English Grammar – Crack the Versus Game – Tips

CRACK THIS VERSUS GAME OF GRAMMAR

Since the times immemorial English has been referred to as the Funny Language especially by the Indians because of so many different reasons like peculiar use of tenses, homophones, ambiguous idioms, and a lot more. Until now there have been several confusions about English Grammar that we encounter but we ignore them by simply using them whichever way we like. So, here are some examples of commonly used words whose usage is confused with another similarly applied word. We hope after reading this article you will be able to resolve your doubts and then use accurate grammar.

1. “Like” V/s “such as”

A common mistake that we tend to make is use “such as” and “like” as a substitute for another, or mostly use “like” when “such as” should be applied in a sentence. However the actual rule that we are not aware of behind the application of these two words is “like” excludes; “such as” includes. One must use “such as” when giving examples of something, and “like” when one has to express similarity. Let’s make it more clear with few examples:

“Celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan and Deepika Padukone are used to being clicked.”

“Celebrities, such as Amitabh Bachchan and Deepika Padukone, are used to being clicked.”

In the first sentence, we’re talking about any celebrity who is a part of Bollywood with BIG B and Deepika; not necessarily these two specific stars– just ones like them. In the second sentence, we’re naming both of them as specific examples of actors who are used to being clicked because that is how their profession of being on celluloid has made them.

2. “As” V/S “since”

 “It’s been years since I last rode a cycle, as I moved to the city.”

This is an incorrect application of the word ‘As’. This is another innocent grammatical error we tend to commit by using “as” and “since” interchangeably. The simple rule behind the usage of these two words is -“as” is causal; “, think of “since” as being associated to time. A grammatically correct example would be:

“It’s been years since I’ve ridden a cycle.”

‘’I haven’t been able to ride a cycle as it is not a trend in the city.’’

3. “-ed” V/S “-nt” endings

Many speakers are in a dilemma whether a word should end in “-ed” or “-nt”: should it be “burned” or “burnt”, for example? The rule is that “-ed” is the past tense form; “-nt” is the participle form. For instance, “she burned theold documents” is correct because we’re talking about an action – the burning– taking place in the past. Another example of the participle use of the verb “to burn” would be “burnt ashes” . Another example of this rule is “learned” versus “learnt”:

“she learned the poem” versus “the poem is learnt by her”.

4. “That” V/S “which”

The case with ‘’that’’ and ‘’which’’ is “that” defines; & “which” informs, or adds extra information. For example:

“This is the dish that I have cooked for the dinner.

This dish, which Tina made, looks better.”

In the first sentence, “that” is used to define the dish as being one made by me. The second sentence refers to a different dish that looks better than mine, with a bit of extra information added – “which Tina made”.

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