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Who can deny the importance of English in the present-day world? There has been
a tremendous rise in the number of users of English in India in the last couple
of decades. Particularly after the widespread use of modern means of communication
such as mobiles, computers and the internet, even those with rudimentary English
communicate in English, making it a true 'lingua franca'. As a result a new, most
limited and superficial variety of English (e-English or sms-English) has also evolved.
Yet neither that nor the broken English one learns at school will do for today’s
needs.
With the increase in the use of English, we must know how to use the language precisely
and effectively.
Accuracy:
Accuracy is of vital importance in any communication. Sometimes a word or a sentence
can even make or mar your career or reputation. What you hear or read may not always
be acceptable in Standard English. Let those about you speak broken language, but
if you follow them you will come to grief in your ambitions and hopes in the new
world. For much of what you hear or read is not even bread-and-butter communication,
nor is it acceptable or effective in Standard English. It is not acceptable or useful
in any educated circles in either formal or social give and take all over the globe.
For example, one often comes across the word 'cheater'. Even some educated speakers
use it. However, the fact is that 'cheater' is unacceptable in English; ‘cheat’
does its work perfectly well.
We shall look at a few such examples of the English language. No language allows
fooling with it; for through it alone can you make your way in the world. English
is no exception. The examples we meet here are not arranged in any particular order.
They come to you randomly as they do in real life. I hope they help you make your
language more accurate and effective.
1. Our chief guest is a simpleton. X
Of course if your guest is a slow-witted person you could make such a statement.
But if somebody is 'simple', we cannot say that he is a ‘simpleton’. 'Simpleton'
means 'a foolish person, easily deceived, not very intelligent'. Just imagine how
your simple-looking chief guest would feel if you called him a 'simpleton', and
how wrong your choice of word would be!
2. According to me, the standard of English is very poor in Gujarat. X
Although you may hear several people using it, it is better not to use ‘according
to me’ or ‘according to us’. Why? Depending upon just what you mean, better and
more apt expressions are available, for instance ‘I think’, ‘to my mind’ or ‘in
my opinion’. In fact, the verb accord with goes ill with the reference to self.
3. If I am a bird, I will fly. X
When one imagines a situation or refers to an improbable thing or situation, one
uses "If ... was / were... would...". So the correct expression is, 'If I was /
were a bird, I would fly.' Indeed, if the situation is purely imaginary and quite
impossible, use ‘were’ with ‘would’. For instance, 'If I were a teacher, I would
be able to help you', conveys the additional the message that you are not a teacher.
4. It's a news to me. X
'News' is a non-count noun. Singular or plural is rarely in question with news.
So just say ‘It’s news to me' or 'What wonderful news!’ or some other acceptable
item of expression.
5. I study between 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. X
Between concerns two things, and that is why it is always followed by 'and' (not
'to'). So you can say, 'I study between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.' The other way of conveying
the same message is 'I study from 5 p.m. to 7p.m'. Indeed, it is far better not
to use the expressions ‘a.m.’ and ‘p.m.’ in ordinary communication. They are fine
for schedules and programme details. The most accepted way to convey the information
is this—‘I study from ten in the morning to seven in the evening.’
6. I am good in English. X
If you say 'I am good in English', your statement, in fact, conveys the opposite.
The standard expression is 'good at something' so you should say 'I am good at English.'
7. I am having a good dictionary. X
Verbs of possession are not normally used in 'ing' form. The acceptable form is,
'I have a good dictionary'. Similarly, if somebody tells you 'I am loving you',
you can secretly smile at his or her English. (Do not correct them when they say
this—because what they say is so important!) But verbs related to states of mind
are normally used without 'ing' in their primary senses. It is true also of verbs
of perception like see, smell, taste, and hear. For example, ‘I see a bird in the
sky’ (not ‘I am seeing a bird in the sky’), ‘I smell something burning’ (not ‘I
am smelling something burning’), ‘Do you hear that noise?’ (not ‘Are you hearing
that noise?’).
8. He returned back at five o'clock. X
If you say or write the above sentence, you are using two words where one is more
than enough. Return already has the meaning of 'coming back'. To use back is, therefore,
both unnecessary and awkward. Say, ‘He returned at five o'clock’.
9. What a lovely weather. X
If you like the weather on a particular day, and you say 'What a lovely weather'
you have made the mistake of using an indefinite article before a non-count noun.
That is, English does not tolerate such expression. It accepts 'What lovely weather!'
10. I did a mistake yesterday. X
Some words make friends with other words. This feature is known as 'collocation',
which means coming together in the same place. Pay particular attention to collocations,
for they make what we call acceptable or idiomatic expression in the English language.
If you said 'I did a mistake yesterday', 'do' does not collocate or come with 'mistake'.
It is as simple as that. You can only say ‘I made a mistake’. Some other examples
of collocations are: shanty town, crystal clear, trenchant criticism, throw a party,
a prolific writer, a voracious reader, raise arguments, square meal, build a nest,
lay an egg, grim determination. (Please do not hesitate to look up in the dictionary
if you are not sure about the meaning of any of these words.)
1. Literature
1. IF
by Rudyard Kipling
If you can keep your head
when all about you men are losing theirs
and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
but make allowances for their doubting, too.
If you can wait but not be tired of waiting,
or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
and yet don't look too good nor talk too wise,
If you can dream but not make dreams your master,
if you can think and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with triumph and disaster,
and treat those two imposters just the same,
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
and stoop and build them up with worn-out tools,
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
and risk it on one turn of pitch and toss,
and lose and start again at your beginnings
and never breathe a word about your loss,
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
to serve your turn long after they are gone,
and to hold on when there is nothing in you
but the will that says to them "hold on,"
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
or walk with kings nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
if all men count with you but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
with 60 seconds worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
and which is more, you'll be a man, my son
If you can keep your head
when all about you men are losing theirs
and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
but make allowances for their doubting, too.
If you can wait but not be tired of waiting,
or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
and yet don't look too good nor talk too wise,
If you can dream but not make dreams your master,
if you can think and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with triumph and disaster,
and treat those two imposters just the same,
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
and stoop and build them up with worn-out tools,
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
and risk it on one turn of pitch and toss,
and lose and start again at your beginnings
and never breathe a word about your loss,
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
to serve your turn long after they are gone,
and to hold on when there is nothing in you
but the will that says to them "hold on,"
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
or walk with kings nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
if all men count with you but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
with 60 seconds worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
and which is more, you'll be a man, my son
2.IT’S YOUR OWN FAULT
by D. J. Enright
Of course you can play with them.
There's no harm in them.
They are only words.
Words alone are certain good, said someone.
And someone also said:
Unlike sticks and stones
Words will never break your bones.
(That is called a rhyme. A rhyme
Is nice to play with too from time to time.)
What? They have turned nasty?
They've clawed you and bitten you?
Dear me, there's blood all over the place,
And broken bones.
They were perfectly tame when I left them.
Something they ate must have disagreed with them.
You mean you fed them on meaning?
No wonder then.
Of course you can play with them.
There's no harm in them.
They are only words.
Words alone are certain good, said someone.
And someone also said:
Unlike sticks and stones
Words will never break your bones.
(That is called a rhyme. A rhyme
Is nice to play with too from time to time.)
What? They have turned nasty?
They've clawed you and bitten you?
Dear me, there's blood all over the place,
And broken bones.
They were perfectly tame when I left them.
Something they ate must have disagreed with them.
You mean you fed them on meaning?
No wonder then.
3. CURIOSITY
By Rudyard Kipling
[from "The Elephant's Child", Just So Stories for Children]
I keep six honest serving-men,
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.
I send them over land and sea,
I send them east and west;
But after they have worked for m0e,
I give them all a rest.
I let them rest from nine till five,
For I am busy then,
As well as breakfast, lunch and tea,
For they are hungry men:
But different folk have different views;
I know a person small--
She keeps ten million serving-men,
Who get no rest at all!
She sends 'em abroad on her own affairs,
From the second she opens her eyes--
One million Hows, two million Wheres,
And seven million Whys!
[from "The Elephant's Child", Just So Stories for Children]
I keep six honest serving-men,
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.
I send them over land and sea,
I send them east and west;
But after they have worked for m0e,
I give them all a rest.
I let them rest from nine till five,
For I am busy then,
As well as breakfast, lunch and tea,
For they are hungry men:
But different folk have different views;
I know a person small--
She keeps ten million serving-men,
Who get no rest at all!
She sends 'em abroad on her own affairs,
From the second she opens her eyes--
One million Hows, two million Wheres,
And seven million Whys!
4. Seven Ages Of Man
by William Shakespeare
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players,
They have their exits and entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
Then, the whining schoolboy with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honour, sudden, and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice
In fair round belly, with good capon lin'd,
With eyes severe, and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws, and modern instances,
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose, and pouch on side,
His youthful hose well sav'd, a world too wide,
For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,
Turning again towards childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players,
They have their exits and entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
Then, the whining schoolboy with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honour, sudden, and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice
In fair round belly, with good capon lin'd,
With eyes severe, and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws, and modern instances,
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose, and pouch on side,
His youthful hose well sav'd, a world too wide,
For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,
Turning again towards childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.