I'M CAN SPEAK ENGLISH! CAN'T YOU?! 7

COLLOCATIONS

(as requested by my dear friend Grace Murillo who has been reminding me of more Grammar posts, although Grace does not need grammar lessons, this one is dedicated to her)

Collocations are words that are regularly paired together -- however, that one word is collocated with another does not mean that both words must be used together or not at all. A collocation is simply a common and expected usage of that pair of words. Here is a short sample of collocations for followers of this blog: (more to follow if requested)

abhorrence to

abide with

absolve by, from

One is absolved by the judge. One is absolved from all penalties.

accede to

accommodate to, with

One accommodates to circumstances. One accommodates a friend with a loan.

accompany by, with

One is accompanied by companions. One accompanies a speech with slides.

accord with

according to

account to, for

One has to account to the principal. You must account for your actions.

accountable to, for

One is accountable to the boss for one's work. You are accountable for the entire loss.

accuse of

acquiesce in, to

One acquiesces in a decision. She acquiesced to the demands.

acquitted of

adapted to, for, from

One adapts to a situation. One is not adapted for heavy lifting. A movie is adapted from a best-selling book.

admit of, to

Some words admit of two meanings. He admits to the accusation of improper behavior.

advantage in, of, over, to, with

There is an advantage in early tax filing. You have the advantage of me. You have an advantage over me. There is an advantage to keeping your promises. The advantage lay with the movie director.

adverse to

advise of, about

She advised me of the new regulations. Advise me about the issue before deciding.

agree in, with, on, to

We agree in principle. You must agree with me that the letter must be rewritten. I agree on that point. Agree to honor the contract.

agreeable to, with

Oyster may not be agreeable to your stomach. Your plan is agreeable with our future plans.

analogous to

angry at, with

She is angry at her boss. She is also angry with my friendly attitude toward him.

answer to, for

She must answer to her parents. You must answer for your shortcomings.

appeal to, against

He appealed to his parents' sense of fair play, but he also appealed against their unjust criticism.

apply to, for

Apply to the office for a day off. Apply for social security.

apropos of

argue about, against, for, with

Let's not argue about it anymore. I shall not argue against you. Let's argue for a better way of doing things. I do not like to argue with you.

source: The Grammar Bible by Michael Strumpf

I'M CAN SPEAK ENGLISH! CAN'T YOU?! 6

LIE AND LAY

Many of us inadvertently use lie when we actually mean lay and vice-versa. Lie means 'to recline'; it is intransitive and never takes an object. Lay means 'to set down' -- it is a transitive verb thus always takes a direct object, naming the thing that is set down.

An old woman amongst the crowd that attended Cory's wake was made to lie down as the medics took her blood pressure.

Mourners lined up the streets in Manila on the day Cory was laid to rest.

There is of course another meaning to the word lie, as in this case:

Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo lied to the Filipino people when she spoke of the 'Hello Garci' case and other scandals revolving around her presidency.

RAISE AND RISE

Raise is a transitive verb and can only be done by someone to something. Rise, on the other hand, is an intransitive verb and can never affect something else.

Supporters of Cory raised their arms with the Laban sign as the funeral cortege passed through the streets.

Filipinos indeed rise to the occasion and express their love for country during times of crisis.

The man wanted to lie down after being laid off when he demanded a raise to cope with the rising cost of basic commodities.

Remember: (Present Indicative -- Past Indicative -- Past Participle)

lie -- lay -- lain

lay -- laid -- laid

raise -- raised -- raised

rise -- rose -- risen

I'M CAN SPEAK ENGLISH! CAN'T YOU?! 5

LET'S INFINITIVELY SPLIT

FROM THE GRAMMAR BIBLE BY MICHAEL STRUMPF:

"Perhaps the most notorious of all grammatical mistakes is the split infinitive. English teachers have railed against this offense since time immemorial, but it is one that not even the most astute student of grammar is immune from making. Even starship captains are guilty of this crime. In the original Star Trek television show, Captain James T. Kirk, in his opening monologue, declares the Enterprise's five-year mission to be 'to boldly go where no man has gone before.'

"Captain Kirk has split his infinitive, to go, straight down the middle with the adverb boldly: to boldly go. A split infinitive is any infinitive phrase construction that separates the infinitive marker to from the verb. The most common splits occur when modifiers are misplaced: to thoroughly wash, to loudly sing, to joyfully dance. This was Captain Kirk's mistake.

"As a general rule, the marker and the verb should be consecutive items in the infinitive phrase: to wash thoroughly, to sing loudly, to dance joyfully.

"Without the split infinitives, the sentences are much easier to digest. Captain Kirk should have stated his mission to be 'to go boldly where no man has gone before.'

"The split infinitive is not always an act of grammatical mayhem. Some well-known writers have taken artistic license to split infinitives, but they have done so carefully and judiciously. They use split infinitives to emphasize certain points or simply to create more poetic constructions."

MY THOUGHTS:

Yes, I am guilty of the offense. In speaking and writing I sometimes attempt to eloquently, verbosely, superfluously drive home a point. Your assignment dear reader, is to go through my blog posts and to correctly point out to me wherein I have committed this error. You see my editor has gone on a multiple and indefinite leave to the US. I do not know now how to properly go about my blog posting. You are most welcome to promptly correct me.

"When I split an infinitive, God damn it, I split it so it stays split." -- Raymond Chandler (1888-1959) American novelist and screenwriter (The Big Sleep) in a letter to his publisher.

Sige, split muna ako...

I'M CAN SPEAK ENGLISH! CAN'T YOU?! 4

AT A LOSE OF WORDS

It's grammar Thursday folks! Today we'll tackle the word lose.

A lot misuse lose, loose, loss, lost, in countless ways. Here are a few examples culled from the past:

"Did she lost it?" "Did she happen to lost it?" "I think that's the one she lose before."

"My blouse is lose." "It's a loosing battle." " I don't want to loss this game."

Let's tackle the examples one by one:

"Did she lost it?" doesn't sound right to the ear, because did in this case implies an action yet to be confirmed. The correct sentence should read "Did she lose it?" OR maybe the speaker meant "Has she lost it?"

In the second example, again did is the clue here, so the sentence should read, "Did she happen to lose it?" while the third example will show, that there is a certainty on the speaker's part so the sentence should read: "I think that's the one she lost before."

In the fourth example, as readers we do not know if the blouse is gone or if it's a size too big. Maybe the speaker meant "My blouse got lost" OR "My blouse is loose" In the same breadth, the fifth example should read "It's a losing battle."

The sixth example should read, "I don't want to lose this game".

I'm at a loss of words to explain more. But trust me on my corrections. Reader, if in doubt, look it up in the dictionary.

Here's your assignment, check which of the following words should be used in the given phrase and use them in a sentence:

1. loose/lose change

2. the guy is a looser/loser

3. losing/loosing sleep over

4. loss/lost at sea

5. lost/loss generation

See you next week.

I'M CAN SPEAK ENGLISH! CAN'T YOU?! 3

IT'S OUR'S GRAMMAR'S THURSDAY'S

Megatonlove asked me a few moons ago to blog about the Pinoy's propensity to misuse apostrophe s ('s). Although based in 'the wilds of Belgium' I think Megaton still comes across that distinctively Pinoy error in her facebook or probably has a good memory of it while still living in these 7,000+ islands.

So here goes:

The apostrophe is used to indicate plural and possessive forms of words or to indicate missing letters and digits.

With singular and plural nouns that do not end in s, place apostrophe s ('s) at the end of the word to create the possessive form.

SINGULAR: dog -- dog's chef -- chef's William -- William's

PLURAL: geese -- geese's men -- men's feet -- feet's

With singular nouns that do end in s, add apostrophe s ('s). We should stick to the general rule when we can.

boss -- boss's Jones -- Jones's bus -- bus's

lass -- lass's class -- class's Charles -- Charles's

Please note that there are several exceptions to this rule:

1. The possessive forms of the name Jesus and Moses take a simple apostrophe.

Jesus -- Jesus' Moses -- Moses'

2. The possessive forms of names more than one syllable that end in s and whose final syllable has an /eez/ sound take only an apostrophe.

Euripedes -- Euripedes' Socrates -- Socrates' Ramses -- Ramses'

Please remember, however, that most of these are names of long-deceased Greek philosophers or Egyptian pharaohs and of little concern to the general populace.

3. When the object of the preposition in the expression for something's sake ends in s, that object takes only an apostrophe.

for goodness' sake for Jones' sake

To add apostrophe s ('s) would give us three s sounds in a row and that is too many for an articulate speaker to make.

With plural nouns that end in s, just add an apostrophe.

tigers -- tigers' boys -- boys' hearts -- hearts'

rats -- rats' beasts -- beasts' militias -- militias'

WITH PLURALS OF LETTERS AND ABBREVIATIONS

The apostrophe is used to create the plural forms of letters and abbreviations.

1. To form the plurals of single letters, add apostrophe s ('s): R's, t's.

2. To form the plurals of abbreviations with internal periods, add apostrophe s ('s): Ph.D.'s, M.D.'s.

WITH CONTRACTIONS

The apostrophe is used in contractions to indicate missing letters.

is not -- isn't he is -- he's could not -- couldn't

WITH MISSING LETTERS

We often pronounce words in a colloquial manner, leaving off a letter or two. When these colloquially spoken words are written, we use apostrophes to indicate the missing letters.

That ol' car has served me well.

In this example, the adjective old has been shortened to ol'. The apostrophe stands in for the missing d.

WITH MISSING DIGITS

The apostrophe appears in numbers to indicate missing digits.

1981 -- '81 1917 -- '17 1941 -- '41 2009 -- '09

THE POSSESSIVE DICKENS

Q: "I collect first editions. My favorites are by Charles Dickens. Do I write that they are Dicken's, Dickens', or Dickens's novels?" asked a book collector.

A: The apostrophe rules advise that you add apostrophe s ('s) to show possession with singular nouns that end in s. The phrase Dickens's novels is the correct choice.

This is a difficult and controversial issue. There are two schools of thought regarding the use of the apostrophe with singular nouns: the pro-apostrophe s camp and the apostrophe only camp. The latter camp suggests that we add only the apostrophe and eliminate the s. Some books say do it one way; some say to do it the other; some say that both ways are all right, depending upon the writer's preference. This writer is of the apostrophe s ('s) camp, but you should choose the method that you feel communicates the idea of possession most effectively.

I think most Pinoys err with apostrophe s ('s) by using it when they intend to pluralize a noun

we repair shoe's -- when the correct phrase should be -- we repair shoes

and most often use s apostrophe (s') when they mean the possessive form of a noun

Martins' blog is helpful -- instead of the correct form -- Martin's blog is helpful

That familiar phrase keeping up with the Joneses implies there are several people whose last name is Jones... the phrase keeping up with the Joneses' lifestyle uses apostrophe s ('s) properly but the phrase becomes redundant because it is precisely their 'lifestyle' that is supposedly the one the envious neighbors are 'keeping up with'.

Thanks' Megaton's for hers' suggestion for todays' blog po'st.

note: post in bold type was taken from The Grammar Bible by Michael Strumpf. A very, very exhaustive and highly recommended reference for all writers, bloggers, and sticklers for grammar.

I'M CAN SPEAK ENGLISH! CAN'T YOU?! 2

THANKS, GOD!

A production assistant I used to work with in my days in film from the mid-90s to the early aughts used to say the phrase "Thanks God". When we would grind and wrap a day's shoot as scheduled she would say "Thanks God". When difficult and excruciatingly physical scenes would be shot with nary an accident, again, "Thanks God". When emotionally draining scenes would be over in less than 10 takes, "Thanks God". When fair weather prevailed throughout the week, "Thanks God".

At one point I couldn't take it anymore and asked her: "Close kayo ni God?" (Are you buddies with God?) I told her then that the appropriate thing to say is "Thank God" which simply says that we (everyone within earshot including herself) should be grateful to God. Because if she insists on saying "Thanks God" she should put a comma after 'thanks' but that would imply that she is the only one grateful and worse that she and God are more like equals, as in friends. And if that were the case, I told her, I'd rather she keep quiet lest the rest of the staff and crew and cast on our set get jealous with that special relationship of theirs. The reverence is lost for the Great One Up There.

Now I don't know her personal relationship with God. That is theirs alone. I will respect that. But I believe every time God's name is invoked and causes even the mildest irritation on some people -- I think the Great One Up There would mind. I avoided her from thereon lest God shows his sense of humor and strikes her with a lightning rod.

Which brings me to the latest ad for Vaseline Shampoo on local TV wherein the other great one, Vilma Santos, the one with the legendary English gaffes ("It's not my fault anymore, it's your fault anymore!"), extolls Vaseline's almost magical powers to 'resurrect' even the most dead of dead hairs. Thanks to Mother Nature's ingredients of course.

At the end of the ad, a female bit player says: "Thanks, Ate Vi" and Vilma says: "Thanks Vaseline. Thanks Nature". Vaseline and Nature are not people so it should've been "Thank Vaseline. Thank Nature".

I know, I know... it's all about recall. The creative people in that ad agency know their grammar. But imagine a whole new generation saying "Thanks God" or upon winning an acting award, "Thanks Oscars". Or maybe even "Thanks You".

On FB: "Thanks, MJ for the memories" is correct because the thanking is being directly said to MJ. In the same light, "Thank MJ for the memories" is also correct because it invites everyone to thank MJ for the memories including the person who uttered the phrase.

Anyway, thanks God it's Grammar Thursday.

I'M CAN SPEAK ENGLISH! CAN'T YOU?!1

My sister Joy had pointed out a mistake I made in my post yesterday Re: 'casted' and am glad she did just as the post had gone up. Maybe she should be my editor, because when I blog I just type away. My other sister, Felina had commented that maybe I should blog about such common errors in the usage of the English Language.

So welcome to the first I'M CAN SPEAK ENGLISH! CAN'T YOU?! post: SIGNS OF THE TIMES

Filipinos are an entrepreneurial lot. The ingenuity and resourcefulness they employ in advertising their business is often a source of amusement. No, I am not talking about the endless puns we're all too familiar with.

There is a shop in my neighborhood with this sign: "WE REPAIRED AIRCON, REF, TV AND OTHER APPLIANCES"

The shop is always open, with a gamut of electronic thingies spilling out into the sidewalk. I wonder, are those the last batch of orders they will be taking? And did they just repair one of each? Or are those really unfixed machines whose past owners no longer wish to claim -- then the sign should read -- WE REPAIRED THOSE AIRCONS, REFS, TVS AND OTHER APPLIANCES ALREADY. Or are the shop owners simply proud of their former business -- then the sign should read: "WE LOVED TO REPAIR AIRCONS..."

(Filipinos say 'aircon' for air-conditioner, while most westerners prefer 'AC'. Nothing wrong to it, as English has its nuances depending on the region wherein it is spoken. Hell, we say 'umbrella' but them bloody Brits insist on 'brolly'.)

I posted I'M CAN SPEAK ENGLISH, CAN'T YOU?! every Thursday.