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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