Category: grammar

“Rather than” vs “Than”

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Rather than

Use “rather than” to state preferences and choices.  Such as:

“He wanted to be a doctor rather than a teacher”

“I prefer to eat pizza rather than salad.”

“I decided to write rather than phone.”

“In the end, we decided to go to Toronto on Friday rather than on Sunday.”

“He’s probably just lazy, rather than stupid.”

Note how each sentence states a choice or preference.  There is not just a comparison.

Than

Use “than” to compare two things without making a choice.  As in:

“Doctors make more money than teachers.”

“Waking up early is more beneficial than staying in bed late.”

“Writing is slower than calling.”

“Cats are smaller than dogs.”

“Attending university at home is cheaper than going to another country.”

Note how every sentence makes a comparison, but no actual choice is made.

“In Contrast” vs “On the Contrary”

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Students often misuse “in contrast” and “on the contrary.”  This article will explain how they can be used correctly.

In Contrast

This is the easy one.  Use “in contrast” to compare two dissimilar things or statements.  Like:

Harold likes cats.  In contrast, Simon likes dogs.

or:

The Hulk uses his strength to solve problems.  In contrast, Bruce Banner uses his intelligence.

or:

Most people prefer to study in groups.  In contrast, I like to study alone.

“In contrast” functions a lot like “however” in these cases.  To my eye, “however” is probably more natural. 

On the Contrary

This one is tricky.  “On the contrary” is not used to compare two things or statements.  Instead, it is used to emphasize an aspect of a single thing or statement.  We use “on the contrary” to express something like “actually, here’s what is true.”  Like:

I’m not tired.  On the contrary, I’m full of energy.

or

Harold didn’t fail his test.  On the contrary, he got the highest score in the class.”

or

Thor isn’t weak.  On the contrary, he is extremely strong.

Do you see what I did there?  I stated something which isn’t true.  I then emphasized my point by using “on the contrary” and stating that something else is  true.

By Contrast

Many people use “by contrast” instead of “in contrast.”  Some people might argue that there is some difference between these two phrases.  I don’t think there is.  I think they can be used interchangeably.  

Grammar: “Although” and “but”

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Students often write a single sentence that contains the conjunctions “although” and “but”. This is probably a bad idea. You should just pick one.

You can write:

“Although I studied hard, I couldn’t pass the test.”

And you can write:

“I studied hard, but I couldn’t pass the test.”

Can you see how each of those sentences has just one of the conjunctions?

Don’t write a sentence with both of them. You shouldn’t write:

“Although I studied hard, but I couldn’t pass the test.”

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I suppose this is the same as combining “because” and “so” in the same sentence, but that’s a topic for another post.

“Ago” vs “Earlier”

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I see a lot of errors with “ago” and “earlier.” It can be tricky to explain the difference, but I will do my best.

Use “ago” to refer to a point relative to the present. For instance, I can say:

“I met my wife four years ago.”

That means I met my wife four years before the present time (now).

Or I can say:

“Simon was born in Chicago twenty-five years ago.”

That means Simon was born in Chicago twenty-five years before the present time (now).

Don’t use “earlier” to talk about a point relative to the present.

—

Use “earlier” to talk about something that happened relative to a particular time in the past. For instance I can say:

“I met my wife in 1982. Four years earlier, I had been dating Suzy.”

That means I dated Suzy four years before 1982.

Do you get what I mean? Here’s another:

“Simon was born in Chicago twenty-five years ago. His parents had moved there four years earlier.”

That means Simon’s parents moved there four years before Simon was born.

–

Honestly, I am not sure if it is better to use the past perfect tense of the simple past tense for the “earlier” parts. The past perfect tense sounds a bit clunky in the second example, but that’s just my opinion.

Grammar: Extinct Animals!

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Use the past tense to refer to extinct animals like dinosaurs.

Pterosaurs are extinct, so you should write:

“Pterosaurs were cold-blooded like modern reptiles.”

Don’t write:

“Pterosaurs are cold-blooded like modern reptiles.”

The sea cow is extinct, so you should write:

“Kelp was the main food source of the sea cow.”

Don’t write:

“Kelp is the main food source of the sea cow.”

You might think this is a very obscure point, but I fix this sort of error every week when I review student essays. ETS loves to create integrated writing questions about dinosaurs and other ancient animals.

Grammar Lesson – Using “Every”

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Just a short grammar guide this week. While this may be a short guide, but it is about one of the most common mistakes I see when checking TOEFL essays.

You must remember that every is normally used before a singular noun. Like this:

“Every house in the neighborhood is expensive.”

Or this:

“I want to eat every cookie in the box!”

–

Do not use a plural noun after “every.” Do not write:

“Every houses in the neighborhood is expensive.”

–

There is one exception, however. You can use a plural noun in expressions that refer to intervals. As in:

“I still talk to him every few days.”

Or:

“We all get together every five weeks.”

“Stopped to VERB” vs “Stopped VERBing”

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When I check TOEFL essays, I often see grammar mistakes involving “stopped to VERB” and “stopped VERBing.” This is a dangerous mistake since these forms are used to express totally different ideas. The mistake often results in a sentence with the complete opposite of the writer’s intended meaning!

Here’s what you need to know.

“I stopped VERBing” means that I stopped doing that action.

So:

“I stopped dancing in 1997” means that I stopped dancing in 1997.

“I stopped doing homework” means that I stopped doing my homework.

Easy, right? This is what most people want to express. This is probably what you should use in your essays.

Next:

“I stopped to VERB” means that I actually did the action!

“I was walking to school and I stopped to buy a sandwich” means that I bought a sandwich while I was walking to school.

“Yesterday, I stopped to talk to Simon” means that yesterday I talked to Simon.

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The tricky thing is that after some English verbs you can use either an -ing form or an infinitive. But after other verbs you cannot.

What’s worse is that after some verbs this results in a different meaning, but after other verbs it does not.

For reference and verb lists, I recommend sections 100, 105 and 110 of “Practical English Usage.”

Using “One of the” Properly

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When grading TOEFL essays, I often see mistakes when students use “one of the.”

Remember that “one of the” should be followed by a plural noun.

Here’s an error I spotted in an essay today:

“Following my graduation, I got a job at one of the largest law firm in New York.”

That’s wrong because of the singular “law firm.” The correct version is:

“Following my graduation, I got a job at one of the largest law firms in New York.”

Note the plural “law firms.”

Here’s another incorrect sentence:

“Only one of the student submitted his essay before the deadline.”

That’s incorrect because of the singular “student.” The correct version uses the plural form:

“Only one of the students submitted his essay before the deadline.”

Obviously this is tricky because “one of” makes us think about using a singular noun!

Also tricky is subject-verb agreement when your subject begins with “one of the…”, but that’s a topic for a different post.

Using “While” Properly

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The most common sentence fragment error I see in essays is a misuse of “while” to contrast things.

Here’s an example of the error in an essay I checked this morning:

“In the past we needed to visit many stores to compare prices of products. While today we can compare hundreds of products on a single website.”

The second sentence is a sentence fragment since it lacks an independent clause.

Better is to combine those sentences so you have both a clear independent clause and a clear subordinate clause.  Like this:

“In the past we needed to visit many stores to compare prices of products, while today we can compare hundreds of products on a single website.”

Or:

“While today we can compare hundreds of products on a single website, in the past we needed to visit many stores to compare prices of products.”

If you really want to use two sentences, change “while” to something like “in contrast.” Like:

“In the past we needed to visit many stores to compare prices of products. In contrast, today we can compare hundreds of products on a single website.”

—

This is a tricky error since you will hear the “incorrect” version in spoken English all the time. It sounds pretty normal if we emphasize “today” while speaking. Some people might argue that it is fine in writing as well.

I think you should avoid it in your TOEFL essays, since “sentence fragments” is an entire category in the e-rater.

“Until Now” vs “So Far”

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I often see students use “until now” and “so far” incorrectly. Here’s a quick lesson!

Rule one: Use “so far” to describe a condition that is ongoing. As in:

“I moved to New York five weeks ago and I haven’t met anyone so far.” (this means that I still don’t have any friends)

Rule two: Use “until now” to talk about a condition that has just stopped occurring. As in:

“I didn’t call you because I didn’t have your phone number until now.” (this means I just now got your phone number)

Rule three: Don’t use “until now” to talk about a condition that is ongoing.

That’s it!

To further illustrate, here’s an error I commonly see:

“We met in high school and have been friends until now.”

In this case, the student wants to say that they are still friends, but the sentence actually means that they just stopped being friends… the opposite of his intended meaning!

Here’s an error that inspired this post:

“I took the TOEFL five weeks ago, and haven’t gotten my scores until now.”

In this case, the student wants to say that he is still waiting for his scores, so the proper sentence is:

“I took the TOEFL five weeks ago, and haven’t gotten my scores so far.”

Writing Numbers Properly

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Writing numbers properly can be tricky. There are a few things to keep in mind.

Remember that you should use a hyphen only in compound numbers between 21 and 99. Don’t use a hyphen when numbers are greater than 99. So you should write:

  • thirty–three
  • one hundred and thirty–three
  • five thousand and seventy–nine

You should not write:

  • seven-hundred
  • one-hundred and thirty-three
  • five-thousand and seventy-nine

Those hyphens are incorrect because they appear in numbers greater than 99.

The use of “and” is also tricky. In British English we always use “and” between hundred/thousand/million/etc and numbers below 100. As in:

  • seven hundred and five
  • two million and ten
  • six thousand, five hundred and nine

In American English it is acceptable to omit “and.” As in:

  • seven hundred five
  • two million ten

I wonder, though, if the British “and” is becoming more common among American speakers and writers.

“Every day” vs “Everyday”

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You need to know these two definitions:

“Everyday” = an adjective meaning “common” or “ordinary.”

“Every day” = each day

Even native speakers mix these up. I see errors related to these words in newspapers and magazines and serious websites every day.

Since students often support their arguments in the independent essay using examples from their lives, they often need to write about things they do “every day.” Take a minute to learn the difference!

In Use:

“I don’t talk about anything important in everyday conversations with my friends.” (I don’t talk about anything important in ordinary conversations)

“I wash the dishes every day.” (I wash the dishes every single day)

 

“Even if” vs “Even though”

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This is a new kind of error.  I see it in essays almost every day.  For some reason, it seems a lot more common nowadays.  Weird.

“Even if” 

“Even if” refers to a possible situation.  The meaning is close to “whether or not.”

Like:

“Even if we work hard, we will fail.” 

This means that we might work hard or we might not work hard.  In either case, we will fail.

Or:

“Even if the government shuts down the factory, global warming will continue.”

This means that the government might shut down the factory.  Or it might not shut down the factory.  In either case, global warming will continue.

“Even Though”

“Even though” refers to a situation that is true.  The meaning is close to “despite the fact.”

Like:

“Even though we worked hard, we failed.”

This means that we worked hard and we failed.

Or:

“Even though we work hard, we fail.”

This means that we always work hard and we always fail.

Or:

“Even though the government shut down the factory, global warming continued.”

This means that the government shut down the factory, and global warming continued.

Or:

“Even though the government will shut down the factory, global warming will continue.”

This means that the government will shut down the factory, and global warming will continue.