Category: grammar

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.

“Maintain Relationships” vs “Keep Relationships”

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Personal examples in TOEFL essays are often about friendships and relationships, so I often see sentences using “maintain relationships” and “keep relationships.”

How can students use these phrases properly?

Maintain Relationships

This is the easiest one to use.  It means to do what is necessary to continue in the relationship.  Use it like this:

“It is important for us to maintain relationships with our old friends.”

“It can be challenging to maintain relationships with our friends when we go away to college.”

Keep Relationships

This one is a bit harder.  It should include a pronoun and an adjective.  Like this:

“It is important to keep our relationships strong.”

“Everyone should work hard to keep their relationships healthy.”

You can use “keep relationships” alone, but that has a meaning closer to “retain relationships” which sometimes sounds awkward, and isn’t usually the intended meaning.

Easiest Use

Honestly, it is probably easiest to just use “Maintain” all the time.  You can replace the above sentences with:

“It is important to maintain strong relationships.”

“Everyone should work hard to maintain healthy relationships.”

Friendships

I think the above rules also apply to the word “friendships.”

“access (v)” vs “access (n)”

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This one’s hard to explain, so pay attention.

Access as Verb

When used as a verb, “access” is not followed by “to.”  Just write:

  • “Thanks to the Internet, I can access information at any time.”
  • “Students can access a lot of books at the campus library.”
  • “Everyone wants to access the Internet nowadays.”

This is the most common use of the word, I think.

Access as a Noun

When used as a noun, “access” can be followed by “to.”  As in:

  • “Thanks to the Internet, students have access to a lot of information.”
  • “Students who visit the library have access to a lot of books.”
  • “Students want access to more books.”

Don’t write:

  • “On the Internet, students can access to a lot of information at any time.”

 

“make effort” vs “make an effort.”

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This is a simple one.  Here’s what you need to know:

  • Don’t use “make effort.”
  • Do use “make an effort.”

This is a mistake I correct almost every day!

Here are a few correct sentences:

  • You won’t pass the test if you don’t make an effort to learn English.
  • Joseph will likely make an effort to arrive on time.

When I checked Google News I found 213000 articles that included “make an effort.” I did find 4850 articles that included “make effort” but they are mostly from countries outside of North America.

Near vs Nearby: TOEFL Grammar

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It can be difficult to use “near” and “nearby” properly.  I fix mistakes with these two words in TOEFL essays almost every day!  Here’s a quick guide:

  1. Use “near” as a preposition that states the proximity of something to something else.  Like this: “There is a beach near my house.”  This means that there is a beach close to my house.
  2. Use “nearby” before a noun (as an adjective) or after a noun (as an adverb) to say that something is close: “The beach is nearby.” And: “We can meet at a nearby beach.“
  3.  Don’t use “nearby” as a preposition to describe the closeness of something to something else.  Never say: “There is a beach nearby my house.”

 

Those are the main usage notes that TOEFL essay writers need.  Of course, a few more things are worth mentioning.  They are:

  1. It is okay to use “near to” as a prepositional phrase.  As in:  “There is a beach near to my house.”  
  2. To make matters more complicated, we often use “near” as an adverb to talk about where we do actions.  As in: “We live near the beach.”
  3. For those keeping track at home, this is covered in Michael Swan’s book in entries 415 and 531.  Maybe I’ll e-mail Swan and suggest a special “near vs nearby” entry in the “word problems” section.  It is a common error.

Economical vs Economic

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A very quick usage note based on an error I see quite a lot.

“Economic” is an adjective that means “related to economics or the economy.”

As in:

“I had to sell my house for economic reasons.”

Or:

“Universities that invest in sports enjoy certain economic benefits.”

“Economical” (note the last two letters) is an adjective meaning that something is affordable or doesn’t cost or use a lot of money.

As in:

“My new compact car is very economical.”

Or:

“I replaced my old light bulbs with more economical fluorescent bulbs.”

Or:

“Switching to solar energy is a very economical choice in the long run.”

You can also refer to a person who doesn’t spend a lot of money as “economical,” but I think this is a bit less common and I tend to avoid it.

As in:

“Josh is a very economical shopper.”

Just to complicate things, the subject you study at university is “economics.” Note the final letter.

As in:

“I took an economics class last semester.”

And:

“I need to buy an expensive economics textbook.”

Quite a lot of students forget that final “s” when they write personal examples in their essays!

Semicolon Use

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Semicolon use is really tricky. To be honest, I f–k it up quite a lot, so I guess my writing is full of errors. I wrote a 90 page thesis in order to graduate from university, and I probably didn’t use a single semicolon in it. There are a few things you should remember, though.

If you have two independent clauses with a coordinating conjunction between them use a comma before the coordinating conjunction.  Like:

“I will go to the restaurant tomorrow, and I plan to order a hamburger.”

If you have two independent clauses and there is nothing between them, use a semicolon. Like:

“I will go to the restaurant tomorrow; I plan to order a hamburger.”

If there are two independent clauses and you have a conjunctive adverb between them (the sorts of things we usually refer to “transitional phrases” in this group like moreover, therefore, consequently, thus…) use a semicolon before the conjunctive adverb, and a comma after the conjunctive adverb. Like:

“I will go to the restaurant tomorrow; moreover, I plan to order a hamburger.”

“It is raining today; therefore, I will go to the restaurant tomorrow.”

Part of the problem is that a lot of native speakers (myself included) often forget about the semicolon in the last example and just use a comma after the first clause.  As in:

“It is raining today, therefore I will go to the restaurant tomorrow.”

This usage is so common that I’d pretty much call it “correct.”

Boring vs Bored

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I often see students mix up “boring” and “bored.”

Remember that a thing is boring.  Like a movie, a speech or some homework.  This means we say:

“This movie is really boring.  I hate it!”

Or:

“The president’s speech was boring.  I almost fell asleep.”

–

People feel bored.  So we say:

“I feel really bored today.”

“The movie made me feel really bored.”

“Baby, I’m bored.  Let’s watch a different movie.”

–

This is the most common error I see, but there are a few similar pairs.  For instance:

  • We feel interested.  Things are interesting.
  • We feel excited.  Things are exciting.
  • We feel confused. Things are confusing.