nd always will do it.

Wrong [conjunction]: He was as old, if not older, than any
other man in the community.

Right: He was as old as any other man in the community, if not
older.

Wrong [preposition]: He was fond and diligent in work.

Right: He was fond of work and diligent in it.

Wrong [noun]: He is one of the most skilful, if not the most
skilful, tennis players in the state.

Right: He is one of the most skilful tennis players in the
state, if not the most skilful.

Exercise:

1. He is as old, if not older, than she is.

2. Two boats were in the water, and one on the shore.

3. From childhood he has, and to old age he will, have many
hobbies.

4. A visit to a ten cent store is better, or at least as good,
as a visit to a circus. You see as many or more queer things
than in any show.

5. One of the greatest, if not the greatest, secrets in keeping
our health, is to keep our teeth in good condition. A famous
physician said that one of the next, if not the very next,
marked advance in medical science will be through discoveries
in the realm of dentistry.

Parts of Speech, Other Grammatical Terms, Conjugation

The Parts of Speech and Their Uses

=Noun.= A noun is a name. It may be =proper= (_Philip Watkins_), or
=common=. Common nouns may be =concrete= (_man_, _windmill_), or
=abstract= (_gratitude_, _nearness_). =A= noun applied to a group
is said to be =collective= (_family_, _race_). The uses of a noun
=are=: to serve as the subject of a verb, to serve as the object
of a verb or a preposition, to be in apposition with another
noun (Jenkins, our _coach_), to indicate possession (_Joseph's_
coat of many colors); and less frequently, to serve as an
adjective (the _brick_ sidewalk) or adverb (John went _home_),
and to indicate direct address (_Jehovah_, help us!).

=Pronoun.= A pronoun is a word which takes the place of a noun.
It may be =personal= (_I_, _thou_, _you_, _he_, _she_, _it_,
_we_, _they_), =relative= (_who_, _which_, _what_, _that_, _as_,
and compounds _whoever_, _whichsoever_, etc.), =interrogative=
(_who_, _which_, _what_), =demonstrative= (_this_, _that_,
_these_, _those_), or =indefinite= (_some_, _any_, _one_, _each_,
_either_, _neither_, _none_, _few_, _all_, _both_, etc.).