TELL vs SAY

Hi Guys!
Today, I've got something to tell you... (or say you?)

No doubt that the two words , 'SAY' and 'TELL' have the same meaning; however the grammar is different. Consider the sentence below:

He told me a story
This sentence cannot be written as 'He said me a story' or 'He said to me a story'. The rule is that when you use an indirect object ('me' i.e. to whom the story is spoken), you must use TELL.

Some more examples:

She told us the truth.
Jane told her children to keep quiet.
They did it because you told them to do so.
I told him many times not to repeat it.


In the examples above, direct pronouns (us, her, them, him) are used. That's why only 'told' is possible here. It would be ungrammatical to say 'She said us the truth', 'She said to us the truth' etc.


Tell can also be followed occasionally by a direct object. Always use 'tell' before the following nouns whether an indirect object or direct object follows them.

Tell a story
Tell a joke
Tell a secret
Tell a lie
Tell the truth
Tell (the) time etc. 

Examples:
My grand dad told a story last night. (correct)
My grand dad told me a story last night. (correct)

I can't tell jokes now. (correct)
I can't tell you jokes now. (correct)

Mary told a secret (correct)
Mary told me a secret (correct)

Don't tell a lie (correct)
Don't tell me a lie (correct)

You have to tell the tuth. (correct)
You have to tell her the tuth. (correct)

Won't you tell the time? (corret)
Won't you tell us thetime? (corret)

                                                                                                                                                                     
Bye
Have a great Weekend.
Jack (Nova English Campus)

Ain' I? or Aren't I?

Good Evening Everybody!!

Some contracted forms often used in Spken English:
Don't (Do not)
Doesn't (Does not)
Didn't (Did not)
Aren't (Are not)
Isn't (Is not)
Wasn't (Was not)
Weren't (Were not)
Won't (Will not)
Shouldn't (Should not) etc.

The puzzling question is: what is the contracted form of 'am not'?

Can it be amn't?
No. Although this usage (amn't) is frequently used by the English speakers in Ireland and Scotland, British English has not yet accepted it. Therefore, it is better to avoid this form.
Americans widely use ain't in place of 'am not'. But this usage also has not managed to get acceptance all over the world among the speakers of English though many other American usages are widely accepted.

So, what is the way out? Well, in informal English aren't is used as the contraction of 'am not'. But this form is used mostly in negative affirmative sentences or tag questions only as in:

I am your brother, aren't I? (correct)
After all I am your husband, aren't I? (correct) etc.

BUT..... NEVER USE THE FOLLOWING STRUCTURES...

I aren't coming with you. (incorrect)
I aren't intersted in cricket etc. (incorrect)

                                                                                                                                                                    
Ok Guys.
That's all for tonight. Thank you very much for your interest.
I am waiting to see you all here tomorrow, aren't I? :-) :-))

Regards
Jack (Nova English Campus)

What do a.m. and p.m. stand for?

Good evening!

I'm so glad to hear that you guys liked the blog I published yesterday. I got a number of reply messages requesting me to blog on such usages as a.m., p.m. and so on.

Here it is......

Both a.m. and p.m. came from Latin.
a.m. stands for 'ante meridiem' which means before noon.
p.m. represents 'post meridiem', meaning after noon.
Time between midnight(12:00) and noon (12:00) is a.m., and that from noon to midnight is p.m.

e.g. 9 a.m. shows 9 o' clock (daytime) while 9 p.m. stands for 9 o' clock (night-time). And do remember: 12:00 a.m. should be used for midnight and 12:00 p.m. must be used to mean noon.

I'll meet you at 2:00 p.m. in the afternoon (incorrect)
I'll meet you at 2:00 p.m. (correct)
I'll meet you at 2:00 in the afternoon (correct)


The shop closes at 11 p.m. at night (incorrect)
The shop closes at 11 p.m. (correct)
The shop closes at 11 at night (correct)


I get up at 6 a.m. every moring (incorrect)
I get up at 6 every moring (correct)
I get up at 6 a.m.(correct)


                                                                                                                                                                                                        

 NB Experts say that a.m. stands for ante-meridiem, which means "before the Sun has crossed the line." And p.m. means post-meridiem, which means "after the Sun has crossed the line." The 'line' here stands for longitudes (imaginary vertical lines on a map/globe which allow you to pinpoint any place on Earth). They are also called meridians. So if you're standing at a meridian line and the Sun is directly overhead, it's noon (12:00 p.m.) at that spot. Before the Sun arrives overhead, it's a.m.; after it is overhead, it's p.m.!

Well, it's 10:20 p.m. now. So let me wish you all a 'Good night'...
&
Take care... :-) :-)) :-))) :-))))
Jacob (Nova English Campus)

Hi everybody!
How did your day go? Hope great! Today I'm just publishing a blog on some interesting short forms which are familiar to all of us, though their origins are unknown to many...


We often write 'no' as the short form of 'number'. But many people don't know how the letter 'o' entered the short form.

The answer is simple. In fact the shortened word 'no' is made up of the first and last letters of the Latin word 'numero'. The meaning is, of course, 'number'. It can also be written as No., No, no. The plural is Nos/nos, and the symbol for the short form is #


Likewise, we often use the abbreviation (short form) 'NB' after completing a letter, article, notices, guidelines etc. to add an important piece of information or to give the reader a warning, a suggestion and so forth. Most of the users do understand that NB stands for 'Note well' or 'Please note'. Shouldn't it be 'PN' then?

No, fundamentally NB (N.B.) is the short form of the Latin sentence 'nota bene'. Nota means 'note' and bene means 'well' in Latin. It should be pronounced as nauta beni, nauta been or nauta benei.


What about 'e.g.'? Since the childhood most of the learners of English have been familiar with this short form, but only a few exactly know what the full form of 'e.g.'

Well, 'e.g.' too is a successful survivor of Latinism in English language. It represents the Latin sentence 'exempli gratia' which means 'for example'. The pronunciation of the Latin sentence is egzemplei greishia or eksemplee grateeya.

The widely accepted written forms are 'e.g.' and 'eg'. Never use 'Eg'. And do remember it should be read for example. Don't say 'eegee'
                                                                                                                                  
N.B. please consult a dictionary or a good English teacher for the exact pronunciation of the words we discussed today.

With regards
Jacob (Nova English Campus)
Don't forget to comment(positively of negatively) if the blog was useful to you.

Don't play gooseberry

Hi Friends!
Here are two interesting usages which are really useful in day-to-day life:

PLAY GOOSEBERRY = to be a third person with two people who have a romantic relationship, especially when they want to be alone together.
E.g., "My friend John is sitting in the cafe with his girlfriend. I don't want to play goosberry." 

A newly married couple booked a honeymoon suite in a swanky hotel. One of the room boys kept knocking on the door again and again enquiring if they needed any service. Opening the door angrily, the man (bridegroom) shouted: "Please don't play gooseberry, I'll ring you if I need"

Another expression with the same meaning is 'the serpent in the Garden of Eden'.


Good Night!
Jacob (Nova English Campus)
Amritsar

MARRIAGE Vs WEDDING

Hi Guys!
Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I was so busy today attending the wedding party of one of my close friends. At the function, while savouring the local Punjabi delicacies, one of my buddies asked me what exactly the difference between a 'wedding' and a 'marriage' was.
Here, I am making a humble attempt to differentiate the two confusing terms for many of you....

'Wedding' is a collective term which is used to mean the occasion on which a person legally becomes another person's (usually of the opposite sex) partner. The term 'wedding' denotes all the ceremonies and rituals that take place on that day; the solemnizing ceremony, the feast, the exchage of gifts, decorations, dance etc.

'Marriage' stands for the legal relationship between two persons. While wedding is an event to celebrate the marriage, the marriage is a life-time event. In other words, marriage is the name of a life long institution, which in fact starts after the wedding.
This is the reason that we often speak of marriage certificate, but the invitation is called the wedding card.

Some useful collocations with 'wedding':
Wedding feast, wedding reception, wedding ring, wedding cake, wedding anniversary, wedding day/night, wedding outfit, wedding finger, wedding procession, wedding speech, wedding album, wedding preparations etc.

Some useful collocations with 'marriage':

marriage plans, marriage proposal,
marriage relationship, marriage counselling, marriage certificate, marriage market...


good/happy/successful marriage, disastrous/failed/unhappy marriage, second marriage, early/late/conventional marriage, arranged/love marriage etc.


                                                                                                                                        
Good night
Jacob (Nova English Campus)

Most common forein plurals in English

Hi Guys.
Yesterday, we discussed about some words in English which came originally from Latin. We also saw that the original Latin plural forms of many of such words are rarely used used in informal situations these days. Instead, the naturalised and simplified English plurals are common. (If you are a first-time visitor, please read the blogs of yesterday & the day before yesterday so as to understand today's blog better.)

Here's an interesting addition:
No doubt that the pure English plurals are more widely used instead of their Latin counterparts


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