The prominence of correct grammar usage is every so often lost in our ever more easygoing civilisation. Though it may seem like proper grammar is only important to English teachers, there are many good reasons best known to myself why you should give yourself a little bit of grammar preparation, to make sure you are skilled at how to speak and write by the book. Here are a few reasons why correct grammar is essential.
It might help get you a career. We live in a time where the job market is all the time more competitive. With many more hopefuls contending for the same positions, job seekers need to work harder to make themselves stick out in the crowd. A person who knows how to speak and write well will have a clear advantage over someone whose grammar skills suck.
It makes you look brainier. The ability to speak and write properly makes a person give the impression of being more intelligent and better educated. Knowing the difference between that and which and that whom is becoming unusual, categorically signals a higher brains to others.
It helps you get your point across. Sometimes a small grammatical error can change the whole meaning of a sentence. If you wish to be understood, it is indispensable to have a good working knowledge of English grammar rules.
It gives you trustworthiness. If you are writing a paper or speaking to someone about your area of expertise, but your speech is fraught with grammatical errors, it will make you appear ill-informed, even if you are, in fact, quite familiar.
Learning it is well with the determination. It can be thorny to understand all the rules, but just the once you know them you'll have them all along.
Here are some examples based on my powers of observation, and, if you have any question, you can write in:
A lot of Filipinos always refer to sounds as music, especially when it is listened through an ear phone. Is ignorance bliss?
Philippines is an adjective used when the noun it modifies has nothing to do with the culture or history or tradition or government of the Philippines, or when an entity is not owned by the government. Thus, we say Philippines massacres or Philippines news or Philippines TV or Philippines Free Press or Philippines Graphic (not Philippine Graphic) but former Philippine presidents or Philippine senator or Philippine National Police. We cannot use South Philippine University as name for a school because there is no such a place with such an official name. For one, South Philippines (or Central Philippines or North Philippines) is neither a place nor is considered a sovereign place or whatever. South Philippines has no government of its own, so such a name should be virtually germane or likely. Thus, it should be called South Philippines University.
We say Philippine food when we mean a style of food preparation originating from the Philippines. Filipino food means a fusion of eastern and western cuisine that mixes Chinese, European, American, Arab, and Asian culinary influences.
A campus of a university must use at to indicate a place where it is situated. Thus, we must say WVSU at La Paz or WVSU at Pototan or UPV at Miag-ao or UPV at Tacloban or UPV at Iloilo City or Iscof at Tiwi or Iscof at Dingle. But we must say UP Diliman or UP Manila or UP Cebu or UP Los Banos or UP Visayas (not UP in the Visayas) because, for one, these universities have got their autonomy from central government.
Western means in or from the west part of an area. West means the direction in which the sun goes down in the evening, opposite to the east, or the part of an area or country which is in this direction. So, I think, west is more appropriate and a more logical choice when we name a territory or a particular place. So it must be West Visayas and not Western Visayas. West Visayas sounds more definite in terms of direction and boundary. Our government must delineate the boundary of their territory in no uncertain terms. See, they have been unable to resolve the dispute over the Spratly Islands.
When we've got colleges in a college, it's a bit confusing! So I hope the Commission on Higher Education should remedy this mistake immediately. Imagine that in a state college of fisheries there are a college of education, a college of nautical studies, and another college of fisheries. Doesn't this make the people at this school go a bit funny?
Cope means to deal successfully with a difficult situation. So, what’s cope up? I think it is virtually non-existent. Something must be done to stop the use of cope up.
Don’t use already to say that you have finished doing something, even supposing it was completed past the original deadline. In Standard English, already is used only when something was completed ahead of schedule.
What’s boundary? Well, it is a real or imagined line that marks the edge or limit of something. Or, it is the limit of a subject or principle. Please don’t use boundary as an amount public transport drivers pay their operators daily. The fixed amount of money that you pay regularly for the use of a car or jeepney that someone else owns is called rent.
Calling card seems wrong to me. I think business card is more proper. A call card, conversely, is a phone card.
Some British words, phrases, and usage have found their way into how Filipinos use English, as with the word course, which means the same way it's understood in the UK as the entire programme of studies required to complete a degree. Americans use the academic major for the complete programme, and use course to mean a unit of teaching for which academic credit is given. Your work might sometimes be good, but the problem is you're not consistent. It's either you write in British English in preference to American English, or vice versa. Writers have to choose between the two Englishes.
I think eat-all-you-can is incorrect. All-you-can-eat, a type of buffet food service, is much better. Here, customers pay a fixed fee and can then help themselves to as much food as they wish to eat in a single meal. This form is found often in restaurants, especially in hotels.
Go ahead is so common amongst Filipinos to mean to leave in advance. I'll go ahead means I will leave now, earlier than you guys. I'll go ahead is a literal paraphrase of Mauna na ako, which means I'll leave you now more than I'll go before you now. I think it is hilarious.
A tomboy is a girl who acts and dresses like a boy, liking noisy, physical activities. A tomboy is almost always supposed to be a lesbian, though it may also refer to straight girls who act like boys. Tomboy is not often used, if ever, for feminine-looking lesbians.
We accept is frequently seen on business cards, posters, and fliers. The phrase we accept is used to denote what orders or requirements the business can accommodate. American businesses would use the phrase we do, as in we do typing instead of we accept typing.
Simple is frequently used in lieu of unpretentious or modest. Well, simple means easy to understand or do or not difficult. It is very helpful for an English teacher to have good choice of words.
Hollow blocks is the commonly acknowledged phrase in the whole country for cement blocks. These days, however, it is considered not quite proper for writers to be discovered using non-standard terms.
Gay bar refers to a gay strip club and scalawag as a rascal police or military man. A scalawag is someone, especially a child, who has behaved badly but who is still liked.
I think chain link fence is more appropriate than cyclone wire fence.
Where do you stay? is not the same as Where do you live? Be careful with this.
Filipinos say I'm from WVSU (or any other university). In Standard English such a statement is recognised to mean that the speaker is presently enrolled at or is in work at that university. The corresponding expression in American English is I graduated from (or went to) WVSU. In British English, it is I studied at (or was at) WVSU.
I used to do exercise daily must be I used to take exercise daily. He drives his bike so fast must be He rides his bike so fast. What's the time in your watch? must be What's the time by your watch? I'm afraid you are not attending to what I'm saying.
Thanks a bunch is used to show you are annoyed when someone has done something you are unhappy about or has failed to help you in some way. Thanks a bunch for supporting me (= You did not support me).
My wife delivered a healthy boy must be My wife was delivered of a healthy boy. It's easy to confuse these sentences. So, you need to take a bit more care with your structure.
Over 100 males participated in the marathon must be More than 100 males participated in the marathon. The particle over is used for describing a physical position.
Mass communication is the process of transferring or transmitting a message to a large group of people. Usually, this requires the use of some form of the media such as newspapers, TV, and the Internet. It was coined in the twenties, with the arrival of nationwide radio networks, newspapers, and magazines which were circulated amongst the masses. Mass communications, however, is used to describe the academic study of the ways people and groups relay messages to a big audience.So, I think, mass communication was quite popular for a while, but now it's rather passé. It was ages ago and things have changed since then. College of mass communication must be renamed college of mass communications. Mass communicators must keep themselves up-to-date.
What is the right term to use, birthday celebrant or birthday celebrator? Whatever you favour would likely be OK.
Enrollment is the American English spelling of enrolment. Well, it's important to show some consistency in our English.
By practicing language rules, any person able to read will be able to master English grammar.
A lot of Filipinos always refer to sounds as music, especially when it is listened through an ear phone. Is ignorance bliss?
Philippines is an adjective used when the noun it modifies has nothing to do with the culture or history or tradition or government of the Philippines, or when an entity is not owned by the government. Thus, we say Philippines massacres or Philippines news or Philippines TV or Philippines Free Press or Philippines Graphic (not Philippine Graphic) but former Philippine presidents or Philippine senator or Philippine National Police. We cannot use South Philippine University as name for a school because there is no such a place with such an official name. For one, South Philippines (or Central Philippines or North Philippines) is neither a place nor is considered a sovereign place or whatever. South Philippines has no government of its own, so such a name should be virtually germane or likely. Thus, it should be called South Philippines University.
We say Philippine food when we mean a style of food preparation originating from the Philippines. Filipino food means a fusion of eastern and western cuisine that mixes Chinese, European, American, Arab, and Asian culinary influences.
A campus of a university must use at to indicate a place where it is situated. Thus, we must say WVSU at La Paz or WVSU at Pototan or UPV at Miag-ao or UPV at Tacloban or UPV at Iloilo City or Iscof at Tiwi or Iscof at Dingle. But we must say UP Diliman or UP Manila or UP Cebu or UP Los Banos or UP Visayas (not UP in the Visayas) because, for one, these universities have got their autonomy from central government.
Western means in or from the west part of an area. West means the direction in which the sun goes down in the evening, opposite to the east, or the part of an area or country which is in this direction. So, I think, west is more appropriate and a more logical choice when we name a territory or a particular place. So it must be West Visayas and not Western Visayas. West Visayas sounds more definite in terms of direction and boundary. Our government must delineate the boundary of their territory in no uncertain terms. See, they have been unable to resolve the dispute over the Spratly Islands.
When we've got colleges in a college, it's a bit confusing! So I hope the Commission on Higher Education should remedy this mistake immediately. Imagine that in a state college of fisheries there are a college of education, a college of nautical studies, and another college of fisheries. Doesn't this make the people at this school go a bit funny?
Cope means to deal successfully with a difficult situation. So, what’s cope up? I think it is virtually non-existent. Something must be done to stop the use of cope up.
Don’t use already to say that you have finished doing something, even supposing it was completed past the original deadline. In Standard English, already is used only when something was completed ahead of schedule.
What’s boundary? Well, it is a real or imagined line that marks the edge or limit of something. Or, it is the limit of a subject or principle. Please don’t use boundary as an amount public transport drivers pay their operators daily. The fixed amount of money that you pay regularly for the use of a car or jeepney that someone else owns is called rent.
Calling card seems wrong to me. I think business card is more proper. A call card, conversely, is a phone card.
Some British words, phrases, and usage have found their way into how Filipinos use English, as with the word course, which means the same way it's understood in the UK as the entire programme of studies required to complete a degree. Americans use the academic major for the complete programme, and use course to mean a unit of teaching for which academic credit is given. Your work might sometimes be good, but the problem is you're not consistent. It's either you write in British English in preference to American English, or vice versa. Writers have to choose between the two Englishes.
I think eat-all-you-can is incorrect. All-you-can-eat, a type of buffet food service, is much better. Here, customers pay a fixed fee and can then help themselves to as much food as they wish to eat in a single meal. This form is found often in restaurants, especially in hotels.
Go ahead is so common amongst Filipinos to mean to leave in advance. I'll go ahead means I will leave now, earlier than you guys. I'll go ahead is a literal paraphrase of Mauna na ako, which means I'll leave you now more than I'll go before you now. I think it is hilarious.
A tomboy is a girl who acts and dresses like a boy, liking noisy, physical activities. A tomboy is almost always supposed to be a lesbian, though it may also refer to straight girls who act like boys. Tomboy is not often used, if ever, for feminine-looking lesbians.
We accept is frequently seen on business cards, posters, and fliers. The phrase we accept is used to denote what orders or requirements the business can accommodate. American businesses would use the phrase we do, as in we do typing instead of we accept typing.
Simple is frequently used in lieu of unpretentious or modest. Well, simple means easy to understand or do or not difficult. It is very helpful for an English teacher to have good choice of words.
Hollow blocks is the commonly acknowledged phrase in the whole country for cement blocks. These days, however, it is considered not quite proper for writers to be discovered using non-standard terms.
Gay bar refers to a gay strip club and scalawag as a rascal police or military man. A scalawag is someone, especially a child, who has behaved badly but who is still liked.
I think chain link fence is more appropriate than cyclone wire fence.
Where do you stay? is not the same as Where do you live? Be careful with this.
Filipinos say I'm from WVSU (or any other university). In Standard English such a statement is recognised to mean that the speaker is presently enrolled at or is in work at that university. The corresponding expression in American English is I graduated from (or went to) WVSU. In British English, it is I studied at (or was at) WVSU.
I used to do exercise daily must be I used to take exercise daily. He drives his bike so fast must be He rides his bike so fast. What's the time in your watch? must be What's the time by your watch? I'm afraid you are not attending to what I'm saying.
Thanks a bunch is used to show you are annoyed when someone has done something you are unhappy about or has failed to help you in some way. Thanks a bunch for supporting me (= You did not support me).
My wife delivered a healthy boy must be My wife was delivered of a healthy boy. It's easy to confuse these sentences. So, you need to take a bit more care with your structure.
Over 100 males participated in the marathon must be More than 100 males participated in the marathon. The particle over is used for describing a physical position.
Mass communication is the process of transferring or transmitting a message to a large group of people. Usually, this requires the use of some form of the media such as newspapers, TV, and the Internet. It was coined in the twenties, with the arrival of nationwide radio networks, newspapers, and magazines which were circulated amongst the masses. Mass communications, however, is used to describe the academic study of the ways people and groups relay messages to a big audience.So, I think, mass communication was quite popular for a while, but now it's rather passé. It was ages ago and things have changed since then. College of mass communication must be renamed college of mass communications. Mass communicators must keep themselves up-to-date.
What is the right term to use, birthday celebrant or birthday celebrator? Whatever you favour would likely be OK.
Enrollment is the American English spelling of enrolment. Well, it's important to show some consistency in our English.
By practicing language rules, any person able to read will be able to master English grammar.
Have your shout and murmur at inkslinger215@live.com.
By the way, APPLE Grammar, my book, is still available! You can order it directly from me here. Or you can text me at 09068541933. Your order will be expressed to you through LBC within 24 hours. Many thanks.
Title: APPLE Grammar
Author: Roger B Rueda
Price: Php1000
ISBN: 978-971-691-990-5
Publisher: CentralBooks
Location: Quezon City
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