Look at this little ‘story’ and see if you can find a mistake in it: 

The Star Online > Lifefocus

Wednesday November 23, 2005

By OH TEIK THEAM

Real love 

A woman was complaining to her brother about her husband. “He is inconsiderate and fast driving me mad,” she said. “I think he doesn’t love me.” 

“Are you sure he doesn’t love you?” the brother asked. 

“If he really loved me, he would have married somebody else!” 

He is inconsiderate and fast driving me mad should be He is inconsiderate and is fast driving me mad, where the first is is a linking verb and the second is is an auxiliary verb. 

A verb is a word or group of words that is used to describe an action, state or occurrence. The three types of verbs are: 

(i) Action verbs 

An action verb expresses action, telling what a person or thing does. Action verbs belong to two groups: 

(a) A transitive verb takes an object: The player throws the ball. The action denoted by the verb (throws) passes over from the subject (player) to some object (ball). Some transitive verbs take two objects after them – an indirect object denoting the person to whom something is given or for whom something is done, and a direct object which is usually the name of a thing: She gave me (indirect) a gift (direct). 

(b) An intransitive verb does not take an object: The girl smiles widely. The action denoted by the verb (smiles) stops with the subject (girl) and does not pass over to an object. 

Many verbs can be used transitively or intransitively (see the example of turn below). 

(ii) Linking verbs 

A linking verb does not express an action. It links the subject of a sentence to a complement, which gives information about the subject. The complement is usually an adjective, noun, pronoun, noun phrase, noun clause or adverbial: 

This soup tastes terrible. (Adjective: tastes here is not an action verb because the subject is not doing any tasting – it just tastes terrible.) 

His name is Jim. (Noun) 

This book is hers. (Pronoun) 

This is a nice dress. (Noun phrase) 

The truth is he doesn’t want to go to the meeting. (Noun clause) 

They are in the kitchen. (Adverbial) 

(Noun phrases and noun clauses need not necessarily contain nouns – they function as nouns. Adverbials need not necessarily contain adverbs – they function as adverbs.) 

A linking verb is a special type of intransitive verb. But linking verbs are not complete in themselves (as are other intransitive verbs: She snored) but require a complement to complete their meaning. 

Linking verbs belong to two groups: 

(a) Current linking verbs indicate a state (He felt happy). Common current linking verbs include be, appear, feel, look, remain, seem, smell, sound and taste. 

(b) Resulting linking verbs indicate that the role of the complement results from the process described by the verb (She became a successful speaker). Common resulting linking verbs include become, get, grow, prove and turn. 

Forms of be can also act as auxiliary verbs. Become and seem are always linking verbs. Other linking verbs can act as action verbs. 

You can use a test to determine if a verb is an action verb or a linking verb – substitute the verb with am, is, or are. If the sentence still makes sense after the substitution, the verb is a linking verb; if the sentence does not make sense, the verb is an action verb. (This test does not work with appear – you have to analyse the function of this verb in the sentence.) 

The milk turned sour. (Linking verb) 

The student turned the pages slowly. (Action verb: transitive) 

The teacher turned suddenly towards the back of the classroom. (Action verb: intransitive) 

(iii) Auxiliary verbs 

An auxiliary verb is a verb that is used to form the tense or time of action, voice and mood of another verb. It is sometimes called a “helping” verb because it “helps out” the main verb. 

The primary auxiliaries are be, do and have and all their forms: 

be: am, is, are, was, were, being, been 

do: does, did 

have: has, had 

The modal auxiliaries (which indicate necessity, possibility, permission, obligation, ability or habit) are can, could, may, might, shall, should, will, would, must, ought to, used to, need and dare.  

Unlike primary auxiliaries, modal auxiliaries cannot be the main verbs in a sentence. (For example, I shall is meaningless unless it works with another verb or another verb is understood to be working with it.) They are used with main verbs or before have or be. 

The following examples show how auxiliary verbs are used: 

She is cleaning her room. 

The box was opened. 

I can solve this Sudoku puzzle. 

We should take a rest. 

This medicine should be kept away from children. 

In another six months I will have been working here for twenty years. 

References:  

The St Martins Guide to Writing by Rise B. Axelrod and Charles R. Cooper 

The Handbook of Good English by Edward D. Johnson 

http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/ A0885264.html 

http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/ linkingverb.htm 

http://grammar.uoregon.edu/verbs/ linking.html 

http://wwwesl/egw/vanassch.htm 

COMMON problems in English arise out of the similarity of many of the words. For example, if halfway through a film you say “I’m boring”, your date may reply “Yes, you are” and it is unlikely the rest of the evening will be a success.  

The Star Online > Lifefocus

Friday November 18, 2005

By GUY PERRING

Remember the rule “-ed” for how you feel and “-ing” for describing something. So if the film is boring, you are bored. A film may be frightening and you will be frightened.  

This rule applies to numerous pair words such as fascinating/fascinated, exciting/excited, relaxed/relaxing and surprised/surprising. 

Another pair that confuses is borrow/lend. For example:  

It has started to rain. Could you _______ me your umbrella?/Could I _________ your umbrella? 

Which is which?  

The first blank should be filled with lend and the second, borrow. Probably, the easiest way to remember the difference is that lend has two objects - one is indirect (i.e. me) and the other direct (i.e. umbrella), while borrow has only one direct object (i.e. umbrella).  

Alternatively, you could remember with Ambrose Bierce’s definition of an acquaintance: “A person who we know well enough to borrow from, but not well enough to lend to.” 

Bring/take also can cause confusion, a typical mistake being If we leave now, I can bring you to the airport. 

In this example, take is correct because the movement is not towards the person speaking. If the movement is towards the speaker then we can use bring as in “Come here and bring me your homework”.  

Similar problems arise with come/go - and the guidelines are essentially the same. I say guidelines because you will always find exceptions. 

Here are a few more examples: 

advice/advise 

a) He gave me some good _______ about investing. 

b) We will ________ you of any changes later. 

economic/economical 

a) The new model of car is very ___________. 

b) The latest ________ forecast for Malaysia is very positive. 

sensible/sensitive 

a) Be careful when you comment about his fashion sense. He’s very __________. 

b) It is ________ to keep note of your passport number. 

Here are the answers: 

1a) advice 

1b) advise 

2a) economical 

2b) economic 

3a) sensitive 

3b) sensible 

Guy Perring is Director, Professional Development Unit (PDU), at the British Council Malaysia. The PDU offers a wide range of learning opportunities from management and communications skills training to developing English skills. Contact the British Council in Kuala Lumpur at 03- 2723 7900 or Penang at 04-263 0330 or visit www.britishcouncil.org.my.

BEING able to use the following expressions competently will open doors to more vibrant conversations for you.  

The Star Online > Lifefocus

Friday November 11, 2005

By S.H. LOKE

A common usage of “doors” is to refer to a place that is a particular number of buildings away from where you are – e.g. Sally’s house is two doors’ away from my house, so we go to school together. 

When you answer the door, you open the door because a visitor has knocked on it. 

Behind closed doors means in private – e.g. The committee meeting was held behind closed doors. 

When something is done through the back door or by the back door, it is done secretly or unofficially – e.g. He managed to change his name in his passport through the back door. 

If someone closes the door, they stop dealing with it – e.g. Mr Lau closed the door on his furniture business. 

Going from door to door means going from house to house – e.g. The salesman went from door to door, trying to sell shirts.  

When he was offered a job as a sales promoter in a supermarket, it helped him to get his foot in the door to earn more. 

It is rude to slam the door in someone’s face. But sometimes you have to do that to get rid of shady characters who turn up at your doorstep. 

If someone is at death’s door, he is very ill and likely to die. 

You would not like to be called a doormat because it means you do not complain or defend yourself when you are treated unfairly. – e.g. Pam is a doormat, as she always gives in to others and does not stand up for her own rights. No wonder nobody respects her. 

As it were, as it is

IN what context is the phrase “as it were” normally used? Also, I came across a sentence in a book recently that reads as follows: “This redolent image captures much of the spirit of this fine book, so expressively filled as it is, with heart and drama”.  

The Star Online > Lifefocus

Friday November 11, 2005

What purpose does adding the “as it is” serve in this sentence? 

How would the meaning change if those three words were omitted?  

My second question: In dedicating a book to someone special, some authors write “To so and so” while others write “For so and so”. Is there a difference or am I trying to split hairs here? – Huat Soon 

1. “As it were” means “in a way” or “to a certain extent” (Concise Oxford Dictionary). The OED states that the phrase is “used to indicate that a word or statement is perhaps not formally exact, though practically right”. Let me give some examples: 

a) “She had so many younger brothers and sisters that she became, as it were, their second mother, because her mother could not cope with all of them.” 

“As it were” here indicates that “their second mother” may not be formally exact, but is practically right. 

b) “There are countless things I could tell you but I have tried to stick to the broad outline as it were in an attempt to give you some idea of what life was like in the camps I was in ...” Here, the expression that the writer thinks may not be formally exact is “the broad outline”. 

2. “As it is”, used in parenthesis, means “as things are” or “considering the present situation” (OALD) or “already”. In order to see the function of “as it is” in the sentence you quoted and what is lost if the phrase is removed, let me set down the original sentence next to one in which “as it is” has been removed: 

(a) “This redolent image captures much of the spirit of this fine book, so expressively filled as it is, with heart and drama.”  

(b) “This redolent image captures much of the spirit of this fine book, so expressively filled with heart and drama.”  

In the original sentence (a), “as it is” connects the first part of the sentence with the second, i.e. because the book is “so expressively filled ... with heart and drama”, “this redolent image” captures much of its spirit. 

In the sentence without “as it is”, i.e. (b), no connection is made between the image capturing the spirit of the book and the “heart and drama” that fills the book. 

Let me give a simpler example of the use of “as it is”: 

(c) “Please don’t give her more work to do; she has her hands full, as it is.” (i.e. she already has a lot of work, so don’t pile on more). If I remove “as it is”, the sentence becomes: 

(d) “Please don’t give her more work to do; she has her hands full.” The connection is lost between the first part of this sentence and the second. 

3. In dedicating a book to someone, there is no difference, as far as I can see, between “To so and so” and “For so and so”.  

1. IF we use “if “ in a sentence, must we use “then”? For example: “If 2 + 2, then the answer is 4.” 

2. Should we add an ‘s’ to the verb after we say “no”? For example: “Nobody read/reads the newspaper.” 

3. Should we add an ‘s’ to the object after we say “no”? For example: “I have no money/moneys.” – Nash, Kuala Lumpur 

1. Not all sentences beginning with “if” needs a “then” later in the sentence. The example you give does not use “if” and “then” correctly. You could write: 

“If we add 2 to 2, we get 4.” (without using “then”) OR a slightly different sentence, “If 2 + 2 = 4, then 4 - 2 = 2.” (using “then”). 

2. “Nobody” takes a singular verb, which usually has an ‘s’ at the end, if it is in the simple present tense. Thus, “Nobody reads the newspaper.” is the correct sentence.  

And “No man has ever gone to Mars.” 

3. “Money” is an uncountable noun and has no plural form so we have to write “I have no money.” 

When we have a countable noun, like “book” or “student”, we usually use the plural form (with an ‘s’ at the end) after a “no”, whether the noun is the subject, object or complement in a sentence.  

However, in certain situations, the singular form of the noun (without an ‘s’) is used. For example, we can say: 

“She bought no books in the shop today.” (where “no books” is the object of the verb “bought”) 

OR “No students came to school this morning.” (where “no students” is the subject of the sentence) 

But we can’t say “She has no mothers”, because everyone has only one mother.  

And if someone asks you, “Who is your best friend?”, you can answer “I have no best friend.” 

I NOTICE Malaysians tend to use the word “mime” when describing artistes who perform by just moving their lips as if they’re really singing. I believe this is wrong!  

My dictionary says that “mime” means “acting without words”. And that means it only applies to acting and not singing.  

As someone who regularly reads reviews on the Internet, I also notice that foreign writers prefer to use the word “lip-synch”, which we Malaysians have inappropriately replaced with “mime”. What’s your opinion? – Nasir, Bangi 

The meaning of “to mime” also includes “to lip-synch”, i.e. “to mouth the words of a song, etc. along with a soundtrack”. (Concise Oxford Dictionary) So those Malaysians who use “mime” instead of “lip-synch” are not using the wrong word.