Daily Grammar – Week 10

DAILY GRAMMAR (DG) 04-05-2018

1. Her problem is nothing else than arrogance. (No)

Her problem is nothing else but arrogance. (Yes)

(The idiom is “nothing else but” or “nothing but”, which is justified by the fact that no comparison is made in the expression.)

2. His mobile phone is superior to you. (No)

His mobile phone is superior to your. (No)

His mobile phone is superior to yours. (Yes)

(The owners are not the ones in focus, their mobile phones are. The right choice is the possessive pronoun, “yours”.)

3. You had better obeyed the instruction. (No)

You had better obey the instruction. (Yes)

(“Had better” is a strong idiomatic expression that is followed by a present tense, not a participle. In speech or informal contexts, “had” is sometimes dropped. For example, “you better do what your parents say.”)

Did You Know?

The English language actually originates from the areas that are today called north west Germany and The Netherlands.