common problems in english usage

8/14/2019 Common Problems in English Usage

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Common Problems inEnglish Usage

Sayed Mohamed


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accident vs. incident

Accidentis used to describe things that happenunintentionally, in other words, accidentally. A typicalexample is a traffic accident--the driver does not intendto cause an accident. Crimes cannot be described asaccidents because they are intended by the criminal; inthe case of a robbery, for example, the robber intends tosteal something; he or she does not accidentally steal it.

Incident has a wider meaning and can be used both foraccidents and for intentional actions such as crimes.


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after all in contrast to in the end

When after allis followed by a noun phrase, in phrases such asafter all my hard workorafter all the hours of waiting"), itsmeaning is quite similar to in the end.Both phrases can be used to tell about the last event in a series of

events, as shown in the two example paragraphs below.

My printer ran out of ink while I was printing out my paper forclass. I went to the discount store near my house, but they didn'thave ink for my printer. Then I tried the computer store, but I got

there too late; it was already closed. I tried calling my friend to seeif I could print the paper at her house, but she was not home.

In the end, I brought the paper to the school on floppy disk andprinted it out in the Media Network Center. My printer ran out of

ink while I was printing out my paper for class.


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I went to the discount store near my house, but they didn't haveink for my printer. Then I tried the computer store, but I got theretoo late; it was already closed. I tried calling my friend to see if I

could print the paper at her house, but she was not home. Afterall that running around, I brought the paper to the school onfloppy disk and printed it out in the Media Network Center.

Although the phrase after all that running aroundsounds fine,the phrase after allby itself would sound very strange in the

paragraph above. That it because after all has its own specialmeaning. The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishgives these definitions ofafter all:1.Used to say that something is true or is a fact, in spite ofanother fact or situation: "He wrote to say that he wouldn't

give me that job after all."3.Used to say that something else should be remembered orconsidered, because it helps to explain why something else istrue or a fact: "I don't know why you're so concerned, it isn't yourproblem after all."


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In the enddoes not have these special meanings.Here are a few more examples of this special use ofafter all.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the plane ticketto Europe will be expensive. After all, I do want to goright in the middle of the peak season.The sky was dark this morning and the weatherreport predicted rain, so I took my umbrella with me,

but it didn't rain after all.


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and in contrast to orA common mistake by Japanese students learning English is touse orin sentences where native speakers would use and. Here

are some examples from student papers:1.The sound of the waves orthe soft breeze from the sea mademe feel good.3.I plan to go to Kyoto to see some of the old temples orshrines.5.In Japan, there are many holidays orfestivals throughout the

year.In all of these sentences, the use oforsounds kind of strange.That is because oris usually used in the following ways:To indicate either-or choices:

For my vacation, I'll probably go somewhere warm like Spainor Hawaii.


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When we don't need to be precise because eitheralternative would be acceptable:

Let's have fruit for dessert tonight. Could you pick up

some apples or oranges when you go to the store?To define a term:

Rock decay or weathering is the result of reactionsbetween elements in the atmosphere and the rock'sconstituents.

In negative sentences:I don't like skiing or snowmobiling.

Sentence (1) above sounds strange because it sounds as&quotthe waves" and &quotthe soft breezes" represent aneither-or choice; that is, it sounds as if the writer does notknow exactly what made him feel good.


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, ,are for take care of and becareful Take care is an English phrase that is similarto , ,but in general the meaning of

take careof is quite different from .The meaning of could be translated" ( / )" " "as be careful to about or watch out for or

" ." " "even pay attention to Take care is an" ." "abbreviation of take care of yourself Take care

.of has almost the same meaning as care for They

"both mean to do necessary things for someone or

;something to be responsible for someone or." ( "something care for can also mean to love

.")someone:An example

,I'm sorry I can't come to your party but I have;to stay home and take care of my grandmother

'


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could in contrast to was able to

These two phrases are almost the same in meaning, but there aresome cases in which one sounds more natural than the other. Inparticular, when you are emphasizing something that you actuallydid, was able tosounds better.O.K.:

Even though the train was crowded, I could get a seat.Better:

Even though the train was crowded, I was able to get a seat.Couldis not incorrect in the example above, but was able tosounds more natural and emphasizes the fact that you actually did

get a seat. This is probably because couldis more often used todescribe events that did not actually happen, but that might havehappened if the situation had been different.


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In other words, couldis often used to describe counter-

factual events.

The next sentence is an example of this.I could get a seat but I'd rather stand.Here, the writer's is emphasizing that there are empty seats

available if he wants to sit; however, he is choosing tostand instead .

I knew that if I got to the station early I could get a seat,but I didn't want to get up so early.

In this example, the implication is that the writer actually didnot get up early, did not get to the station early, and so didnot get a seat.


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Know is a little different from the Japanese verb shiru. Knowdescribes a state of knowing about something, a state thatcontinues for a period of time, so it sounds strange to use the

verb know when you are describing the moment a person firstcomes to know something. Instead, find out, discover, andrealized are usually better, as in the examples below.

Strange:When I first knew my sister's secret, I was shocked.Better:

When I first found out about my sister's secret...When I first discovered my sister's secret...

When I first realized my sister's secret...

Find out and discoverare used if you learn about somethingfrom an outside source, for example, if your find out your sister'ssecret by reading her diary


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Realize is better if you have come to know something as aprocess of your own thinking, (for example, if you realizewhat your sister's secret is after thinking about a recentconversation with her). Learn can also be used to describe

coming to know something. Here are some more examples.

Strange:I was shocked to know that Japan is nearly last in the

world in TOEFL scores.Better:I was shocked to find out that...I was shocked to learn that...

Strange:

I felt sad to know how J.R. [the train company] doesbusiness.

Better:I felt sad to discover how J.R. does business.


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Learn in contrast to study

The verbstudydescribes an activity, the activity that youundertake when you want to learn about something. In contrast,the verb learn focuses on the moment when something hasbecome part of your knowledge. The verb learn also contains asense ofcompletion and permanency; usually, when you havelearned something, you know everything about it and you don't

easily forget it.The sentence below sounds because of the sense of completionimplied by learn. If you have truly learned something, that is, if ithas become part of your knowledge, you are normally able to usethat knowledge.


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Strange:I learned German last year, but I can't speak it.

It's possible to study something without learning it, however,so the sentences below sound fine.

Natural:I studied German for three years, but I can't speak it.

Natural:I studied very hard, but I didn't learn much.

Studying is an activity that we do over a period of time, butlearning is a change in our consciousness rather than anactivity. Consider the examples below:Strange:

I learned German for three years.

N l


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Natural:I studied German for three years until I finally learned to speakit.

Because learnimplies a sense of completion, it is not usually

when we are talking about subjects that are vast and that no onecan learn everything about. Instead, we use it with more limitedfields of study.Strange:

I learned science.

I learned philosophy.I learned music.

Natural:I learned how to play the piano.

It's hard to imagine that someone could learn everything aboutscience. However, you can studyscience orlearn aboutJapanese history.I want to learn about Western phscience.


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Learn aboutis similar to learn in that what you learn aboutbecomes part of your memory, but learn aboutdoes not have the

sense of completion that learn does, so it sounds more natural inthe sentences below.Natural:

I'm studying history.I'm learning about ilosophy someday.

listen and hearMany students use listen and hear interchangably. However, thereis an important difference between them. Listening describes anintentional activity. When you are listening, you are actively trying

to hear something.In contrast, hearing is something that happens without anyintentional effort. You can hear something even when you don'twant to hear it and don't try to hear it.The sentences below contain both listen and hear and show the

contrast:


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I listened outside the door, but I couldn't hear what they weresaying inside. [Note that even if you listen, you don't always hearwhat you are trying to hear.]His story was so long and boring that I stopped listening, untilsuddenly I heard my name. [Note that even if you are notlistening, you might hear something.]Finally listen is often used with to.In the examples below,taken from the Cambridge Advanced

Learner's Dictionary, listen orlisten to cannot be replaced by hear:What kind of music do you listen to?She does all the talking - I just sit and listen.You haven't listened to a word I've said!We listened in silence as the names of the dead were read out.

Listen, we really need to sort out our insurance claim thisweekend.Listen to this! You can win a holiday for two in the south ofFrance just by answering three simple questions.


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Likewise, in the examples below, hearcannot be replaced bylisten, because hearis describing something that a personcannot control/

She heard a noise outside.My grandfather is getting old and can't hear very well.You'll have to speak up, I can't hear you.HOWEVER, there are a few cases in which hearis used tomean something very close to listen to. In the examples below,

listen to could replace hear.I heard a really interesting programme on the radio thismorning.I heard the orchestra play at Carnegie Hall last summer.An audience gathered to hear him speak.Why is hearused instead oflisten to in these cases? Maybebecause the emphasis in each case is on the contents of whatis hear rather than on the activity of listening.


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male and female vs. men and womenMale and female are basically adjectives, not nouns. They can be

used as nouns, but in general, it is better not to do so when youare referring to people. I think it is because we often use male andfemale as nouns when we are talking about animals. Sentence (a)below sounds like a sentence about animals. If you are talkingabout people, it is better to use man and woman (or men and

women) so sentence (b) sounds better than (a) in this case.However, if you need an adjective, it is better to use male andfemale because men and women are nouns; sentence (d) soundsbetter than sentence (c).a.Males are thought to be physically stronger t than females.c.Men are thought to be physically stronger than women.e.This company treats the women employees the same as themen employees.g.This company treats the female employees the same as the

male employees.


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realize and notice

Many students of English have trouble with these two verbs, using

one where the other would be more appropriate. While they aresimilar in meaning, they are not identical, as we can see in thedefinitions and examples below, adapted from the LongmanDictionary of Contemporary English, 3rd edition.notice: to see, hear, or feel something

He spilled the tea, but Mrs. Whitley did not notice.You may notice a numb feeling in your fingers.He was too tired even to notice how tired and hungry hewas.Did you notice him leaving the party early?


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realize 1: to know and understand the importance ofsomething

Do you realize that you are an hour late?I realize how much she means to you.None of us realized the danger we were in.

realize 2: to start to know something that you had not

noticed before

I suddenly realized that he was crying.Later, we realized that we had met before inParis.I realized then how hungry I was.Tim didn't realize his mistake until the next day.


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The definitions of realize include the word "know", while thedefinition of notice includes "see,hear or feel". In other words,realizing is a cognitive event, something which involves thinkingabout a situation. Noticing is more of a physical event in whichsomething comes to our attention through our senses. It ispossible to notice something without realizing that it is important.

Pay attention to the contrast in these two sentences:

Did you notice what time it was when you came in? (That is, did you happen to see the clock?)

Did you realize what time it was when you came in?(That is, did you understand that you were late?)


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Here are a few examplesThese examples taken from theBank of English corpus created by COBUILD at BirminghamUniversity.

...Chinese prestige had plummeted so low in Lhasa thatimperial edicts were openly disobeyed and Chinesesovereignty was barely given lip service. If a small number ofofficials did indeed realize that Kawaguchi was Japanese,

they also recognized that it would not be in Tibet's interest toprovoke a potentially friendly ally.......conflicts and your natural weight limitations you canreduce the importance of fat as a measure of self-worth.You'll see how looksism causes weight preoccupation. And I

hope you'll begin to realize that getting thin isn't really theantidote to feeling fat. After all, many thin women still fear fat.A central theme of Bodylove is that you shouldn't have tosuffer or torment yourself...
http://titania.cobuild.collins.co.uk/http://titania.cobuild.collins.co.uk/


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...does not make much of in this particular report. But leavingaside blame for a moment, this list of things done wrong in theSahel suggests that only now are people beginning to realize

how the climate, in human terms, actually operates. Theclimate is defined by a relationship between the weather, rainor no rain, and what use people have tried to make of thenatural world.... his arrival describing him as a famous physician, he wasobliged to treat several patients. With the festivities in Lhasalasting another ten days, there was reason to hope that no onewould notice his absence, or have the means to do anything

about it, for some time. All the same, Kawaguchi was taking nochances. At Palti he began what became a routine, setting outjust after midnight...


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..."By the way, you know the other day when you went outrowing," he said, stalling for time, "did you happen tonotice a painting in the boat?" "Yes, as a matter of fact."

"Oh good, I've been looking for it." "One of Dr. Jonsen's,right? What was it doing there, Frank?"... Although I knew he was unusual, I didn't realize thathis difference made him disgraceful, an embarrassment

my family always tried to hide from outsiders. However, Isoon started to notice that he was always sent out of theroom to some quiet, distant part of the house when we hadvisitors. If we were outdoors and another personapproached, family members whispered ...Here are some more examples from the Cobuild Corpuswith realizeand notice taken out. Can you guess whichones originally had realize and which ones originally hadnotice?


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1.....seems as though the ads in just about every magazinepublished for women are telling us that we should worry aboutthe kind of little fine lines that form on dry skin. You pick up amagazine and an ad for a skin care product. The copy istalking about little fine lines that are beginning to form. Themodel, who is worried about these lines, looks as though sheis twenty...

2.4....since she was going to report you, too. And I rememberedyou told me once you didn't have one. Well, Mrs. Howardfussed and said how she wasn't going to go to jail on accountof you. I didn't how scared of the law she is. Anyway, I calmed

her down and told her I'd clean all the tanks in the humidifiersfor her. She hates to do that, see." Mrs. Dambar thanked herfor her intervention...


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3....because it was very important to her that she producea happy family. Her motivation was a good one - to giveher children a better home than she had had. But what

she failed to is that you can't control people's experiences.You can't make people "be happy" because you tell themto....4.

6....and found that the same problems had been noticedthere. By the fall of 1986, Ted's obsession with eating anddrinking had become a full-scale behavior problem. Wedidn't it during weekend visits as much as the houseparents who had to deal with Ted on a regular basis.

Finally we got another phone call. "Mr. Hart, we're worriedabout Ted..." there."


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4.6....crossed the Tsang Po on July 23, and reached the pilgrims' road on August 2 -- atotal of eleven days. The reader is offered no explanation for this discrepancy. Thoughhe did not immediately it, when he reached this tent his troubles -- at least his

physical troubles -- were temporarily at an end. He was at first, however, more than alittle apprehensive...8....learn to live in a changing body. And we can learn to love it, even when it wrinkles.I know that loving an aging body isn't always easy. It's hard to watch youth slip awayin the mirror and that you're no longer growing up but growing old. Eventually theaging process forces you to give up an idealized forever-young image of yourself.

How you feel about your aging image certainly...10....they spent more time working out than praying and were also employed asbodyguards and policemen during festivals. Few travelers to Lhasa failed to thepresence of these unique men of the cloth, but none got to know them as well asKawaguchi did, nor has anyone left us quite so full a description of them. For asalways, much as he might...

12....Gretchen propped her feet up on the railing and sighed. "Not now, please.""But it's worried me so much. I don't think it's fair that you should take so much blame.You've got to that it's no one's fault really. Things just happen.""What blame?" Puzzled, Gretchen turned to look at the girl. "It's not your fault theambulance took so long getting


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Using there is and there areThe phrases there is and there are are often used when we talk about the fact that something exists, butJapanese students of English often don't use these phrases often enough. The examples below are allgrammatical English, but they sound very unnatural; sentences with there is orthere are would be better.1.Strange: Look! A big cockroach is there!Natural: Look! There's a big cockroach (there)!3.Strange:I was disappointed to find out that a limit on the number of units a student can take existed.Natural: I was disappointed to find out that there was a limit on the number of units a student can take.5.Strange: Since I became a sophomore, things that I want to do and have to do occurred a lot.Natural: Since I became a sophomore, there are many things that I want to do and have to do.

7.Strange: A takoyaki shop was in front of the cram school.Natural: There was a takoyaki shop in front of the cram school.The reason why the first sentences of each pair sound unnatural is that in English, we tend to put newinformation toward the end of the sentence, after the main verb, in order to emphasize it. We usually put the oldinformation (the information that the listener already knows about or expects to hear about) in the first part of thesentence.For example, in the sentences in below (a) and (b), the old information is italics and the new information is in boldtype.

In a self-introduction:


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a.Hello, my name isVicky.c.I'm from the U.S., and I've been livingin Japan for three years.The italicized words are old information in the sense that these are the usual topicsfound in a self-introduction. The information in bold type is new information that thelistener doesn't yet know and can't predict.The sentences in (i) and (ii) below describe the same basic facts as those in above, but

the information appears in a different order. These sentences are grammatical but theywould sound very unnatural in a self-introduction.i.Vicky is my name.iii.The U.S. is where I come from and Japan is where I have been living.Here, my name, where I am from and where I live are emphasized as new information,while Vicky, the U.S. and Japan are old information. It's hard to imagine a context inwhich someone would use these sentence. Probably, we would only use them to correctsomeone's mistakes: 'Vicky is my name, not my hometown, and the U.S. is where I amfrom, not where I plan to study.'(Notice that in Japanese, the old information is often optional and can be ommitted. i O j B L B)


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Many times, Japanese students write English sentences which are

grammatical but which sound strange because the old information and newinformation are not where we expect them to be. In the sentence in (1)above, for example, the focus is on a big cockroach, so it is better to putthis phrase after the main verb. Likewise, in (4), the writer ouuting the focuson the fact that a takoyaki shop exists, so a takoyaki shop should comeafter the main verb. Using there is is a good way to do this.

There is also used in negative sentences when we want to talk about thefact that something does not exist, as in the following examples.A.Strange: In Japan, the debate over this issue has not been held muchNatural: In Japan, there has not been much debate over this issue.C.Strange: Without solving this problem, no debate can be done.Natural: Until we solve this problem, there can be no debate.

There's a useful reference book for helping you to understand thedifferences between the English and the Japanese ways of expressing ideasin sentences: Situation vs. Person Focus; p byJohn Hinds, published by o .

common problems in english usage

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