Possible and probable

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Possibility:

·       Possible – means-it has the potential or the power. It refers to what can be done, what can occur or what can be true.

E.g.,

Will it be possible for you to come and see me tomorrow? ( Can you come and see me tomorrow?)

·       Probable refers to what is likely to be done, to occur, or to be true.

*When we say something is probable, we are more confident about its happening, than when we say something is possible.

·       We also use could, might and may to show that something is possible in the future, but not certain.

E.g.,

We may go to a movie tomorrow.

They might buy that house.

If we don’t hurry, we could miss the train.

Probability:

·       We use must / should  to show that we are sure that something is true and we have reasons for our belief:

E.g.,

It must be a good movie. The reviews are good.

He should know. He was there when the accident occurred.

·       We use must have/ should have  for the past:

E.g.,

She must have passed the examination. She looks quite happy.

It's nearly eleven o'clock. They should have arrived  by now.

Could have, will have, would have, should have +past participle

·       Could have  is used when we want to indicate that there was apossibility for something to happen, but it did not happen.

E.g.,

I could have studied better. ( But I did not.)

You could have attended the wedding. ( But you did not.)

·       Will have is used when we are looking back from a point in time,  when something will have happened.

E.g.,

Suresh will have reached home by now.

The over-bridge work will have been completed by 2014.

·       Would have  is used as the past tense of  will have.

E.g.,

I knew that my sister would have finished cooking by 1 p.m.

I did not want to go to my brother’s house at this time. He would have gone to sleep.

·       Would have  is also used for past conditionals.

E.g.,

If you had studied better, you would have scored higher marks.( You did not study; you did not get the marks).

If she had started earlier, she would not have missed the train. ( She started late and missed the train.)

Note:

Some people wrongly use would have instead of had.

If you would have asked me, I would have given you the money.

It should be…..

If you had asked me, I would have given you the money.

·       Should is used to indicate that doing something is a good idea.

E.g.,

You should buy this book. It is very useful.

Imagine that you did not buy the book. When you went to the shop the next day to buy it, it had been sold out. What do you say, then?

I should have bought the book yesterday.

More examples:

You should have listened to my advice.

We should have booked the tickets earlier.

( *Some more will follow. I don’t want to give too much in one go.)

Spot the errors and correct them:-1

Thursday, August 1, 2013

1.           I have to buy any articles from the market.

2.           I will not eat something.

3.           Little tact would have avoided the embarrassment.

4.           No less than fifty roses were brought.

5.           I want little milk.

6.           She has started leading a luxurious life after her marriage.

7.           Good begun is half-done.

8.           All is good that ends good.

9.           He has always been the dearer of all the nephews.

10.      The flowers smell sweetly.

11.      He looks very smartly in her uniform.

12.      She is the kindest of the two girls.

13.      This is the eldest monument in India.

14.      Is your uncle older to your mother?

15.      A little further down, you will see a turn.

16.      Let us not discuss it farther.

17.      He is the most ablest employer we have.

18.      My boss is senior than me by five years.

19.      Somesh is junior than me.

20.      The quality of this blanket is inferior than that.

21.      I prefer pizza than pasta.

22.      Have you met the eldest woman of this village?

23.      My car is longer to yours.

24.    This is the best of the two options available.

25.    Lakshmi and kamakshi are sisters. The later is elder to Lakshmi.

The Key

1.     ‘a few’ instead of ‘any’

2.     ‘anything’ instead of ‘something’ ( ‘anything’ is used for interrogatives and negatives)

3.     ‘a little’ instead of ‘little’ (‘a little’ means ‘some’. ‘Little’ means almost nothing)

4.     ‘not less’ instead of ‘ No less’

5.     ‘a little’ instead of ‘little’

6.     ‘wedding’ instead of ‘marriage’ (‘Marriage is a long term relationship. Wedding is the ceremony of getting married.)

7.     ‘Well-begun’ instead of ‘good begun’.

8.     ‘well’ instead of ‘good’ in both places.

9.     ‘the dearest’ instead of ‘the dearer’.

10.        ‘sweet’ instead of ‘sweetly’.

11.       ‘smart’ instead of ‘smartly’

12.       ‘the kinder’ instead of ‘the kindest’ ( Though, usually, the superlative form of the adjective comes after ‘the’, when there are only two objects, there is no possibility for a superlative. Hence, only comparative degree is used.)

13.       ‘oldest’ instead of ‘eldest’. ( elder, eldest, etc., are used when it concerns members of the same family. However, we can refer to an old man of the village, as the ‘village elder’.

14.       ‘elder’ instead of ‘older’

15.       ‘farther’ in stead of ‘further’. (‘farther’ means ‘to agreater distance’)

16.       ‘further’ in stead of  ‘farther’ ( ‘further’ means ‘to a greater extent, more, additional)

17.       ‘ablest’ in stead of  ‘most ablest’ ( Two superlatives will not occur together)

18.       ‘to’ in stead of ‘than’

19.       ‘to’ in stead of ‘than’

20.       ‘to’ in stead of ‘than’

21.       ‘to’ in stead of ‘than’

22.       ‘oldest’ in stead of ‘eldest’

23.       ‘than’ in stead of ‘to’

24.       ‘better’ in stead of ‘best’

25.       ‘latter’ in stead of ‘later’ (‘latter’ means the one mentioned second. ‘former’ is one mentioned first).

Words often confused and misused: 4

1.     Between and among

Between       To and from

I would like to meet you between 2 p.m and 4.p.m. ( ‘Between’ is used only when there are two things. If there are more than two numbers, ‘among’ is used.)

Among          In the midst of

Please distribute the sweets among the students.

2.    Canvas and Canvass

Canvas          A kind of rough cloth

Bags made out of canvas cloth are strong and last long.

Canvass       To ask for votes

Nowadays, film actors have started canvassing for votes.

3.    Cast and Caste      

Cast         To throw somebody or something ( The word does not change in its past tense of past participle form)

We should think of donating our old clothes instead of casting them away.

Caste       Hindu class system

In the olden days, castes were decided based on the professions of individuals.

4.    Ceremonious and Ceremonial

Ceremonious          Carefully formal or polite

The chief minister was given a   Ceremonious welcome.

Ceremonial              Done as part of a ceremony

The award was given at a ceremonial function.

5.    Childish and Childlike

Childish        Immature, suiting a child (mainly negative) ( Better to avoid this adjective when one wants to give someone a compliment)

Her behavior was quite childish. She must learn to exercise more restraint.

Childlike        Having the innocent, unspoiled quality of a child (positive)

Everyone is fascinated by Divya’s childlike smile.

Words often confused and misused:3

1.     Between and among

Between       To and from

I would like to meet you between 2 p.m and 4.p.m. ( ‘Between’ is used only when there are two things. If there are more than two numbers, ‘among’ is used.)

Among          In the midst of

Please distribute the sweets among the students.

2.    Canvas and Canvass

Canvas          A kind of rough cloth

Bags made out of canvas cloth are strong and last long.

Canvass       To ask for votes

Nowadays, film actors have started canvassing for votes.

3.    Cast and Caste      

Cast         To throw somebody or something ( The word does not change in its past tense of past participle form)

We should think of donating our old clothes instead of casting them away.

Caste       Hindu class system

In the olden days, castes were decided based on the professions of individuals.

4.    Ceremonious and Ceremonial

Ceremonious          Carefully formal or polite

The chief minister was given a   Ceremonious welcome.

Ceremonial              Done as part of a ceremony

The award was given at a ceremonial function.

5.    Childish and Childlike

Childish        Immature, suiting a child (mainly negative) ( Better to avoid this adjective when one wants to give someone a compliment)

Her behavior was quite childish. She must learn to exercise more restraint.

Childlike        Having the innocent, unspoiled quality of a child (positive)

Everyone is fascinated by Divya’s childlike smile.

1

Words often confused and misused: 2

One of my friends wanted me to talk about the usage of the words ‘repair’ and ‘prepone’.

·       In English, we use the word ‘repair’ to mean that something is in good condition/that which was not working well has been brought back to its original good condition. We talk about a car that is in good repair.In Tamil also, we use the word correctly, in sentences such as–– கார் ரிப்பேர் செய்தாகி விட்டது.But most often, the word is used in its opposite sense. We say, ‘கார் ரிப்பேர் ஆகி விட்டது’,  to mean, the car has broken down. This usage should be avoided.

·       The word ‘prepone’ is widely used to mean ‘a date or function has been ‘advanced’.

E.g., The meeting that was scheduled for 10^th April has been preponed to 8^th April.

We can easily understand how this expression came into being. Actually, it is a word coined by the Indians. The word ‘postpone’ means ‘to put off something.’

E.g., The meeting that was scheduled for 7^th April has been postponed to 10^th April.

The prefix ‘post’ means ‘after’ and it is used in that sense in phrases such as– post-dated checques, post-war period, post-independence era, etc.

The opposite of ‘post’ is ‘Pre’. We have expressions such as –‘pre-independence era’, ‘pre-school children’, ‘pre-teen behaviour’ etc.

A prefix should be added to a word that can make sense independently. In the examples given above, if we remove the prefix ‘post’/ ‘pre’, the rest of the word will make sense. But if we remove ‘post’ from the word ‘postpone’, what remains  (pone) will not make sense. So we cannot treat ‘ post’ as a ‘prefix’. For the same reason, we cannot add ‘pre’ as a prefix and coin the word ‘prepone’. It is better to use the word ‘advance’ in the place of ‘prepone’.

E.g. , The examinations have been advanced due to the General Elections.

Words often confused and misused: 1

After many months, I am back and hope to continue with my blogging.

We tend to get confused between words either because they look alike or sound alike. They need not necessarily be homonyms or homophones. Some kind of similarity can make people get confused. When we misuse words, the greatest disadvantage is that we fail to get our ideas across. They can also prove hilarious or dangerous. It is better to know the difference between words and use them appropriately.

1.                 Abuse                  Maltreatment of a person or animal

                              In some houses, children are abused even today.

            Misuse                 The incorrect or improper use of something.

                                          The officer was arrested for misusing his authority.

2.         Adapt                   Adjust

                                          My sister easily adapted to her new home after her wedding.

            Adopt                   Follow; legally raise another’s child

                                          The childless couple adopted a baby girl last month.

            Adept                   Expert

                                          He is an adept at playing saxophone.

3.         Affect                   Influence somebody or something

                              Meera is affected by the chill weather.

          Effect                   Result; being in force or operation; power to influence

                                          This medicine has very good effect.

4.         Alibi                       The accused’s claim of having been somewhere else

                              The  movie, ‘Drishyam’ revolves round the concept of alibi.

          Alias                       Also known as (a.k.a)

                                          Chanakya alias Kautilya was the author of Arthashastra.

5.        Alone                     Without company

                                    I don’t like to stay alone in the house.

         Lonely                    Feeling alone

                                          We at times feel lonely in the midst of a crowd.

More will follow.