Definite article "THE"

We use the definite article "THE"

• When identity has been established by an earlier mention (often with an indefinite article)
• When identity is established by the postmodification that follows the noun.
• When the object or group of objects is the only one that exists or has existed. Ex. the stars, the earth, the world, etc.
• When reference is made to an institution shared by the community. Ex. the radio, the television, the telephone, etc.

In my paper I wrote (...) about to finish the high school.(...). Here the use of the definite article is wrong, because I am not talking about an especific high school, but any high school. The right version of that sentence is (...) about to finish high school. (...).


Source: Leech, G & Svartivik, J (1975). A communicative Grammar of English. Syngapore. Longman

Inversion with negative adverbials

In formal English, and in written language in particular, we use negative adverbials at the beginning of the sentence to make it more emphatic or dramatic.

That was exactly my intention when I wrote the following sentences (to make them more emphatic):

- Not only  they read books and magazines related to education but also they watch educational TV programmes and use the Internet for pedagogical purposes. (research paper)

- Only after this, they can fight and emancipate themselves from the oppressors. (individual paper)

However, both of them are wrong. After checking in several sources on the Internet,  I recognized the mistakes and corrected them as follows:

- Not only do they read books and magazines related to education, but they also watch educational TV programmes and use the Internet for pedagogical purposes.
 
- Only after this can they fight and emancipate themselves from the oppressors.
 
Pay attention to the correct version! The word order is inverted: the negative adverbial is placed first, an auxiliary verb follows it and the subject of the sentence comes next.

The inversion of the subject and the verb can take place after a clause that begins with Not until and Only after/if/when.

The inversion can also take place after the following expressions:

- Time adverbials: never (before), rarely, seldom; barely/hardly/scarcely...when/before; no sooner....than

- Only a time expression: only when, only after...

- Negative expressions: under, in no circumstances, in no way...

- Expressions starting with Not...: not a noun, not only.... but also, not until...

- Little with a negative meaning 

Source: http://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-2/exercise-english-88760.php

 

The uses of 'any'

I’ve used any in the following two sentences:

• “It is clear, also, that when approaching any topics with videos”
• “The main characters in the film are teenagers who attend secondary school and that their problems are related to the problems that any young adults might have”

At first I thought that the problem was that I used ‘any’ (a non-assertive form) in affirmative sentences. Quirk explains that “the contexts which require the any series or ‘non-assertive’ forms chiefly involves

·         The negative not, never, no, neither, nor;
·         The ‘incomplete negatives’ hardly, little, few, least, seldom, etc;
·         The ‘implied negatives’ before; fail, prevent; reluctant, hard, difficult, etc; and comparisons with too;
·         Questions and conditions”

However, Quirk also explains that “as well as their use with plurals and non-count nouns, the determiner any can be used with singular count nouns when they are stressed […] with the special meaning of ‘no matter who, no matter what’:

·         Any apology will satisfy them.
·         He will eat anything.”

That’s the meaning I wanted to imply with my sentences in the paper but I made the mistake of using ‘any’ in that cases with plural nouns. So the sentences should be corrected in the following way:

“It is clear, also, that when approaching any topic with videos”

“The main characters in the film are teenagers who attend secondary school and that their problems are related to the problems that any young adult might have”