Question Types in English

Date: 22/11/2007

Today let me discuss something on "Types of Questions" in English. There are two different question types in English. They are: "Wh Questions" and "Yes (or) No Questions".

As said in one of my previous posts, while posing questions in English, the verb should precede the subject(noun/pronoun). One shouldn't commit any mistake in it, even unwittingly, if one wants one's English to be close to perfection.

To make one's life easier, "Yes (or) No Questions" begin only with verbs. For example:

* Do you like to wear saree? (The answer would either be Yes or No)

* Are you the only child for your parents? (The answer would either be Yes or No)

* Is she a doctor? (The answer would either be Yes or No)

* Does she know Tamil? (The answer would either be Yes or No)

So, non-native speakers of English are prone to commit mistakes only with "Wh Questions". Also, such questions begin with question words like How? What? Which? Where? When? Why? How many? How much? For What? and so on and so forth.

The general structure of "Wh Questions" is,

Question word + verb + subject?

Let us see some examples:

* What is the time now? (Here, verb - is; subject/noun - time)

* How many mangoes are in the basket? (Here, verb - are; subject/noun - basket)

* How many children does she have? (Here, verb - does have; subject/pronoun - she)

* How much do you charge your customers for dozen biscuits? (Here, verb - do; subject/pronoun - you)

Now let us see a special case. Here, a question would contain both "Yes or No Part" and "Wh Part" and the "Yes or No Part" would be normally followed by the "Wh Part".

Let us see some examples:

* Do you know where my bag is?

(Here, "Do you know" is the "Yes or No part" and "Where my bag is" is the "Wh Part". In this case, the "Yes or No Part" alone is considered as the question part and the "Wh Part" is considered as the statement part. So, only in the "Yes or No Part" the verb should precede the subject and not in the "Wh Part". In the "Wh Part", the verb should succeed(come after) the noun. Hence,

* Do you know where my bag is? (Correct)
* Do you know where is my bag? (Wrong)

* Does she know when the meeting commences? (Correct)
* Does she know when commences the meeting? (Wrong)

* Do you know how cement is manufactured in factories? (Correct)
* Do you know how is cement manufactured in factories? (Wrong)


Our sweetest are those that tell of a saddest thought
- P. B. Shelley

Common Errors in English - 8

Date: 20.11.2007

Today let us see one of the most common errors in English. This is regarding construction of a question and a statement.

In English, while posing questions, the verb should precede(come before) the noun/pronoun. Let us see some examples now:

* Where are you going? (Correct)
* Where you are going? (Wrong)

* Why is she not talking to you? (Correct)
* Why she is not talking to you? (Wrong)

* In which year were you born? (Correct)
* In which year you were born? (Wrong)

On the contrary, in the case of statements, the verb should succeed(come after) the noun/pronoun. Let us see some examples now:

* I don't know what she is (Correct)
* I don't know what is she (Wrong)

* I know where the town Kilinochi is situated (Correct)
* I know where is the town Kilinochi situated (Wrong)

* She told me when the festival is (Correct)
* She told me when is the festival (Wrong)

Wishing you all a happy learning. Bye for now.

Common Errors in English - 7

Date: 17.10.2007

Today let us see some aspects on correct usage of verbs.

* Error No.: 1

The conjunctions "Either....or" and "Neither....nor" take up only singular verbs

The following are some examples on the correct usage:

* Either Mala or Manju takes care of the creche (Right)

* Either Mala or Manju take care of the creche (Wrong)

* Neither Ramesh nor Raju speaks French (Right)

* Neither Ramesh nor Raju speak French (Wrong)

* Error No.: 2

The phrase "One of..." should be followed by plural noun/plural pronoun and singular verb. The following are some of the examples on correct usage:

* One of my sisters is an Engineer (Right)

* One of my sister is an Enginner (Wrong)

* One of my cousins lives in Singapore
(Right)

* One of my cousin lives in Singapore (Wrong)

* One of my cousins live in Singapore (Wrong)

* Error No.: 3

Always remember the structure in English that "Does + Plural present tense verb = Singular present tense verb". Therefore,

* She speaks Tamil (Correct)

* She does speak Tamil (Correct)

* She does speaks Tamil (Wrong)

* Does she go to college today? (Correct)

* Does she goes to school? (Wrong)

* Error No.: 4

One more important structure in English language is as under:

"Did + Plural present tense verb = Past tense"

Therefore, the correct usage is,

* Did you watch cricket the last day? (Correct)

* Did you watched cricket the last day? (Wrong)

* I did not meet her today in office (Correct)

* I did not met her today in office (Wrong)

Anticipating your valuable comments. Bye for now. Happy learning...........

Common Errors in English - 6 (Of Redundants)

Date: 17.10.2007

Today let us see some common redundants in English.

* Redundant No.: 1

Never use "Suppose" and "If" together, since they both mean the same. Let us see some examples:

* Suppose she comes tomorrow, I 'll take her to beach (Right)

* If she comes tomorrow, I 'll take her to beach (Right)

* Suppose if she comes tomorrow, I 'll take her to beach (Wrong)

* Redundant No.: 2

Never use "Otherwise" and "Or" together, since they both convey the same meaning. Let us see some examples:

* If you want to go for shopping tomorrow, then you call me over phone otherwise no need (Right)

* If you want to go for shopping tomorrow, then you call me over phone or no need (Right)

* If you want to go for shopping tomorrow, then you call me over phone or otherwise no need (Wrong)

* Redundant No.: 3

Never use "Return" and "Back" together, because the very word "Return" means "Give Back". Let us see some examples:

* Please return the book to me (Right)

* Please give back the book to me (Right)

* Please return back the book to me (Wrong)

* Redundant No.: 4

Never use "Revert" and "Back" together because the very word "Revert" means "Get back". Let us see some examples:

* Please revert to me at the earliest (Right)

* Please get back to me at the earliest (Right)

* Please revert back to me at the earliest (Wrong)

* Redundant No.: 5

Never use "AM" and morning together and "PM" and evening together. It is again a redundant.

* Today I got up at 8 AM (Right)

* Today morning I got up at 8 O' clock (Right)

* Today morning I got up at 8 AM (Wrong)

The same thing holds good for evening/night and PM

* Redundant No.: 6

Never use "Repeat" and "Again" together, because the very word "Repeat" means "Do again". Let us see some examples:

* Please repeat the sentence (Right)

* Please tell the sentence again (Right)

* Please repeat the sentence again (Wrong)

* Redundant No.: 7

Never use "Descend" and "Down" together and never use "Ascend" and "Up" together. Let us see some examples:

* She was descending down the stairs (Right)

* She was going down the stairs (Right)

* She was descending down the stairs (Wrong)

* She was ascending the stairs (Right)

* She was ascending up the stairs (Wrong)

* Redundant No.: 8

The words "Each" and "Every" are synonymous and therefore they shouldn't be used together. Let us see some examples:

* The Tamil literary work "Thirukkural" discusses each and every facet of human life (Wrong)

* The Tamil literary work "Thirukkural" discusses every facet of human life (Right)

* The Tamil literary work "Thirukkural" discusses each facet of human life (Right)

Common Errors in English - 5

Date: 18.09.2007

The singular and plural forms of the following nouns are the same:

Singular/Plural

* information/information

* furniture/furniture

* fish/fish

* deer/deer

* swine/swine

The present and past tense forms of the following verbs are the same:

Present tense/Past tense

* cut/cut

* put/put

* hurt/hurt

* hit/hit

* spread/spread

* thrust/thrust

* cast/cast

* telecast/telecast

* broadcast/broadcast

Common Errors in English - 4

Date: 17.09.2007

Today let us see the correct usage of "......know........to"

The verb "know" shouldn't be followed immediately by the infinitive "to". The question word "how" should always be used between "know" & "to". The examples are as under:

Wrong: Do you know to cook?
Right: Do you know how to cook?

Wrong: Do you know to read and write French?
Right: Do you know how to read and write French?

Common Errors in English - 3

Date: 15.09.2007

Today let us see a common redundant. One of the common redundants in English is, as under:

Many people have the tendency to use "Suppose" and "If" together as follows:

* Suppose if I happen to fail in the exam also, I don't bother

This is actually incorrect. Either use "Suppose" (or) "If", since they both mean the same. Hence, the correct usage is,

Correct: Suppose I happen to fail in the exam also, I don't bother

Correct: If I happen to fail in the exam also, I don't bother

Common Errors in English - 2

Date: 14.09.2007





Let us now see the plurals of the following nouns. The plurals of these nouns are not obtained by simply adding "s" at the end of the singular, as in the case of most of the other nouns in English.





Singular/Plural





* datum/data





* alga/algae





* alumna (feminine gender)/alumni





* alumnus (masculine gender)/alumni





* axis/axes





* bacterium/bacteria





* child/children





* criterion/criteria





* foot/feet





* fungus/fungi





* insignia/insigniae





* man/men





* nucleus/nuclei





* phenomenon/phenomena





* radius/radii





* symposium/symposia





* tooth/teeth





* woman/women

Common Errors in English

Date: 14.09.2007





Today let us see the correct usage of the phrase, "One of ................"





The phrase, "One of......................" always takes up a plular noun and a singular verb. For example:





* One of the friends of my sister is an employee of Microsoft





* One of my cousins always enjoys playing cricket





* One of my pens has a platinum coating on it





By making use of the phrase, "One of...........", we are actually choosing one particular person/thing from a group (which has more than one) and then describing the action of that particular person/thing. Hence, the noun that follows "One of......." should be a plural noun and the verb that denotes the action of the noun should be singular.