Hairs or hair?, Is born or was/were born?| 10 grammar mistakes.

Do you know when to use hair, and hairs?
Is it "is born" or "was born"? 
To know other such types of common errors, you should read the post.

Information (Plural or Singular)

Wrong- New informations will be posted on the blog thrice a month.    ✘
Right- New information will be posted on the blog thrice a month.    ✔
Explanation:
Information is an uncountable abstract noun. It has no plural form. You can say “a piece / an item of information”. However, we use "information" for both singular and plural.

"When" or "than" with No sooner

Wrong- No sooner had she arrived at the station when her husband came.     ✘
Right- No sooner had she arrived at the station than her husband came.     ✔
Explanation:
The sentence pattern with no sooner must be "No sooner...than...".
Don't use when, before, etc with no sooner.

Is cattle singular or plural?

Wrong- Cattle was not chained, so it fled.     ✘
Right- Cattle were not chained, so they fled.     ✔
Explanation:
Cattle is plural noun. Hence "were" in place of "was", and "they" in place of "it".

Is born or was born?

Wrong- He is born in 1987.     ✘
Right- He was born in 1987.     ✔
Explanation:
Use "was/were born" to give dates of birth.

Have better or had better?

Wrong- I have better go now before your wife comes.     ✘
Right- I had better go now before your wife comes.     ✔
Explanation:
Use had instead of have.
"had better" is correct pattern; "have better" deems to be wrong.

One and a half

Wrong- Children play one and a half hour.     ✘
Right- Children play one and a half hours.     ✔
Explanation:
Use hours instead of hour.
We use a plural noun after "one and a half".

• I got one and a half parts of my house.

For vs. during

Wrong- We studied during four hours daily.     ✘
Right- We studied for four hours daily.     ✔
Explanation:
Use for instead of during.
"For", not during, is used to say how long.
Oxford says:

During is used to say when something happens; for answers the question 'how long?'  

I stayed in London for a week.      ✔

I stayed in London during a week.      ✘

I only saw her once during stay in Rome.     ✔

This is the first time

Wrong-This is the first time I ate horse meat.     ✘
Right- This is the first time I have eaten horse meat.    ✔
Explanation:
Use have eaten instead of ate here.
We use present perfect time with "This is the first time". 

• This is the first time I have ever seen a lion.

If, and whether after a preposition.

Wrong- I discussed with my English teacher about if my essay was good.     ✘
Right- I discussed with my English teacher about whether my essay was good.     ✔
Explanation:
Use whether instead of if.
Whether should be used after "prepositions", not if. Here "about" is a preposition.

Hairs or hair

Wrong- I love her long hairs.     ✘
Right- I love her long hair.     ✔
Explanation:
Use hair instead of hairs.
We use noun "hair" that grows on the head.
We use "hairs" for many single strand of hair. We can say "I have only five hairs on my head." 

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