Tips for better English

[NikolaiI]

People that can never figure out the whole "your, you're" thing must be so psyched about "ur".

:p

I don't know if there's already a thread along these lines, but I thought it could be of help to some of the Non-English speakers, or anyone else who wanted to improve on the details of the language, to have a thread with short, easy to remember points and rules that native speakers [who paid attention in class;] learned in our beginnings.

Ideally, I thought these could be simple and basic, rules and tips that are durable and broad-ranging. Sure, for many people they are not important. But I must not be the only one of some kind of deviation from the norm that for some reason finds them very important. And I'm not flawless nor is my knowledge complete by any means, so I'm looking for enlightenment and improvement as well.

But one that is a sort of a small thing, but a sort of a big thing if you love grammar, and will come up with a high frequency in your writing, is the possessive form of the word "its."

Now, usually, the letters "its" have an apostrophe - it's - and the word is a conjunction of "it" and "is," such as in "it's raining." What can be confusing is that you leave the apostrophe out if you're using it to describe something that belong to "it." Examples: "The dog is wagging its tail," is the proper way to write the sentence. Another, "Can you fix the radio? Its antenna is out." As opposed to, "Can you fix the radio? It's not working." In the second case, "It's" is used a as a conjunction.

Ah, I feel weary. . like I have not explained is as simply as possible by a long shot. I know it would be easier to just use examples, but I sort of felt it necessary to write it out. Still I'm hoping that if it goes anywhere, most of the tips will be short and sweet, simple and effective. I think that's a good way to learn a language completely, is to learn each of its parts thoroughly and individually, so that using speech or writing as a whole becomes much more correct.

[Paulclem]

Practise with an s = verb

Practice with a c = noun.

[NikolaiI]

Practise with an s = verb

Practice with a c = noun.

Interesting. I've never heard of that, so I'm guessing it's one of the many things we changed from your language.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

Easy (well, kind of) for knowing when to use an apostrophe with "its." "Its" is for possessives, and "it's" is for conjunctions. So, if you can say "it is" in place of "its," it should have an apostrophe. To use your example: "The dog is wagging its tail." To say, "The dog is wagging it is tail" is incorrect.

[cl154576]

Interesting. I've never heard of that, so I'm guessing it's one of the many things we changed from your language.

That's in British English, in American English we use a c for both.

who/whom: who is subjective or nominative case, whom is objective case. It can be helpful to substitute "he" or "him" into a sentence to see which one you should be using; if it's a question, think of which word you would use to answer it.

[Maximilianus]

(...) in the second case, "it's" is used as a conjunction (...)


(...) "it's" is for conjunctions (...)

contraction

[NikolaiI]

Contraction, right.

That's what I thought, cl.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

My mistake.

[Silas Thorne]

A good idea! It might be the case though that comments on points of grammar and punctuation may be more useful for native speakers than non-native English learners , since many language learners are often better at grammar rules and punctuation than native speakers are.
What I thought before I looked into this thread was that there would be tips for English language learners to improve their English in other ways.

These ideas might be useful:

- Use the skill(s) (reading, writing, listening, speaking) that you are best at to help your other skills improve.
- Use your native language(s) to familiarise yourself with a topic before you read about it in English.
- If you have to read a textbook in a course, learn the words at the glossary at the back of the textbook to help you, particularly before you study a particular section of the text in class. Preview the material you are about to study.

[Maximilianus]

My mistake.
No problem, we are all here to learn.

[cafolini]

Contraction, right.

That's what I thought, cl.

Correct. The conjunctions could be and, but, yet, etc. for example. The disjunctions could be or (inclusively or exclusively) and they are the logical connectives of any language close to the English style of composition.
Other languages are less precise and confuse and with or, very often. Spanish is one of them, very often. English can often be a matter of interpretation. If you state that Either John or Peter went to the movies. One of them or both had to have gone for the statement to be true. But if you state that either John or Peter went to the movies, but not both, if both went, the statement is false.
But its is a possessive adjective, a qualifier, while it's is a contraction of the noun it and is. Your is a possessive adjective, while you're is a contraction of the noun you and are. And so on. And so it goes.
Have fun.

[Maximilianus]

A good idea! It might be the case though that comments on points of grammar and punctuation may be more useful for native speakers than non-native English learners , since many language learners are often better at grammar rules and punctuation than native speakers are.
What I thought before I looked into this thread was that there would be tips for English language learners to improve their English in other ways.

These ideas might be useful:

- Use the skill(s) (reading, writing, listening, speaking) that you are best at to help your other skills improve.
- Use your native language(s) to familiarise yourself with a topic before you read about it in English.
- If you have to read a textbook in a course, learn the words at the glossary at the back of the textbook to help you, particularly before you study a particular section of the text in class. Preview the material you are about to study.
These are very useful tips that help a lot in the field. It's part of what ESL students are often told. Pity not everyone of them listens to their teachers :rolleyes:

[kasie]

Practise with an s = verb

Practice with a c = noun.

There's an easy way to remember this: think of 'advise' and 'advice', where the pronunctiation of the verb and the noun is distinctly different.
Eg: 'I would advise you to work hard at your language studies.' - verb = 's'
And 'Thank you for your advice.' noun = 'c'

[kiki1982]

Was 'advise' not with a 'z' (i.e. 'advize') in AE? I could be wrong, but I would be surprised to find that they would have totally changed pronunciation as well ('I advice you' sounds very odd...).

And this one: 'i before e except after c'. So it is receive, but believe. All i-e combinations pronounced as [i] are 'ie', apart from after c, so also 'receipt'.

Oh, and apostrophes... :rolleyes: there is some need for that with native speakers... If you want to have a laugh, go to Manchester.

A few days ago I had a translation, oncology questionnaire, full of apostrophe mistakes :eek:. Seriously...

[Paulclem]

There's an easy way to remember this: think of 'advise' and 'advice', where the pronunctiation of the verb and the noun is distinctly different.
Eg: 'I would advise you to work hard at your language studies.' - verb = 's'
And 'Thank you for your advice.' noun = 'c'

Good tip.

When teaching commas, I simpified the rules to 3.

1) For separating items in a list.
2) For use with small conjunctions when joining sentences together.
3) To separate the various subordinate clauses you might use - introductory etc from the main sentence.

I decided to do this after reading in a grammar book - "...sometimes you need to use a comma with "and", but sometimes you don't depending upon the type of clause." (I paraphrase).

"That's no good!" thought. "My learners need a firm yes or a no! They do not need a maybe folowed by a discussion about clause types."

(This is rapidly developing into a play of voices).

I looked further, and Lynne Truss, of "Eats Shoots and Leaves" fame, suggested that if you always use a comma with a small conjunction, it can never be wrong. It might be a tad unnecessary, but that is the worst it will be. If you leave it out, then it could definately be wrong.

"Right Lynne," said I. "I'll advise my Learners to always use a comma - even if it does waste a little drop of ink."

I found, given the complexity and stylistic diversity of coma use, that this was a simple approach which gave a Learner sentence options galore.

Satisfied, Lynne rose up into the air on a flying comma, and returned to Grammarland where, worryingly, the grammar fascist party is rapidly gaining ground.

[cl154576]

The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr., is quite popular in America; it's very short and it talks about writing style as well.

(Also, the full i and e rule is i before e except after c, and except when the two make a long a sound, as in 'weight.')

[Brett Cottrell]

Sorry, sorry. I know that's not really true, but I couldn't resist.

[kiki1982]

Oh, does someone know a rule for the '-ible' and '-able' suffixes?

My husband has tried to explain that to me a few times, but I can't remember...Right now, it's, 'Dos the spell check say it's right?'

[TurquoiseSunset]

Below are links to TheOatmeal.com. It has various comics, quizzes, etc. but it also has a section specifically dedicated to teaching grammar in a humorous way.

Here are the topics and their links:
What it means when you say literally (http://theoatmeal.com/comics/literally)
When to use i.e. in a sentence (http://theoatmeal.com/comics/ie)
The three most common uses of irony (http://theoatmeal.com/comics/irony)
How to use a semicolon (http://theoatmeal.com/comics/semicolon)
Ten words you need to stop misspelling (http://theoatmeal.com/comics/misspelling)
How to use an apostrophe (http://theoatmeal.com/comics/apostrophe)

(Please note: there might be a swear word or two.)

[Maximilianus]

Oh, does someone know a rule for the '-ible' and '-able' suffixes?

My husband has tried to explain that to me a few times, but I can't remember...Right now, it's, 'Dos the spell check say it's right?'

In general:

-ible: for adjectives with a Latin origin (possible, credible).
-able: for adjectives with a non-Latin origin, that is mostly pure Anglo-Saxon (washable, believable).

Of course there are several exceptions, like "reasonable" and "comfortable" which sound pretty similar to their counterparts in Romance languages such as Spanish.

Then what about "gullible", derived from "gull", in turn possibly (but not 100% surely) derived from an Old French (another relative of Latin) word... such a mystery at least to me because it doesn't sound very Latin in my humble opinion, but probably I'm wrong :rolleyes:

Anyway, I'll see if I can find anything else about this subject.

[Paulclem]

Oh, does someone know a rule for the '-ible' and '-able' suffixes?

My husband has tried to explain that to me a few times, but I can't remember...Right now, it's, 'Dos the spell check say it's right?'

I like the suffix -able because it demonstrates the ever changing nature of the language. 15 years ago you would not have heard it tagged onto the end of verbs like do-able, winn-able and work-able.

Smilarly, the superlative ending -est, was never associated with best. In fact it was considered childish , and you only ever heard children say it. I have heard it since on TV from presenters etc. My bestest bit.

[Silas Thorne]

@ PaulClem - Talking about superlatives always brings to my mind the System of a Down song: 'The most loneliest day of my life'. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDNop18fEMA
I don't think I'd play this to language learners though. :)

[Brett Cottrell]

@ PaulClem - Talking about superlatives always brings to my mind the System of a Down song: 'The most loneliest day of my life'. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDNop18fEMA
I don't think I'd play this to language learners though. :)

Maybe not, but it's a good song by a great band.

[JuniperWoolf]

I have a lot of trouble with "effect and "affect." I used to google it occasionally when I'd forget, but after forgetting for the millionth time, now I just give up.

[stephofthenight]

I have a lot of trouble with "effect and "affect." I used to google it occasionally when I'd forget, but after forgetting for the millionth time, now I just give up.

lol I have known english since I was 3 as i learned it with a second language at home and throughout school- EVERYTHING ie effect. people know what context clues, i look at it as furthering their education and literature ability to make them figure out what i mean. I also do not believe in the word idea...its an ideal even though that word doesnt really exsist. kinda like fixin ta, and yonder. I speak Southern English, or hillbilly as some put it.

[Maximilianus]

When used as verbs

to affect conveys influence over something that already exists, but to effect indicates the manifestation of new or original ideas or entities:

* “...new governing coalitions during these realigning periods have effected major changes in governmental institutions.”
* “...new governing coalitions during these realigning periods have affected major changes in governmental institutions.”

The former indicates that major changes were made as a result of new governing coalitions.
The latter indicates that before new governing coalitions, major changes were already in place, and that the new governing coalitions had some influence over these already existent changes.

When used as nouns

An affect is something that acts or acted upon something else, like a mood, desire or inclination. However, this sense of the word as a noun is now considered obsolete and is mostly restricted to psychology.
On the other hand, an effect is the result of an action.



These usage notes come from reliable sources, namely The Free Dictionary and Wiktionary. Hope it helps.

[kiki1982]

I never had a problem with that, but then again, I need to know the difference between 'affecter' and 'effectuer' in French...

[Olga4real]

Below are links to TheOatmeal.com. It has various comics, quizzes, etc. but it also has a section specifically dedicated to teaching grammar in a humorous way.

Here are the topics and their links:
What it means when you say literally (http://theoatmeal.com/comics/literally)
When to use i.e. in a sentence (http://theoatmeal.com/comics/ie)
The three most common uses of irony (http://theoatmeal.com/comics/irony)
How to use a semicolon (http://theoatmeal.com/comics/semicolon)
Ten words you need to stop misspelling (http://theoatmeal.com/comics/misspelling)
How to use an apostrophe (http://theoatmeal.com/comics/apostrophe)

(Please note: there might be a swear word or two.)

Thank you Turquoise, these links are funny and useful. I like them.

I would recommend the following site: http://wordsmith.org/ where you can subscribe for a free 'A Word A Day' newsletter, which contains mostly words of foreign origin their etymology and usage, plus a thought for every day.

[Paulclem]

@ PaulClem - Talking about superlatives always brings to my mind the System of a Down song: 'The most loneliest day of my life'. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDNop18fEMA
I don't think I'd play this to language learners though. :)

Not a bad song Silas.

How about this for language learners. It does have a disturbing inter-species implication, and the song is yeuugh. but it gets the message across.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3prL9EHifw0

[qimissung]

Oatmeal is a clever site; one of my students introduced it to me last year.

I also like Grammar Girl which I found when researching lie vs. lay (grrr):

http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/