Learn Some Grammar Basics

ADJECTIVES

An adjective describes a noun. Adjectives often give precision and meaning to sentences; in other words, they add color to your writing.

Beware: some words are both adjectives (describing nouns) and adverbs (modifying verbs).

e.g. This is hard work. (an adjective)

e.g. He works hard. (an adverb)

Linking verbs, such as be, become, look, seem, smell, taste, require the use of adjectives rather than adverbs.

e.g. He is happy.

e.g. She became angry. (NOT angrily)

e.g. He looked angrily at you. (it was the action expressed in the look)

e.g. The man looked angry. (it was the expression, not the action)

e.g. The cake smells wonderful. (NOT wonderfully)

e.g. The wine tastes good. (NOT well)

Conjunctions

Conjunctions connect words, phrases, or clauses in sentences. They are coordinating or subordinating conjunctions.

Coordinating conjunctions

Coordinating conjunctions are and, but, or, nor, for, so, and yet. They join two or more complete or independent sentences.

e.g. He likes coffee, and so do I (like coffee).

 e.g. He likes cheese, but I do not (like cheese).

e.g. (You ) work harder, or you will not succeed.

e.g. I don’t want to go, nor will I (go).

e.g. Summer is approaching, for the days are getting longer.

e.g. He worked hard, so he passed his exam with flying colors.

e.g. He worked hard, yet the result was far from satisfactory.

Subordinating conjunctions

Subordinating conjunctions join unequal elements in a sentence or clause that cannot stand alone.

e.g. When we arrived at the station, the train had left.

e.g. We will not succeed unless we get your support.

e.g. I will help you as long as you ask me.

e.g. I will help you whenever you ask me.

 e.g. I will help you provided (that) you ask me.

 e.g. I will help you if you ask me.

 e.g. Although I am your brother, I will not help you.

e.g. You will stay here till everything is done.

e.g. He behaved as though he were better than you.

e.g. Though he had lost his fortune, he remained cheerful.

e.g. Since spring is coming, we have to prepare the garden.

 e.g. Because spring is coming, we have to prepare the garden.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Common Prepositional Words and Phrases

Learn some common prepositional phrases:

RUN

Run against: compete

e.g. I am going to run against him in the coming election.

Run away: leave; escape

e.g. The burglar ran away before the police arrived.

Run down: hit with a vehicle

e.g. The old man was run down by the bus.

Run down: stop functioning

e.g. My lawn mower is running down; I need to get a new one.

Run into: meet by accident

e.g. Yesterday, I ran into an old friend that I had not seen for decades.

Run out of: not have any more of something

e.g. Hurry! We're running out of time!

HELP

Help along: help someone move along.

e.g. We are more than happy to help you along by giving you any assistance.

Help someone on with something: help someone to put on something.

e.g. Please help her on with her coat.

Help out: help someone out at a particular place.

e.g. I'm at the kitchen. Can you help me out?

Help someone to something: serve something to someone.

e.g. Help yourself to more rice.

GROUND

Ground in: instruct.

e.g. We should ground our children in love and values as they grow up.

Ground on: form a foundation for.

e.g. His intelligence was grounded on reading books on wisdom.

APPEAL

Appeal against: ask a court to cancel something.

e.g. The lawyer appealed against the court’s decision.

Appeal for: demand as a right.

e.g. I think we should appeal for justice.

e.g. They are appealing for our help.

Appeal to: attract or please someone.

e.g. The proposal appealed to many of us.

e.g. Her personality appeals to everybody around her.

e.g. Does this food appeal to your taste?

Stephen Lau

Distinguish These Pairs of Words

WET / WETTED

Wet is the present, past, and particle of “wet”; wetted, as the past and participle of “wet”, means something done deliberately and purposely.

e.g. The heavy rain last night wet the balcony completely.

e.g. He wetted the cloth in the hot water before putting it on his body.

e.g. They wetted the appetite of the guests with a fragrant soup.

DEFER / DEFER TO

Defer means to delay or postpone; defer to means to give way or show respect for.

e.g. I wish to defer my trip.

e.g. I defer to your request to cancel my trip.

PURPOSELY / PURPOSEFULLY

Purposely means deliberately; purposefully means in a determined way.

e.g. That guy purposely left the trash on the sidewalk.

e.g. The student purposefully worked on his project to get a better score for further advancement. 

COMMON SENSE / COMMON-SENSE

Common sense is always put in two words. Use a hyphened compound work as an adjective, and not as one single word.

e.g. Use your common sense when you do this.

e.g. This is just a common-sense approach to the problem.

ALLOW / ALLOW OF

Allow means permit; allow of means leave room for.

e.g. The new regulation will not allow you to do this.

e.g. The procedure is so precise that it will not allow of any variation.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

My Book Just Published

This 145-page book is about TAO, the wisdom of Lao Tzu, the ancient sage from China more than 2,600 years ago, who authored the immortal classic Tao Te Ching on human wisdom. 

His unique and controversial wisdom shows you how to think. It is your thinking mind that may make you live longer. Continue and go through the rest of your life journey with self-awakening to the realities of your true self, of others around you, and of the world you are living in. Look at anything and everything through the lens of the TAO.

According to the TAO, the end of anything is always the beginning of something else; the material world you are living in is forever filled with these cycles of beginnings and endings. Get the profound wisdom to intuit these cycles of balance and harmony so that you may continue the rest of your life journey and live as if everything is a miracle.

Here is the outline of the book:

INTRODUCTION

ONE: THE QUESTIONS AND THE ANSWERS

TWO: THE THINKING MIND

The Composition of the Thinking Mind

The Thinking Process

The Conscious Mind and the Subconscious Mind

The Power of the Thinking Mind

The Role of the Thinking Mind

THREE: THE WISDOM

The Ancient Wisdom

The Eastern Wisdom

The Conventional Wisdom

The Spiritual Wisdom

The Essence of True Wisdom

FOUR: THE TAO

Tao Te Ching

Empty Mind and Reverse Thinking

The Mind and the Now

Humility and the Ego

No Judgment and No Separation

No Picking and No Choosing

No Expectation and No Over-Doing

Control and Spontaneity

Embracing and Letting Go

Attachments and Detachments

The Awakening and the Manifestation

FIVE: YOUR JOURNEY OF LIVING LONGER

The Step of Intent and Desire

The Step of Unlearning and Relearning

The Step of Body Awareness and Mind Focus

The Step of Being and Becoming

The Step of Actions and Inactions

The Step of Recovery and Rejuvenation

The Step of Patience and Perseverance

The Step of Accepting and Embracing

The Step of Confronting Changes and Challenges

The Step of Returning and Awakening

APPENDIX A: THE MEDITATION

APPENDIX B: THE BODY CHEMISTRY

APPENDIX C: THE FAST

Click here to get your copy.

Stephen Lau

Choosing the Right Words

Adherence / Adhesion

Much more: especially in a positive sense; much less: not to mention in a negative sense.

e.g. I would help a stranger in need, much more if he is my son.

e.g. She wouldn't even look at me, much less talk to me.

Dutiable / Dutiful

Dutiable: subject to imported tax; dutiful: showing respect and obedience.

e.g. Tobacco is often dutiable in most countries.

e.g. He is my dutiful son.

Adherence: following faithfully (metaphorically); adhesion: sticking to (literally).

e.g. No matter what may happen, our company will demonstrate to our shareholders our adherence to the project.

e.g. You can use this glue to strengthen the adhesion of these two pieces of material.

Defer / Infer

Defer: give way or yield to; infer: conclude.

e.g. He is a good kid: he always defers to his parents' wishes.

e.g. We can infer from your statement that you don't like this policy.

Accountable to / Accountable for

Accountable to: responsible to someone; accountable for: responsible for something

e.g. The Manager has to be accountable to the Board; he has to be accountable for all his business decisions. 

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Choosing the Right Words

Effective writing requires the use of appropriate words and phrases, which can make a great difference in the quality as well as the effectiveness of your writing.

Selecting words with the right connotation and denotation

Denotation is the precise meaning of a word; connotation is the association of a word, which can be positive, negative, or neutral.

e.g. slender with a positive connotation, suggesting “tall” and “thin”

e.g. thin with a neutral connotation

e.g. skinny with a negative connotation of being “too thin”

Using words in their right parts of speech

e.g. occupational hazard NOT occupation hazard (using noun for an adjective) 

e.g. sleep well NOT sleep good (using an adjective for an adverb)

Well, not good, is generally used in a compound word to form a compound adjective:

e.g. A person who behaves well is well-behaved.

e.g. A person with good intentions is well-intentioned.

e.g. A person who speaks well is well-spoken.

BUT “a person with good looks is good-looking.” (NOT well-looking, possibly because well-looking may suggest “looking healthy”.

Using correct idioms

Idioms are accepted expressions in the English language. They add elegance to your writing. But incorrect idioms can make your writing look sloppy. The following are examples of incorrect use of idioms:

e.g. according to NOT according with

e.g. aptitude for NOT aptitude toward

e.g. capable of doing NOT capable to do

e.g. complain to NOT complain with

e.g. comply with NOT comply to

e.g. conclude by saying NOT conclude in saying

e.g. conform to or with NOT conform in

e.g. die of NOT die from

e.g. different from NOT different to or different than

e.g. every now and then NOT ever now and then

e.g. except for NOT excepting for

e.g. identical with NOT identical to

e.g. in accordance with NOT in accordance to

e.g. incapable of doing NOT incapable to do

e.g. in my opinion, NOT to my opinion

e.g. in search of NOT in search for

e.g. in sight into NOT in sight of

e.g. intend to do NOT intend on doing

e.g. in the year 2010 NOT in the year of 2010

e.g. on the whole NOT on a whole

e.g. outlook on life NOT outlook of life

e.g. plan to do NOT plan on doing

e.g. prior to NOT prior than

e.g. regardless of NOT regardless to

e.g. relate to NOT relate with

e.g. similar to NOT similar with

e.g. super to NOT superior than

e.g. try to see NOT try and see

e.g. type of NOT type of a

e.g. what to do about this NOT what to do with this

Read my book American Idioms for ESL Learners.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Learn Some Slang

Killer: a very funny joke.

e.g. That last one was really a killer;  everybody laughed.

In a jiffy: soon.

e.g. The manager will see you in a jiffy.

Next to nothing: hardly anything.

e.g. “Did she leave you anything at all?” “Well, next to nothing.”

Head above water: out of debt.

e.g. Nowadays, it is not easy to keep your head above water.

Mean-green: money.

e.g. Can I borrow a little mean-green from you?

Kick back: relax and enjoy.

e.g I really want to kick back and enjoy the music.

Smoke eater: a fire fighter.

e.g. Do you really want to be a smoke eater -- a dangerous occupation?

Hard put to it: in difficulty.

e.g. During the Great Depression people were hard put to it to make both ends meet.

Boil over: become angry.

e.g.  Get away from him: he's boiling over with rage.

All that jazz: all that sort of thing; etcetera.

e.g. He was telling everyone about his success in real estate investment and all that jazz. Well, we all heard that before.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Learn Some English Slang and Colloquial Expressions

Go the whole hog: go through thoroughly.

e.g. The prosecutor went the whole hog when he inspected the murder weapon.

Bushed: exhausted.

e.g. After a hard day at the office, I'm completely bushed.

Get the sack: fired; be dismissed from work.

e.g. The company was downsizing, and he got the sack.

Easy on the eye: good looking.

e.g. I say, your girlfriend is easy on the eye.

Act your age: behave yourself according to your age..

e.g. You’re almost an adult. Come on, act your age, and stop behaving like a spoiled brat!

Get with it: hurry up and get busy.

e.g. Come on, get with it; we’ve a lot to do.

In for it: likely to have trouble.

e.g. If you don't listen to my advice, you're in for it.

No oil painting: ugly.

e.g. To tell the truth, the dress you bought me is no oil painting.

By a long chalk: by a great amount.

e.g. He lost his re-election by a long chalk.

Get wise to: discover; realize.

e.g. Soon you’ll get wise to what is really happening under the roof.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Better English for You