HOW DO YOU DO? (Posted by Nova Eng Campus)

Thank you for the overwhelming response to my humble blog. As requested by many of you, I'm publishing a short-note about how to use "How do you do?"

It's a common mistake among the non-native English speakers to use "How do you do?" in the sense of "How are you?." But this usage is  unknown to native English speakers.

Although "How do you do?"  ends with a question mark, it is not treated as a question. So it doesn't need an answer too. In fact "How do you do?" is a greeting phrase which is exchanged by two people when they introduce to one another for the first name. Do remember to use this phrase in a polite tone. If someone says "How do you do?" to you, you are supposed to reply him/her in the same way.

To make it more clear, "How do you do?" means exactly the same as "Hello" . It is utter foolishness to use "I am fine" when somebody greets you with a "How do you do?!!!"

A final word: These days the practice of saying "How do you do?" is becoming old-fashioned when one introduces himself/herself to someone else. Instead "Hello" is widely used.


Jacob
(Nova English Campus)

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USING 'HE' OR 'SHE' FOR ANIMALS.

Sometimes animals are also called "SHE" or "HE" especially when they are thought of as having personality,intelligence or feelings. This usage is very common especially when we talk about pets and domestic animals.

"Go and find the cat. She is very clever."
(In this example, "she" denotes the cat.)

We have a cute dog at home. We call him Jimmy.
(In this sentence, "him" refers to the dog)

She had an old dog who always slept in her bed.
(Here "who" stands for the dog)

A different use of "SHE"

SHE
The pronoun "SHE" is not only used to mean women. It also can be used to represent even non-living things which are known for their beauty and nobility, especially when they are personified.

Earth, Moon, Church, Arts&Sciences, Religion, Nature, Freedom, Justice, Kindness, Peace, Fame, Luck, Nations&Cities, Spring season, Victory, Hope, Balloon, Generosity, Spirit, Cannon etc. are the most common examples which can be represented with "SHE".

Posted by Jacob (Nova English Campus)

EXAMPLES FOR REDUNDANCY.... (Posted by Nova English Campus)

(By Jacob, Nova Eng Campus)

As some of you demanded, I'm posting a few sentences to show you how to avoid some widely used redundants. Read on...
India is advancing forward in the field of space research.
India is advancing in the field of space research.
India is moving forwad in the field of space research.

Rahul returned back from London last month.
Rahul returned  from London last month.
Rahul came back from London last month.

Have you got suficient enough qualifications for this job?
Have you got suficient qualifications for this job?
Have you got enough qualifications for this job?

Several companies are competing together for the contract.
Several companies are competing for the contract.

The reason for his failure was because of his illness.
The reason for his failure was his illness.

He failed bacuse of his illness.

Can you repeat your number again please.
Can you repeat your number please.
Can you tell me your number again please.

We are living in an era of new technological innovations.
We are living in an era of technological innovations.

Can I get two tickets for the matinee performance?
Can I get two tickets for the matinee?
Can I get two tickets for the afternoon performance?

His dress is the same identical to mine.
His dress is identical to mine.
His dress is the same as mine.


My wife gave birth to two twins.
My wife gave birth to twins.
                                                                                    
With Regards
Binu Jacob

REDUNDANCY..... (Posted by Nova English Campus; Compiled by Jacob)

A sentence in which some information is unnecessarily repeated is called REDUNTANT. Given here are some word combinations that are always redundant, and thus should never be used.

(The phrases given in capital letters are redundants that are not used in good English.)

ADVANCE FORWARD / PROCEED FORWARD / PROGRESS FORWARD etc.
Explanation: advance, proceed and progress all mean "to move in a forward direction"; thus, the word 'forward' is not necessary.

RETURN BACK / REVERT BACK etc.
Explanation: return and revert mean "to go/send back". So 'back' is not necessary.

SUFFICIENT ENOUGH
Explanation: these words are identical; one or the other should be used.

COMPETE TOGETHER
compete means "to take part in a contest against others" so 'together' is not needed.

THE REASON.......BECAUSE
these words indicate the same thing; the correct pattern is "reason....that"

JOIN TOGETHER
join means "to bring/put together" etc.

REPEAT AGAIN
repeat means "to say again" ('re'- usually means 'again')

NEW INNOVATIONS
innovation means 'a new idea' so it should be used alone.

MATINEE PERFORMANCE
matinee means "a performance in the afternoon"

SAME IDENTICAL
these words are identical; use any one of them.

TWO TWINS
twins means "two brothers or sisters"

THE TIME WHEN
the time and when indicate the same thing; one or the other should be used.

THE PLACE WHERE
the place and where indicate the same thing; one or the other will do.

HOW TO USE SEMICOLON (;) Posted by Jacob 9NOVA ENGLISH CAMPUS.)

Semi-colon (;) is, perhaps, one of the most confusing punctuation marks even for an advanced learner of English, let alone the basic users of the language. So, let's take a brief glance at its correct usege.

1. Semicolon instead of full stop

If two sentences are grammatically independent but the meaning is closely connected, a semi-colon can be used to combine them.
E.g., Some people work best in the mornings; others do better in the evenings.
In fact, this sentence contains two separate meaningful sentences in it.
i.e. (1)Some people work best in the mornings.
      (2)Others do better in the evenings.
The two sentences are grammatically separate but the topic of discussion (i.e. best time to work) is the sme. Therefore they can be joined tegether to make a single sentence with the help of a semi-colon. Remember: commas are not possible in athis case.

More examples:
It's a fine idea; let's hope that it's going to work.

To err is human; to forgive, divine.

In the north of the city there is an old fort; further east is the newly-built shopping mall.

While writing an essay, ertain words should not be used so repeatedly; structure should not be vague.

2. Semi-colons can also be used to separate items in a list, particularly when these are grammatically complex.

E.g., You may use my computer everyday on condition that you use it carefully; that you never open my personal folders; that you don't let it get overheated;...

3. Semicolons are also used in long, catalogue type lists of names or other items, to indicate a stronger division.

E.g.,
The decision was taken by Mr Obama, the U S President; business tycoons, both Eurpoean and US-based; and a number of social workers from different parts of the world.
(To use merely commas as dividers would produce chaos here, because commas already exist within some of the listed items.)

In short, the main role of semi-colon is to mark a grammatical separation that is stronger in effect than a comma but less strong than a full stop.


Posted by Jacob (Nova English Campus)
I'm waiting for ur valuable comments and suggestions...

Difference between ACTIVE & PASSIVE VOICE (Posted by Nova English Campus)

“Her clothes were taken off and the bed was gone!”

This is how a 16-year-old brilliant boy changed an active voice sentence into passive. The sentence in task was: “She took off her clothes and went to bed”. The boy got the full marks too. Anyhow, we can’t blame him for it. His grammar teacher might have exercised him too hard on such sentences in the classroom.

Most of the schools forcefully train students to convert such sentences as “Open the door”, “I love you” etc into passive voice. It compells the students to make such ridiculous sentences as “He ordered that the door be opened” “Let the door be opened” and “You are loved by me” and so on.

Conventionally rigid teachers of English, especially in India, might argue that such passive sentences are grammatically correct (especially those who consider Wren&Martin as the Bible of English grammar!!). But don’t you feel that such sentences sound awkward, and almost never used by the well known English writers and fluent educated speakers? No doubt English language uses passive voice more frequently than any other language, but it doesn’t license the users to spoil the beauty and brevity of the language by twisting easy-to-understand sentences into clumsy chunks of words.

Here are some guidelines about the right use of Active/Passive voice:

1. When the subject doesn’t give real information, the native users of English use passive voice.

E.g., English is spoken all over the world (passive voice).
People speak English all over the world (active voice).

In the second example, the subject ‘People’ doesn’t give any real information to the listener or reader. So the passive form (English is spoken all over the world) is the better option here although the active voice too sounds good and is widely used. In short, the passive voice helps to drop the meaningless active subject.

2. When the subject is unimportant/unknown or you are not interested in who or what does/did it, use the passive voice.

E.g., This road was laid in 1920. (We are not interested in who the contractor was!)

He was killed in the war. (We don’t know which enemy soldier killed him!)

Jack was fined for rash driving. (Definitely we know that the police fined him!)

The results have not yet been announced. (We don’t care who the hell is going to announce it!)

I was born in 1999. (Any doubt who gave me birth…?)

3. However, there are certain contexts in which you have to switch between active and passive voices.

For example: if you are talking about ‘Edison’ you should say, “Edison invented the electric bulb.” (‘Edison’ is highlighted). But when your topic of discussion is ‘electric bulb’ you would say: “Electric bulb was invented by Edison”. (‘Electric bulb’ is highlighted).

4. When the speaker’s thoughts, feelings, attitudes, desires, likes and dislikes are all important, active voice is the best choice.

E.g.,
I like mangoes. [ ]
I hate tea in the morning. [ ]
I can’t think of a better solution. [ ]
I love you dear. [ ]

If someone says, “Mangoes are liked by me”, “Tea is hated by me in the morning”, “You are loved by me dear” etc., I strongly feel that s/he must be hanged for murdering the English language!

To sum up, all the sentences cannot be turned into the passive, even if they contain objects. Some are best left in the active (I like mangoes); some in the passive (Pyramids were built thousands of years ago) and only some can meaningfully undergo active-passive transformation (Edison invented electric bulb / Electric bulb was invented by Edison).

With regards
Jacob (Nova English Campus, Amritsar)