Subject-Verb Agreement
Rule-1: Interrogative is not twice in a sentence. The first sentence is Interrogative and the second is Assertive. However, there is a question mark at the end of the sentence.
Incorrect: Do you know where does he live?
Correct: Do you know where he lives?
Rule-2: Negative is not twice in a sentence. That is, negative words such as unless, until etc. are not followed by not.
Inc: Wait here until I do not come.
Cor: Wait here until I come.
Rule-3: If there is many a before the Subject in the Sentence, then the Subject will be the 3rd Person Singular Number and the Verb and Singular Number.
Inc: Many a boys were present in the meeting.
Cor: Many a boy was present in the meeting.
Rule-4: Subject is Possessive according to its Number.
Inc: Rahim and Karim are attentive to his lessons.
Cor: Rahim and Karim are attentive to their lessons.
Rule-5: Hung and hanged. Past Tense - Hung means hanging something and Past Tense - Hanged means hanging someone for punishment.
Inc: He hanged the shirt on the wall.
Cor: He hung the shirt on the wall.
Inc: He was hung for the killing.
Cor: He was hanged for the killing.
Rule-6: 'That' is followed by than of or those of in comparative degree.
Note: singular that of and plural those of.
Inc: The rice of Barisal is better than Khulna.
Cor: The rice of Barisal is better than that of Khulna.
Inc: The mangoes of Rajshahi are better than Khulna.
Cor: The mangoes of Rajshahi are better than those of Khulna.
Rule-7: No sooner + had ...... than.
Note: However, hardly or scarcely, it is followed by had and then when.
No sooner had we reached the station than the train left.
Hardly had we reached the station when the train left.
Scarcely had we reached the station when the train left.
Hardly had he seen me when he ran away.
Rule-8: A Sentence does not have two words with the same meaning.
Inc: He is comparatively better today.
Cor: He is comparatively well today.
Rule-9: Subject after 'Lest' Conjunction takes should / might. 'Lest' is used in the negative sense. So after that there is no other Negative.
Inc: He walked fast last he missed the train.
Cor: He walked fastest he might miss the train.
Rule-10: Generally Sentence is not without Subject. So if there is no Subjcet in a sentence, it has to be inserted.
Inc: Me went there.
Cor: I went there.
Rule-11: Even if the word school, village etc. is not mentioned after the noun of the possessive case, but if there is no mention of any such word before, such word should be used in the case of the pronoun of the possessive case.
Inc: He came to my.
Cor: He came to my village.
Inc: He gave me some books, pens and others.
Cor: He gave me some books, pens and other things.
Rule-12: Brother, Sister etc. words are unnecessary after the word cousin.
Inc: Abid is my cousin brother.
Cor: Abid is my cousin.
Rule-13: Sheep, dear and some other Nouns have the same Singular and Plural form. So one sheep, ten sheep is to be written.
Inc: He sold ten sheeps.
Cor: He sold ten sheep.
Rule-14: Certain numerical adjectives such as one, two, three, four, etc., are not plural when they precede dozen, hundred, etc.
Inc: He bought three dozen of pens.
Cor: He bought three dozen of pens.
Rule-15: Relative pronouns usually have to be coordinated with antecedent. The verb used after the relative pronoun must fit the number and person of the antecedent.
Inc: It is you who has done this.
Cor: It is you who have done this.
👉 Noun or Pronoun used before Relative Pronoun is called Antecedent.
Rule-16: 'Let' is the transitive verb which is to be followed by the pronoun of the objective form.
Inc: Let him do the work.
Cor: Let him do the work.
Rule-17: When each, every, everybody, anybody, nobody, none etc. is used in the sentence as the subject, after these the Verb, Pronoun must be Singular.
Ine: Everybody have done their duties.
Cor: Everybody has done his duties.
Rule-18: Less means quantity and fewer means number. So less water, less food, less money, less education, elsewhere fewer friends, fewer letters.
E.g.
Inc: Eat fewer food, you will feel better.
Cor: Eat less food, you will feel better.
Inc: I have less friends.
Cor: I have fewer friends.
Rule-19: Very unique, rather unique, more unique, most unique — these are all wrong usages.
There can be no degree of uniqueness.
Inc: This is the most unique case.
Cor: This is a unique case.
Rule-20: When never, seldom, really, hardly, scarcely, neither-nor, not-only, no sooner sits at the beginning of a Complete Sentence, then sits before the Verb Subject like a questioning sentence.
Inc: No sooner the teacher had entered the classroom than the students stood up.
Cor: No sooner had the teacher entered the classroom than the students stood up.
Rule-21: Tell cannot be used without Indirect Object in the sense of giving or ordering. Where not mentioned, say or any other verb should be used instead of tell.
Inc: Ruby tells that she is writing a letter.
Cor: Ruby says that she is writing a letter.
Rule-22: We must remember:
We make - a mistake, an error, a blunder.
We do - wrong, harm, injury.
We commit - a fault, a crime, an offense, a sin.
Inc: He did a fault.
Cor: He committed a fault.
Rule-23: Die of disease, die of not eating; In case of accidental death or suicide die by; If you die for something extra, you die for and if you die for freedom or for the country, you die for.
Inc: He died of the country.
Cor: He died for the country
Inc: He died for cholera.
Cor: He died of cholera.
Inc: He died for an accident.
Cor: He died in an accident.
Or, he died by an accident.
Inc: He died by over eating.
Cor: He died from over eating.
Rule-24: Devoted to is used to mean affection for good deeds and addicted to is used to mean addiction to evil deeds.
Inc: He is addicted to study.
Cor: He is devoted to study.
Inc: He is devoted to drinking.
Cor: He is addicted to drinking
Rule-25: Refuse is used to offer and deny to used to truth/words.
Inc: Lovely denied the proposal.
Cor: Lovely refused the proposal.
Inc: The man refused the debt.
Cor: The man denied the debt.
Rule-26: Preposition does not precede Adverb and Adverbial Phrase.
Inc: He has gone to home.
Cor: He has gone home.
Note: Home is the Adverb. So there is no preposition before home.
Inc: The man left the village in bag and baggage.
Cor: The man left the village bag and baggage.
Rule-27: After Prefer, if the Verb sits, it has to be turned into Gerund by adding ing to it, and to is used instead of than after the 1st gerund.
Inc: He prefers to read than to write.
Cor: He prefers reading to writing.
Rule-28: When a sentence contains a series of pieces of information, the same structure is used to express each piece of information.
Inc: He is sincere, hard-working and people like him.
Cor: He is sincere, hard-working and popular.
Inc: She likes to read, write and speak.
Cor: She likes to read, write and speak.
Rule-29: Phrase: No preposition is used before Out of doors, out of spirits, in detail, in a nut shell, to keep heart, on foot, heart and soul.
Inc: He went out of the door.
Cor: He went out of doors.
Inc: He told the story in nutshell.
Cor: He told the story in a nut shell.
Rule-30: After both sits the.
Inc: Both boys made good results.
Cor: Both the boys made good results.
Rule-31: Article the isn't used before factitive objects when using of Election, select, nominate, choose, appoint etc.
Inc: We elected him the captain of the team.
Cor: We elected him captain of the team.
Rule-32: Either a fool or a foolish man/boy etc.
Inc: He is a foolish.
Cor: He is a fool.
Or, He is a foolish man.
Rule-33: Article the is used used before the name of a language.
Ine: He is reading the English.
Cor: He is reading English.
Rule-34: Material Noun: Noun that cannot be counted, can be weighed, doesn't precede the.
Inc: The iron is very useful.
Cor: Iron is very useful.
However, if the Material Noun is specified, then the precedes the Material Noun.
Inc: Iron of this mill is good.
Cor: The iron of this mill is good.
Rule-35: Article the doesn't precede case in apposition / appositive.
Inc: Mr. Rahim, the principal of X college, is a learned man.
Cor: Mr. Rahim, Principal of X college, is a learned man.
Rule-36: When two persons / places with the same quality are compared, the one with whom they are compared sits before the.
In: Nazrul is Shelley of Bangladesh.
Cor: Nazrul is the Shelley of Bangladesh.
Rule-37: Less means quantity. And Fewer means number.
Inc: No less than fifty students were present.
Cor: No fewer than fifty students were present.
Rule-38: Quantity is used to uncountable nouns and number is used to countable nouns.
Inc: He bought a quantity of books.
Cor: He bought a number of books.
Rule-39: Work means work. And Works means the writings of any poet, writer, playwright, storyteller etc.
In: I have read the work of Nazrul.
Cor: I have read the works of Nazrul.
Rule-40: Usually machinery, scenery, advice, information, furniture, fruit are not plural.
Inc: He gave me some important informations.
Cor: He gave me some important information.
Rule-41: Throwing means something substance and throwing liquid takes the word spill.
Inc: He threw the milk.
Cor: He spilled the milk.
Rule-42: Miscellaneous Usages of vocabulary.
Inc: This is the most unique case.
Cor: This is a unique case.
Inc: He is a populous writer.
Cor: He is a popular writer.
Rule-43: Tall vs High.
Inc: The mountain is very tall.
Cor: The mountain is very high.
Inc: The man is very high.
Cor: The man is very tall.
Rule-44: Mutual means mutual, common means common. Fast means dark/deep/sincere etc. Sworn means extreme. Honorary means unpaid and honorable means honorable.
Inc: He is my sworn friend.
Cor: He is my close friend.
Inc: He is my fast enemy.
Cor: He is my sworn enemy
