The First, Single
“I have not found the first objection to his candidacy.” Say “a single objection,” or “no objection.”
First two
Such has been the strong desire to continue to use forms of expression that we have long used that not a little time and effort have been expended in the endeavor to make the wrong appear right. It is an accepted fact, however, that a large majority of the best speakers and writers now say the first two, the last five, etc., rather than the two first, the five last.
Future, Subsequent
The word future is sometimes used instead of subsequent; as, “Until he was eighteen years old his conduct was marked by cruelty and malice, but his future life was characterized by kindness and generosity.” Future looks forward from the present, and not from some point of time in the past.
Gent’s pants
“Gent’s pants scoured and pressed.” Business signs and business advertisements are responsible for many vulgarisms. Never say gent’s nor pants. Even pantaloons is not so good a word as trousers.
Few words afford a more fertile field for grammatical blundering than the verbs sit and set. The important fact to remember in the use of the words is that sit, in modern usage, is an intransitive verb, and does not take an object, while set, which means to place in position, is transitive, and requires an object to complete its meaning. You cannot sit a thing, but you do set or place a thing.