Is the word 'PEOPLES' completely wrong? 'No...'

'People' is a word that a number of speakers of other languages misuse when they speak in English. Many of them, knowingly or unknowingly, use ‘peoples’ where ‘people’ must be used.

The word ‘people’ is a plural term, whose singular form is ‘person’. When you talk about human beings in general, you must use the term people. For example, it is incorrect to say, ‘I don’t like the peoples who talk a lot’. The sentence should be ‘I don’t like people who talk a lot’.

However, you cannot say that the word ‘peoples’ is totally meaningless or non-existent in English. When you use the word ‘peoples’ you are referring to several groups of people and each group shares a common culture e.g. ‘his latest book is about the varied peoples of West Africa’. The native peoples of Canada and their problems. In such sentences both ‘people’ and ‘peoples’ are correct. The latter is generally used where emphasis is necessary.

DON'T GIVE EXAMS!

Sentences like ‘I will give my exam next week’, ‘When did you give your exam?’ etc have caused a lot of confusion among many non-native speakers of English.

When you say that you are 'giving’ an exam, it means that you are probably a teacher or examiner who is conducting the examination. And when you say that you are 'taking' an exam, you are going to be writing one; that is you are a student, candidate or examinee.

Unfortunately, in many parts of the world especially in south Asian countries like India (north in particular), Pakistan, Bangladesh etc this distinction is not always maintained. Due to MTI (mother tongue influence), the majority of people in these parts of the world translate their ideas word by word into English. Strange to say, a good number of speakers of English whose mother tongue is Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Bangla, Haryanvi, etc use give in place of ‘take’ and take in place of ‘give’ while talking about an examination. This is ridiculous and totally opposite to Standard English!

So, if you are a candidate or student who has an exam next week, you should say, ‘I will take my exam next week’. This idea can also be conveyed in another way by saying, ‘I will sit my exam next week’ or ‘I will do my exam next week’. But do not say ‘I will take/write my exam next week’

On the other hand, if you are a teacher who is going to conduct your students’ exam next week, you must say, ‘I will give you an exam next week’, not ‘I will take your exam next week’.

And now, a tip for the confused users to remember this rule: imagine exam is an ice cream. Examiner is your mother. You mother is giving you the ice cream (examiner is giving you the exam) and you are taking the ice cream (hence, taking the exam)!

Nova English Campus Word of the Day

Here are 20 very useful and stylish slang terms for you:

TIGHTWAD= a miser.
(My room-mate Sandy is really a TIGHTWAD)

FLICK= a film or movie
(Hi guys! What about going for a FLICK this evening?)

SIDEKICK= a person who helps another more important/intelligent person.
(I'm out of city today, please contact my SIDEKICK to get your work done)

HOMEMAKER =a housewife.
(My mother is the best HOMEMAKER in the world!)

COP= a policeman.
(Get out of my home before I call the COPS)

CHOPPER= a helicopter.
(Excuse me, is that the sound of a CHOPPER?)

NUTS= crazy, mad.
(Having ice cream in this freezing evening? Are you NUTS?)

CRAP= nonsense, rubbish, shit.
(Stop talking CRAP, man!)

BOOZE= alcoholic drink, wine.
(Alot of BOOZE was served at the party)

BOOZY= fond of alcoholic drinks.
(He's one of my BOOZY friends)

LOTUS EATER= a person who likes lazy life style.
(Are you gonna marry that LOTUS EATER?)

BRAINY= very intelligent.
(Although he doesn't look great, he's a BRAINY, you know?)

LEFTY / SOUTHPAW= a left-handed sprtsman.
(I think SOUTHPAWS are much more talented)

SAVVY= a person with a lot of knowledge about a particular subject.
(A computer/medical SAVVY)

COUCH POTATO= a person who watches a lot of TV.
(My cousin is a COUCH POTATO)

MOUSE POTATO= a person who is addicted to computer.
(An increasing number of students are becoming MOUSE POTATOES these days)

CHATTER BOX= a very talkative person.
(Jane is such a CHATTERBOX that no one likes her)

TOP GUNS / TOP BRASS= famous and rich people.
(TOP GUNS always escape punishment)

DOUBLE DEALER= a cheat(er).
(How can you work with such a DOUBLE DEALER like John?)