CONNECTIVES

Connecting with connectives

Ramblings
By DR LIM CHIN LAM

A look at the ways in which words, phrases, clauses and sentences are connected.

WORDS per se do not a language make. What does is the way they are strung together. In this connection, connectives, inter alia, play an important role.

A connective has been variously defined as follows: (1) a word used to connect words, phrases, clauses, and sentences, as a conjunction – The Random House Dictionary of the English Language, 1973; (2) a word or phrase that links and relates words, phrases, clauses, or sentences (and, although, otherwise, finally, on the contrary, which, not only ... but also (my underline) – Harbrace College Handbook, 13th edition, 1998; and (3) a word or phrase linking other linguistic units – Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 2004.

Conjunctions and/or conjuncts are particularly classed as connectives, which also sometimes include copular and linking verbs (Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar, 1998).

It will have been seen that connective is a generic term – arguably, best defined as in the Harbrace College Handbook above. It includes conjunction, conjunct, and copula, which three are discussed below.

Conjunction

A conjunction is one of a class of words that connect words (sand and surf; do or die; poor but contented), phrases (out of jail and deeply in debt), and clauses (she studied hard yet she failed the examination).

Conjunctions are of two types – coordinating conjunctions, which unite two (or more) words, phrases or clauses of equal rank (dogs and cats; sheep or goats; he dined and went home); and subordinating conjunctions, which unite a subordinate (of inferior rank) clause to the main clause (he went home after he had dined).

Coordinating conjunctions. These are used in several ways, including the following: (1) copulative, e.g. and – as in joining words (short and fat), phrases (slim of build and fleet of foot), and sentences (he arrived home at midnight and immediately went to bed); (2) disjunctive, e.g. either, neither, nor, or used singly (behave yourself or go home); (3) adversative, e.g. but (she was poor but kind); (4) correlative, in connecting equal parts of a sentence, e.g. either ... or, neither ... nor, or ... both, whether ... or used in pairs (neither dead nor alive; either behave yourself or go home; she had not decided whether to go to town or to stay at home).

Subordinating conjunctions. Likewise, subordinating conjunctions are used in various ways, including the following: (1) conditional (“if I should die, think only this of me”; go away unless you wish to help me weed the garden); (2) temporal (when the cat is away, the mice will play; do not stop until you reach the village); (3) concessive (she braved a smile although she felt hurt); (4) causal (because, since), as in Chong Seng did not go to university since the family could not afford it; and (5) consecutive (he was tired so he stopped running).

Unusual use of conjunctions. In the parsing of words, I have for a long time been uneasy about the use of the coordinating conjunctions and, or, and but in an unusual construction – to begin a sentence. Example: “And most of the time, Malaysian players find it hard to handle the pressure that comes with the heavy expectations of winning.” In fact, such construction can be found in earlier writings – in, say, Walter Scott’s novel, Ivanhoe. I have tried to rationalise such usage, and, resignedly, come to deem such “and” not as a conjunction but as an adverb meaning “additionally” or “furthermore” or “moreover”. Yet no dictionary has classified “and” as an adverb. What do readers think?

The conjunction but is likewise used to begin a sentence, as in the following example: “Conjunctions and/or conjuncts are particularly classed as connectives. But copular and linking verbs are sometimes also included”. The use of but here to begin a new sentence, rather than to join up to the preceding sentence, is rather odd unless one treats the word not as a conjunction but as an adverb meaning “however”. Even then, dictionaries still classify the word “but” NOT as an adverb but as a conjunction, and join it to a preceding sentence.

Conjunct

Whether in speech or in writing, linking signals help in conveying a message by signalling how one idea leads on from another. A Communicative Grammar of English refers to such type of links as sentence adverbial, while Practical English Usage uses the term discourse marker. Other similar terms include transitional marker, cohesive divider, linker, and connector. For the purpose of this article, I prefer the term conjunct which corresponds in full or in part to the meanings encompassed by one or other of the other terms above. In other words, a conjunct is a word or phrase that connects discrete sentences – to link or relate the idea expressed in one sentence to that in an earlier sentence. Examples: (1) Kong Seng was outside washing his car. In the mean­while, his wife was in the kitchen preparing dinner; (2) Pupils may attend the concert. They must, however, first obtain their parents’ consent.

Conjuncts usually begin a sentence. The following are examples of conjuncts and of their usage in several situations: (1) to indicate a temporal or spatial relationship (at the same time, first, later, meanwhile, then); e.g. The gardener methodically planted a guava seedling. First he dug a hole. Then he put the seedling into the hole. Finally he filled up the hole with a specially prepared soil mix; (2) to introduce or add to a list (additionally, again, and, at first, firstly, furthermore, in addition, moreover, next, on top of all that); e.g. First of all, I’d like to thank my parents ...; He earned a salary of RM2,200 a month. On top of that, he had a rental income of RM1,200.; (3) to indicate similarity (likewise, similarly, on the same basis); e.g. She was delayed because of the flood. I was similarly late.; (4) to indicate dissimilarity (all the same, by comparison, however, in contrast, in spite of, nevertheless, notwithstand­ing, on the other hand, still, whereas); e.g. He was said to be miserly. Nevertheless, he has been known to give alms to beggars.; (5) to indicate a result or follow-up (accordingly, as a result, as such, consequently, therefore); e.g. He was a gambler. As such he was often short of money.; (6) to explain or reinforce, as with examples (for example, for instance, in fact, in other words); e.g. He was said to be visually impaired. In fact, he was blind.; and (7) to conclude or sum up (after all, finally, to sum up, ultimately); e.g. He tripped and fell. To make matters worse, he broke his leg.

Copula

A copula goes by other names, such as copular verb, copulative verb, and linking verb. A copula does not govern an object. It is to be set apart from a conjunction (which connects words into phrases, words and phrases into clauses, and clauses into compound or complex sentences) or a conjunct (which links and relates discrete sentences). A copula couples the subject and the complement or predicate within a sentence. Copular verbs include:

(1) the verb “to be”, which in the appropriate context is an equational verb – it links a noun (or substantive) which is the subject with a noun which is the complement. Example: (a) Anne is a seamstress – Anne and seamstress are one and the same; (b) To err is human, to forgive divine; (c) Walking is a good exercise.

(2) verbs “to appear”, “to feel”, “to look”, “to prove”, “to remain”, “to seem”, “to smell”, “to sound”, “to stay”, and “to taste”, which link a subject to a predicate indicating a state or place. Examples: (a) This food tastes bad; (b) The village looks the same.

(3) verbs “to become”, “to get”, “to grow”, “to turn”, which link the subject to a predicate noun or adjective indicating a change of state. Examples: (a) He became a hero; (b) this food has turned bad.

(4) verbs “to call”, “to consider”, “to create”, “to make”, “to think”, used in the passive voice. Examples: (a) Mr Liew was made a Datuk; (b) One should not shun greatness. Some men are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.

When the verb “to be” or “to seem” links subject and complement in a sentence, the sentence is reversible. Example: Her face is her fortune can be recast as Her fortune is her face. However, when subject and complement are not of the same number (one is singu­lar, the other plural), the word-order determines the form of the copula to be used – the verb agrees with the subject and not with the complement. Example: One aspect that needs urgent attention is the parking facilities, when reversed, becomes Parking facilities are one aspect that needs urgent attention.

Additionally, the subject and the complement linked by a copula are both in the same grammatical case. For example, in the sentence Shirley is her mother’s favourite daughter, both subject (Shirley) and complement (daughter) are in the nominative case. A noun does not change form with case whether it is positioned on one or other side of the copula, as in the following: this man is their leader = their leader is this man. However, it is important when a pronoun, (which changes form with case) is involved. Example: He is the leader, when reversed, becomes The leader is he (NOT him). Another example: It was I (NOT me) who opened the door.

Furthermore, both subject noun/pronoun and complement noun/pronoun linked by the copula “to be” could be in the accusative case. Example: The people consider him to be a genius – the copular verb is in the infinitive, “to be”, which links him and genius, both of which are in the accusative. For nouns, the matching of case-forms (nominative with nominative, accusative with accusative), as exemplified in the previous paragraph, is of no consequence in English because there is no device (e.g. declension like in Latin) to differentiate between the nominative and the accusative. A differentiation is, however, necessary when a pronoun is involved. For example: The villagers suspect the culprit to be him – him, accusative case, NOT he, nominative case, to accord with culprit, accusative case, being the object of the verb suspect.

Closing remarks

The above outlines some features of three important types of connective, the three Cs – viz. conjunction, conjunct, and copula.

It is of interest to note that the word connective is used in still another way, in the etymology of the noun/adjective Balinese – Bali, an island in Indonesia + -n- connective + -ese suffix (The Random House Dictionary of the English Language, 1973). By the same token, Congolese could have been derived from Congo with the use of the -l- connective.

The ‘airy’ suffixes

RAMBLINGS
By DR LIM CHIN LAM

THERE is nothing airy (“spacious and well ventilated”; “light as air, delicate”, “casual, dismissive”) about suffixes. I use the word here because it nearly rhymes with the suffixes -ary, -ery, and -ory (which form the topic of this article) – and because I cannot think of a suitable alternative.

Ambling down the road of etymology, I picked up some notes about the three groups of suffixes, as elaborated below.

1. The suffix -ary and its kin

This group of suffixes includes -ary, -arium, and -aire, which are used in several ways as noun and as adjective suffixes.

1.1. -ary as noun suffix, denoting place. The suffix is the anglicised form of the original -arium from Latin. The following are examples of names of places with the suffix -ary: (1) aviary [Latin avis “bird” + -ary]; (2) bestiary; (3) granary; (4) library [Latin liber, libris “book” + -ary]; (5) sanctuary [Latin sanctus “holy” + -ary].

Oddities: There are words which look as if they have been formed with the suffix -ary –but are not.

Examples: (1) burglary [burglar + -y, not burgle + -ary]; (2) peccary; (3) quandary [Latin quando “when” + -are, infinitive suffix]; (4) vagary.

1.2. -ary as noun suffix, denoting person or thing or group thereof. The suffix is derived not from -arium but from the Latin -arius, and is used to form nouns denoting “connected with or engaged in”.

Examples: (1) beneficiary [benefice + -ary]; (2) constabulary; (3) dromedary [Greek dromas, dromados “running” + Latin -arius “-ary”]; (4) mercenary; (5) obituary [Latin obitus “death” + -ary].

Variant -aire: This word-ending, which appears in millionaire and billionaire, is sometimes considered as a variant of -ary (as in concessionnaire, legionnaire, and questionnaire, with double “n”) and sometimes as a variant of -er (as in commissionaire, with single “n”).

1.3. -ary as adjective suffix. The suffix is derived from Latin -arius, and is used to form adjectives denoting “pertaining to” or “connected with”, and is attached to Latin-derived words.

Examples: (1) ancillary [Latin ancilla “maidservant” + -ary]; (2) culinary [Latin: culinarius = culina “kitchen” + -ary]; (3) exemplary; (4) mercenary; (5) monetary [Latin moneta “mint, money” + -ary].

Note: Some of such adjectives may also function as nouns, e.g. contemporary, mercenary, revolutionary, tributary, visionary.

1.4. -ary as adjective suffix, to denote order, or time, or blocks of time. Examples: (1) anniversary; (2) centenary; (3) primary; (4) secondary; (5) tertiary; (6) quaternary.

1.5. -arium as noun suffix. The suffix is derived from the original Latin -arium, denoting a place or an instrument.

Examples: (1) aquarium [Latin aqua “water” + -arium]; (2) columbarium [Latin columba “dove, pigeon” + -arium]; (3) herbarium; (4) honorarium; (5) sanitarium, US spelling (= sanatorium, British spelling).

2. The suffix -ery (with its short form -ery) and its kin

This suffix forms nouns and adjectives.

2.1. -ery/-ry as noun suffix, to denote place or establishment. This is a Middle English noun suffix, derived from the French -erie. It is affixed to nouns or verbs to denote a place or establishment.

Examples: (1) bakery; (2) brewery; (3) eatery; (4) hatchery; (5) nursery.

Note: The variant -eria (of Italian origin) occurs in the word pizzeria; and the variant -erie (of French origin) occurs in the words menagerie and patisserie.

2.2. -ery/-ry as noun suffix, to denote a breeding colony of animals. Examples: (1) heronry; (2) rookery.

2.3. -ery/-ry as abstract-noun suffix. This suffix forms abstract nouns denoting activity, action, art, craft, occupation, vocation, trade, or business.

Examples: (1) chemistry; (2 cookery; (3) husbandry; (4) midwifery; (5) jugglery. This suffix, when added to nouns, adjectives, and verbs, also forms abstract nouns denoting quality, state or condition, and behaviour.

Examples: (1) artistry; (2 bravery; (3) demagoguery; (4) greenery; (5) thuggery.

Note: The variant -erie (of French origin) occurs in such word as camaraderie [French camarade “comrade” + -erie].

2.4. When -ery/-ry is not a suffix. There are many words containing the word-ending -ery/-ry – but their etymology indicates that their formation involves some other affix or not at all.

Examples: (1) awry [a- + wry]; (2) cemetery; (3) equerry [misleading – the word has the ending -erry, which, with a double “r”, is not a suffix]; (4) mastery [master + -y, not mast + -ery]; (5) mystery; (6) sundry.

3. The suffix -ory and its kin

This group of suffixes includes -ory, -orium, and -oire, which are used in several ways as noun and adjective suffixes.

3.1. -ory as noun suffix, denoting place. The suffix is the anglicised form of the original -orium from Latin.

The following are examples of names of places which incorporate the suffix -ory: (1) armory, US spelling (= armoury, British spelling); (2) conservatory; (3) dormitory; (4) observatory; (5) repository.

Variant -oire: Of French origin, this suffix appears in (1) conservatoire (= conservatory); (2) escritoire; (3) repertoire (= repertory).

3.2. -ory as noun suffix, denoting agent. Example: signatory.

3.3. -ory as adjective suffix. The suffix is derived from Latin -orius/-oria/-orium, meaning “having the function or effect of”.

Examples: (1) accessory [access + -ory]; (2) compulsory; (3) derogatory; (4) obligatory; (5) sensory.

Note: The adjective accessory is used also as a noun.

3.4. -orium as noun suffix, denoting place. The suffix is borrowed from Latin, denoting a place, a facility, or an instrument. Examples: (1) auditorium; (2) crematorium; (3) emporium; (4) sanatorium, British spelling (= sanitarium, US spelling); (5) scriptorium.

3.5. When -ory is not a suffix. There are many words which end with -ory. However, etymology shows that such words are made up of some other suffix or not at all.

Examples: (1) advisory [advisor + -y, not advise + -ory]; (2) allegory [Greek allegoria, from allos “other” + agoria “speaking”]; (3) category [Greek kategoria “statement, assertion, accusation”; from kategoros “an accuser”; from kata “down, against” + agora “marketplace, assembly” + -y]; (4) history [Greek historia]; (5) oratory [orator + -y, not orate + -ory]; (6) territory [irregular formation, from Latin terra “land” + -i- + -tory, abstracted from other words with such ending, e.g. directory, dormitory, purgatory]; (7) victory [Latin victor + -y, not vict + -ory].

4. Parting remarks

The English language has a plenitude of suffixes – as well as prefixes – and even more so of the facile ways in which these can be applied. The examples given above illustrate, in a small way, this point. One may look up many other suffixes and prefixes as well as the words or word-stems to which they are affixed.

Checking up on their etymology plus their pronunciation (note the misleading awry, or the deceptive prowess) helps towards the building up of one’s vocabulary.

I should like to take this point a little further, by considering the word vocabulary, a word with an “airy” suffix. It is derived from Latin: vocabulum “an appellation, designation, name” + -arius = -ary.

The word vocabulum itself is derived from vox, vocis “voice” and voco, vocare “to call”.

Very many other words are derived from the stem of these words – with the appropriate suffixes to form such derivatives as vocal, vocable, vocalise, vocalisation, vocalist, vocation, vocational, and vocative; and with the appropriate prefixes to form such derivatives as evoke, invoke, prevocalic, provoke, and revoke.

Dear readers, it can be enjoyable to check on etymology and at the same time to expand your vocabulary. Have fun.

Friday December 18, 2009

Modifiers awry

Ramblings:By DR LIM CHIN LAM

The generic term modifier and how adverbs, adjectives, and participles – as well as their phrases – can go awry or ‘dangle’.

IN AN earlier article, “Why we don’t say beautiful contest” (MOE, June 27, 2008), I dealt with the word modifier in the restricted sense – a noun, verb, name, or phrase that functions as an attributive adjective.

In the broadest sense, a modifier is any adjective or adverb – the former modifying a noun or substantive, and the latter modifying “the meaning of an adjective, verb, or other adverb, or of a sentence” (Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 2004).

Necessarily, present and past participles functioning as adjectives also fall into the category of modifiers, as do adjective phrases, adverb phrases, and participial phrases. [Clauses with similar function are also included in the generic term modifier.]

Adverbs and adverb phrases

The placement of adverbs can convey different meanings. Consider the following:

(1) Only he came yesterday – only one person, he, came;

(2) He only came yesterday – he merely came, he did nothing else;

(3) He came only yesterday – he came only once, viz. yesterday;

(4) He was here only yesterday – he was here as recently as yesterday.

Similarly, certain other adverbs (even, just, and merely) may also cause ambiguity when carelessly positioned in a sentence. It is, therefore, advisable to place the adverb immediately before the word it modifies.

As with one-word modifiers, care need be exercised in the placement of adverb phrases and adverb clauses in order to avoid unintended meanings.

I remember coming across, many years ago, a newspaper report of a schoolgirl just about to enter her school compound when she was waylaid by a would-be rapist but was saved by the ringing of the school bell. The headline, however, read (with my underlining): Schoolgirl saved from rape by bell – as if a bell is capable of rape!

Consider a recent example (AFP report carried in Sunday Star, Dec 6, 2009, page WB34): Thailand’s revered king has called on the politically divided nation to unite during a brief public excursion from hospital to mark his 82nd birthday. Does it mean that the king asked his people to unite only for the short duration of time when he was away from the hospital on the occasion of his 82nd birthday?

Ambiguity may be avoided by rearranging the words of the sentence and/or adding some other words so that the adverb phrase appears next to the verb it modifies and not to some other verb.

Besides having the unnecessary present perfect tense has called amended to the simple past tense called, the said report could be revised thus: During a brief public excursion from hospital to mark his 82nd birthday, Thailand’s revered king called on the politically divided nation to unite.

Adverbs usually modify an adjective, a verb, or another adverb. Then there are certain adverbs, including adverb phrases, which modify a sentence. Note the following examples:

(1) Hopefully, it will not rain tomorrow.

(2) Mercifully, he died peacefully.

(3) However, the examination was much easier than he had anticipated.

(4) In fact, the problem was due to a misunderstanding.

In the above cases, the sentence-modifying adverb or adverb phrase is placed at the beginning of the sentence and is usually separated from the rest of the sentence by a comma. If placed later in the sentence, the adverb or adverb phrase would, advisedly, be included within commas, thus:

(1) The examination was, however, much easier than he had anticipated.

(2) The problem was, in fact, due to a misunderstanding.

Adjectives and adjective phrases

In common use, adjectives are placed before nouns (she found a beautiful seashell). A reversed word-order (she found a seashell beautiful), would be unacceptable. However, an inverted (i.e. reversed) construction is acceptable in poetry (“and with thee fade away into the forest dim” – Keats, Ode to a Nightingale) or in certain expressions (battle royal, heir apparent, president elect, professor emeritus, time immemorial).

There are certain constructions where an adjective may be mistaken for an adverb. Consider the following example: She looked sad, NOT she looked sadly. Here the word sad is correct, being an adjective used in the predicative; on the other hand, the word sadly is wrong, not being an adverb modifying the verb looked.

There are many other examples of such usage of the adjective instead of the adverb – and they are usually associated with verbs of perception:

(1) The food smells bad, NOT The food smells badly;

(2) The music sounded awful, NOT The music sounded awfully;

(3) The table surface feels rough.

One must, however, note that the “ungrammatical” sit tight (instead of sit tightly) may be deemed idiomatic (note that, in English, any expression which cannot be explained rationally is deemed idiomatic), or, according to Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 2004, is informal, meaning “(1) remain firmly in one’s place. (2) refrain from taking action or changing one’s mind”.

Similarly, note another “ungrammatical” construction, sit pretty (instead of sit prettily), which is informal and means “to be in a comfortable situation” (The Random House Dictionary of the English Language, 1973).

When several adjectives are used in a sequence, there is an unwritten rule for ordering the adjectives in the sequence. For word-order of adjectives, I use the mnemonic OpSiShACOM to categorise adjectives according to types, viz. Opinion, Size, Shape, Age, Colour, Origin, Material. Thus we say clear blue sky (Opinion clear, Colour blue), NOT blue clear sky.

Similarly, it is big round wooden table (Size big, Shape round, Material wooden), NOT wooden big round table. [Readers will have great fun constructing phrases with more than two consecutive adjectives and arranging them in a conventional order.]

There are three aspects of the subject of word-order of adjectives.

Firstly, adjectives of the same type are separated by and (lean and hungry look); and more than two adjectives of the same type are separated by commas, with and for the last (cold, dark and dingy cell).

Secondly, the placement of determiners (such as a, the, every, many, three, and fifth) in a sequence of adjectives must be noted. Determiners are words which, in the old grammar books, were classified as adjectives but are now classified as a sub-class of adjectives. A determiner is “a modifying word that determines the kind of reference a noun or noun group has” – Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 2004. In arranging adjectives in a sequence, a determiner precedes the other adjectives (the descriptive adjectives). Thus it is three blind mice, NOT blind three mice.

Thirdly, consideration must be given to the actual entity modified by the descriptive adjectives. It could be fish market or health food or white wine or red wine, which each are entities unto themselves – the two words are inseparable so that they could be imagined as two words conflated into one, or as a single hyphenated word. Thus it is Japanese fish market, NOT fish Japanese market; reliable health food, NOT health reliable food; and French red wine, NOT red French wine.

Then there are the phrasal adjectives like a few, a great many, many a, and a couple of. The strange thing about them is that each of them is made up of a singular and a plural word. When in use, do they take a singular or a plural noun, and is the following verb in the singular or the plural? Here one may apply the rule of proximity attraction. The following are examples of the phrasal adjective in the plural:

(1) A few prowlers were seen in the neighbourhood, and

(2) A great many mistakes were made in the past; and in the singular:

(1) More than one mistake is one mistake too many, and

(2) There is many a slip ‘twixt cup and lip.

And now to adjective phrases. What has been said above about adverb phrases applies to adjective phrases too – that the placement of the phrase can affect the meaning (gardens with fruit trees surround the village, NOT gardens surround the village with fruit trees).

Parting note

The concluding Part 2 will deal with the quirks of participles and participial phrases.

Common usage

YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED by FADZILAH AMIN

IN a seminar organised by Pejabat Pelajaran Daerah, Johor Baru, the key personnel (KP) taught us to pronounce poems as POMS. Most teachers in Johor Baru are now pronouncing it as POMS. Is this really the new pronunciation?

Also, are these sentences correct, grammatically?

1) Everyone enjoy themselves very much.

2) My family has our dinner at the restaurant.

3) He took a taxi to go round the town Or He took a taxi to go around the town. What is the difference between round and around?

4) For Christmas Day and Christmas Eve, no apostrophe is required but it is used for New Year’s Day and New Year’s Eve. Why? – Teacher

It is not clear to me, how the “O” in your “POMS” is pronounced – whether it is like the “o” in “bomb” or the “o” in “Rome”.

In both British and American English, “poem” is a word of only one syllable, but its vowel is a triphthong, a combination of three vowel sounds. In British English, it is pronounced /peuim/, where the “e” (in bold) is a schwa and the “u” and “ i” are both short. The “o” in “Rome” is the diphthong /eu/ in British English and the diphthong /ou/ in American English. “Poem” is pronounced /pouem/ in American English, where the “e” (in bold) is a schwa. (A schwa is the vowel sound in the first syllable of “ago” and is usually represented by an upside down lower case “e”.)

There is no new pronunciation of the word “poem”, but many Malaysians are used to pronouncing it as if it were a word of two syllables, i.e. “po-em” or even “po-yem”. Is it possible that the key personnel you mentioned pronounced the word correctly, using the “o” sound as in “Rome” (eu) plus the “i” sound, but that the teachers missed the “i” after the “eu”?

Now I will answer your other questions.

1) No. It should be either the more formal “Everyone enjoys himself or herself very much.”, or the less formal but more convenient “Everyone enjoys themselves very much.” “Everyone”, like “everybody” takes a singular subject, but the pronoun that refers back to it (himself, herself, themselves) can be either singular (more formal) or plural (less formal).

2) “My family has our dinner at the restaurant.” is correct. You can also say “My family have our dinner at the restaurant.” You can use either a singular or a plural verb after “family”. Also, in your sentence, “our dinner” sounds better than “its dinner”, which sounds impersonal in that context. However, “its” can be used to refer to a family in a sentence like the following:

“Now I think about it, my family has had its share of characters, including one great-uncle who managed to blow a hole through his hand by putting it on top of his own (loaded) shotgun, whilst climbing over a gate.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/somerset/content/articles/2006/08/24/somerset_sounds_the_mangledwurzels_feature.shtml

3) Both “round” and “around” can be used in your sentence in British English, but “around” is more formal and it is also used in American English. Here are some examples from the Internet:

The volunteers also go around the town and surrounding villages with Father Christmas on his sleigh to greet the children of the communities before Christmas.

http://www.bbc.co..uk/wales/mid/sites/volunteers/pages/talgarthchristmaslights.shtml

“It is nice for the council and for the residents to see the effort that goes into the competition and to go round the town and see the results.”

http://www.burnleyexpress.net/996/Awards-for-town-gardeners.837755.jp

“DANCE; Up, Down and All Around The Town” (title of an article in New York Times)

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/29/arts/dance-up-down-and-all-around-the-town.html

4) “Christmas” means “the mass or festival of Christ” and no apostrophe “s” is needed for Christmas Day, since the possessive is already contained in the meaning of Christmas. But a saint’s day and eve usually come with an apostrophe “s” after the saint’s name, e.g. St Patrick’s Day, St George’s Day, St Agnes’ Eve.

New Year’s Day and New Year’s Eve have traditionally been written with an apostrophe “s” after “Year”. I think this is a matter of usage rather than logic. After all, we can say “a summer’s day” or “a winter’s day”, but NOT “an autumn’s day” or “a spring’s day”.

Confusing tenses

I’m very confused about how to use “Says” and “Said” and also “Had” and “Has”. Please help. – Malini

Says and said

“Says” is the singular simple present tense of the verb “say” and “said” is the simple past tense and also past participle of the verb “say”. You use “says” in a sentence when the subject is a singular noun or pronoun (except for “I” and “you”) and the sentence is in the simple present tense. “Said” is used with both singular and plural subjects. Here are some examples of their usage:

“She often says she is not pretty, but I think she is.”

“My grandma always says she is not ill, but only old.”

“Many people said hello to me at school yesterday.” (simple past tense)

“She is said to be very rich.” (past participle used with “is” to form a passive verb)

Has and had

“Has” and “had” can be main verbs or auxiliary (helping) verbs. “Has” is the singular simple present tense form of the verb “have” and “had” is the simple past tense and also past participle of the verb “have”. You use “has” in a sentence when the subject is a singular noun or pronoun (except for “I” and “you”) and the sentence is in the simple present tense. “Had” is used with both singular and plural subjects.

As a main verb, “have” means “to own”, but it has other meanings as well, among them “to eat”. You will have to consult a dictionary for the other meanings. Here are some examples of the use of “has” and “had” as main verbs:

“He has a cat that he is very fond of.” (has=owns)

“Shalini has breakfast at 7.30 every morning.” (has=eats)

He had a cat last year, but the cat died. (had=owned)

The students had dinner late last night. (had=ate)

“Has” is also used as an auxiliary verb in a sentence using the present perfect tense, which talks about an action that was done in the past, without giving the time when it was done. A present perfect tense verb consists of “has” or “have” + the past participle of the main verb. “Has” is used with singular subjects and “have” with plural subjects. Here are some examples:

“She has seen the film.” (has + past participle of “see”, which is “seen” and no time is given)

“My friend has gone to Egypt to study medicine.” (has + past participle of “go”, which is “gone” – no time given)

“Had” is used as an auxiliary verb in a sentence using the past perfect tense, which talks about two actions or events, one of which was completed before the other happened. A past perfect tense verb consists of “had” + the past participle of the main verb. The earlier action/event is expressed in the past perfect tense, and the later action/event in the simple past tense. Here are some examples:

“We had eaten our dinner when our friends came.”

“Ahmad had given up hope of going to a university when a letter arrived offering him a place in the university of his second choice.”

Fun with synonyms

By OH TEIK THEAM

EACH sentence below contains a synonym of the italicised word(s), spelt out in consecutive letters. Can you spot it?

Example: The couple continued their walk along the path in silence after he commented that she was not as slim as she used to be.

1. The wood of the shepherd’s hut has swollen, and the door won’t close.

2. “I hope Ning Baizura will let me be the introductory act at her concert.”

3. “Ladies and gentlemen, we are now nearing the mansion of a beautiful lady who won overnight fame with her first novel.”

4. She decided to follow her doctor’s advice to lose a few pounds before Christmas.

5. The cunning fox was lying when he reported to his friends that the chicken coop was empty.

6. The donations of tens of thousands of people helped to alleviate the misery of the flood victims.

7. “Mum, shall I shoo the turkeys off the porch or fire my popgun to frighten them?”

8. The little boy found a bag of greyish rubber bands near the bush.

9. Requesting me to repair a thermometer that he had carelessly dropped, the eccentric man said, “It’s somewhat easy if you concentrate hard on the task.”

10. Her obvious lack of enthusiasm for her work was underscored when the boss hauled her over the coals for being behindhand and negligent in the discharge of her duties.

11. After they had eaten a light meal, the couple had a tiff in the presence of their friends.

12. The big increase in the salary of my supervisor is effectively the result of favouritism.

13. When she entered the salon, the other customers couldn’t help but notice the beautiful shininess of her hair.

14. He was absolutely frank with her when he said to her, “Your only hope now is to accept the offer.”

15. With a supercilious air, the driver boasted that he would win the race, but his dream was shattered when his car smashed into a wall of tyres and sandbags.

Answers

1. shut 2. opening 3. renown 4. shed 5. sly 6. soften 7. shoot 8. shrub 9. rather 10. slack 11. tiffin 12. rise 13. sheen 14. open 15. lofty

Fun with Synonyms

By OH TEIK THEAM

FOR each set of three words below, find a rhyme for the second and third words so that you get three words (including the italicised word, which rhymes with the first word) that are synonyms of each other.

Example: dry, keep, lob > cry, weep, sob.

1. depress, rescue, spell > repress, ____, ____

2. lad, abstain, hazy > mad, ____, ____

3. doubt, sell, soar > shout, ____, ____

4. falter, range, scary > alter, ____, ____

5. ginger, farm, spurt > injure, ____, ____

6. refer, intone, sojourn > defer, ____, ____

7. efface, vinegar, vacillate > deface, ____, ___

8. rain, bake, hang > pain, ____, ____

9. rent, spell, coder > scent, ____, ____

10. dangle, joke, allocate > strangle, ____, ___

11. calculus, attentive, blur > stimulus, ____, ____

12. hesitate, sex, kettle > irritate, ____, ____

13. rigour, synergy, length > vigour, ____, ___

14. rift, praise, cultivate > lift, ____, ____

15. test, hellish, bestow > zest, ____, ____

16. froth, languor, page > wrath, ____, ____

17. hoist, camp, bet > moist, ____, ____

18. comprise, ordain, torn > despise, ____, ____

19. bleat, applaud, receive > cheat, ____, ____

20. by, useful, provident > shy, ____, ____

Answers

1. subdue, quell 2. insane, crazy 3. yell, roar 4. change, vary 5. harm, hurt 6. postpone, adjourn 7. disfigure, mutilate 8. ache, pang 9. smell, odour 10. choke, suffocate 11. incentive, spur 12. vex, nettle 13. energy, strength 14. raise, elevate 15. relish, gusto 16. anger, rage 17. damp, wet 18. disdain, scorn 19. defraud, deceive 20. bashful, diffident

PHRASAL VERBS

Wordwise

By S.H. LOKE

IT is not surprising that expressions related to clothes and dressing cover every facet of life. They can be used to describe events, people and jobs. You can use some of these well-worn expressions to add a splash of colour to your language.

1. Cap

To put on your thinking cap means to think hard.

We have to put on our thinking cap to solve the mystery of the missing suitcase.

2. Coat

To cut your coat according to your cloth means to spend within your means.

During bad times, we should learn to cut our coat according to our cloth.

3. Coat-tails

If you do something on the coat-tails of someone else, you are able to do it because of the other person’s success and not due to your own efforts.

He won the post because he was riding on the coat-tails of his father.

4. Belt

To hit below the belt means to resort to foul means.

In any game you cannot hit below the belt.

To tighten your belt means to spend less money and manage without luxuries as you have less money.

We have to tighten our belt since we have just bought a house.

5. Hat

Someone who wears several hats has several roles or jobs to perform.

Joan is a talented lady who wears several hats.

6. Skirt

Something that skirts an area is situated around the edge of it.

There are cows grazing in the field that skirts the lake.

If you skirt a problem, you avoid dealing with it.

He skirted the issue of raising funds for the school.

7. Tie

Ties are connections that you have with people or a place.

Malaysia has close ties with Indonesia.

If two people tie in a contest or game, they have the same number of points or same degree of success.

There is a tie between the Red house and the Green house.

8. Gloves

Something that fits like a glove fits perfectly.

To work hand in glove means to work closely.

He and his brother work hand in glove in running their timber business.

9. Cloak

To cloak something means to cover it or hide it.

Mt Kinabalu was cloaked in mist.

Her wedding plans were made under a cloak of secrecy.

10. Frills

Something which has no frills has no extra features but only the basics.

I stayed at a hotel which provided good accommodation with no frills.

11. Lace

To lace food or drinks with a substance such as a drug means to put a small amount of it into the food or drinks.

Some years ago, some chocolates in Japan were laced with poison.

12. Collar

If you collar someone who has done something wrong, who is escaping, you catch them or hold them so that they cannot escape.

The thief tried to flee but was collared at the junction.

Blue collar jobs require physical work such as making things in factories.

White collar workers work in offices, and are better paid.

Many high-ranking officials are the brains behind white collar crimes.

13. Sleeve

If you have something up your sleeve, you have an idea or plan which you have not told anyone about.

He was smiling at the meeting, so I suspect he has a trick up his sleeve.

If you wear your heart on your sleeve, you openly show your feelings.

14. Pants

If someone bores, charms or scares the pants off you, they bore, charm or scare you a lot.

His sweet talk scares the pants off me.

If one person in a relationship, especially the woman, wears the pants, they are the one who makes all the decisions.

Mei Li is the one who wears the pants in her home.

Forming a word train

By LUCILLE DASS

FILL in the spaces with letters to form the 18 words as defined by the clues provided. The last letter of each word forms the first letter of the next word. Each letter is used only once in the initial position.

Example: To attack someone in a public place and steal from them (verb): m u g

1. To control or direct the running of a country or a group of people (verb): g - - - - -

2. To discuss in order to reach an agreement (verb): - - - - - - - - -

3. To authorise or give freedom to do something (verb): - - - - - - -

4. Not cooked (adjective): - - -

5. An official document that permits a search or an arrest (noun): - - - - - - -

6. A general development/direction of behaviour or style (noun): - - - - -

7. Feeling sleepy (adjective): - - - - - -

8. To scream or cry out loudly (verb): - - - -

9. To pass the tongue over something (verb): - - - -

10. A round handle — of a door or drawer (noun): - - - -

11. To make someone believe only what you want them to believe (verb): - - - - - - - - -

12. Very funny (adjective): - - - - - - - - -

13. Peculiar to or characteristic of something (adjective): - - - - - - - -

14. To cut or trim (verb): - - - -

15. A remedy for all ills (noun): - - - - - - -

16. The fact or claim that an accused was elsewhere than at the scene of the crime (noun): - - - - -

17. An article or a separate thing (noun): - - - -

18. To cut down, for example, grass (verb): - - -

Answers

1. govern

2. negotiate

3. empower

4. raw

5. warrant

6. trend

7. drowsy

8. yell

9. lick

10. knob

11. brainwash

12. hilarious

13. specific

14. clip

15. panacea

16. alibi

17. item

18. mow

LINE UP THE LITTLE WORD

Line up the little words

By LUCILLE DASS

LINE – “a long thin mark on the surface of something” (CIDE) – is capable of stretching itself, beyond linear style, to combine with ‘little words’ (whose use can become problematic) to perform linguistic stunts both literal and literary.

Apart from what results in partnership with the little words, as a stand-alone the word lends itself to multiple meanings when variously used. The guide words in any good dictionary will indicate this.

Here is an exercise that requires you only to put in place those little words that help to keep each sentence in line with its intended meaning. (Repeat use of the little words is allowed).

1. You guessed it, dear Editor. This activity sprang to mind when I heard the announcement of the new cabinet line-___.

2. Everyone knew that Najib was ___ ___ line ___ replace Pak Lah as the sixth prime minister of the country.

3. ___ line ___ the company’s policy, you are required to attend all meetings.

4. The choice of Jamal as a credible witness is crucial as he is our last line ___ defence in this case.

5. Angie is super-efficient but she tends to act independently too often. She needs to be brought ___ line a bit.

6. Rosy told her husband that it was not worth laying his job ___ the line by disclosing the truth now.

7. Not all the students in his class could read ___ the lines to sufficiently appreciate the writer’s intention.

8. Could you please stay ___ the line while I check the manager’s appointment diary? Thanks.

9. Newcomer Gopal has little chance of winning because he is lined ___ ___ a veteran politician.

10. By constantly reminding them how much they would benefit by supporting him, the chairman made sure no one stepped ___ ___ line.

11. Now that you’re a member of the staff, your father expects you to fall ___ line like the rest of the employees.

12. Johan felt that the best way to keep peace at home was to take the line ___ least resistance ___ his wife and do whatever she wanted him to do.

13. Kirpal supported his son’s campaign right ___ the line to ensure his victory.

14. Given the spate of crime on the streets, don’t you think the authorities should take a firm line __ the sale of guns to the public?

15. Believe it or not, before she quit, Susan laid it ___ the line that the company would never advance if the employees were not appreciated enough.

16. Rani went from shop to shop looking for a vase that was something ___ the lines ___ the one she accidentally broke.

17. His boss told him that he would surely be ___ line ___ a promotion if he completed the project in time.

18. What do you expect? With an incompetent adviser like that, he was doomed to foul things up somewhere ___ the line.

19. Hassan was taken prisoner while on a reconnaissance mission ___ enemy lines.

20. When the media criticises the government’s policy, the Prime Minister is undoubtedly ___ the firing line.

Answers:

1. line-up – a group of people brought together as a team

2. next in line to – person likely to be or get something

3. in line with – in agreement with something

4. line of defence – position of defence

5. bring somebody/something into line – make somebody/something conform

6. lay something on the line –place at risk

7. read between the lines – find or look for hidden meaning

8. stay on the line – stay connected on the telephone

9. line up against – oppose/compete

10. step out of line – break the rules

11. fall into line – behave/function like the rest

12. take the line of least resistance with someone – choose action that causes least trouble

13. down the line – all the way/completely

14. take a firm line on something – act decisively when dealing with a problem

15. lay it on the line – tell something in an honest and direct way

16. along the lines of – similar to

17. in line for something – likely to receive it

18. somewhere along the line – at some particular stage

19. behind enemy lines – position closest to the enemy

20. in the firing line – in a position to be attacked

Wordwise

By S.H. LOKE

Words like chair, table and bench can take on a new meaning when they are used in a different context. Some of the following expressions inject colour into the English language. Complete the sentences with the right answer.

1. The River Nile is considered the ______ of Egyptian civilisation.

2. My neighbours were distressed by the _____death of their baby.

3. We enjoy being _______travellers whenever we watch travel programmes.

4. The______for this case consists of reputable judges.

5. Harry is quite happy to______the meeting at short notice.

6. We rejected the agreement which was______in ambiguous terms.

7. The girl at the information______is friendly and helpful.

8. Nowadays many children are overweight because they are_______potatoes, and rarely exercise.

9. Ryan Lee is popular with the state voters, because he has no skeleton in his _______.

10. _____and breakfast hotels are popular with budget travellers.

11. Her______consists of many smart and well-styled pants.

12. Many drugs can be bought over the __________.

13. Julie is very rich, so life is a_______of roses for her

14. The state government has______its plan to build another flyover.

15. The roast chicken looks appetising when it is served on a______of mixed vegetables.

16.The continental ______around Malaysia is rich in marine life.

17. Our school hockey team turned the _______on our rivals when they decided to play with better strategies.

Answers:

1. cradle 2. cot 3. armchair 4. bench 5. chair 6. couched 7. desk 8. couch 9. closet 10. Bed 11. wardrobe 12. counter 13. bed 14. shelved 15. bed 16. shelf 17. tables

How the puny beat the mighty

By OH TEIK THEAM

THE Jade Emperor had a court official organise a fighting competition to choose 12 animals as emblems to represent the 12 years in each calendrical cycle. A sizeable number of animals expressed their interest to flaunt their physical prowess.

The official appointed the Elephant as the sole judge of the competition, for the gargantuan creature, known for his good morals, was an upstanding member of the animal community.

“Are you sure you are bold enough to fight with me?” the Ox said to the Rat. “You don’t have any chance of beating me.” “Don’t be overconfident, Ox,” the Rat said. “You may have to eat your words.”

The Rat put his thinking cap on and muttered to himself, “The only way I can beat Ox is with artifice.”

When the competition started, the strong Ox strutted menacingly on the platform and shook his imposing curved horns, taunting the Rat, “Come and get me, you teeny-weeny rodent!”

The agile Rat managed to sidestep his opponent’s stamping and jump onto the bovine creature’s back. Straining every sinew, the little murine creature gnawed away at his adversary’s skin, so that the big animal screamed in pain and shouted, “You have defeated me!”

The other animals in the fray also battled bravely for glory. The competitors and spectators were all ears when the Elephant announced the results: “The runner- up is the Ox! And the undisputed champion, for his inventiveness, is the Rat!”

The third to 12th places went to the Tiger, the Hare, the Dragon, the Snake, the Horse, the Ram, the Monkey, the Rooster, the Dog, and the Boar.

As the Ox slunk back to his home with his tail between his legs, the Rat’s good friend, the Hare, said to the champion, “Congratulations, Rat. This victory is a feather in your cap. You’ll be the talk of the town!” “Thank you, Hare,” said the Rat unpretentiously.

“I have an idea, Rat. Why don’t we paint the town red?” (Ref: http://www.cozychinese.com/storyof- the-chinese-zodiac)

Eat one’s words: To retract one’s words humiliatingly.

Put one’s thinking cap on: To think seriously about a problem, difficulty, etc.

All ears: Listening attentively.

With one’s tail between one’s legs: In a state of defeat or humiliation.

A feather in one’s cap: An achievement that one can be justly proud of.

The talk of the town: The subject of everyone’s conversation in the town.

Paint the town red: To go out and have a boisterous time in celebration of something

HYPEN TEST

Hyphen test

By OH TEIK THEAM

HYPHENS have three main uses: (i) to join words into a compound word; (ii) to join an affix to a base word; (iii) to break a word at the end of a line.

There are three forms of compound words: (i) closed or solid compounds (written as single words with no hyphenation), e.g. teapot, toothache; (ii) hyphenated compounds, e.g. mother-to-be, passer-by; (iii) open compounds (written as separate words), e.g. heart surgeon, seat belt.

The proper use of hyphenation can help to clarify the meaning of a sentence. This exercise looks at some of the ways in which hyphens are used. Can you tell which of the sentences below are correctly hyphenated?

1. The six-year-old boy said he put a toad in his sister’s bed because he couldn’t find a mouse.

2. She was scantily-dressed in a backless gown that was designed to catch men, but all she caught was a cold.

3. Twenty-five years ago, I applied for a job in a bank because someone told me there was money in it.

4. The mean American-history teacher faxed my poor grades to my father.

5. My broker called this morning to say that I should start the day with some good buys, namely, five- and eight-year bonds.

6. We re-elected him as the club’s secretary because one good term deserves another.

7. I call my pet cat Meow, which it probably thinks is not an odd-sounding name.

8. Repairing a clock is a time-consuming activity.

9. When he came back from a long-and-tiring trip to Venice, he complained that the whole place was flooded.

10. “I want you to re-sign ? the document,” the boss said to his nervy secretary as the ringing of the telephone interrupted his statement.

11. The red-eyed frog asked the princess to kiss him because he espied a fly on her upper lip.

12. The tongue-tied pupil was the only person at the class picnic who didn’t get sunburn on the tongue.

Answers

Only sentences 2 and 9 should have no hyphenation:

1. The phrase “six-year-old” is hyphenated because it functions as a single adjective to modify the noun “boy”.

Compare with the phrase “six years old” in the sentence “The naughty boy is six years old”. Here, the phrase is not hyphenated because it does not function as a single adjective.

2. Do not hyphenate a compound consisting of adverb ending in –ly + adjective/past participle, whether or not it precedes the noun it modifies: she was scantily dressed; a scantily dressed guest.

3. Compound numbers between twenty-one and ninety-nine, if they are spelt out, are hyphenated. Except for years, numbers at the beginning of a sentence are spelt out.

4. The sentence is correctly hyphenated if the teacher teaches American history. Compare with “American history-teacher”. (This is an example of a temporary compound, with hyphenation to avoid ambiguity in a particular sentence.)

5. Hyphenate a suspended compound, in which a word common to several compound adjectives is not repeated. (Sometimes it is the first part of the compound that is not repeated: a three-eyed and –armed alien.)

6. Generally, use a hyphen when a base word begins with the letter that ends the prefix.

7. Hyphenate a compound consisting of adjective + present participle before and after a noun: an odd-sounding name; a name that is odd-sounding.

8. Hyphenate a compound consisting of noun + present participle before and after a noun: a time-consuming activity; an activity that is time-consuming.

9. Do not hyphenate independent adjectives preceding or following a noun. In the sentence, “long” and “tiring” each modify the noun “trip”. (Hyphenated compounds containing “and” function as a single idea: an up-and-coming politician; it’s not a hard-and-fast rule.)

10. Use a hyphen to prevent a word from being confused with another word of different meaning, e.g. “re-sign” is not the same as “resign”.

11. Hyphenate a compound consisting of adjective + noun to which –d or –ed has been added, whether or not it precedes the noun it modifies: a red-eyed frog; a frog that is red-eyed.

12. Hyphenate a compound consisting of noun + past participle when it precedes the noun it modifies. (Many such compounds are also hyphenated when they follow the noun they modify: a tongue-tied pupil; a pupil who is tongue-tied / an expensive tailor-made suit; a suit that is tailor-made.)

The only correct way

By STEPHEN KAU

AS the saying goes: The little things in life are important. To which I add: True, but small matter is no matter. The trick, of course, is to know the difference – how to collect the important “little things” in your life and when to ignore the insignificant “small matter” irritating you temporarily.

In a similar vein, one of the more difficult decisions to make, when being pedantic about the English language, is knowing when to stop nitpicking over grammar – or else, you will end up sounding like a pompous BOF (boring ol' fart).

Having said this, I run the risk of being too pedantic with today's topic about “only” (adjective, meaning the one entity).

Too many folks, journalists included, sometimes do not know the correct placement of this adjective (and occasional adverb and conjunction) for emphasis in sentences.

Generally, most speakers and writers of English think that if they put “only” immediately after a pronoun (I/we/you/he/she/they) or a subject, then the adjective covers all the bases, so to speak.

Also, they believe it sounds better to say “only” as early as possible in any sentence.

Nevertheless, the wrong emphasis is often made in such cases.

Examples:

“The doctor only went to the local supermarket to get a packet of peanuts.”

“We only want five mangosteens.”

“She only told the waiter her choice for dessert after five long minutes.”

In the first example, the speaker's intention is to emphasise that the doctor did not buy anything else apart from the peanuts. But with the “only” placed before the “went”, the sentence could be open to the interpretation that the doctor checked out only the supermarket and nowhere else.

In this example, the correct place for “only” is after “get” – to point out that the buyer sought nothing else except the munchies:

“The doctor went to the local supermarket to get only a packet of peanuts.”

In the second example, the sentence should read: “We want only five mangosteens.”

The last example: “She told the waiter her choice for dessert only after five long minutes.”

Occasionally, “only” is the first word in a sentence, used as if for extra emphasis. Song titles Only You and Only the Lonely, and one of the most poignantly profound sayings of modern times, “Only the good die young”, come to mind.

The placement of the word in these examples is correct.

It is incorrect, however, in some instances. The main character of an animated movie says, “Only get what you need” while considering the amount of food to steal. Here, it is more precise to say, “Get only what you need” or to put the “only” at the end of the sentence.

This, too, is correct for emphasis, particularly when placed after a noun. Examples include “Cash only” and For Your Eyes Only, the James Bond novel by Ian Fleming.

Stephen Kau is a writer who lives in Sydney, Australia.

BEAUTY OF NATURE

Beauty of nature

I love to go to the falls
To watch the leaves of nature
The colours are so beautiful to see
For they have great meaning to me
Orange is for love and friendship
Green is for my new life to come
Brown is for my past memories
The crispness of the falling leaves
Is nature finally arriving in my heart?
Never a breeze so sweet
Flowers burst forth in brilliant colours
As the butterflies come to greet
The bees even harmonise with life
As they drift among the flowers
A golden rainbow carved after the storm
Beauty beyond compare
Tall trees, I am surrounded by
As I look for the sky
It had never looked so blue
When I pass by, the birds fly high to me
Singing in the trees, the squirrels climb
A taste of heaven here on Earth
As gentle rains caress
My face with drops of life
In such pure tenderness.
And if you listen close enough
Nature is crying
For the foolish work of Man.

– How Han Ming

Fun with synonyms

By OH TEIK THEAM

EACH sentence below contains a synonym of the italicised word(s), spelt out in consecutive letters. Can you spot it?

Example: The couple continued their walk along the path in silence after he commented that she was not as slim as she used to be.

1. The gangsters who have been terrorising the area always record in their notebooks the amount of money they extort from each shopkeeper.

2. The football club has decided to offer a reward to anyone who discovers a young player of remarkable skill.

3. The teacher decided to tell an interesting story to the class, and a pupil interrupted her a minute later by asking, “Why was the hare late for the race?”

4. “By the time you get to the end of this book of potions,” the wizard said to the young man, “you will have learned how to cure aches and pains of all kinds.”

5. She watched her little boy walk with long steps towards his father to say, “Dad, give me a fast ride on your back!”

6. “This bar ain’t good enough for me,” said the loud-mouthed cowboy just before he was thrown out of the saloon, so that he found himself drenched in the downpour.

7. “Was she at home when her ancient sword with its case was stolen from her house?”

8. The headmaster had a weird dream in which a teacher said to him, “I can’t teach in a classroom where the pupils throw porcelain cups at me!”

9. “Why did the writer throw a stapler at the group of linguists on the podium?”

10. The new girl at the office, painfully retiring and reticent, wrote on a card that she sent to her supervisor: “I’m unable to attend your party, but I wish you a happy birthday.”

11. There wasn’t a particle of truth in the words uttered by the farmer who stood in his field in the slanting rain: “They give the Nobel Prize to people who are outstanding in their field.”

12. When his mother made an unplanned visit to the dentist’s, the mischievous boy thought, “I should seize this opportunity to help myself to the appetizing raspberries in the fridge.”

13. The man behind the counter, who was small in height, asked me, “Would you prefer cash or traveller’s cheques?”

14. At the insects’ convention, a lively wasp aired her views about pollination, and a brace of cicadas applauded her.

15. Directing his anger at his assistant, the scientist bellowed, “Another new rat has escaped from the lab!”

Answers

1.enter 2.rare 3.relate 4.reach 5.stride 6.rain 7.sheath 8.china 9.fling 10.shy 11.grain 12.grasp 13.short 14.pair 15.wrath

SIMPLE PAST TENSE

The Simple Past Tense

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The Past Simple Tense

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PHRASAL VERBS

Fun with phrasal verbs

By OH TEIK THEAM

A PHRASAL verb is an idiomatic phrase consisting of (i) verb + adverb (break down); (ii) verb + preposition (look into); or (iii) verb + adverb + preposition (put up with).

Look at these two sentences:

She ran into the kitchen.

The company ran into some problems.

In the first sentence, “ran into” is not idiomatic — it means “moved quickly into”. In the second sentence, “ran into” is idiomatic — it means “experienced”.

Some phrasal verbs have more than one meaning. In the ‘stories’ below, only the relevant meanings of the phrasal verbs are provided.

The cowboy

A cowboy buys a horse from a friend, who tells him to say “Phew” to make the horse go and “Bah” to make it stop.

The cowboy jumps onto the saddle and says, “It’s getting dark — time to set off.” And then he shouts, “Phew!”

The horse starts to gallop quickly. “Whoa, whoa!” the cowboy yells, but the horse refuses to stop.

They are almost at the brink of a deep canyon, and it seems the cowboy will meet with an unpleasant death. Luckily, at the very last moment, he remembers the right word to use. He yells, “Bah!” The equine animal stops, just inches from the edge.

Looking down at the rocks hundreds of feet below, the cowboy is relieved that he has come through the danger. He wipes the sweat from his forehead and says, “Phew!”

Set off: To begin a journey.

Meet with: To encounter.

Come through: To survive.

The blind date

When the 80-year-old widow returns home from a blind date with an 85-year-old man, her daughter asks her, “Mum, did you take to him?”

“No,” the mother replies.

“What happened, Mum? Please fill me in.”

“I had to slap his face a few times.”

“He got fresh?”

The mother falls about with laughter and says, “No, I thought he was dead!”

Take to: To form a liking for.

Fill someone in: To give someone the necessary information.

Fall about: To laugh uncontrollably.

The actors

An actor walks into a sleazy restaurant for a quick meal. As he is tucking into his dinner, he notices another actor clearing dirty crockery from the next table.

“I’m not surprised,” the first actor says. “Jobs are hard to come by for you — you can’t even play a corpse in a medical drama!”

The second actor, put out by the first actor’s rudeness, retorts, “At least I don’t eat here!”

Tuck into: To eat heartily.

Come by: To obtain.

Put out: To be annoyed.

SENTENCE,PHRASE AND CLAUSE

Sentence, phrase, clause

FUN WITH GRAMMAR
By OH TEIK THEAM

A SENTENCE is a group of words that contains a subject and a predicate, and expresses a complete thought.

In writing, it begins with a capital letter and ends with a full stop, a question mark, or an exclamation mark. Example: Mary had a little lamb.

A phrase is a group of two or more words that acts as a single unit in the syntax of a sentence. It does not contain a subject and predicate, and does not express a complete thought. Examples: on the surface / of great interest / a slice of bread.

Soulful phrasing: Beatle George Harrison sings While My Guitar Gently Weeps ... is that a sentence, phrase or clause?

A clause consists of a subject and a predicate. Example: He has a swimming pool which is as big as a lagoon – where “which” (referring to the noun immediately preceding it) is the subject and “is as big as a lagoon” is the predicate.

There are two kinds of clauses: independent and dependent.

Independent clauses can be sentences by themselves. A simple sentence is an independent clause: Humpty-Dumpty sat on a wall.

Dependent (or subordinate) clauses cannot stand by themselves – they occur in sentences with independent clauses.

For example, in the sentence “The baby monster couldn’t sleep because he thought there was a human under his bed”, “because he thought there was a human under his bed” is the dependent clause and “The baby monster couldn’t sleep” is the independent clause.

Can you tell if the Beatles song titles below are sentences, phrases or dependent clauses?

1. Across the Universe

2. I Feel Fine

3. She Loves You

4. In My Life

5. While My Guitar Gently Weeps

6. I Want to Hold Your Hand

7. A Hard Day’s Night

8. Till There Was You

9. I Saw Her Standing There

10. All My Loving

11. When I Get Home

12. Lonesome Tears in My Eyes

13. I Call Your Name

14. When I’m Sixty-four

15. The Long and Winding Road

16. Do You Want to Know a Secret?

Answers:

1. phrase 2. sentence 3. sentence 4. phrase 5. clause 6. sentence 7. phrase 8. clause 9. sentence 10. phrase 11. clause 12. phrase 13. sentence 14. clause 15. phrase 16. sentence

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