1. Common Grammar Mistakes
(Part 1)
Xiao Qin
Department of Computer Science
and Software Engineering
Auburn University
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

2. Three articles in English: a, an and the
• Step 1: to categorize the noun
as count or uncount
– A count noun: a noun that can have a number in
front of it: 1 teacher, 3 books, 76
trombones, 1,000,000 people.
– An uncount noun: a noun that cannot have a
number put in front of it: 1 water, 2 lucks, 10
airs, 21 oils, 39 informations.
Reference: http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/rules/article.htm

3. Step 2: Rules for Uncountable nouns
• No a/an with an uncount noun.
• Do not put a number in front of an uncount
noun. (You cannot make an uncount noun
plural.)
• Use an uncount noun with no article if you
mean that thing in general.
• Use the with an uncount noun when you are
talking about a particular example of that
thing.
Reference: http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/rules/article.htm

4. Step 3: Rules for countable nouns
• May put a number in front of a count noun.
• May put both a/an and the in front of a count noun.
• Must put an article in front of a singular count noun.
• Use a plural count noun with no article if you mean all or any
of that thing.
• Usually use a/an with a count noun the first time you say it.
• Use the with count nouns:
– the second and subsequent times you use the noun in writing
– when the listener knows what you are referring to (maybe because
there is only one of that thing)
• Use an (not a) when the next word (adverb, adjective, noun)
starts with a vowel sound.
Reference: http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/rules/article.htm

5. Note 1:
• Above rules apply whether there is or there is
not an adjective in front of the noun.
• Some nouns can be
either count or uncount, depending on the
context and meaning:
– Do you have paper? I want to draw a picture.
(uncount = a sheet of paper)
– Can you get me a paper when you抮e at the
shop? (count = a newspaper)
Reference: http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/rules/article.htm

6. Note 2:
• Uncount nouns are often preceded by phrases
such as: a lot of .. (luck), a piece of .. (cake), a
bottle of .. (milk), a grain of .. (rice).
• Instead of an article, the noun can also be
preceded by a determiner such
as this, that, some, many or my, his, our, etc.
Reference: http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/rules/article.htm

7. Note 3:
• An NSF project or a NSF project. Which one is
correct?
An NSF project is correct. Why?
• United States or the United States. Which one
is correct?
the United States or the USA or the U.S.
Why?

8. Example 1
• I need ____ help!
• I don't eat ____ cheese.
• Do you like ____ music?
Reference: http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/rules/article.htm

9. Example 2
• Thanks for ____ help you gave me yesterday.
• I didn't eat ____ cheese. It was green!
• Did you like ____ music they played at the
dance?
Reference: http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/rules/article.htm

10. Example 3
• Can I borrow ____ pencil, please?
• There's ____ cat in ____ garden!
• Do you have ____ mp3 player?
Reference: http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/rules/article.htm

11. Example 4
• Where's ____ pencil I lent you yesterday?
• I think ____ cat belongs to ____ new
neighbours.
• I dropped ____ mp3 player and it broke.
• Please shut ____ door!
Reference: http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/rules/article.htm

12. Example 5
• I don't like ____ dogs.
• Do they have ____ children?
• I don't need ____ questions. Give me ____
answers!
Reference: http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/rules/article.htm

13. Example 6
• I don't eat ____ German cheese.
• Can I borrow ____ red pencil, please?
• There's ____ extremely large cat in ____
garden!
• I don't like ____ small, noisy children.
Reference: http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/rules/article.htm

14. Prepositions
• Prepositions are the (usually) short words that
precede nouns or pronouns
• Give information about where (on the
table), when (in April), etc.
• e.g., in, on, under, by, for, from, with, during.
• An effective way to learn the most common
uses of the most common prepositions is to
read and write more papers.
Reference: http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/rules/prep.htm

15. Preposition: in
We use in with months - in May
seasons - in winter
country - in Greece
city or town names - in New York
times of the day - in the morning,
afternoon or evening
BUT at night!
In a computer system
Reference: http://esl.about.com/library/beginner/bleasypreps.htm

16. Preposition: on
We use "on" with specific days - on Friday,
on New Year's Day,
on April the 19th
American English - "on the weekend OR on
weekends“
On a cluster.
Reference: http://esl.about.com/library/beginner/bleasypreps.htm

17. Preposition: at
We use "at" with specific times - at 7 o'clock, at
6.15
at night
specific places in a city - at school
British English - "at the weekend OR at
weekends"
Reference: http://esl.about.com/library/beginner/bleasypreps.htm

18. Preposition: to
We use "to" with verbs which show movement
such as go and come - He goes to school.
She returned to the store.
They are coming to the party tonight.
We propose an approach to improve/improving
*****.
Reference: http://esl.about.com/library/beginner/bleasypreps.htm

19. e.g., i.e., et al., a.k.a.,
• e.g., = for example.
• When the tested system scales up (e.g., the
number of data nodes is larger than
128), ******
• i.e., = that is (i.e., equals to)
• et al. (i.e., etc.) in Latex: textit{et al.}
• a.k.a., = also known as (i.e.,)
– e.g., central processing unit (a.k.a., CPU)