for his daughter named Jimmy. – here, it implies that the daughter’s name was Jimmy.
Here father bought a pet dog named Jimmy for his daughter. – Here, it implies that the pet’s name was Jimmy.
The second sentence is the correct one.
What Are Limiting Modfiers?Limiting modifiers enforce restrictions on the subject, noun, or pronoun that they precede immediately.
Some of the limiting modifiers are: Just, Almost, Hardly, Only, Always, At first, Simply.
Example:
Jhony loves to paint only. - Implies that Jhony only loves dancing.
Only Jhony loves to paint. - It implies that among all the people only Jhony loves dancing
Type 3. Parallel Elements:
It says that some ideas should be presented in the same grammatical form.
This means that if a sentence consists more than one verb then the form of all the verbs should be in the same form. If the starting verb is in simple form, all the verbs should follow the same patter.
Example:
Maria loves to cook, dance and sing – here all the three verbs are in simple present form.
Maria loves cooking, dancing and singing – In this sentence, all the three verbs follow the continuous form of verb.
Some people love to sit and relax during travels while some like to work. – here all the three four verbs are in the simple present form.
Mary went down the stairs and cooked for all members. – Here, the two verbs are in simple past form..
Neither the weather in Mumbai nor the weather in Delhi are improving. – here, we use the same form of sentence which is ‘the weather in’.
This lesson was enriching both to listen and to learn – to listen and to learn is the same form of verb.
Why Parallel Construction of a sentence is the repetition of a chosen grammatical form uniformly in a sentence.
It assures uniformity and consistency in writing.
It provides clarity and readability.
Type 4. Redundancy:
As per the rules of redundancy, any idea should not be repeated again and again. Repeated words should be avoided to make sentences clear.
Some of the common Redundant words are given in the lift:
Foreign imports
Bald – headed
Drop down
End result
Few in number
Follow after
General public
Hurry up
Chase after
But yet
Collaborate together
Examples:
Three files of monthly statistics were combined into one.– Here, the word into one is redundant because 'combined' already means to 'put together'.
This question is repeated again in the semester. – Here, again is redundant because repeat already means ‘falling again’
The dog followed after him. – Here, after is redundant because follow means 'behind someone' hence after is unnecessary here.
Why ? Using redundancy in spoken English is acceptable but written English considers these as mistakes or errors. Some of the most common redundancies are 'sit down' or 'stand up' but they create a vague or unnecessary sentence when written.
Type 5. Pronoun Reference Error:
A pronoun comes after the noun and should be able to refer clearly to one, clear, unmistakable noun. This type of noun is termed as antecedent.
Example – Jane put the shoes in the rack but it slid down.
Here, ‘it’ can be referred to the ‘shoes’ or the ‘wardrobe’ hence it’s a faulty pronoun. Instead it should be either,
‘Jane put the shoes in the rack and the shoes slid down’ /or
‘Jane put the shoes in the rack and the rack slid down’
Types of antecedents and errors:
Hence, knowing how and where to use the noun-pronoun relation is very important. The three most important errors are:
Too many antecedents
Bring the towell from the bathroom and put it outside. (Here, it can be referred to either the towell or the bathroom, hence too many antecedents can confuse the reader’
Hidden Antecedents
The soda bottles were empty but we were tired of drinking it anyway. (Here, it can be referred to wither soda or bottles, the hidden antecedent ‘it’ can be said as ‘The soda bottles were empty but we were tired of drinking the soda anyway’)
No antecedent at all
The clients called the office several times but they didn’t answer. (Here, they can’t be the office, it has to be the receptionists or the employees, hence, they are the hidden antecedents. So the sentence could be ‘The clients called the office several times but the employees didn’t answer.’
Why ? We should keep the Pronoun Reference in check because a single misplaced pronoun can cause a drastic change in its meaning. Be careful when using "this" and "which" pronouns. They are often used incorrectly and create faulty pronoun errors.
Type 6. Wording:
Word
Meaning
Word
Meaning
accept
recive
except
excluding
access
ertarance
excess
more than the limit
altogather
completly
all togather
all things with each other
allude
to make anindirect reference
elude
to avoid
corps
a group of military force
corpse
a dead body
descent
a movement down
dissent
disagreement
expandable
gets bigger
expendable
to leave out
Wrong use of words may make the whole sentence wrong. Hence selection of the right word at the right place is very important.
For better understanding, few diction examples are given below. Try to practice these and other diction words available on the internet to clear all the doubts related to this topic.
While using wording function it is important to understand the difference between:
Homonyms – Two or more words having the same spelling or pronunciation but different meaning.
Homophones – Two or more words having different spelling and meaning but are pronounced alike.
Sample Questions - Rules for Sentence Improvement and Construction
Question 1:
Which of the phrases given below each sentence should replace the phrase printed in bold type to make the grammatically correct? If the sentence is correct as it is, mark ‘E’ as the answer.
Only one third of the task are complete
a. have complete
b. has complete
c. is complete
d. had complete
e. No correction required
Answer: C (is complete)
Explanation – Since the subject here is ‘one-third’ that means one part out of three parts, the subject is considered singular. So we use a singular verb ‘is’.
Question 2:
Which of the phrases given below each sentence should replace the phrase printed in bold type to make the grammatically correct? If the sentence is correct as it is, mark ‘E’ as the answer.
He is too important for tolerating any delay.
a. to tolerate
b. to tolerating
c. at tolerating
d. with tolerating
e. No correction required
Answer: A (to tolerate)
Explanation : When we use the words ‘too….to’ in a sentence as a pair, we make it an affirmative sentence and convert it into a single clause. Hence, to complete a pair, ‘too’ is always paired up with ‘to’.
