enriching our word banks

hello classmates :) i want to share a link I've read which is very helpful in enhancing our vocabulary. i know that having rich vocabulary we can easily communicate with other people with confidence using the language :)

http://www.englishbaby.com/lessons/2174/member_submitted/7_acts_to_enrich_your_vocabulary

Psychotic verb

Psychotic verb is a verb used differently in the independent clause than in a dependent clause. This verb is incorrect, since the verb in a dependent clause must be the same as that of the independent clause it is close to.

One example I found is: "The Ford Tauruses have sold for higher prices than the Escorts are."

This is an error, because the verbs in the two clauses are different. The corrected sentence would read, "The Ford Tauruses have sold for higher prices than the Escorts have."

Here is another example of a problem sentence.

"Driving without a seatbelt is a car looking for an accident to happen."

This is incorrect. In this sentence the present participle gerund "driving" is being held as equivalent with "a car." Here is a corrected sentence.

"Driving without a seatbelt is looking for an accident to happen."

This is also a metaphor. The same sentence, with a simile, would read:

"Driving without a seatbelt is like looking for an accident to happen."

They Must Agree or the Sentence Will Die

The third part of our activity regarding verbs is all about subject-verb agreement. I hope this post can help you answer those questions you have about this topic.

Whether speaking or writing, always remember that a sentence stated in present tense must have subjects and verbs that agree with one another in number. If the subject is singular, the verb must be also singular. If the subject is also plural, the verb must be plural. To illustrate the correct usage of this rule, here are some examples:

Incorrect: The student impress her teacher.

Correct: The student impresses her teacher.

For further explanations and examples: http://www.towson.edu/ows/sub-verb.htm

Want to take a quiz? http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/cgi-shl/quiz.pl/sv_agr_quiz.htm

BM 101

The sentence that was encircled has inconsistent verb tenses and improper use of infinitives.

It must be rewritten as: "Quality management was a departure from earlier management theories that were based on the belief that low costs were the only road to increase productivity."

Reference of the picture: Management, 9th edition

Stephen Robbins, Mary Coulter

page 78

Verb Mood

A writer use different emotion or mood when writing a sentence which means it use verb in order to convey the mood that he or she want to send to the readers. Verbs have four moods: indicative, imperative, subjunctive and infinitive. These moods tell us in what manner a verb or a verb phrase was expressed. Here is a link for you to review about the four moods of verb. http://www.dailywritingtips.com/english-grammar-101-verb-mood/

Must vs. Have to

Should I use "must" or should I use "have to"?

The rules are:
"Must" is used when one do something because he/she believes that he must do it.

"Have to" is used when one do something because it is base on facts.

To understand it fully, please click the link—http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgIjV8dkpp0&feature=relmfu

Agree with me

Subject-Verb Agreement is a basic concept in the English Language we sometimes forget. A singular subject needs a plural verb in order to be correct; hence, a plural subject needs a singular verb. We should be careful when dealing with them. Here is a site that tackles Subject-Verb Agreement.

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/sv_agr.htm

Somewhere in Between

I should post my blog between 4pm to 6pm.

This sentence is actually INCORRECT.

The football match between Azkals against LA Galaxy will be starting in a few minutes.

This sentence is also INCORRECT.

BETWEEN is always followed by AND. It cannot be followed by TO or AGAINST.

This may be one of the common mistakes in grammar that we are guilty of committing. So the next time you use BETWEEN in your sentences, make sure that it is followed by AND.

source: http://www.englishpractice.com/grammar/common-errors-prepositions-2/

~Ana Minelle Laxamana

LIVE, LEARN & LOVE

Is your speech holding you back? Do you need more confidence? Do you have a heavy accent? Do you struggle with mumbling, stuttering or making the right impression? Imagine what developing clear speech with a rich strong voice could do for your job prospects in the future. Learning standard English was never a challenge for me as a child. If we learn and practice speaking in English by heart, we can work, persuade, influence others, and reach our potentials. We can still improve our speech because the sun never sets on the English language. :)

- Mikko I. Ong (08-07976)

American English vs British English

Do you ever think about differences between American English and British English? The variations between these two versions of the English language are really interesting. The difference can be found in spelling, vocabulary and usage of terms. I want to show you a list of words that has a counterpart term in the other language version. There are instances wherein it causes confusion.

http://www.learnenglish.de/mistakes/USvsBrEnglish.html

This is my first post in our blog and I want to focus on the importance of learning English. English is basically a very beneficial tool for us in our every day lives. We may not be aware but English helps us with our activities. When we get to learn and use English properly, then we will be able to grab more opportunities and be successful on our chosen pathways.

Punctuation

A panda walked into a cafe. He ordered a sandwich, ate it, then pulled out a gun and shot the waiter. 'Why?' groaned the injured man. The panda shrugged, tossed him a badly punctuated wildlife manual and walked out. And sure enough, when the waiter consulted the book, he found an explanation. 'Panda,' ran the entry for his assailant. 'Large black and white mammal native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.'

This is an excerpt from a book entitled "Eats, Shoots and Leaves: A Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation", written by Lynne Truss. The excerpt shows us how big of a difference punctuation makes in sentences. Though seemingly simple, using punctuation marks properly could be very confusing. We could easily forget how and when to use them. I suggest we don't take punctuation for granted. It could spell the difference between "We are going to eat Grandfather" and "We are going to eat, Grandfather."

-Jonathan Kenn S. Palo

WORD TRIVIA

I want to share this link to you about some word trivia. As you know, trivia are unimportant matters. Still, it is a good thing to know about them. Even though they are not really important, they can somehow enhance our knowledge and give us some good reads.

http://users.tinyonline.co.uk/gswithenbank/wordtriv.htm

When to use "on" and when to use "in"

What are the proper usages of the words "in" and "on" in a sentence? One often confuses the two. Here are some examples: "The boat is in/on the water," "We are in/on the planet," "We're going to the concert in/on July 1st."
The use of prepositions in English is frequently idiomatic. General guidelines exist, but be prepared to learn individual expressions in which the preposition does not adhere to the guidelines.
In the case of the prepositions in and on, here are the most usual uses. "In" mainly denotes "rest at" while "on" indicates proximity and position above or outside. Here are some examples for the use of "in" for place, time, manner, and reference.
Place: He lives in the country.
Time: I'll be there in an hour.
Manner: The child ran down the steps in tears.
Reference: In my opinion, we need a referendum.
Here are some examples for the use of "on":
Place: He sat on the fence.
Time: He was not thinking well on that occasion.
Reference: He asked my opinion on the matter.
Condition: We'll hire him on your recommendation.

Sometimes it is confusing to choose between i.e. and e.g. I searched on it and found that these two abbreviations have different meaning. "I.e. stands for id est and means roughly "that is."E.g. stands for exempli gratia, which means “for example”"(Fogarty, 2011).

Reference:

Fogarty, M. (2011, May 19). I.e. Versus E.g. Retrieved December 3, 2011 from the World Wide Web: http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/ie-eg-oh-my.aspx

-ANGENICA F. MARTIREZ

The Origin and Development of the English Language

Let me share a video that shows the development of the English language. It started with the arrival of three Germanic tribes (the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes, which called the Anglo-Saxons) who invaded the British Isles. Latin effected the language with merchants. Anglo-Saxons pushed the Celtic-speaking inhabitants out of England. The Angles came from England and their language was called Englisc - from which the words England and English are derived.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI5uekd517s

Grammar Mistakes

Good day classmates! I bookmarked this site months ago because the title or the caption on this site captured my attention. I realized that people today were already modernized. We love to surf the internet and to chat with people on the social networking sites. We tend to forget the correct grammar usage. Because of that, we didn't know that we already look stupid. I hope that you will check this site to gain more knowledge about correct grammar usage. This is very helpful. Have a great day! :)

http://www.bspcn.com/2007/05/16/10-grammar-mistakes-that-make-you-look-stupid/

Genericized Trademarks

Have you ever heard of the term "Genericized Trademarks"? This is  a trademark which has come to be used to describe all similar products, rather than the product of a specific manufacturer. A well known example is the word xerox from the Xerox Corporation, which dominated the copier industry.


You can view some examples here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_generic_and_genericized_trademarks

PARALLELISM

One of the most common errors I observe when reading essays is parallelism. I remember the technique that my teacher taught us to avoid that particular mistake. She said, "separate the words in  bullet points and identify if they are in the same part of speech or not". Since then, I rarely commit that mistake. Try this technique and it can save you from being criticized by others : )

CORRECT                                                    INCORRECT
 Katy Perry likes:                                              Katy Perry likes:
*fireworks                                                        *fireworks
*cherry lipstick                                                 *to wear cherry lipstick
*California                                                       *living in California

-STEPHANIE BERNARDO



 

Nouns and Verbs but Don't Use ALL Nouns as Verbs

Given that we are going to talk about verbs for our next meeting, here’s an article which is associated with our topic. This is a reminder that not all nouns can be used as verbs. After reading this, you will be aware if you may or may not use several nouns as a verb.

Here's the link

http://www.soyouwanna.com/soyouwanna-avoid-common-writing-errors-1591-p4.html

(Sorry if this post was late. I also had a hard time connecting and posting to our blog.)