My top 5 grammar tips

#1 One of the...

It's 'one of my friends' and not 'one of my friend'. Also, 'one of the things' and not 'one of the thing'

This is the rule, simply because you are talking about one person or thing out of the many people or things you know.

So, you can say - 'ONE of the THINGS I've always been good at IS creating reports'.

#2 Won't be able to...

It's either "I won't be able to..." or "I can't..." and NOT "I can't be able to...". Simply because "can" and "able" mean the same thing. They mean ability. You can, however, use these combinations:

"I should be able to..." or "I will be able to..." to indicate the probability of you doing what you promised. E.g.

A: "Are you coming for the meeting tomorrow?"

B: "I should be able to".

The negative form is "I won't be able to". You can also say "I shan't be able to...' but I've rarely heard that. So, how does this work in the past? You simply say "I wasn't able to send the reports out because..."

#3 Have or having?

It's 'I HAVE experience in coding.' and not 'I am having experience in coding.' Also, it's 'I have a headache.' and not 'I am having a headache.' Simply put, 'HAVE' talks about possession. E.g.

- ''I have two cars.''

- ''I have a total experience of 16 years.''

'HAVING' is used when there's an activity or when someone is feeling or experiencing something. E.g.

- ''I am having trouble with the car.''

- ''I am having the best time of my life.''

- "My sister is having a baby."

#4 In spite of/despite

It is 'in spite of' or 'despite' and not 'in spite' or 'despite of'.

'In spite of' and 'despite' mean the exact same thing. They are used when you want to contract something. Just like the word even though or though.

The trouble arises when you use 'of' with despite.

For e.g.

- Hari made it to the meeting on time in spite of the heavy rains.

- Hari made it to the meeting on time despite the heavy rains.

#5 'for' and 'since'

It is "We haven't spoken for more than a year now" and not "We haven’t spoken on the phone since more than a year now".

'since' is used when talking about a point in time. For e.g. a year, a date, a moment or an event

1. Mark has stopped drinking coffee since last month

2. Cheryl and her team have been working on this project since its inception

3. Prajwal has been in this role since January

'for' on the other hand is used when talking about a period of time. For e.g. months, year/s

1. Maya has been leading this team for twenty months now

2. Derek is going on a sabbatical for a year

3. The onshore team has been pulling all-nighters for a while now.

4. We haven't spoken for more than a year

There's another word that is used to talk about a period of time and it is 'from'. 'from' like 'for' talks about a period of time. A little note about using 'from'; make sure the period of time is mentioned. Also, make sure words such as 'till' and 'to' are added to denote the time period. For e.g.

1. Joe is available from 6:00 am to 7:00 pm on his official number.

2. Pranita was deputy manager from April 2019 till January of this year.

3. We should hold off meetings from 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm.