The changing face of Modern English9/7/2014
Does Spanish get your tongue in a twist? Are you at the end of your wits with German grammar? Are you wondering why the French bother with the last letter on every word when they don't even pronounce it? If you think you are having a tough time learning the above languages, then have some sympathy for those learning the ten mentioned in this article. It considers the most mind-boggling and tongue-tying languages that we, as English-speakers, could attempt to learn. Whether it's the alien vocabulary of Basque, the tonal nature of Mandarin, or Estonian's fourteen cases that does it, you may find yourself thanking your deity that English is the world-language, and not one of these challenging tongues. All of them are, however, beautiful in their own way. Click here to view the article "10 Hardest Languages To Learn For English Speakers" How to write 'good'30/4/2013 Here are some tongue-in-cheek rules for writers, as written by Frank L Visco and published in the June 1986 issue of Readers' digest. My several years in the word game have learnt me several rules:
1. Avoid Alliteration. Always. 2. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with. 3. Avoid clichés like the plague. (They’re old hat.) 4. Employ the vernacular. 5. Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc. 6. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary. 7. It is wrong to ever split an infinitive. 8. Contractions aren't necessary. 9. Foreign words and phrases are not apropos. 10. One should never generalize. 11. Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “I hate quotations. Tell me what you know”.” 12. Comparisons are as bad as clichés. 13. Don’t be redundant; don’t use more words than necessary; it’s highly superfluous. 14. Profanity sucks. 15. Be more or less specific. 16. Understatement is always best. 17. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement. 18. One word sentences? Eliminate. 19. Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake. 20. The passive voice is to be avoided. 21. Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms. 22. Even if a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed. 23. Who needs rhetorical questions? The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans. The Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans. The Italians drink a lot of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans. The Germans drink a lot of beer and eat lots of sausage, and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British and Americans. CONCLUSION: Eat and drink what you like. It's speaking English that kills you. Homonyms or: how not to use a spellchecker21/11/2012
Example I - Luke's plan for the evening
Me and Hannah are going to a bar. OR Hannah and I are going to a bar. In this example, the second statement is correct. Confusion often stems from the inclusion of more than one person. Luke would never say, for example, "me is/am going to a bar". Although, that probably depends on how much he's had to drink already. The easiest way to remember this structure is to try saying the sentence without the other person/animal/thing. If the result is incorrect or strange-sounding, as above, then you should be using 'I' rather than 'me'. It's also worth remembering, as a matter of politeness if you like, that the other person/animal/thing should always come first. Don't be an egoist! Say, "Hannah and I" not, "I/me and Hannah". Example II - A knock at the door A: Who is it? B: It's me! OR B: It is I! In this situation, as strange as it sounds, the latter answer is correct. The verb to be is not acting upon an object, rather, it is expressing a state of being. So, the subjective pronoun 'I' is grammatically correct. Most native speakers, however, use the idiomatic expression 'it's me'. This is acceptable in everyday speech but using it in a formal context may result in a few furrowed brows. Should someone telephone you at work and ask for you personally, e.g. "I'd like to speak to Russell Sprout, please", it would be wiser to answer with, "this is he" - or, "this is she" if you are female. To avoid all confusion you could simply say, "this is Russell Sprout speaking". Example III - Misbehaving children Mother: Which of you little devils broke my vase? Son (pointing at his sister): It was her! OR Son (pointing at his sister): It was she! The reasoning in this example is much the same as Example II. The full sentence would be: It was she who broke your vase.
They're, there, and their29/10/2012
They're (contraction)
Let's start easy. 'They're' is a contraction of 'they are'. If you expand 'they're' to 'they are' and your sentence doesn't make sense, you are using the wrong version! There (adverb) The opposite of here! For example, I left my bike there. A handy hint for 'there': it contains the word 'here', which describes a place. If you're not talking about a place, consider using one of the versions. There can also be used with the verb 'to be' to indicate the existence of something or mention it for the first time, e.g. There's (there is: existence of) a bear in there (place/location). Their (third person plural possessive adjective) Their books, their children, their house. This version indicates possession. It also happens to contain the word 'heir'. An heir receives something when someone else dies. Both have something to do with ownership. Their son is their heir and inherits their house. If you're not writing about belongings, consider one of the other two versions. Think you've got it? Test your 'they're, there, their' skills here! |