# Bethak - The Desi Lounge > Student Zone >  Improve Your English

## Bluehacks

*I am not saying i am perfect in speaking English..* 
*We all are learning We all Know English is not our mother tongue and we too can make mistakes. :smartass:* 

*There are many books in the market that details the grammar and the ways of English being spoken and written but they do not precisely address the problem of day-to-day mistakes done in communicating in English.* 

*Hope my attempt would not go in vain. shall we start?Please Dont Spam and please feel free to contribute...:thumbs:* 

*This thread will be updated daily , ...U can post anything...U can start With Alphabet A.*

*Please do add reps and member who share his knowledge with us...will be added reps.*

*We should always be proud of our MotherTongue!*

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## Bluehacks

*Quite often, we confuse ourselves with regard to Subject and OBject in sentences. I am not explaining Subject and Object here as we all know. Or else i would end up taking only grammar classes.

Few examples:

He took Mother and I for a ride in the car. -- This is wrong. This should be " He took mother and me for a ride in the car".

"Come and sit we girls" is wrong but should be "Come and sit us girls"

"Me and wife went to picture" is wrong. "My wife and I went to picture"

"Its me" is wrong but "Its I" is right.

"The person who i saw" is wrong but "The person whom is saw..." is right.

Who is subjective and whom is objective. Similarly, use of I and me. Hope the few examples would have given you an idea of the use of Subject and Object.

When two words form a common adjective, a hyphen should be used between those 2 words. eg architect-designed houses...

will continue...*

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## mytonse

Hardik ,job doing good.Well its always good to be practising at language..Lookin forward to more tuts  on ENGLISh !

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## Bluehacks

Here is one very common mistake people do..

*Affect vs Effect*
These two words are very commonly confused and used interchangeably. However, both have very different meanings. In fact, both the words can be used in two ways, Noun and Verb. I don't think I'll be able to explain the differences effectively , instead I'll give examples for their correct usage...


*Affect:* _(as a Verb)_ meaning "have an influence on"
His provoking statements did not *affect* my decision in any way.
Alcohol *affects* your body and mind.

*Affect:* _(as a Noun)_ meaning "emotion" --- Its used this way very very rarely.. 
He displayed a distressing lack of *affect.*


*Effect:* _(as a Noun)_ meaning "the result, something produced by a cause"
The rain had no *effect* on the girl's make-up.
The sound *effects* were mindblowing.

*Effect:* _(as a Verb)_ meaning "to bring about (a change)"
The people's revolt *effected* a change in government.
I hope my advice will *effect* certain changes in your language.


One last example...
_This drug affects my health..
This drug has a bad effect on my health..._

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## Bluehacks

*Accept vs Except
*Its very easy to confuse between these two due to their similar spellings and pronunciations; its even easier to differentiate, if you know their meanings... 

*Accept:* means _"to receive, or acknowledge"_
I'll always *accept* any reps you give me.
Do you *accept* this proposal?
I asked her to marry me, and she *accepted*...  


*Except:* means _"other than; excluding"_
Every country at the sports meet performed well, *except* India.:smartass: 
I know almost everyone here at XB, *except* the newbies..  

Ok guys...
_I'll accept all types of chocolates you give me, except the milk flavoured ones.._

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## Bluehacks

*Who is Subjective and Whom is objective.*

"To whom shall i give it?" is another form of "Whom shall I give it to?". Here the subject is "I" and a preposition "to" is followed by the objective. So the use of "Whom" in this sentence is right and not "who".

Similarly, "Who shall i take with me?" is wrong. 

Who, as a subject, is correct in questions as found below:
"_Who_ goes home?"
"_Who_ did it?"

When "Who" is used as a simple relative pronoun, it is immaterial whether its governing noun or pronoun is the subject or object. Then the sentences can be:
"The lady who is good-looking is away"
"I saw the guy who did this!"

However, _Who_ would be changed to _whom_ in the following sentence. 
"The lady whom you are talking about is away"

The man whom the police arrested..." is right here because, Police is the subject in this sentence.

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## Wolf

*Good work Man...*

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## *Saira*

English bloopers: 'Is this your's?'
Are you ready for a few good laughs at yet another installment of English bloopers? Today, we'll be looking at how apostrophes often result in grammatical catastrophes!

When it comes to written English, apostrophes are commonly used, but often misunderstood. The apostrophe looks like an elevated comma, and can be found directly to the left of the 'Enter' key on your computer keyboard.

Even in informal writing and friendly emails, it's important to use apostrophes properly. Out of place punctuation makes your written work seem sloppy and unprofessional.

Get Ahead reader Praveen Madhukar Naik, a 26-year-old software engineer, often comes across these annoying mistakes at work, and even when reading the newspaper! He's provided some helpful points to remember about apostrophes:

Apostrophes are used:

1. To indicate a missing letter or letters:

CORRECT: I can't go to school.
Which is the same as: I cannot go to school.

CORRECT: I don't smoke.
Which is the same as: I do not smoke.

CORRECT: It's so cold in here.
Which is the same as: It is so cold in here. 

2. To indicate a noun's possession: 

WRONG: The cars windshield was broken.
CORRECT: The car's windshield was broken.

WRONG: A dogs tail cannot be straightened.
CORRECT: A dog's tail cannot be straightened.

WRONG: Shreyas's collection of stamps is awesome.
CORRECT: Shreyas' collection of stamps is awesome.

3. When the noun is a plural, or ends with the letter 's', the apostrophe comes after the word:   

WRONG: The two students's belonging were confiscated.
CORRECT: The two students' belongings were confiscated.

WRONG: The Mehta's house is across the street.
CORRECT: The Mehtas' house is across the street.

Apostrophes must never be used:

1.To indicate plural.

WRONG: The girl's were late.
CORRECT: The girls were late

WRONG: There were no chair's in the room.
CORRECT: There were no chairs in the room.

2. To indicate a pronoun's possession.

WRONG: This land is our's.
CORRECT: This land is ours.

WRONG: This dog is her's.
CORRECT: This dog is hers.

WRONG: Is this your's?
CORRECT: Is this yours?

WRONG: The company maintains it's standards. [This is a very common mistake!]
CORRECT: The company maintains its standards.   

Source: rediff

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## *Saira*

Mind your language: 'That person is very kiddish'

V D Manigandan, Anand Karve, A Matin, Vijay Jangam

If English has you down, don't get discouraged!

The important thing is to practise every day. With time and effort, you'll soon become an English pro.

Our blooper series, observed and submitted by readers, highlights common mistakes that can easily trip you.

So, keep reading these articles, and keep an eye out for your own bloopers and the bloopers of others.

Remember, a firm grasp of English is a valued skill for youngsters hoping to study abroad and to follow the most sought after careers.

V D Manigandan, 27, a software engineer in London, remembers a blooper he heard his entire childhood. 

1. That person is very kiddish; he doesn't know how to behave in the office. 

Kiddish is not a word in the English dictionary. The correct word is 'childish.'

~ That person is very childish; he doesn't know how to behave in the office.



Anand Karve, 33 years, a government servant based in Pune, says that direct translations of Hindi sound funny in English.

2. What is your good name?

3. May I know your good name?



This is a literal translation of the Hindi version, 'Aapka shub naam kya hai?' In English, we do not have any 'bad names'.

~ What is your name?

~ May I know your name?

4. She is my real sister.

This is also the result of direct mother tongue to English translations. In English, you only call your biological sister, 'sister'. Therefore, it's not necessary to add 'real'.

~ She is my sister.

Two words often confused with one another:

5. 'stationary' (not in motion)

~ 'stationery' (writing material) 


A Matin, a 50 year old businessman in Mumbai, has decades of bloopers under his belt. Here are some of his best:

6. Have you catched a cold?

The past tense of the verb 'to catch' is 'caught'. English has many irregular verbs in the past tense.

~ Have you caught a cold?



7. Yes, he come yesterday. 

8. He did not came yesterday. 

This can be confusing. In the first example, it is necessary to use the past tense of the verb 'to come'; it is 'came'. In the second example, the 'did not' shifts the sentence to the past, and therefore, 'came' is no longer needed. It should be:

~ Yes, he came yesterday.

~ He did not come yesterday.

Another common mistake is the inappropriate use of colour to describe people:

9. He was a black man.  

The description is a direct translation of the word kaala. It should be:

~ He was dark-complexioned.

Vijay Jangam, working with Deloitte Consulting, sent this reminder: 'Making mistakes is pardonable. Trying to sound 'hip' by deliberately talking rubbish has become a trend.' 

Incorrect:

10. 'Any which ways you look at it, it's the same'. 

Proper:

'Any way you look at it, it's the same' OR

'Whichever way you look at it, it's the same'."

Source: rediff

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## villies

Working very hard Hardick N Saira... very nyc sharing :applaud;.. waiting for next

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## RAHEN

inshaALLAH i will post basics and articles on english...

good work hardik :up; and saira :up;

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## waffa

veRy goOd effort  ... keep doing

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## *Me_RoCKS*

great effort ... keep doing da great work  :Big Grin:  

I ll also try to post sum basics soon  :Smile:

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## reem

very informative thread :thumbs: ...i will also try to post some good stuff

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## RijaZ

hmmmmmmm i liked it now i think tht my english classes have been started i really badly need them  :Big Grin:  so who is my teacher  :Smile: 
No1's perfect & so m i...

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## ViSIoN

Good working. Thanks for shearing.

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## rizzy81

if u wanna learn english
start watching american sports and as they broadcast repeat after them and u surely will learn a whole a lot
if not get into text books 
reading novels are junk when it comes to learning english
dats my advise

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## ViSIoN

thanks you 4 giving advise

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## sunnydahoney

cool bluehacks . you done a good job please carry on .

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## lorocreative

hey all i am new here can i share my basics of english with u. I also wanna practicising my english.

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## RAHEN

sure loro...you can take the start.

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## moneyguru

great effort ... keep doing da great work

I ll also try to post sum basics soon
__________________

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## @sd

use full thread  :Smile:

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## nxhoaf

i usually using wikipedia, reading an article in my mother language, and in Enlish too,it's quite helpful.but why wiki ? it also enriches your knowledge!!

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## Tanya87

eemmm
I dunno if am rite or not,
BUT I think instead ov snding longgg longgg msgs, why dont You guyz do 1 thing,
jus speak english, innit?
I mean JUS SPEAK ENGLISH, no other lang in this topic, n If any other person find any mistake, jus let other people know, innit?
I hope You guyz got wht I mean... (-:

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## Anxious Soul

> eemmm
> I dunno if am rite or not,
> BUT I think instead ov snding longgg longgg msgs, why dont You guyz do 1 thing,
> jus speak english, innit?
> I mean JUS SPEAK ENGLISH, no other lang in this topic, n If any other person find any mistake, jus let other people know, innit?
> I hope You guyz got wht I mean... (-:


I am agree with U Tanya.. This is good way to improve english..All people should talk here in english...:guitar;

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## Tulip

count me in people, i also want to improve it.

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## gmiller

Hi friends,
              I also face problem in speaking English, So what should I do to improve it. Please guide anybody.

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## Rockkker

> I am agree with U Tanya..


U wrote 'am' in the sentence. its wrong. Maybe you did it by mistake.  :Smile:  

Anyways, Just wanted to point it out.

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## RAHEN

have you ppl ever tried..how to speak english...
 at bbc.co.uk..

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## lost girl

_thanks for the nice E class 

great effort ... keep it up_

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## Lovely World

I am a little bit weak in English. How cani i improve my english?

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## RAHEN

by watching and listening english language based programs or songs...
by writing all the difficult words and using them in ur sentences...

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## smithpeter

First of all you can remember to make learning a habit! If you study each day for 10 minutes English will be constantly in your head. If you study once a week, English will not be as present in your mind.Daily you can try and familiarise yourself with the phonetic symbols of your dictionary. Look up the correct pronunciation of words that are hard for you to say.

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## tuxawy

Thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanks

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## wilesmickes

Foreign language teaching has undergone many changes over the past 40 years, particularly in the field of technology. Technology has caused a major impact on teaching and learning across the curriculum of education in their mother tongue. Many opinions are supported by Internet cyber offers authentic precursors to improve receptive skills of listening and reading skills and oral and written production. But the most important thing is how we can use this wonderful technology environment in our lives.

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## khaledcoco

Thank you for your post

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