A Review of Some Grammatical Errors and Faulty Expressions in English

By David Theodore Ackah Jr.

This educational book teaches its user, the essential techniques that will enable identification of the common pitfalls of grammar, and how to avoid them.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Feb 20, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524628574

David Theodore Ackah Jr.

David Theodore Ackah Jr is applicant to the Associated Board of The Royal Schools of Music that is, prepares and presents candidates for the examinations of the Board, and is also currently, Director of Forum Educational and Technical Services Limited. He studied mathematics, engineering, music, phonetics, philosophy and classics in three US universities and two in the UK, and holds MA in Arts Education, MS in Mathematics and PhD in Mathematical Logic. Besides, he possesses professional awards in Music (composition, organ and singing), and a Gold Medal in Public Speaking (LAMDA), and a top achievement award in Engineering Design and Graphics. He is a member of The Federation of American Scientists,The International Society of Phonetic Sciences (US), The American Public Health Association, The Royal Society of Public Health and The International Phonetic Association (UK). He is married and has a daughter; and his hobbies are: Elocution, Reading, Photography and Travel.

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Published by AuthorHouse 12/07/2016

ISBN: 978-1-5246-2841-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5246-2857-4 (e)

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A REVIEW OF SOME COMMON GRAMMATICAL ERRORS AND FAULTY EXPRESSIONS IN ENGLISH

With a good grasp of the concepts of grammar, we can avoid committing serious errors in both our written and oral usages of the language. The object of this topic is to help its users acquire the essential techniques to enable them identify the common pitfalls, and hence, know how to avoid them.

A sentence is the smallest grammatical unit capable of standing alone. A simple sentence consists of a subject and a predicate. The subject of a sentence may be a person, place thing, or an idea that is in action or is being described jointly with any modifiers.

The predicate consists of the verb and its complements and any attached modifiers, as in

Truth is simple. (Truth is the subject, is, the verb and simple, the complement).

Genocide is a heinous crime. (Genocide is the subject, is, the verb, crime, the complement, and heinous, the modifier).

A sentence may also consists of only two words, a noun or pronoun forming the (subject), and a verb, the (predicate), as in

He wept. (He is the subject; wept, is the verb).

A sentence can also be represented by one word if that word is a command verb, with the subject understood to be you, as in

Stop!

It is justifiable for one to assume that a simple sentence with one subject and one verb may contain far more than two words, but all the remaining words modify (tell more about) the subject and the verb. Consider the following sentence:

In, The military plane transports troops, ammunition and vehicles, and ration for the garrison, the subject is plane, the verb is transports; and the remaining words give more information about the subject and the verb.

plane What type? military, plane

transports What? troops, ammunition, vehicles and ration

for whom? the garrison

Sometimes, the subject appears as an adjectival phrase, as in

The work of an ant is laborious.

The adjectival phrase "work of an ant", describes a general characteristic of the ant species. The sentence can also be expressed as,

An ant’s work is laborious; and it can as well be expressed analytically as:

what? the work

what/which/whose? of an ant

what about it? is laborious.

English grammar rule requires that every sentence must have a verb. This means that a single sentence must have a singular verb and a plural subject, a plural verb, as in

John is a preacher (single declarative subject).

The students are singing in unison (students: subject).

The supervisor and team interact well (compound subject).

The farmhands give assistance, and the farmer provides accommodation (compound verb).

A complement completes the meaning of a sentence that is incomplete with just the subject and verb.

A sentence, such as He wept, obviously seems complete; but there are others that require more complements to complete them. For instance, the following sentence could be left with just the subject and verb:

The team won.

We need to know what it won. Complements serve to finish the meaning of sentences.

In English, there are four types of complements: direct objects, indirect objects, subjective complements, and objective complements.

Direct object. The direct object answers the question "What?" after a verb of action, as in

The campanologist tolled the bell. (bell is the object).

Indirect object. The indirect object answers the question, "To whom? or For whom?" after a verb of action, as in

Tom gave East a tour of the schools. (East is the indirect object).

Subjective complement. The subjective complement is either a noun or adjective in the predicate section of the sentence – after the verb that refers to the subject, as in

The sun is up. (Up is an adjective and describes the subject sun, but not the verb is).

The discovery was a great revelation. (Revelation is a noun that renames the subject discovery).

Note: 1. That the verb to be takes neither adverbs nor objects.

Note: 2. That nouns or adjectives following verbs are subjective.

Note: 3. Complements called predicate nouns and predicate adjectives relate only to words that refer to the subject(s).

Note: 4. Although other words, such as direct objects and adje(ctives may appear in the predicate, they will retain information related to the verb, rather than the object.

Objective complement. An objective complement is a noun, pronoun, or adjective that refers to the direct object, as a subjective complement does to the subject, as in

They proclaimed him king. (King proclaimed him, the object).

Technological upgrades render our old technological practices obsolete. (Obsolete describes practices, the direct object).

A collective noun refers to a group, such as team, crowd, flock, committee, audience, family, herd, class, faculty and army. A collective noun is governed by two principles, but regarded as a whole, as in

The ensemble always sees through the leader’s sense of direction.

The committee is convening to consider issues about climate change.

A collective noun is used as a plural, where it refers to members of a group, as individuals. We may have expressions, such as

The team argues among themselves, about the most effective modes of achieving good results.

The Richardson family have been attending the same church as their next-door neighbours do.

Simple though this rule may seem, however, there are occasions when uncertainties occur. The following illustrates one of such occurrences, in which the singular is not used in the next member, as in

The Faculty of Languages has decided on modifying some aspects of their undergraduate curricula.

This statement means that the faculty comprises individual departments – each with its own unique administrative set up, such as The Department of French, in a separate premises where they teach only French.

However, where a plural noun is chosen as a single entity or unit; or a plural noun phrase represents a series of singular nouns, considered separately and successfully, a single verb must be used, as in

There is a stack of twenty pounds notes in my pocket.

Compare,

In the laboratory, there are twenty scraps of metal from the wreck of the ship;

and

What shall we do to succeed? Well, there are: hard work, diligence and sacrifice for you to consider.

(i) Nouns ending in s, sh, x, z form their plural by adding es as their suffix, eg, grass; grasses; gas, gases; bush, bushes; rash, rashes; shark, sharks; fox, foxes; jazz, jazzes; topaz, topazes.

(ii) Many nouns ending in ch also form their plural with es as their suffix, eg, birch, birches; ditch, ditches; witch, witches; church, churches; arch, arches.

Note that the plural for monarch is suffixed with s only, and not es.

(iii) Nouns ending in k form their plural by adding the suffix s, eg, mark, marks; bark, barks; oak, oaks; ark, arks; ink, inks.

(iv) Some nouns that end in o, especially with the o preceded by a consonant, form their plural by adding es, eg, dodo, dodoes; buffalo, buffaloes; flamingo, flamingoes; mosquito, mosquitoes; cargo, cargoes; calico, calicoes; domino, dominoes; echo, echoes; hero, heroes; mulatto, mulattoes; innuendo, innuendoes; magnifico, magnificoes; manifesto, manifestoes; motto, mottoes; tornado, tornadoes; volcano, volcanoes; tomato, tomatoes; potato, potatoes.

Note: 1. that many nouns ending in o take s only. Among them are: bamboo, bravo, cameo, canto, cento, duodecimo, embryo, grotto, halo, judo, junto, memento, octavo, portico, quarto, rondo, solo, stiletto, two, tyro, virtuoso, zero, folio, nuncio, oratorio, portfolio, embroglio, with others ending in io.

(v) Nouns ending in y, preceded by a consonant, form their plural by changing y into ies, as in baby, babies; lady, ladies; caddy, caddies; glory, glories, mammy, mammies.

Note: 2. For nouns ending in quy, since qu sounds like (kw), they are treated as consonants; so that the plural for soliloquy becomes soliloquies.

(vi) Nouns ending in y, preceded by a vowel, form their plural by adding s, as in day, days; bay, bays; boy, boys; donkey, donkeys; chimney, chimneys; combo, combos; valley, valleys.

Note: 3. that proper nouns tending to common, that have their ending in o, form their plural by adding s, as in Cato, Catos; Cicero, Ciceros; Horatio, Horatios; Scipio, Scipios.

Note: 4. The plural of calico can be either calicos or calicoes; and mosquito, mosquitos or mosquitoes; but for, Eskimo, the plural is either Eskimo or Eskimos.

(v) Nouns ending in y preceded by a consonant, form their plural by changing the y into ies, as in lady, ladies; lorry, lorries; dowry, dowries; glory, glories.

Note: 5. For nouns ending in quy, whereby the qu represents the sound(kw), they are treated as consonants; so that soliloquy, for instance, becomes soliloquiesin the plural.

Note: 6. Proper nouns in y tending to common, usually add s, as in the Henrys; the Marys; the Sallys.

Note: 7. Nouns ending in y, preceded by a vowel, form their plural by adding s, as in bay, bays; day, days; kidney, kidneys; chimney, chimneys; valley, valleys.

(vi) Some nouns form their plural by mutation (verb change) eg, man, men; woman, women; foot, feet; goose, geese; tooth, teeth; louse, lice; mouse, mice.

(vii) A few nouns form their plural by adopting en ending, namely: ox, oxen; child, children; brother, brethren; cow, kine.

(viii) Some nouns have like singular and plural, eg, apparatus; cannon; deer; fish; fowl; grouse; heathen; mackerel; perch; pike; salmon; series; sheep; species; swine; teal; trout.

Note: 1. To indicate the singular of such words (refer to the previous paragraph), the prefixes of a and an are introduced before them, as in a cow; an apparatus.

Note: 2. Nouns, such as fish and fowl, among others, have a plural ending in s, when number is implied.

Note: 3. Other nouns, in certain signification, have both singular and plural alike. These are introduced as follows: pound; herd (of cattle), cannon; shot; pound; pence; fathom; pair; brace; couple; dozen; foot (soldiers).

Compound nouns generally form their plural by adding s to the principal word of the compound.

Note: 1. When the words are so closely combined to cause the meaning to be regarded as one word, the s is added to the end, as in handfuls, downfalls, backhanders’ the ten-per-cents; spoonfuls.

Note: 2. In some titles, the s is added to the last noun, as in lord-mayors; lord-liutenants; major-generals.

In other titles, the plural sign is, in accordance with the French idiom, attached to both nouns, as in knights-templars; lords-justices; lords-commissioners; lords-wardens; lords-appellants; lords-bishops; lords-apparents.

Note: 3. Both words in the compound nouns men-servants and women-servants have the same plural form.

Note: 4. All the three forms – The Miss Baker; The Misses Baker; The Misses Bakers are used. The Miss Bakers, to some degree, refers to the separate action taken by the individuals; whereas, The Misses Baker may seem more as a collective entity.

Note: 5. Messrs Baker is the common form found in commercial usage.

Some foreign nouns that retain their foreign plurals -

Plural Nouns, Singular in Sense

1. A few nouns with seemingly plural endings take a singular verb, eg, politics; statistics; economics; mathematics; news; physics – all of which end in s and are treated as singular.

2. There are also cases in which a singular verb links a plural noun to denote a single idea or meaning, as in

A depth of 45 000m beneath the sea is indeed, profound.

The remaining laps on the track for the runner to complete, is hard for him to contemplate.

3. A plural noun takes a singular verb when the noun itself represents a single subject, as in

Kew Gardens is a very popular tourists’ attraction.

4. In the following phrases, the use of either singular or plural verb is determined by sense, as in

Here is a five pounds note to guarantee your silence.

Three-quarters of the cargo was lost.

Four-fifths of the apples are rotten.

5. Often, mistakes occur when singular and plural parts of a sentence are mixed, as in

The team was drawn together; and soon, they dispersed for their respective events (Change was to were).

6. A sentence whose singular noun is followed by a phrase introduced by with, together with, as well as, or along with, takes a singular verb, as in

The president, with his entire entourage, has departed.

Tom, as well as Dick, shares the same apartment.

The ambassador, together with her staff was invited to the palace.

7. When two subjects contain one singular and the other, plural nouns, and do not share the same verb, two separate forms of the verb must be used, as in

The property has been broken into and its contents looted (Incorrect).

In the sentence, has has been linked to property and contents; whereas, contents should have been ascribed a plural verb. The construction should be recast to read:

The property has been broken into and its contents have been looted (Correct).

8. Plural nouns are sometimes allowed to intersect a singular subject and its verb, thereby attracting the verb to the plural.

The cluster of clouds, disjointed occasionally by the force of the wind, float effortlessly overhead (Incorrect).

(The verb floats should have been used to agree with cluster).

9. A subject is plural if it has a plural verb or a compound subject, or more than one subject linked to and, as in

The results were authentic. (The subject is a plural word).

Oboes and clarinets are wind instruments. (The subject is compound).

10. The distributive adjectives – also known as indefinite pronouns: each, every, either, neither, everybody, anybody, everyone, and nobody take singular verb. The following statement helps to determine the choice of the right verb: Everybody knows that.

"Neither of the girls is coming".

The sentences below are incorrect:

Each candidate attending the conference will have their own views (his/her).

Nobody will be allowed to use their calculator (his/her).

Have either of you seen the matron? (Has).

Every plate and cutlery were in their proper place (was, its).

Notes: Distributive adjectves and pronouns are so-called because they refer to persons or things that are distributed in lots and taken apart; and strict grammar requires that the separated lot be followed by verbs, pronouns, and adjectives in the singular.

Occasionally, however, words, such as everyone, everybody, none are needed to convey a strongly plural idea; so that everybody, for instance, becomes equivalent to all the people and none, or not any. On such occasions, plural words that refer to distributive pronouns can be used, as in

The people applauded the announcement of independence for the country; and everybody seemed anxious to do their utmost to make the celebration a success.

We encountered a number of cricket fans, but none were females.

Note that the genitive case of the indefinite pronouns, one and it are, respectively, one’s and it’s. It is incorrect to write or say -

One is conscious of his/her abilities (one’s).

One knows his/her onions (one’s).

[Refer to paragraph entries for either; neither; none; no one, no-one, nobody, etc].

12. Pronouns, such as, many, both, others, several, and few are plural, as in

Others are missing.

Many were called, but few were chosen.

13. The pronouns, none, some, all, any, most, many, and more, vary according to the noun they refer to, as in

Some were present. (people).

Some remains in the cabinet (paper, magazines, etc).

14. Plural words joined by either… or, or neither…nor take a plural verb. Singular words so joined, take a singular verb, as in

Either Judith or Rebecca is going on holiday.

Neither the senators nor the citizens liked the emperor. [see also Pronouns of Number or Amount].

A double subject generally consists of two subjects linked by and. When two or more subjects are linked by and, they usually take a plural verb, as in

My brother and his wife live in Germany.

Tom, Dick and Harry are excluded.

However, when nouns of a compound subject function as a single idea, or refer to a single person or thing, they take a singular verb, as in

They were served bread and butter for breakfast.

The footballers each wears a red jersey.

In the case of members of a group, when the emphasis is intended on the group as a whole, each should precede the main describing word, that is, (the verb or adjective) within the sentence – including pronouns and other words that may refer to the whole group, as in

We are each architects of our own fortune.

Here, each precedes the adjective architects, with the possessive our referring to the whole group described by the pronoun "we". However, when the emphasis pertains to an individual in the group, each must follow the main descriptive word; and any pronouns, etc, appearing, refer to each member of the group, individually, as in

We are architects each, of our own fortune.

When the first noun or the first part of the second subject is linked with such phrase as together with or as well as, the verb is considered singular.

Usually, the phrase together with, etc, is followed by a comma; thus, rendering the sentence, parenthetical, as in

The head-teacher, together with her deputy, addressed the students.

The miners, as well as their representatives, met the Minister.

A compound subject has two or more subjects joined by a conjunction, and share the same predicate. In the last examples, together with and as well as may be regarded as equivalent to and, in meaning.

A compound sentence may also be composed of two or more clauses approximately linked, as in

Alice attended ballet classes and met Mary who was window-shopping.

An involved sentence sometimes has its nominative isolated, since it has neither a finite verb nor a participle in absolute construction. Besides, it is not used in apposition to another nominative. The following examples illustrate this trend:

He reiterated that Miss Johnson’s remark that the prescribed teaching methods, not yielding the desired results, are not worth their continued applications.

The sentence is incomplete because the noun teaching has no finite verb. The fault in the next example is less obvious.

He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to cast the stone, (John 8:3-13).

That statement lacks a verb for the pronoun, He; but such omission could be excused for its acceptance in the rhetorical rules. Moreover, it relates to the vocative in the second person, as shown in the sentence that follows:

You who stand there trying to rectify the wrongs of others, can you absolve your own selves from sin?

That statement is intended to single out the object, as a single target of address.

For statements beginning with there is or there are, their true subject comes after the verb; so, there is rendered provisional only. In this case, the verb must agree with the true subject; and the inclination to making it singular to agree with there, must be resisted. Here and there, normally precede a singular verb when linked to a singular noun phrase or pronoun; or by a plural verb linked to a plural noun phrase or pronoun, as in

Here is the news.

Here are the evidences.

There they lie.

There is a great chance of her being selected for the contest.

There is a great incentive for students who are assiduous in their studies.

However, when we choose a plural noun as a single entity or unit, or a plural noun phrase to represent a series of singular nouns (carefully and satisfactorily considered), a single verb must be used, as in

There is a stack of twenty pounds notes in my pocket.

Compare with:

In the laboratory, there are twenty scraps of metal from the wreck;

and

What shall we do to succeed? Well, there are hard work, diligence and sacrifice for you to consider.

There are too many stars in the sky than the population of living human beings on the earth.

There are many great opportunities for the present-day youth who are industrious.

Sometimes, mistakes are made when a second noun is carelessly placed between the subject and the verb, so as to make the verb agree with the wrong noun, as in

If adherence to the rules of driving are unobserved, the police are justified in taking condign action against offenders (Incorrect).

Here, the verb are fails to agree with the noun adherence.

If adherence to the rules of driving is unobserved, the police are justified in taking condign action against offenders (Correct).

If double negatives are used in a phrase, they render the phrase either affirmative or invalid. The following highlight some of the correct and the incorrect forms of their usage –

We don’t know nothing about it (Incorrect).

We don’t know anything about it (Correct).

She can’t hardly read a word (Incorrect).

She can hardly read a word (Correct).

(a) They understood that Scotland, having proposed cessation from her union with the rest of the member states of the UK, how could they anticipate that she will be accepted (as a bona fide) country for membership of the EU?

This construction is clearly confused. First, they understood that Scotland could not anticipate; and they wondered that it could not anticipate.

(b) We could not but wait for the results to come. There is a confusion of idioms here.

They could not help waiting…, and they could not but wait.

(c) The authorities have recognised the improved performance of their workforce, and that the Trade Union was withdrawing its threat of carrying out further disruptions.

That statement can be remedied by recasting it in two different ways –

1. The authorities have given their approval of… and the fact also, that….

2. The authorities have recognised the improvement in the performance of the workforce…, and that….

(d) substitution for; replace by– these two terms pose common problems.

By putting one item in place of another, we have substituted that item for the latter, or replaced the latter by it. Hence, the latter is replaced by it, or with it.

When substitute is used, it must be replaced by for and replace, by by, as shown in the following examples –

Typewriters have been replaced by computers.

Computers have been substituted for typewriters.

Misuse of conjunctions after certain words does alter the meaning of statements, as in

Hardly had they arrived at the station than the train departed (Incorrect).

Hardly had…when…, or, No sooner…than…. (Correct).

The MP’s concerns about the community differ than those he had shown previously. (Incorrect).

The MP’s concerns about…differ from those…previously. (Correct).

Often, some people wrongly use without and except as conjunctions, in place of unless, as in

He will not commit himself to the task without/except he is asked (Incorrect).

He will do without/except he has been told to (Incorrect).

He will do it unless he has been told not to (Correct).

The Agreement of the Relative Pronoun with its Antecedent

Predicative pronouns must agree in case with the word or words to which they refer, as in

It is me. (It is I).

If I were him, I would refrain from that habit. (Change him to he).

He would not have accepted the offer if it were him. (Substitute he for him).

Who did it? It was her. (Change her to she), that is, (It was she who did it – not her who did it).

They came to a mountain range having profound, jagged-edges and which could be climbed only at one point. (Write, "…a mountain range which had and which could be climbed only at one point").

A pronoun must agree with the word it refers to in its antecedent, in person and number. Problems arise when the antecedent is singular, but may refer to both males and females; and there is no third person singular in English representing both sexes as a single unit. Consider the following sentence:

Every councillor must submit his accounts for last year.

The sentence, though correct, appears to exclude reference to possible female councillors also. Using formal writing to rectify the sentence, by using their as shown below, seems very tempting, but it is incorrect,

Every councillor must submit their accounts for last year.

The easiest and acceptable solution is to make the sentence either plural, or recasted to avoid the problem, as in

All councillors must submit their accounts for last year (Correct).

All accounts for last year must be submitted (Correct).

Remember that if the sentence is made plural, the direct object (accounts) must be made plural as well.

[as shown in the first statement].

It is imperative that any pronoun used - especially the demonstrative pronouns this, that, these, and those of the relative pronoun which - must have a clear and specific antecedent.

They transmitted the information to headquarters, but the secretary failed to pass the message on; so the message was never received. This created a real dilemma. (Unclear: What was the dilemma? That the message was misplaced? That the secretary failed to deliver it? That they transmitted the message to the secretary? All three?). The message the statement is conveying is that -

This missing information is the real dilemma (Better).

The generator became noisier, especially after it had been plugged to the transformer, It should have been replaced a long time ago. (Which—the the generator or the transformer?).

The generator should have been replaced a long time ago (Better).

Case I

Case refers to changes in the forms of nouns or pronouns, according to their functions in a sentence. Thus, the difference between he and him determines cases, as in

David predicted the outcome (David is the subject).

He predicted the outcome (He is the subject).

Mary greeted Charles (Charles is the direct object).

Mary greeted him (Him is the direct object).

Note that Charles remains the same, irrespective of it’s being used as subject or object; but pronoun changes form.

There are five cases in English,

(a) The Nominative Case is the case of –

i. The subject of the sentence, as in

She admitted that children fear darkness.

ii. A predicative noun or pronoun referring to the subject

Joan is superviser. It is I.

(b) The Vocative Case is used in addressing a person or a thing, as in

Please Sir! I want some more. Grieve not, my people, your days of glory are near. We love you

still, fellow countrymen.

(c) The Accusative Case is the case of

i. The object of a sentence or clause, as in

Bees make honey. We adore him. Whom did you speak to?

Robbers fear daylight.

ii. A predicative noun referring to the object, as in

They anointed him king. They branded him a thief.

iii. A noun or a pronoun used after a preposition, as in

I gave the torch to him.

I will promise my support for our leader.

The president of the council greeted the delegates.

Troops lined the road along which the cortege passed.

The attendant to whom I delivered the message was courteous.

iv. Nouns used adverbially, to indicate measurement of space and time, as in

They had laboured forty days. (Observe that days is not the object of the verb. forty days

implies how long they had laboured – not what…

(d) The Genitive Case usually denotes the name of the thing possessed; and it is used as an adjective-equivalent, qualifying a following noun, as in the bird’s nest; officers’ mess. The boy whose bicycle was stolen, has been compensated.

Note that the genitive case of nouns in the plural is formed -

i. By adding an apostrophe to the nominative plural that ends in -s or -es, as in

girls’; sailors’.

ii. By adding apostrophe, that is, -s to the nominative plural, for the form that does not end in -s, as in

men’s; women’s; children’s.

Note that exceptions to the rules exist among Greek and Hebrew words ending in -s, which take only an apostrophe for the genitive singular, eg, Moses’ law; Lucretius’ writings; Socrates’ defence; Aurelius’ Meditations. The rule also applies to such expressions as, for goodness’ sake; for conscience’ sake; for peace’ sake, and St James’s Place; St Charles’s Square.

Expressions, such as the following take the full genitive form, Burns’ The Silver Tassie; Yeats’ The Song of Wandering Aengus; Dickens’s works. The additional -s, placed after the apostrophe is to ease clarity in pronunciation, and to enable point out that one is not implying, say, the works of Dicken (gen. Dicken’s), or the poems of Burn (gen. Burn’s), as might appear to be the case if the form used were Dickens’ and Burns’.

Using a Case-Phrase as a Genitive-Equivalent II

Apart from the word-termination form above-mentioned, there are other phrases which begin with the preposition of, such as Walter’s son or "the son of Walter. Here, although the phrase, of Walter represents the genitive, Walter is in the accusative case, and is governed by the preposition of".

(e) The Dative Case is equivalent to the Indirect Object, as in

I sent Jackie an email. The word email names what is directly affected by the sending action, with Jackie naming the person indirectly affected by the action. Email is the direct object (accusative case), and Jackie is the indirect object (dative case). Here are further examples –

I gave her a dollar. (Dollar is the direct object; her is the indirect object).

Tell your sister the story. (Story is the direct object, and sister, the indirect object).

The messenger handed me the documents. (Documents is the direct object, and me, the indirect object).

Note that the verb ask takes two direct objects in a sentence, with one representing the person and the other, the thing. For instance, if one says,

He asked her, and He asked a question, both her and question are accusative.

Likewise, the verb teach may be observed to have two accusatives. Consider the statements:

I taught the class harmony and I taught harmony to a large class.

Although, in both sentences, the verb taught apparently takes two accusatives (class and harmony), some grammarians consider that, in such constructions, the verb should rather take an accusative and objective case, respectively.

Case-Phrases switched for Dative-Equivalents III

The expressions, "I gave her a dollar, and She prepared me some food", could also be expressed as

"I gave a dollar to her and She prepared some food for me".

The phrases to her and for me are dative-equivalents; but the pronouns must be expressed as in the accusative case, governed by the prepositions to and for, respectively.

Using who and whom. In choosing between who and whom, one must decide whether the pronoun is a subject or an object.

Who will save us? (Who is the subject of the sentence).

Whom have you nominated for the event? (Whom is the direct object of the verb nominated).

To help overcome the problem of identifying the subject and the object, it may help in reversing the sentence first, in the mind. Thus, with the last sentence, we would have: (see Inverted Sentences).

You have nominated whom for the event?

Pronouns, Order of.-

The following rules cover the precedence of pronouns:

(a) Place first the pronoun of the person or thing addressed.

(b) Follow the pronoun representing the person(s) or thing(s) addressed.

(c) Always place last, the pronoun denoting the speaker.

You, she and I have been awarded prizes.

Jones and I will discuss the matter tomorrow.

1. Number

The Agreement of the Relative Pronoun with its Antecedent

A pronoun takes the same number as the noun to which it refers, that is, it must agree with its noun. This rule, however, does not apply to the relative pronoun.

(a) Sentences like the following do not conform to this rule:

This operation represents one of the many similar cases that has been constantly performed ("Has" must be replaced by have).

Henry is one of those people who thinks that university education is unnecessary ("thinks" must be replaced by "think", to agree with the subject "that", which is plural because of its antecedent, "cases").

Besides, the relative refers to the plural noun people; but this has been wrongly associated with the singular noun, Henry. Since who is the subject of the verb think, the latter must be in the same number as the relative.

(b) The following sentence is incorrect because the antecedent of the relative is not clearly stated:

Eventually, having failed in his previous attempts to reach the summit of Everest, he succeeded, which tremendously boosted his morale.

A relative must be clearly related to a verb. In the sentence, which should, therefore represent the phrase, a fact that. (The fact here, represents the restrictive word), that is, of the long and accumulated failures.

(c) There are instances when a parenthetical attracts the relative to the wrong case, as in

Mary was a girl whom her parents expected would