Wednesday 25 September 2013

May have, might have, must have



·       May have and might have are used when we wish to state that something has possibly happened now or sometime ago.
E.g.,
The bride groom’s party might have arrived by now. ( Perhaps they have arrived.)
They may have given the advance for the flat.( Perhaps they gave the advance, long back).

·       Must have is used to express a probability in the past.
E.g.,
Geetha must have taken the umbrella.
The thief must have escaped  through that window.

Now, go through the following sentences:
·       They could have easily solved the problem. (It was possible for them but they did not do so).
·       They will have finished writing the examination by now.
·       I thought you would have informed your parents about this.
·       You should have been more careful.( You were not and so you are in trouble now.)
·       Nilesh may have repaid the loans.( Perhaps he repaid them long back).
·       Meena is not at home now. She might have taken her child to the music class. ( Perhaps she has)
·       Don’t worry about your cell phone. Your mother must have kept it safe.(It is quite probable that she has)

*We will discuss the difference between ‘possible’ and ‘probable’ in the next post.
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Tuesday 24 September 2013

Hope /expect/ think

Hope /expect/ think

I find there is some confusion in the use of the above three words.
People especially use hope in the place of think.
When we use hope, there is a wish that it should be so.
E.g.,
We hope to reach there before 5 p.m.
( We wish to reach there before 5. p.m. Hopefully, it will happen).
But, think does not have any such connotation.
E.g.,
I think we will reach there before 5. p.m.
( Given the present circumstances, we should be there by 5. p.m. What we wish does not matter. It is just a statement.)
Also, note that there is a slight difference in the usage of expect and think.
Expect is more reliable. You expect certain things because you have either factual proof or previous experience.
E.g.,
We are driving quite fast. The road is very good. There is no traffic. We expect to be there by 5 p.m.
Now go through the three sentences below.

I hope you will do well in the examination. ( I wish it so).
I think you will do well in the examination. ( I am almost sure).
I expect you to do well in the examination. ( I know you. You are a studious person. You have to do well.)


*I hope I have made it clear.



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Tuesday 2 July 2013

Use of singular nouns after 'One of'

Common Errors in English-3

Use of singular nouns after 'One of'

Expressions such as 

'He is one of my best friend' is quite common. 
Actually, it should have been 'one of my best friends'.

The error occurs because the speaker is misled by the word 'one'.

But, if we have to take 'one' of something, there should be at least two. If there are two fruits, you may take one. If there is only one, how can you take one of it?

It is wrong to say: She is one of the greatest singer.
The correct expression is ‘She is one of the greatest singers’.

That reminds me of another common error usually found in leave letters ( especially, those written by school going children). If you are submitting the leave letter after availing leave, you should not write, ‘Please grant me leave for ….. days.’ How can anyone grant leave after you have already taken it? 


It is always better to submit the leave letter before going on leave. In that case, the expression, ‘Please grant me leave for ….. days.’, is correct. If by any chance, due to some reason, it is not possible, then the letter should contain the request, ‘Please treat my absence as leave.’ ( i.e., please pretend as if I have got permission from you earlier, though I have not actually done so.’

* What is spoonerism?


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‘A few’ and ‘A little’

Common Errors in English -2

‘A few’ and ‘A little’

I have seen advertisements that say, ‘Few seats available; rush’. What the advertiser means is , ‘A few seats’.  When ‘A’ is added before ‘few’, it gets a positive meaning- 'ஒரு சில'/'कुछ '. But without 'A', 'few' means almost nil.

We can say, 
'He is an introvert; he has few friends.'
What we mean is, he has hardly any friends.

When we make a positive statement, we can say, 
'He has a few good friends; he need not worry.

In the same way, 'A little' has a  positive meaning. 

'I will make tea for you. There is a little milk.'

But when the milk is so little that one cannot make tea, one can say, 
'Sorry. I can't make tea. There is little milk left.

P.S. I am very glad to receive many correct answers for , ‘Who is a lollipop lady?’

Question for today: ‘What are Kangaroo words?’



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Common Errors in English -1

Common Errors in English -1

Shall we deal with some common errors in English?

I will begin with the use of ‘Childrens’. ‘Child’ is singular and ‘Children’ is plural. So, there is no possibility for ‘Childrens’. But you can talk about the ‘Children’s Day’. In this expression, the apostrophe ‘s’ gives it, its possessive meaning- (குழந்தைகளுடைய, / बच्चोंका).
That reminds me about the use of apostrophe ‘s’ for plurals ending with an ‘s’. An apostrophe ‘s’ is used only in the possessive case (का, के, की , உடைய) E.g. ‘Books’, ‘Boys’. If we write it as ‘Book’s’, it will mean, belonging to a book.
An apostrophe ‘s’ should not be added for the possessive forms of pronouns. We find the expression, ‘We two, our’s one’ behind the lorries. But it should be ‘ours’ . So also, we should write, ‘yours’, ‘hers’ and ‘theirs’ ( without the apostrophe).
An Apostrophe is also used when we write short forms where one or more letters are left out. E.g. Isn't it? Can't you do it? It's a lovely day.
'Its' means 'belonging to it'.
'It's ' means, 'It is'.

* Who is a lollipop lady?
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Semi Vowels

Semi Vowels


‘W’ and ‘Y’ are known as semi vowels.

Vowels are actually what we call உயிர் எழுத்துக்கள் in Tami and स्वर in Hindi. While they are pronounced, there is no friction.

While consonants are pronounced, there is a temporary obstruction in some part of the mouth. When the obstruction is released, the sound is produced. For example, when you pronounce ‘त’, your tongue touches the back part of the upper row of your teeth. Try pronouncing it if you want to be sure. If your tongue goes a little backward, it will be 'la'.

On the other hand, the air from the lungs flows freely through the mouth while vowels are produced. Try pronouncing அ ,ஆ, இ , ஈ etc.

While pronouncing semi vowels, there is an attempt to touch some part of the mouth, but it stops half way. Try pronouncing 'w' in 'what', where'...... and 'y' in 'young' 'year' etc.

Once, this point is understood, there won't be any confusion in the use of 'a' or 'an'.

The rule says that 'an' is used before singular words beginning with a vowel sound and 'a' is used before other singular words. This rule is quite easy to follow. But there are cases where one may get confused.

In the sentence, 'I met a European yesterday', 'European' is singular and it begins with a vowel sound. But the vowel letters ‘EU’ are pronounced like a semi vowel (यू/யூ ).

It is correct to say ,'My brother is working in a university'.

A few more examples where 'a' is used before semi vowel sounds:

I met him a year ago.
That is a one rupee note. ( 'One' is pronounced as ('wən')( 'வன்')
This is a one-man show.

But when 'u' stands for a vowel sound, 'an' is used.

E.g.:'This is an unbelievable story'.

Now,

Find out: What is 'Ghoti'?
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