Common Errors

No sooner…than

Read the following sentence. No sooner had she read the letter than she started crying. It is wrong to use when instead of than in this structure. It is also wrong to say ‘No sooner she read the letter than she started crying’. The auxiliary did or had must come immediately after no sooner. No [...]

Altogether and All together

Altogether means ‘completely’. My work hasn’t altogether finished. Altogether can also be used to give totals. That’s $5.35 altogether. All together means ‘everybody / everything together’. They went to the theater all together. She put the books all together on the table.

As well as

As well as means more or less the same as ‘not only…but also’. She has got a boy as well as a girl. (= She has got not only a boy but also a girl.) She is intelligent as well as good-looking. (= She is not only intelligent but also good-looking.) We usually use as [...]