Tense Troubles
"Yesterday, I am going to the library."
What is "Yesterday, I went to the library."?
Use the simple past for completed actions in the past.
"The list of items are on the table."
"The list of items is on the table."
(Rule): The verb agrees with the subject, not the object of a preposition. The subject is "The list" (singular).
"The movie was real interesting."
"The movie was really interesting."
(Rule): Use an adverb (really) to modify an adjective (interesting).
"I love basketball. Because it is fun."
"I love basketball because it is fun."
(Rule): A fragment; "Because it is fun" cannot stand alone as a sentence.
"I need to buy eggs milk and bread."
"I need to buy eggs, milk, and bread." (The Oxford comma is optional but good to show).
(Rule): Use commas to separate items in a list.
"She has lived in Hong Kong since 10 years."
What is "She has lived in Hong Kong for 10 years." OR "She lived in Hong Kong 10 years ago."
(Rule): Use for for a duration and since for a starting point.
"Neither my brother nor my sisters enjoys hiking."
"Neither my brother nor my sisters enjoy hiking."
(Rule): With "or/nor," the verb agrees with the subject closest to it ("sisters" is plural).
"This is a classic example of good leadership."
"This is a classic example of good leadership." (It is correct! This is a trick question to test vocabulary).
(Rule): Classic means a perfect example, classical refers to ancient traditions or music.
"We went to the shop we bought some milk."
"We went to the shop, and we bought some milk." OR "We went to the shop; we bought some milk."
(Rule): This is a run-on sentence. It needs a conjunction or proper punctuation.
What time does the movie start."
"What time does the movie start?"
(Rule): Use a question mark for a direct question.
"By the time we arrived, the movie already started."
"By the time we arrived, the movie had already started."
(Rule): Use the past perfect (had + past participle) for an action that occurred before another past action.
"Everyone in our class have submitted their project."
"Everyone in our class has submitted their project."
(Rule): Indefinite pronouns like everyone, someone, anybody are singular.
"I am interested in to learn more about astronomy."
"I am interested in learning more about astronomy."
(Rule): Prepositions (in, at, on, of) are followed by a gerund (-ing form).
"While walking to school, the rain started to fall."
"While I was walking to school, the rain started to fall."
(Rule): Dangling modifier. The person walking ("I") was missing from the original sentence, making it sound like the rain was walking.
"She is good in mathematics."
"She is good at mathematics."
(Rule): Correct preposition use: good at a subject, good with tools or people, good in a general area or class.
"If I will have time tomorrow, I will call you."
"If I have time tomorrow, I will call you."
In the first conditional (real future possibility), use the simple present in the "if" clause.
"The team are celebrating its victory."
"The team is celebrating its victory." (Acceptable in UK English, but for HKDSE, treating collective nouns as singular is safer).
(Rule): Collective nouns can be singular when the group acts as one unit.
"He adviced me to get more sleep."
"He advised me to get more sleep." (Noun: advice, Verb: advise)
(Rule): Confusing a noun and a verb form.
"The book was challenging, it was also inspiring."
"The book was challenging, but it was also inspiring." OR "The book was challenging; it was also inspiring."
(Rule): Comma splice. Two independent clauses cannot be joined by a comma alone.
"The students' bags were left in the classroom."
"The students' bags were left in the classroom." (It is correct if there are multiple students! This tests their knowledge of apostrophes).
(Rule): Singular possessive: student's. Plural possessive: students'.
"This is the most boring book I ever read."
"This is the most boring book I have ever read."
(Rule): Use the present perfect for life experiences (with "ever" or "never") when the time is not specified.
"There is many reasons to study hard."
"There are many reasons to study hard."
(Rule): In "There is/are" sentences, the verb agrees with the subject that follows it ("reasons" is plural).
"The affect of social media on teenagers is significant."
"The effect of social media on teenagers is significant."
Affect is usually a verb (to influence), effect is usually a noun (a result).
"My brother is taller than me."
"My brother is taller than I (am)."
In formal English, use the subject pronoun "I" after "than" as it is a comparison of subjects (I am tall vs. he is tall).
"We discussed about the project."
"We discussed the project."
(Rule): The verb discuss is transitive and does not need a preposition. You discuss something.