Ramanisblog

Tag: Language

  • CORRECT USAGE OF ADJECTIVES, Know Your Grammar.

    Suppose we want to use an adjective relating to quantity e.g. some, any.

    Some is used in affirmative sentences; Any in negative and interrogative sentences.

    I can use some sugar. (Affirmative).

    Do you have any sugar? (Interrogative).

    Is any one there? (Though Interrogative, we expect a negative reply i.e. nobody is there).

    I do not have anything left to eat. (Negative).

    In the sentence, I can use some sugar, we normally assume the reply to be ‘yes’. So, we can use some in cases when we need to make requests or when we want to offer.

    ‘ANY’ can be used in the affirmative sentence also if it follows ‘ if ’, If you need any cash, I shall provide you.

    EACH, EVERY

    ‘Each’ is used when we speak of two or more things.

    ‘Every’ is used only when we speak of more than two things.

    ‘Each’ places emphasis on the individual.

    ‘Every’ emphasis to total group.

    ‘Each’ is used when the number in the group is limited or definite.

    ‘Every’ is used when the number is indefinite.

    India expects every citizen to do his / her duty.

    Each row in the Auditorium has twenty-five seats.

    Everyone should play his part in Twenty 20 tournament to ensure to win.

    LITTLE, A LITTLE, THE LITTLE

    Little – more or less nothing.

    Little – There is little hope of his getting through the final examination (He has no chance).

    (Normally few, a few, the few are used along with countable Nouns).

    A Little – There is a little hope of his getting through the final examination. (He has some chance).

    The Little – Whatever is available (it is not much).

    The little information on the type of explosives used, has been very vital in nabbing the culprit.

    (The information on the explosive was not much, but, it was very important in catching the culprit).

    FEW, A FEW, THE FEW

    Few – more or less nothing, insignificant. Few honest persons become politicians.

    A Few – some

    May I request the Chief General to say a few words?

    The Few – Whatever available, though not much.

    The few friends I have would give their life for me, if need be.

    We must ensure that we use the correct adjective at the correct position. Otherwise, the meaning will become different.

    e.g.: give me some rice – The emphasis here is on ‘me’. Give some rice to me – Emphasis ‘rice’.

    Many of us make mistakes in this respect and often we convey a wrong meaning.

    Fill in with few, a few, the few, little, a little, the little.

    1. I have time.

    2. drops do not make an ocean.

    3. I havefriends.

    4. rupees he had saved, when he was affluent, had stood him instead.

    5. Havemore.

    6. fact would have prevented misunderstanding.

    7. Aurangzeb showed mercy on his enemies.

    8. knowledge of dehydration thereby saved his life.

    Related:

    http://ramanisblog.in/2012/09/05/some-examples-on-degrees-of-comparison-and-tipsenglish-grammar/

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  • Some Examples On Degrees of Comparison and Tips,English Grammar.

    Some examples of Positive, Comparative and Superlative Degrees of Comparison.

    Positive Comparative Superlative

    Good Better Best

    Hot Hotter Hottest

    Sharp Sharper Sharpest

    Tall Taller Tallest

    Short Shorter Shortest

    Large Larger Largest

    Small Smaller Smallest

    Dry More dry (drier) Most dry (driest)

    Cold More cold (colder) Most cold (coldest)

    Proud More proud (prouder) Most proud (proudest)

    High Higher Highest

    Legible More legible Most legible

    Great Greater Greatest

    Cut Cut Cut

    Put Put Put

    Useful More useful Most useful

    Ferocious More ferocious Most ferocious

    Nutritive More nutritive Most nutritive

    Pretty More pretty (prettier) Most pretty (Prettiest)

    We should remember that we have two things to compare in Comparative degrees. We can say one is better than the other.

    In cases, when we have to make comparison between more than two Persons / Objects, we have to say one or one group is better or worse than the other.

    Ex: A, B, C and D are compared.

    A is taller than B

    B is taller than C

    D is of the same height of C

    B is taller than C and D, but, shorter than A.

    Changing the Degrees of Comparison

    – POSITIVE Degree occurs when we make a statement or a matter of fact without comparison.

    – COMPARITIVE Degree occurs when we compare two things / place / persons.

    – SUPERLATIVE Degree occurs when more than two things / place / persons are involved. Remember, beyond Superlative there is nothing more to be compared. If only two persons / places need to be compared, then one can use the Superlative.

    – When forming comparative degree, normally add

    a) ‘er’ to positive

    Ex: tall – taller sharp – sharper

    old – older short – shorter

    young – younger long – longer

    large – larger high – higher

    b) for superlative, add ‘est’ to positive.

    tall – taller – tallest sharp – sharper – sharpest

    old – older – oldest short – shorter – shortest

    young – younger – youngest long – longer – longest

    large – larger – largest high – higher – highest

    c) for word ending with ‘ y ’ remove ‘ y ‘ from positive and add ‘ier’ for comparative and ‘iest’ for superlative.

    heavy – heavier – heaviest lucky – luckier – luckiest

    pretty – prettier – prettiest dirty – dirtier – dirtiest

    merry – merrier – merriest dirty – more dirty – most dirty

    The Adjectives which have two syllables, will have ‘more’ for comparative and ‘most’ for superlative.

    Ex: beautiful – more beautiful – most beautiful

    honest – more honest – most honest

    popular – more popular – most popular

    reliable – more reliable – most reliable

    pretty – more pretty (prettier) – most pretty

    (prettiest)

    Some form themselves into comparative and superlative in an irregular pattern.

    Positive Comparative Superlative

    good / well better best

    bad / ill worse worst

    high higher highest

    little less least

    much / many more most

    far farther farthest

    fore former foremost / first

    You will become familiar with more words to use in Degrees of comparison by reading.

    For changing from one degree to another.

    From Positive to Comparative.

    a) Find out the comparative form of positive and place it in the place of positive adjective and follow it with ‘than’ or ‘to’ and follow it with the object.

    Rama is elder (comparative) to Lakshmanan

    To change into superlative, you should make sure or ensure that all the persons / places / things compared are taken into account. In superlative, you should leave nothing out of comparison.

    In the above example, in comparative, we have taken only two persons ; Rama and Lakshmanan

    If we are certain that we have to make a statement involving Rama and Lakshmanan to indicate who is elder of the two, comparative degree will do. But, if we have more than two people, if we say, ‘Rama is elder to Lakshmanan’, when two others namely, Bharata and Shatrugana are involved, if we say Rama is elder to Lakshmana, we will not know if Bharata or Shatrugana is elder to Rama. So, if we say, Rama is the eldest of four brothers, we have taken into account Bharata and Shatrugana. We get the clear picture that Rama is the eldest of the four.

    Let us see another example for changing from one degree to another.

    Madurai is the oldest town in Tamil Nadu (Superlative).

    The meaning is that there is no other city in Tamil Nadu which is older than Madurai. So, to convert the above into superlative and convey the same meaning, we should say ‘Madurai is older than any other city in Tamil nadu’. We can also express the same in another way.

    No other city in Tamil Nadu is older than Madurai.

    However, the emphasis we want to give on Madurai is slightly different or varied. This, we shall discuss later.

    Shakespeare is greater than any other English poet. (Comparative)

    Shakespeare is the greatest of English Poets (superlative).

    As a rule, make sure the meaning in various degrees remain the same, instead of blindly following hints. In fact, while dealing with grammar, we should pay more attention to the meaning conveyed, whatever be the circumstances.

    Change the degree of comparison without changing the meaning.

    1) The pen is mightier than the sword.

    2) Cow is more useful than any other animal.

    3) Mount Everest is the highest peak in the World.

    4) Mariana Trench is the deepest point in the ocean

    5) It is better to have loved and lost than to have not loved at all.

    6) Mango is sweeter than Lime.

    7) Very few Nations are as materialistic as the USA.

    8) Samudra Gupta was greater than any other King in India.

    9) No other orator was more powerful as Demosthenes.

    10) I have more books than you.

    ADJECTIVES USED AS NOUNS

    ‘The rich do not know the condition of the poor’

    The adjectives are ‘rich’ and ‘poor’.

    What do we mean by these adjectives?

    Rich – people who are rich or rich people.

    Poor – people who are poor or poor people.

    The nouns ‘People’ are not stated openly. They are implied or hidden behind the adjectives. So, when we say rich or poor in the above sentences, we mean rich (adjective) people (noun – collective noun), do not to know the sufferings of the poor (adjective) people (noun – collective noun). In practice, we use rich and poor. Hence, adjective is used as Plural Nouns.

    The future is happy. Here, future means futurity. It is an Abstract Noun. In such cases, the adjective (future) becomes Noun. It is in Singular.

    Some other adjectives derived from Proper Nouns become adjectives. They may relate to proper ethnicity – Indians, Americans, Tamilians.

    Some adjectives indicating persons also become Nouns. They may belong to particular profession or an activity that is common to all of them – juniors, seniors, Criminals.

    Yet some other adjectives denoting quantity / things in general become Nouns. It can be both in Singular and Plural.

    – Secrets, total, solids, liquids, gases, valuables.

    Some adjectives like sweet are used as Nouns in Plural and not in Singular. We can say sweets, it, that is, in a many eatables that are sweet.

    Some phrases also become Nouns whenever this make appear into the sentence below the proceeding one. In short, Before long, Ere long, At Best, At the very least, in black and white.

    In general, to identify an adjective functioning as a Noun, look for Plural Nouns, Singular Nouns of quality, derivatives of Nouns (means Adjectives formed of Noun). Or some phrases that indicate Nouns implicitly.

    Also, ‘the’ appears before Adjective functioning as Noun (in general).

    Remember the above guidelines are only indicative. Best way is to look for the meaning. i.e. what we speak about Persons / Places / Things and what we add to give more meaning to the forms and decide if the Noun is implied.

    Sometimes we use Noun as adjectives as well.

    I am a city boy.

    He always plays computer games.

    Adjective is normally placed before the Noun.

    He is a great man.

    In poetry, the adjective may appear after the Noun – ‘Men’, of great valour never die more than once’.

    We place adjectives after Noun in Prose also, when we have more than one adjective to emphasis.

    Lord Krishna was a great King, Philosopher and Leader.

    He was a kind man, patient, forbearing and of compassion.

    We also place adjectives after a Noun when we join some words or phrases to adjectives. This is to place emphasis.

    MS Dhoni is fertile in imaginative tactics..

    In some cases, in some phrases, Adjectives come after the Noun.

    God Almighty, time immemorial.

    In some instances, the adjectives are more of explanatory in nature or indicate a specific quality which we want to emphasis.

     

    Related:

    http://ramanisblog.in/2012/08/30/comparison-of-adjectives-or-degrees-of-comparisonenglish-grammar/

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  • Comparison of Adjectives or Degrees of Comparison,English Grammar.

    Whenever we make a statement, we use to compare things to convey the meaning. Ex: He is tall. When we say this, we do not know exactly how tall he is, unless we say, he is 6’ 2” or 5’ 8”. This is specific. This becomes a statement of fact and the information we receive is full. Further, without mentioning exact height, different people have different view of the word. ‘tall’ – For one who is 4’ 8”, ‘ tall’ may mean 5 ft. For one who is 6’ in height 5’ is short. To get a proper idea, we use to compare two or more people or things to get a proper idea. This process helps to convey the ideal better to a group consisting of different ideas of the same adjective. Infact, it is very difficult to make statement without comparison. In Philosophy, making statements without reference to other things is called ABSOLUTE Statement and it is Abstract and difficult to understand. But, comparative statements called Relative statements are easy to understand.

    Therefore, to convey the thought clearly, we use Comparison. Let us see how comparisons are made.

    1. We make statement about a Person / Place / Thing as a matter of fact or as it appears. We make a positive statement. These statements are said to be in the Positive Degree.

    ‘This mango is sweet’.

    Here, we speak of a mango and its quality of sweetness without indicating how sweet it is. There is no point of reference.

    2. The other type of statement is when we compare tow things to

    indicate which is better than the other.

    ‘This mango is sweeter than that mango’.

    Here, we have the mangoes and we compare the sweetness of one against another to convey that ‘ this’ mango is sweeter than ‘that’ mango. Now, we get a clear picture and we normally will choose the sweeter mango.

    These statements are said to be in Comparative Degree, because they compare two Persons / Place / Things.

    A statement that compares two things is said to be Comparative Degree.

    3. And finally, when we have more than two things to convey a

    thought, that one among the many is the superior among them, we give a different type of statement. It helps us to choose the best among the many things. If we have three mangoes, how do we say which is the best in terms of taste?

    When more than three things (two) are present, if we say ‘This is sweeter, we will find it difficult to understand s to which of the remaining two is ‘sweeter’. Therefore, we use ‘Superlative’.

    When more than two Persons / Places/ Things are to be compared, we use a form of statement, that points out which is the best or superior to other Persons / Places / Things. These types of statements are said to be in ‘Superlative Degree’.

    E.g.: This is the sweetest mango.

    Therefore, there are three types of comparison.

    Positive – When we make an absolute or matter of fact statement.

    Comparative – When we make a comparison between two Persons /

    Places /Things.

    Superlative – When we make a statement, when more than two Persons / Places / Things are involved. (The number of things involved can be 100 or 1,000: Superlative can be only one – There can be only one First Rank Holder).

    How to form Comparative and Superlative?

    For adjectives with one and for some more than one, for comparative add – ‘err’ and ‘est’ for superlative.

    Positive Comparative Superlative

    Strong Stronger Strongest

    Great Greater Greatest

    Tall Taller Tallest

    When Positive end with ‘e’, add ‘r’ and ‘est’.

    Able Abler Ablest

    Fine Finer Finest

    Wise Wiser Wisest

    When Positive is a word of one syllable and ends in a single consonant, preceded by a short vowel, the consonant is doubled before adding ‘er’ or ‘est’.

    Big Bigger Biggest

    Sad Sadder Saddest

    Thin Thinner Thinnest

    When a Positive ends in ‘Y’ preceded by a consonant, the ‘Y’ is changed into ‘i’ before adding ‘er’ and ‘est’.

    Healthy Healthier Healthiest

    Easy Easier Easiest

    Merry Merrier Merriest

    Adjectives that contain more than two syllables form comparative and Superlative by adding more and most before the word.

    Positive Comparative Superlative

    Difficult more difficult most difficult

    Beautiful more beautiful most beautiful

    Courageous more courageous most courageous

    We do not use ‘er’ when we compare the qualities of the same Person / Place/ Thing.

    Lord Krishna is more of a Philosopher than a King.

    Rama is more brave than prudent.

    IRREGULAR COMPARISON

    We have seen how Comparative and Superlative are formed from the Positive. These are called comparison.

    But, there are comparisons that can be made without referring to i.e. totally different from Positive. This is called irregular comparison

    In this, the Comparative and Superlative are not derived from Positive and they are completely different from the Positive.

    Illustrations:

    Positive Comparative Superlative

    Good / Well Better Best

    Bad / Evil / Ill Worse Worst

    Little Less / Lesser Least

    Much More Most

    Much More Most (quantity)

    Many More Most (Number)

    Late Later / laster Latest / last

    Old Older / Elder Oldest / Eldest

    Far Farther Farthest

    Fore Fore more Fore most

    In Inner Inner most / in most

    Up Upper Uppermost / Up most

    Out Outer Outermost

    Some of the Comparatives shown above end in Superlatives are used to indicate different meanings.

    Later, Latter, Latest, Last

    Later and Latest refer to time

    Latter and Last refer to position

    When we want to indicate time, we use later and latest – E.g.: I shall see you later.

    (Here ‘Later’ means we will see after sometime).

    Have you heard the latest news?

    (Latest means the nearest time in new / fresh).

    When we want to indicate position as in time or in the order of occurrence in position we use ‘Latter’ and ‘Last’.

    Later portions of Physics are difficult to understand.

    (Latter means that come ‘after’ in position).

    My house is the last in the street.

    (Last indicates position where the house is located).

    Elder, Older, Eldest, Oldest

    These are used only when speaking about persons and not of animals or things (Elder / eldest).

    When we use ‘Elder’, we do not use ‘than’.

    We can use older / oldest for persons, animals and things.

    Rama is the elder brother.

    Anand is my eldest son.

    Rama is older than Lakshmanan.

    My grandfather is the eldest of our family.

    The oldest Church in India is in KOZHIKODE.

    Farther and Further indicate distance

    Farther means fairly distant.

    Further means additional.

    Antarctic is Farther from Indian than Arctic.

    Please reply to m y letter without further delay.

    Nearest, Next.

    Nearest means very near / within shortest distance.

    Next means immediately after.

    Rameswaram is nearest to Srilanka.

    My house is next to the Telephone Exchange.

    Fill in with ‘later’ or ‘latter’, older or elder, oldest, eldest, farther

    further, next or neat.

    1. The child cannot walk very ……………

    2. For information, contact the Principal

    3. The news about inflation is worrisome

    4. Today is the last day for applying for this job.

    5. This is thebus stop to my house.

    6. Thewill be very interesting

    7. Rama was the of four brothers.

    8. I have a sister.

    9. Anynews?

    10. The scene was boring.

    11. The majority accepted the proposal.

    12. The nephew is than the uncle.

    Some Comparatives are used in Positive.

    His inner meaning is unclear.

    The programmed was an utter flop.

    (Some of the words – Former, latter, elder, thunder, upper, inner, outer, utter).

    While using these words, ‘than’ should not be used).

    Comparative borrowed from Latin have no Positive or Superlative Degree.

    Interior, Exterior, Ulterior, Magic, Mirror

    His actions are of minor importance.

    The exterior wall of the house is painted with weather-proof paint.

    Do not seek ulterior motive for every action.

    Normally, we use ‘than’ in Comparative.

    But, Comparative ending in – ‘or’, ‘are’ followed by the preposition do not have than.

    Western family values are inferior to Indian values.

    Adjective expressing qualities that do not admit of different degrees cannot be compared.

    Round, Square, Perfect, Volume etc., …………..

    Sometimes to express strong feelings we use Superlative as in :

    He is the most Perfect Person in the World.

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  • Gender, Know Your English

    All of us know that there are two types of living beings, viz; male and Female (Eunuchs is a different class) – Currently they are treated neither as male or female.

    There are certain physical and mental characteristic that differentiates a Male and a Female.

    A Noun that denotes a male is said to be in Masculine Gender. (Boy, Man, Lion, Tiger).

    A Noun that denotes a female is said to be in Feminine Gender. (Girl, Woman, Lioness, Tigress).

    A Noun that is without life (when we cannot ascribe masculine or feminine) is said to be in NEUTER Gender. NEUTER means neither Male nor Female. (Car, Pen, Computer).

    Sometimes, over a period of time, some things are personified as Masculine or Feminine Gender, even though they belong to NEUTER GENDER.

    Moon and Earth – Feminine Gender

    Sun, Time, Death – Masculine Gender

    FORMING THE FEMININE OF NOUNS (entirely different words)

    Wizard – Witch

    Nephew – Niece

    Lord – Lady

    Drone – Bee

    Dog – Bitch

    Gentle Man – Lady

    (Adding – ess)

    Host – Hostess Poet – Poetess

    Giant – Giantess Shepherd – Shepherdess

    Normally, we can use ‘ess’ suffix to Masculine to form Feminine Gender or ’ine’ as in Hero – Heroine or by placing a word before or after. Washer man – Washerwoman, Grand father, Grand mother.

    Related:

    http://ramanisblog.in/2012/08/24/kinds-of-nouns-know-your-english/

  • New Words Find Way into Oxford Dictionary

    Languages normally maintain their identity by sticking to their roots.

    But English is different.

    To me it seems that it is the only Language that has borrowed from every conceivable language and yet remains the most popular despite language zealots of other languages.

    It is so flexible people are able to bend it to their whims!

    Not that it does not have its Literature.

    One wonders at looking at English as to how it remains the common language  despite its lack of originality!

    Story:

    Walking around in your leopard-print onesie while proudly sporting guylinermay lead to some guffaws and eye-rolling among family and friends, butwhatevs! You know you’re totes on trend.

    The above sentence contains just some of the new words and terms added toOxford Dictionaries Online in our latest update which covers a whole range of topics, from the environment (green technology, eco-driving, water footprint) to sport (scudetto, Bundesliga) and even British science-fiction television programmes (Whovian). Whether you’re an infomaniac or a just a good old word lover, we’re sure you’ll find something to interest you.”

    Below is a selection of our favourite terms from the latest update: click on the links to be taken to the dictionary entries.

    abandonware enabler onesie
    alpha geek eye-rolling panko
    aptonym geodata po-po
    aquaponics geoinformation purple state
    autostereoscopic green technology race walking
    bandage dress guyliner ransomware
    boomburb illiterati Robin Hood tax
    CMS infomania scudetto
    dater K-pop tiger mother
    death slide mahalo totes
    droolworthy minimoon virality
    eco-driving moany whatevs
    e-dating obvs Whovian

    http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2012/05/totes-amazing-new-words-added-to-odo/