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maybe, may be.
Maybe
means " perhaps." May be
is a verb form. |
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Wrong |
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May be
the meeting will be cancelled. |
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Right |
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Maybe
the meeting will be cancelled. |
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Right |
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The meeting
may be
cancelled. |
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2. |
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myself, himself,
yourself are reflexive pronouns. Do not use them
unless they refer back to the subject. |
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Wrong |
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No
one attended the meeting besides
ourselves. |
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Right |
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No
one attended the meeting besides
us. |
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Wrong |
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A man like himself
deserves praise. |
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Right |
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A
man like
him
deserves praise. |
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Wrong |
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Only John and
myself
witnessed the accident. |
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Right |
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Only John and
I
witnessed the accident. |
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Right |
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I
wrote the composition
by myself. |
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Right |
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They
themselves
did the research. ( or They did the research
themselves.
) |
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3. |
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off of. Omit
" of." |
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He
fell off
the horse. |
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4. |
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out loud is not
correct. Say aloud. |
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Wrong |
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He
sang out loud. |
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Right |
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He
sang aloud. |
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5. |
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passed, past.
Passed
is a verb. |
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Wrong |
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She
past
me the salt. |
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Right |
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She
passed
me the salt. |
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Right |
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One
can learn from his
past
experiences. |
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Right |
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He
lives in the
past. |
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6. |
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percentage,
percent. Use percent after a number. |
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Wrong |
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A
large
percent
of his salary is spent on food. |
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Right |
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A
large
percentage
of his salary is spent on food. |
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Right |
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He spends twenty
percent
of his income for rent. |
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7. |
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prefer is not
followed by the preposition than. |
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Wrong |
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I
prefer
chocolate ice cream
than
vanilla. |
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Right |
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I
prefer
chocolate ice cream
to
vanilla. |
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Right |
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I
prefer
chocolate ice cream
rather than
vanilla. |
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8. |
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principal,
principle.
Principal is a noun or an
adjective meaning " chief official " or " main."
Principle
is a noun, meaning " fundamental truth." |
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He followed
basic scientific
principles. |
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He is a man
of few
principles. |
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The
principal
side effect of the drug is drowsiness. |
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My
principal
objection to smoking is its danger to health. |
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9. |
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quiet, quite.
Quite
means " completely." Do not use
quite
instead of very,
rather,
or somewhat. |
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Wrong |
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The apartment is
quite
expensive. |
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Right |
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The
apartment is
very
( rather,
somewhat
) expensive. |
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Right |
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We
must be
quiet
inside the library. |
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Right |
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You
are quite
wrong. |
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10. |
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raise,
rise. The verb rise
does not have an object. The verb
raise has
an object. The principal parts of the verb rise are:
rise
( present ), rose
( past ), risen
( past participle ), and rising
( present participle ). The principal pars of the verb
raise are: raise
( present ), raised
( past ), raised
( past participle ), and raising
( present participle ). |
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He
raised
his hand before asking the question. ( past tense ) |
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Some
questions were
raised
about income taxes. ( past participle ) |
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Should a
gentleman
rise
when a lady enters the room ? ( present tense ) |
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The sun
rises
in the east and sets in the west. ( present tense ) |
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After
finishing dinner, he
rose
from the table. ( past tense ) |
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God has
risen
from the dead. ( past participle ) |
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The sun is
rising
high in the sky. ( present participle ) |
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