by Sentenceworks
Adjectives and Adverbs
Adjectives are words which describe a noun.Adverbs are words which describe a verb. Adverbs often (but not always) end in “ly”.
Adverb And Nouns
Adverbs should not be used to modify nouns. Adjectives should be used to describe the nouns. Adverbs frequently end in “ly”.
Incorrect: While waiting for his life to unfold, Martin was an anxiously person; this changed after he met his wife.
The adverb, “anxiously”, is describing “Martin”, which is a noun. The adjective, “anxious”, should be used rather than the adverb.
Correct: The dress was an ugly dress, perhaps the ugliest ever to exist.
Despite ending in “ly”, the word “ugly” is an adjective, and is modifying the noun, “dress”.
Adjectives and Verbs
Adjectives should not be used to modify verbs. Adverbs should be used to describe the verbs.
Incorrect: The artist worked brilliant on that sculpture.
The verb, “worked”, is being described by the adjective, “brilliant”. The adjective should be replaced by an adverb, “brilliantly”.
Correct: The artist did brilliant work on that sculpture.
The adjective, “brilliant”, is modifying “work”, which is being used as a noun in this sentence.
Misuse of “Alike”
The word, “alike”, is an adverb (even though it seems like an adjective), and shouldn’t be used to modify a noun. Instead, used an adjective (perhaps “same” or “similar”).
Incorrect: My girlfriend and I have an alike hairstyle.
The noun, “hairstyle” should be described by an adjective instead of an adverb; “alike” should be changed to “the same” or “a similar”.
Misuse of “Same”
The adjective “same” should modify a noun. If “same” is modifying a verb, consider changing “same” to “alike” or “similarly”.
Incorrect: It is common for people and their pets to look the same.
The verb, “to look”, should be modified by an adverb instead of an adjective. “The same” should be changed to “alike”.
Misuse of “Unlike”
The adjective, “unlike” does not make sense if used before a singular noun, because it is used in comparisons; a different adjective (e.g. different, dissimilar, contradictory, opposite) should be used instead. However, “unlike” may be used before plural nouns.
Incorrect: Some people would attempt to be polite, and describe her as “an unlike person”.
“Unlike” is inappropriate in this sentence because there is no comparison being made. It would be better to describe her as “an unusual person”.
Correct: Their unlike perspectives clash.
Because a comparison is being made between the “perspectives” (a plural noun), “unlike” is appropriately used.
After “To Be”
Most verbs are described by an adverb. However, following the use of the verb, “to be” (is, am, was, were,etc.), use an adjective to modify the verb, “to be”, instead of an adverb.
Incorrect: I am furiously with my business partner.
The verb, “am”, should be followed by an adjective, “furious”.
Correct: We will be sure to answer your correspondence as quickly as possible.
The verb, “will be”, is followed by the adjective, “sure”. The adverb in the sentence, “quickly”, refers to the verb, “to answer”.
“Anymore” vs. “Any More”
Any more
These two words are the traditional expression in English, and may be preferable for formal writing, particularly in a negative expression when meaning, “any longer”.
Correct: I do not care for this author any more.
Incorrect: Dialogue is not considered a reasonable method of education anymore.
As this is a formal sentence, it would be better if “anymore” were replaced by “nowadays”.
While certain dialects may use “anymore” at the beginning of a sentence (Anymore one can buy anything online), this is not considered acceptable in formal writing.
“Anywhere”, “Somewhere” and “Nowhere”
The words, “anywhere”, “nowhere”, and “somewhere”, should always be written as one word.
Incorrect: When I ask my son where he’s been, he always replies, “No where.”
“No where” should be written as one word: nowhere.
Incorrect: There used to be a gas station around here some where.
“Some where” should be written as one word: somewhere.
“Anytime” vs. “Any Time”
As English is an ever-evolving language, words are often caught mid-change. “Anytime” is currently evolving; in common usage, it may be written as one word, but in formal communication it should be left as two words.
Incorrect: Quotation marks may be used anytime a character is speaking.
Because this is a formal sentence, “anytime” should be changed to “any time”.
Correct: My new bicycle allows me to go anywhere, anytime.
In this sentence, “anytime”, is acceptable as a compound word because the sentence in informal.
“Anyway”, “Anyways”, or “Any Way”
Anyways
The adverb, “anyways”, is extremely informal, and indicates the speaker is resuming a narrative thread, or changing the topic of discussion.
Correct: I never did understand numbers very well. Anyways, I’ve decided to move from financing into tech support.
Anyway
“Anyway” can be used to mean, “in any case”.
Correct: Paris is expensive, but many people would like to vacation there, anyway.
This adverb is acceptable in formal writing, but intentions may be better expressed by the use of a variation of “in any case”.
Any way
When written as two words, “any way” can be replaced by “in any manner” or by “by any means”.
Correct: Teachers often bribe children to read any way they can.
Because “any way” can be replaced by “in any manner” or by “by any means”, this is correct.
Incorrect: I don’t mind staying home from the party, because I don’t feel all that well, any way.
Because “any way” cannot be replaced with “in any manner”, it should be written as one word: anyway.
“Everyday” vs. “Every Day”
Everyday
As an adjective, this word means “common” or “informal”. This term is perfectly acceptable in formal writing.
Correct: It is not appropriate to wear everyday clothes to one’s convocation.
Every day
This adverbial phrase can be replaced by “each day”. This term may also be used in formal writing. It is not synonymous with “everyday’.
Correct: Homework must be left in the professor’s mailbox every day.
Incorrect: Homework must not be left on the professor’s lectern everyday.
“Everyday” should be written as “every day”, as it may be replaced by “each day”.
“Everyone” vs. “Every One”
Everyone
The pronoun, “everyone”, may be replaced by “everybody”. It is used to refer to all the people in a group.
Correct: The new protocols will affect everyone positively.
Every one
Written as two words, “every one” refers to each individual who makes up a group, and means, “each person”.
Correct: My mother would like to thank every one who offered assistance during her illness.
Correct: Students may excel if each and every one is treated with dignity and respect.
“Every Time”
The word, “everytime”, should be written as two separate words: every time.
While some compound words like “everywhere” and “everyone” have become commonplace in the English language, “everytime” is not considered an acceptable compound word.
Incorrect: You don’t need to remind me to do the dishes everytime.
“Everytime” is not a compound word. The words should be separated.
“Sometime”, “Sometimes”, and “Some Time”
All uses are considered acceptable for formal writing.
Some time
When using “some time”, “some” is an adjective. It is describing the amount of time, and frequently implies a long period.
Correct: For some time, the world has been known to be round.
It can also imply a fairly specific amount of time:
Correct: I require some time to finish this project today.
Sometime
When written as one word, it implies a vague day in the future. It can frequently be replaced by “someday”.
Correct: The cure for cancer will be found sometime.
Sometimes
When written as one word and ending in “s”, the word implies “occasionally”.
Correct: Sometimes, I just don’t understand what that man is saying.
With Sense Verbs
Following a verb which refers to the senses (e.g. seeor seem, taste, feel, sound), be sure to use an adjective to describe the noun in the clause, instead of an adverb.
Incorrect: She felt badly about her behaviour last evening.
The adverb, “badly”, is modifying “she”, and so must be changed to the adjective, “bad”.
Incorrect: The wine cork smelled oddly.
The adverb, “oddly”, is modifying “the wine cork”, and should be the adjective, “odd”.
Exception:
When using the verb, “to look”, to mean “to see with one’s eyes”, as opposed to “to seem” or, “to appear”, use an adverb to describe the verb.
Correct: I looked quickly at the man’s face.
The verb, “to look” is used to mean “to see with one’s eyes”, and so an adverb is used.
Correct: I looked terrible after the long ordeal.
The verb, “to look” is used to mean “to appear”, so an adjective is used.
Double Negatives, Involving Negative Words and Adverbs
Certain adverbs which infer “little”, “few” or “not often” should not be used in the same clause as a negative word, as this creates a double negative. Such adverbs include: scarcely, hardly, barely, rarely, and seldom.
Incorrect: The employees never scarcely had personal time, as the project deadline loomed.
The word “scarcely” implies “not often”, and should not be used with “never”. The clause should be written: The employees scarcely had personal time...
Incorrect: My professor doesn’t rarely look at the work we hand in, but he doesn’t send it to his assistant.
The word “rarely” infers “not often”, and should not be used in the same clause as “don’t”; “doesn’t” is grammatically correct, as it is in a different clause.
Correct: The vocalist barely achieved the proper note.
Misuse of “Much”
When referring to a noun, if one can count multiples of that noun, it’s considered a countable noun. If the quantity is generally too many or too difficult to count, it’s called an uncountable noun. For example, “a grain of sand” is countable (one grain of sand, two grains of sand), but “sand” itself is uncountable. For countable nouns, use the term, “many”. For uncountable nouns, use the term, “much”.
Incorrect: How much shoes are in this store?
“Shoes” is a countable noun (even if there are millions of shoes), so we would write the sentence: How many shoes are in this store?
Correct: There are many wines available for sale.
In this sentence, “wines” refers to “types of wine”. As “type” is a countable noun, it is correct to use “many” to modify it.
Incorrect: There are many wine available for sale.
“Wine” is uncountable, so the term, “much”, should be used, and the verb should be singular: There is much wine available for sale.
Misuse of “Many”
For countable nouns, use the term, “many”. For uncountable nouns, use the term, “much”.
Incorrect: I can’t attend the party because I have too many stuff to do.
“Stuff” is considered an uncountable noun, so the sentence should be written: I can’t attend the party because I have too much stuff to do.
Incorrect: There are many wine available for sale.
“Wine” is uncountable, so the term, “much”, should be used, and the verb should be singular:There is much wine available for sale.
Correct: There are many wines available for sale.
In this sentence, “wines” refers to “types of wine”. As “type” is a countable noun, it is correct to use “many” to modify it.
“Many” Without a Direct Noun
“Many” and “much” can both be used as adjectives. When used to modify another adjective, “much” is used because the second adjective is uncountable, just like a noun. Most of the time, it is used this way in comparisons, so look for words like “more” and “less”, or suffixes like “-ier”.
Incorrect: The white cat is many more amusing than the brown cat.
“Many” should be changed to “much” because “more amusing” is working like an adjective, which is uncountable.
Correct: The white cat is much more amusing than the brown cat.
Incorrect: Are these purple jeans many less expensive than the black ones?
“Less expensive” should be modified by “much” instead of “many”.
Incorrect: Tom is many funnier than Mary.
“Funnier” is an adjective and cannot be counted. “Many” should be changed to “much”.
Agreement Errors
Adjectives such as many, several, few and enough should be used to modify plural nouns. Singular nouns may be modified by words such as a, one, the,or that.
Incorrect: The man reacted quickly, with few consideration for his own safety.
As “few” is modifying “consideration”, this sentence is incorrect. One might make “consideration” plural (“considerations”), or one might re-phrase the sentence as, “The man reacted quickly, with no consideration for his own safety.”
Incorrect: Do you have enough packet of sugar?
As the noun is “packet”, it should be pluralized to agree with “enough”.
Correct: Do you have enough sugar?
As “sugar” is an uncountable noun, it can be used with “enough”.
Misuse of “Like” and “As”.
The confusion in using “like” or “as” is caused by a lack of understanding of the word’s role. “Like” is used as a preposition, telling where, when or how the noun in the sentence is doing whatever it may be doing. “As” is used like a conjunction, joining two clauses. A general rule-of-thumb is that “like” should be followed by an object (to make a prepositional phrase), and “as” should be followed by a clause containing a verb.
Like
Most of the time, “like” compares two things.
Incorrect: Imagine a grown woman acting as a child.
In this sentence, “as” is working like a preposition, telling how the grown woman is acting. The object of the sentence is “a child”. “As” should be changed to like: Imagine a grown woman acting like a child.
Incorrect: The little girl, as her mother, has bright red hair.
Even though this sentence has a verb after “as”, the verb belongs to the first clause, “The little girl has bright red hair”. “As” should be changed to like: The little girl, like her mother, has bright red hair.
Correct: The little girl has bright red hair, as does her mother.
This sentence is correct because we have added the second verb “does”, so “as” is connecting the two clauses.
As
Frequently, “as” can be replaced by “the way”.
Incorrect: No one makes chocolate cake like my mother does.
Because there is a verb after “like”, the conjunction “as” should be used. Here, “as” can be replaced by “the way”: No one makes chocolate cake the way my mother does.
Correct: No one makes chocolate cake as my mother does.
Incorrect: He can’t play cricket like he used to.
At first glance, there appears to be no verb after “like”. However, when speaking, we often leave out verbs which are already implied. The implied verb is “play”, as in “he used to play cricket”. “Like” should be changed to “as”.
Correct: He can’t play cricket as he used to before he got old.
The verb “used to play” is also implied here, so “as” is correct.
“Other” and “Another”
If the noun is singular, we use “another” to modify it; if it is plural, we use “other”. “Another” means “one other”, so it should only be used with the singular.
Incorrect: If the weather doesn’t change soon, we may have a drought in another parts of the country.
“Another” is modifying “parts”, which is a plural noun. “Another” should be changed to “other”, or “parts” could be made singular: part.
Incorrect: I want to learn from many another teachers, not just one.
“Another” is modifying “teachers”, which is a plural noun. “Another” should be changed to “other”.
Adverbs: adverb between a verb and its direct object
Most adverbs end in –ly, but not all of them. Be sure to look for words which may be nouns or adjectives but are acting like adverbs. An adverb should not be placed between the verb it is modifying, and the direct object (whatever the verb may be modifying).
Incorrect: The woman applied smoothly the lipstick.
The adverb (smoothly) should not be between the verb (applied) and the direct object (the lipstick). The sentence could be re-written as “The woman applied the lipstick smoothly” or “The woman smoothly applied the lipstick”.
Incorrect: I poured slowly the milk into the glass.
So that the verb (poured) is not separated from the direct object (the milk), the adverb “slowly” should be moved in front of the verb: I slowly poured the milk into the glass.
Incorrect: Mary just went yesterday to the market.
“Yesterday” is being used as an adverb in this sentence (describing when Mary went). The sentence would be better if written: Mary just went to the market yesterday.
Wrong Participle
Verbs can be used as adjectives; this is called a “participle”. Some examples of participles are “The Flying Dutchman” and “a loved one”. Participles can be either the past-tense form of the verb or the progressive tense (ending in –ing). There is no clear way to determine which verb uses which form (although intransitive verbs do not use the progressive tense). Some verbs can use both but each will have a different meaning.
Incorrect: The dog looks like a sleeped baby.
The participle “sleeped” should be changed to “sleeping”.
Incorrect: I saw a really bored movie last night.
The participle should be “boring”; movies cannot be “bored”.
Incorrect: The frighten girl ran away from the dog.
Participles do not use the present tense; “frighten” should be changed to “frightened”.
Correct: I just read an amazing book.
Correct: I am amazed by this book.
Both of these sentences are correct; the usage depends on the desired meaning.