OU Degree 4th Sem English Unit 5 Vocabulary, Grammar
Vocabulary – Commonly Confused Words
1. Accept x Except
2. Admit x Join
3. Awful x Awesome
4. Bad x Badly
5. Before x In front of
6. Beside x Besides
7. Break x Brake
8. Compliment x Complement
9. Current x Currant
10. Die x Dye
11. Envy x jealousy
12. Hear x Here
13. Heir x Hare X Hair
14. Illicit x Elicit
15. Jealousy x Envy
16. Little x A little
17. Much x Many
18. Plain x Plane
19. Stationary x Stationery
20. Story x Storey
21. Tail x Tale .
22. Terriblfe x Terrific
27. Tier x Tire x Tyre
28. Too x Very
29. Troublemaker x Troubleshooter
30. Valet x Wallet
23. Facilitate x Felicitate
24. Famous x Notorious
25. Few x A few
26. Great x Grate
Exercise I.
Fill in the blanks with the correct alternative.
1. You have made ……………. mistakes this time, (less/fewer)
2. The sun ……………. in the east, (raises/rises)
3. The park ……………. is the lake, (buy/by)
4. The scheme has lost ……………. purpose, (it’s/its)
5′. What is the ……………. objective of your research? (principal/principle)
6. A tie is a perfect to ……………. a suit, (compliment/complement)
7. Practice well so that you don’t the match, (loose/lose)
8. Most drugs have side ……………. (affect/effect)
9. ……………. knowledge is a dangerous thing. (A little/ Little)
10. An introduction should ……………. the presentation, (precede/proceed)
11. The captain’s decision met with much ……………. (dissent/descent)
12. The violent child was taken to a ……………. (councillor/counsellor)
13. The case needs ……………. investigation, (further/farther)
14. I liked the ……………. part of the film, (later/letter)
15. Every student should have ……………. to a good library, (axis/access/excess)
Answers:
1. You have made fewer mistakes this time.
2. The sun rises in the east.
3. The park is by the lake.
4. The scheme has lost its purpose.
5. What is the principal objective of your research?
6. A tie is a perfect complement to a suit.
7. Practice well so that you don’t lose the match.
8. Most drugs have side effects.
9. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
10. An introduction should precede the presentation.
11. The captain’s decision met with much dissent.
12. The violent child was taken to a counsellor.
13. The case needs further investigation.
14. I liked the latter part of the film.
15. Every student should have access to a good library.
Exercise II.
Fill in the blanks choosing the correct word from the box.
| accept – except | lead – led | historic – historical |
| formally – formerly | already – already | quite – quiet |
1. Before the bell rang, students were _______ to go home.
2. Chennal was _______ known as Madras.
3. He discovered some _______ records during his research.
4. I don’t think he will _______ the invitation.
5. I have _______ eaten. So I am not hungry now.
6. I like all books _______ the badly written ones.
7. Now you can find pencils without.
8. The exercise is easy.
9. The signing of the peace treaty was a _______ event.
10. Writers need a place to write.
11. Gurgaon was _______ renamed Gurugram in 2016.
12. The captain ___________ from the front.
Answers:
1. Before the bell rang, students were all ready to go home.
2. Chennai was formerly known as Madras.
3. He discovered some historical records during his research.
4. I don’t think he will accept the invitation.
5. I have already eaten. So I am not hungry now.
6. I like all books except the badly written ones.
7. Now you can find pencils without lead.
8. The exercise is quite easy.
9. The signing of the peace treaty was a historic event.
10. Writers need a quiet place to write.
11. Gurgaon was formally renamed Gurugram in 2016.
12. The captain led from the front.
Grammar — Determiner
Determiners are words that come before nouns or at the beginning of norm phrases. Determiners limit or fix the meaning of nouns in some way and help clarify what a noun refers to. They can be specific or general.
Specific Determiners
Following are specific determiners:
- Definite article. the (the most common determiner in English; says that the noun is ‘definite’). Example: Is the teacher on leave today?
Demonstratives: this, that, these, those (indicate nearness to or distance from the speaker).
Example: Look at those beautiful paintings. - Possessives: my, your, his, her, its, our, their (indicate possession, ownership).
Example: May I borrow your pen?
We use specific determiners when: - The people or things we are talking about have already been mentioned.
- The listener/reader knows exactly which people or things we are referring to.
General Determiners
The general determiners are:
- Indefinite articles: a/an (very common determiners in English; say that the noun is ‘indefinite’) Example: We visited an art gallery.
- Quantifiers: some, jew, little, may, much, several, jive, first, next, last, etc. (indicate quantity, number, rank or order). Example: Some students were waiting outside the examination hall.
We use general determiners when: - We mention people or things for the first time.
- We speak about people or things generally without exactly referring to anyone or anything.
Exercise I.
Fill in the blanks with appropriate determiner.
1. I have very money left in my bank account, (few/little)
2. The government has to spend time on implementing the schemes.(many/more)
3. My mother sent me to buy rice, (some/little)
4. Stephen Hawking wrote book A Brief History of Time in 1988. (a/the)
5. I can speak English but not very fluently, (a few/a little)
6. Please give me more coffee, (any/some)
7. The students didn’t pay attention to the lecture, (little/much)
8. Can’t you see book, it’s right here! (that/this)
9. I have been reading for hours now, and I am still in the first chapter. (much/many)
10. Give me pencils to colour this picture, (few/a few)
Answers:
1. I have very little money left in my bank account.
2. The government has to spend more time on implementing the schemes.
3. My mother sent me to buy some rice.
4. Stephen Hawking wrote the book A Brief History of Time in 1988.
5. I can speak English a little, but not very fluently.
6. Please give me some more coffee.
7. The students didn’t pay much attention to the lecture.
8. Can’t you see this book, it’s right here!
9. I have been reading for many hours now, and 1 am still in the first chapter, (much/ many)
10. Give me a few pencils to colour this picture, (few/a few)
Exercise II.
Identify and correct the mistakes in the use of determiners.
1. How many free time does he have to spare for the social cause?
2. She never makes much mistakes in grammar.
3. I gave her an advice.
4. She found several informations on the internet.
5. India is facing much challenges.
6. He bought notebook at the book store.
7. My brother went to the supermarket to pick up some few things.
8. Every day I drink glass of milk.
9. Do you often get this headaches?
10. An education is important for economic security.
Answers:
1. How much free time does he have to spare for the social cause?
2. She never makes many mistakes in grammar.
3. I gave her some/a piece of advice
4. She found a lot of information on the internet.
5. India is facing many challenges.
6. He bought a notebook at the book store.
7. My brother went to the supermarket to pick up a few things.
8. Every day I drink glass of milk.
9. Do you often get these headaches?
10. Education is important for economic security.
Exercise III.
Fill in the blanks by choosing the correct determiner from the box.
1. How _________ homework have you completed?
2. I need to finish _________ English essay that I started in the morning.
3. My friend took _________ small gift for the child in the orphanage.
4. My sister rarely drinks _________ coffee.
5. When you are driving, it is advisable to carry _________ cash in your wallet.
6. _________ candidate was declared successful.
7. The street looks deserted. There are _________ people around.
8. Excuse me, _________ pencil is this?
9. He has two sisters _________ sisters like playing basketball.
10. I have _________ time for sports.
Answers
1. How much homework have you completed?
2. I need to finish the English essay that I started in the morning.
3. My friend took a small gift for the child in the orphanage.
4. My sister rarely drinks any coffee.
5. When you are driving, it is advisable to carry some cash in your wallet.
6. Every candidate was declared successful.
7. The street looks deserted. There are few people around.
8. Excuse me, whose pencil is this?
9. He has two sisters. Both sisters like playing basketball.
10. I have little time for sports.
Post-Reading Activity
Question 1.
Write about your views on people’s attitude towards new ideas and change.
Answer:
I strongly believe that the opinion of people is ephemeral, lasting for a very short time. Particularly, the attitude of the people changes in no time when it comes to new ideas and thoughts. For example, Alfred Tennyson’s poem The Flower’ is a classic instance of how people are on constant flight in their attitude towards the ‘flower’. The flower grows tall and attractive irrespective of the opinions of the people. Initially, people call the flower a ‘weed’. Later they view it as ‘splendid flower’. In the end, the same people again call the flower ‘a weed’.
I feel that people change their opinions from time to time. For example, people expressed apprehensions about the efficacy of the vaccine against corona virus when different vaccines have been announced. They feared to come forward to get inoculated with the jabs.
Later on they changed their attitude towards the vaccines and slowly started believing in their use. Now people are interested in the jab and demanding for vaccines. I am sure in the course of time people would treat the vaccine and vaccination as common as a daily routine without much interest towards them.
I also opine that we should have a strong belief in our convictions, irrespective of others’ views. We should keep in mind that the attitude of people is not static and but dynamic for no reasons. Hence,in the poem ‘The Flower”, Alfred Tennyson urges us to be equally indifferent to praise and criticism from the fickle-minded throngs of people.
The poem ‘The Flower’ is a wry comment on the nature of human beings. People are unsure and apprehensive about new or original ideas and things. Therefore, they tend to reject the unfamiliar as worthless and harmful. The people are happy with the familiar things. I appeal to all of you to read Tennyson’s poem and understand the unstated moral of the story in the poem.