Casuative verb 'MAKE'

Hi Everybody!!
This blog is the continuation of the blog I published yesterday. If you are here for the first time, please read the posts of the last few days.....
The causative verb 'make' is stronger than 'have' or 'got'. When you 'make' somebody does aomething for you, you are usually forcing him/her to do it for you.

e.g.
Cathy made Jack go with her. (Cathy forced Jack to go with her).
You can't make me obey you. (You can't force me to obey you).
Don't try to make me vacate this house. (Don't try to force me to vacate this house)
I will never make you go for this deal. (I will never force you to go for this deal).

A couple of days or so I posted a blog about the causative verbs (have, get and make). On that day, we had a brief discussion on how to use 'have' as a casuative verb. Here is the second part of the blog in which we are going to have a look at the use of 'got'...

My dad got me to help him.
Wait here, I will get someone to go with us.
Can you get her to type this letter?
We must get him to clean the courtyard tomorrow.
How could you get him to paint your house?
You can't get me to do this stupid work for you.
You shouldn't have got my cousin to do such an indecent work.

'CALLED AS...' or 'CALLED...'

Hi Friends,
Sorry again. I couldn't blog for a couple of days as I was pretty down with a flu.


It is very common among many speakers in non-English speaking countries to use the word combination 'called as', for example, in India, I've heard many teachers telling their students:

"This is called as protractor".
"This phenomenon is called as metamorphosis" etc.

Both the sentences or any other sentence of this kind are considered wrong in standard British or American English.

So, how can these sentences be written?
"This is called a protractor". (correct)
"This phenomenon is called metamorphosis" (correct)

More examples:
This festival is called Diwali. (called as)
This building is called Golden Temple. (called as)
A machine for separating things is called a separator. (called as)

CAUSATIVE VERBS

HI Friends! Good Evening.


CAUSATIVE VERBS are those which are used to tell somebody to do somthing for you. The term 'causative' shows that you can cause another person to do a work for you. This can be done by paying, asking of forcing the person. The most common causative verbs are: HAVE, GET and MAKE.

HAVE
The clause following 'HAVE' or 'GET' may be in active or passive voice. Study the following rules:

Rules for ACTIVE VOICE
SUBJECT+HAVE(any tense)+COMPLEMENT(usually person)+First form of Verb]

Mary had John wash the car.
(The sentence means Mary forced/compelled or paid John to wash the car.)

More Examples:
Jane had her children dust the room.
We usually have our guests do such work.
Peter has his dog bring him the newspaper.
She is having her father contact the officials.
Jack has had a friend type all the letters for him.
No problem, I will have some one do it for us.
Wait here, I will have a coolie move the luggage.

                                                                                                                                                                                   
Jacob (Nova English Campus)

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)