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Take a short test to measure and increase command of common grammar difficulties
DESCRIPTION OF THE TEST
This is the second Guinlist post inviting readers to identify deliberate grammar errors in a paragraph and then explaining the grammar rules that the errors break (see also 138. Grammar Command Test 1). Most of the rules are also mentioned elsewhere in this blog, but are repeated here in order to advertise those other parts or provide useful reminders of their content.
As the earlier post points out, the word “command” better describes the aim of grammar study than “knowledge” because it suggests, in addition to knowledge of grammar rules, skill in their use. Knowledge alone of foreign language grammar rules is known to be insufficient for avoiding grammar errors from the fact that most people who spend a lot of time and energy acquiring it through memorisation still often make mistakes when they get into real communication.
A paragraph with grammar errors is not real communication, but it should be a better test of command than mere questions about rules. It has the additional benefit that, combined with the answers and explanations, it can assist important learning strategies like discovering your weaknesses and understanding why they occur (see 202. Some Strategies for Learning English).
For some advice on recognising grammar errors, see 100. What is a Grammar Error?. For a list of posts dealing with specific common errors, go to the Common Errors page. For more test posts, click on “Test” in the CATEGORIES menu on the right of this page.
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THE TEST PARAGRAPH
Find the grammar errors in the following paragraph, before reading the explanations below to see how successful you were. The paragraph sentences are numbered to assist reference to their content. The paragraph is rewritten with corrections after the explanations.
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(1) The language learning strategies are things a learners can do for maximising their communicative competence. (2) There are actually numerous possibilities can be identified, so that the key question become which are the most useful among them? (3) In the past, many researches had been made in this area, but common sense can also enable to see strategies that possessing a special value: they are fairly easy to be found. (4) Basically, a good strategy need to provide a plentiful knowledge for target language and/or extensive practice to use it, in addition it must suit the emotional and intellectual make-up of individual learners. (5) One of the best-known strategy that meets most of this needs is living in a close contact with people speak the language as their mother tongue. (6) This strategy makes learners to speak fluently: we become much better to learn something when we do it intensively. (7) However, it will not by itself stop grammar errors to be made.
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CORRECTION AND ANALYSIS OF THE ERRORS
The paragraph contains 25 deliberate errors. It is again surprising that my computer’s WORD program highlights very few of them as potentially wrong (for more on this problem with computers, see 68. How Computers Get Grammar Wrong 1). Readers who have managed to recognise and suitably correct at least 18 of the errors with very few unnecessary changes probably possess a good command of grammar.
1. The … strategies (Sentence 1)
Before a group of nouns, the “belongs” to the last, here strategies (see 38. Nouns Used like Adjectives, #2). This is a plural noun with generic meaning (helping to make a generalization) – a typical context for not using the (see 110. Nouns without “the” or “a”). Thus, the should be dropped. It is more able to have generic meaning in combination with some kinds of singular countable noun (see 89. Using “the” with General Meaning).
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2. a learners (S1)
A cannot accompany a plural noun (see 204. Grammatical Agreement). The correction is either to drop it or to remove -s from learners. Combining a with -s is an example of a confusion of similar structures.
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3. for maximising (S1)
Expressing a purpose with for… -ing is not possible after many verbs, including DO. Here, it would be correct to say to maximise, either alone or after in order or so as. For details of when for…-ing can correctly express a purpose, see 60. Purpose Sentences with “for”.
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4. can be identified (S2)
Add that or which in front. These words – relative pronouns – act as a “joining device”, enabling two verbs to be in one, not two, sentences (see 30. When to Write a Full Stop). The above sentence has the two verbs are and can be identified.
It is true that some relative pronouns can be unmentioned but still understood. However, the one needed here is not of that kind. To be unmentioned, a relative pronoun must be either the object of the verb after it, without an intervening comma (see 34. Relative Pronouns and Commas) or the subject of a verb lacking a “modal” (will, may, should etc.). In the first case, one just drops the relative pronoun; in the second, the partner verb must additionally become a participle (see 52. Participles Placed after their Noun, #4).
In the above sentence, that/ which is the subject of identified, and the modal can is present. The reason why modals cannot be dropped is that doing so changes the meaning (see 192. When BE can be Omitted).
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5. become (S2)
This is a plural verb with a singular subject (question) – another error of agreement. The necessary singular form has -s (see 12. Singular and Plural Verb Choices).
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6. …among them? (S2)
The question mark here should be a full stop because the question is indirect (see 57. Indirect Questions in Formal Writing).
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7. many researches (S3)
Research is usually an uncountable noun and hence cannot be plural. This means its ending should be dropped and many should be singular much. For a list of other uncountable nouns that, like research, are often wrongly used as if they were countable, see 110. Nouns without “the” or “a”.
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8. had been (S3)
Change had to has. The past perfect tense (with had) implies “before the main past time that is the focus here” – not simply “long ago” (see 171. Aspects of the Past Perfect Tense). The past time in question here is not before another, more central past time. The correction is the “present perfect” form has been, not was, despite the past-referring adverbial in the past. This is because in the past does not give precise enough information about when in the past the research took place.
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9. made (S3)
The verb MAKE is the wrong one for expressing the intended meaning with research (see 173. “Do Research” or “Make Research”?). One could use the slightly informal done instead, or carried out (surprisingly not informal despite being a “two-word” verb) or undertaken.
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10. enable to see (S3)
ENABLE belongs to a subgroup of cause verbs that can be followed by a to (infinitive) verb (see 32. Expressing Consequences) . When they are, they must usually have a noun expression in between (see 65. Verbs that Mean “Must” or “Can”). Hence, a simple way to correct this error is to add a noun expression after enable, for example the informal pronoun us or formal one (see 211. General Words for People). Alternatively, one could replace enable with make it possible (see 190. Special Uses of “It”, #2).
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11. that possessing (S3)
The correct form here should be either that possess or possessing alone (see 133. Confusions of Similar Structures 1, #3).
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12. to be found (S3)
This passive infinitive should be its active equivalent to find. The rule involves infinitives after BE + Adjective (are…easy above). Some adjectives allow a passive infinitive to show receiving the action of the infinitive (e.g. X is willing to be helped = X accepts receiving help), but others, including easy, need an active infinitive in this situation. For lists of adjectives of each kind, see 83. Adjectives before a “to” Verb.
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13. need (S4)
This should be needs. The explanation is similar to that for #5 above. It is true that NEED sometimes lacks -s after a singular subject; however, this is only possible with negative and question forms (see 148. Infinitive Verbs without “to”).
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14. a plentiful knowledge (S4)
Knowledge is an uncountable noun, and hence rarely has a. Since the reference here is to knowledge in general, not particular knowledge, a “zero” article is preferable to the.
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15. knowledge for (target language) (S4)
For is the wrong preposition. Knowledge is typically followed by of or about, depending on whether the knowledge covers all of the following noun idea or some (see 134. Words with a Variable Preposition, #2). Here, the likelier meaning is “some”, necessitating about.
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16. target language (S4)
Like #1 above, these are two grouped nouns after an incorrect article choice: they need either the or a, not “zero”. The article-determining noun language here is a kind that could be countable or uncountable depending respectively on whether it means one particular language or language in general (see 23. Noun Countability Clues 3: Subtypes). Here it means the former, so is countable. A before it would indicate an unidentified particular language, the an identified one. Perhaps the former is more likely here.
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17. to use (S4)
This verb and the noun just before it (practice) together make a close combination called a noun phrase (see 252. Descriptive Wording after Nouns 1). The problem is that descriptive verbs after practice have to be in the -ing form, with or without in. For a wider discussion of nouns that cannot have a following to verb, see 78. Infinitive versus Preposition after Nouns.
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18. in addition (S4)
This should start a new sentence and have a comma after it. The reason is the following verb must suit, which cannot be in the same sentence as the previous one (needs to provide) because new verbs need a new sentence, unless they have a joining device (see 30. When to Write a Full Stop). In addition looks like a joining device but is not; it is a “connector” instead (see 40. Conjunctions versus Connectors).
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19. best-known strategy (S5)
A plural noun is needed (ending -ies). It is easy to think that the preceding one of necessitates a singular, but in fact a noun after one of is always plural. The reason is that the singular noun implied by one is not the noun after of, but an unmentioned one just before of: the whole phrase means “one (strategy) of the strategies”. The first of the two nouns is not mentioned because it would be repetitive (see 165. Confusions of Similar Structures 2, #6).
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20. this needs (S4)
This is another agreement error: singular this with the plural noun needs. This requires either a singular noun or a change to the plural these (see 204. Grammatical Agreement). Either is actually possible here because need can be countable or uncountable: countable highlighting subtypes in these needs, uncountable highlighting a general concept in this need.
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21. a close contact (S5)
Contact, meaning “interaction”, is an uncountable noun like knowledge (#13), and so cannot normally have a. Since the reference here is to contact in general, a “zero” article is required, not the. Note that the countable noun a contact means “an influential acquaintance”, and is an example of an activity location.
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22. people speak (S5)
As in #4, a relative pronoun (who or that, with no preceding comma) is needed with speak in order to have it in the same sentence as the earlier is. The relative pronoun cannot be left unmentioned and “understood” because people is the subject of speak, not its object.
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23. to speak (S6)
Delete to. A verb after MAKE has no to except when MAKE is passive (see 10. Words with Unexpected Grammar 1 and 141. Ways of Using MAKE).
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24. better to learn (S6)
Change to learn into at learning. Some adjectives can combine with a following to verb, but better meaning “more able” is not one. Instead, it needs the preposition at, just like such near-synonyms as adept, clever, competent, effective, expert, good and skilled (see 203. Expanding an Adjective with Words after it).
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25. to be made (S7)
To be should be being: the verb STOP does not allow its object to be the subject of a following to verb. The only possible use of a to verb is to express a purpose of the person who stops, corresponding to in order to (see 208. Verbs with an Object + Infinitive, #1).
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THE CORRECTED PARAGRAPH
If the above paragraph is corrected in the ways suggested above, it would read as follows. Alternative corrections may sometimes be possible.
(1) Language learning strategies are things learners can do (in order) to maximise their communicative competence. (2) There are actually numerous possibilities that can be identified, so that the key question becomes which are the most useful among them. (3) In the past, much research has been undertaken in this area, but common sense can also enable one to see strategies possessing a special value: they are fairly easy to find. (4) Basically, a good strategy needs to provide plentiful knowledge of the target language and/or extensive practice using it. In addition it must suit the emotional and intellectual make-up of individual learners. (5) One of the best-known strategies that meets most of these needs is living in close contact with people who speak the language as their mother tongue. (6) This strategy makes learners speak fluently: we become much better at learning something when we do it intensively. (7) However, it will not by itself stop grammar errors being made.
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