English - When ‘as’ is ‘a’

Many of us do not realise that some words should not be pronounced as they are spelt.

May I share with you the following:

1) “as” is not always pronounced as “ass” but as ”a”

association: a-so-ci-a-tion (not as-so-ci-a-tion, i.e. without the “ass” sound)

astonish: a-ston-ish (not ass-ton-ish)

Other words of similar bent - assign, assistant, assume, assess, assertive.

Asset, however, is pronounced ass-set.

2) “em” is not always pronounced as “am” but as “im”

embargo: im-bar-go (not am-bar-go)

empower: im-pow-er (not am-pow-er)

Other words - embarrass, embrace, employment, emporium.

Embassy, however, is am-bas-sy

3) “en” is not always pronounced as ”an”

encourage: in-cou-rage (not an-cou-rage)

engage: in-gage (not an-gage)

Other words - encyclopaedia, enforce, entitle, environment.

Entity, however, is an-ti-ty and entertain is an-ter-tain.

Entrepreneur is on-tre-pre-neur.

4) “es” is not always pronounced as “as” but as ”is”

especially: is-pe-cial-ly (not as-pe-cial-ly)

establish: is-ta-blish (not as-sta-blish)

Other words - estate, escape.

Escort, however, is as-cort, essence is as-sence, and espresso is as-pres-so.

If you beg to differ, I stand corrected. Please refer to the dictionary for more examples.

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Top 10 Spoken Languages

When it comes to ranking languages of the world, there are two main ways to compute the list. One method is to rank by mother tongue: how many people consider the language to be their mother tongue.

The second method is to rank by official language. We have scanned the various sources, cross-referenced them, tried to understand the discrepancies, and computed the following list of the ten most widely spoken languages on planet Earth.

French (Number 10)
Over 130 million inhabitants of this planet speak French. Mainly, they can be found in France, but French's reach extends to Africa, North America as well as in parts of Asia and South America. Up to the French Revolution, France's imperialistic nature led to the expansion of "la langue Francaise" and its presence is worldwide to this day.

Malay-Indonesian (Number 9)
Malaysia and Indonesia share lots in common, one of the main attributes being the language. There are many dialects, but the most popular is Indonesian. Malay/Indonesian is spoken by over 170 million people, and that's a whole lotta people.

Portuguese (Number 8)
After winning its independence from Spain in the 12th century, Portugal's influence expanded rapidly thanks to famous explorers like Vasco de Gama. Because of their work, the Portuguese speaking contingency reaches 175 million -- the bulk of Portuguese speakers hail from Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, France, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, and Portugal, of course.

Bengali (Number 7)
India's other language, Bengali is also spoken in Bangladesh and Singapore. In fact, Bangladesh is a country of over 120 million, most of whom speak Bengali. Combined, there are over 210 million Bengali speaking people worldwide.

Arabic (Number 6)
The official language in roughly 25 nations, over 260 million people speak Arabic, from Iraq to Morocco. Both Farsi and Urdu use the Arabic script but differ from Arabic -- Arabic being a Semitic language whereas Farsi and Urdu are Indo-European ones.

Russian (Number 5)
Russia's vast geographic reach and populous nation makes it sit at number 5 with 275 million speakers. But given the low life expectancy among men there and Arabic's accelerated growth, Russia looks like it will slip in ranking over the next decade.

Spanish (Number 4)
With anywhere from 350 to 400 million speakers, many lists have Spanish surpassing English, and by most standards, that is right. The official language in just over 20 nations including Andorra, Belize, Colombia, Cuba, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Spain, U.S., and Venezuela, Spanish weighs in at numero cuatro.

English (Number 3)
The "lowest common denominator," if one were to exist, English is the universal language with 500 million speakers worldwide. The language is officially spoken in over 50 countries, a record. Examples include: Australia, Brunei, Cameroon, Canada, Fiji, New Zealand, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, U.K., and U.S., not to mention many Caribbean states.

Hindi/Urdu (Number 2)
Ironically, Hindi and Urdu are essentially the same language. In Pakistan, Hindi is modified and written in Arabic script, whereas in India, it is written in the Devanagari script and called Hindi. Combined, 600 million human beings speak Hindi. While every expert would assert that India's population will surpass China's, chances are that there will always be more Mandarin-speaking people because English is widely spoken in India, but not in China.

Mandarin Chinese (Number 1)
Mandarin is spoken by over 1 billion people; making it the most widely spoken language on Earth. Besides China, Mandarin is spoken in Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Taiwan, and Thailand. Mandarin is fairly sophisticated because it can be spoken in four tones. But once you begin, you'll have a billion people to chat with...

It is interesting to note that both German and Japanese are spoken by over 100 million!

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Learn Basic Japanese Language

Good morning -- Ohayo gozaimasu

Good afternoon (day) -- Konnichiwa

Good evening -- Konbanwa

Good-bye -- Sayonara

Good night -- Oyasuminasai

How are you? -- O genki desu ka?

How do you do? -- Hajimemashite

Pleased to meet you -- Dozo yoroshiku / Yoroshiku onegaishimasu

I am fine -- Hai, genki desu

And you? -- Anata wa?

Thank you (very much) -- Domo arigato gozaimasu

You're welcome -- Do itashi mashite

Say! Listen! (to get attention) -- Anone

Excuse me (to get attention) -- Sumi masen

Excuse me (pardon me) -- Gomen nasai / Shitsurei shimasu

I am sorry -- Gomen nasai

Please (when offering something) -- Dozo

Please (when requesting something) -- Kudasai

Please show me -- Misete kudasai

Please write it -- Kaite kudasai

Please give me this -- Kore o kudasai

I'm sick -- Byoki desu

Let's go -- Ikimasho

Do you speak English? -- Anata wa eigo o hanashimasu ka?

Yes, I speak a little -- Hai, sukoshi hanashimasu

Do you understand? -- Wakarimasu ka?

Yes, I understand -- Hai, wakarimasu

Oh, I see -- As, soo desu ka

No, I don't understand -- Iie, wakarimasen

Please say it again -- Mo ichido itte kudasai

Please speak slowly -- Yukkuri hanashi te kudasai

Please wait a moment -- Chotto matte kudasai

What is your name? -- Anata-no namae wa?

My name is _______ -- Watashi no namae wa ________ desu

Where is it? -- Doko desu ka?

What time is it? -- Nan-ji desu ka?

How much is it? -- Sore wa ikura desu ka?

I will take it -- Sore kudasai

No, thank you -- Iie kekko desu

Do you like it? -- Suki desu ka?

I like it -- Suki desu

I don't like it -- Kirai desu

It's beautiful -- Kirei desu

Hello (on telephone only) -- Moshi moshi

Let me see -- So desu ne

Welcome -- Irrasshaimase

Where is the toilet? -- Toire wa doko desu ka?

Left -- Hidari

Right -- Migi

Straight ahead -- Massugu

A lot / plenty -- Takusan

A little -- Sukoshi

Why? -- Naze desu ka

When? -- Itsu desu ka

Fire -- Kaji

Ambulance -- Kyukyusha

Police -- Omawarisan

Help! -- Tasukete

Watch out -- Abunai

It's all right -- Daijobu desu

Quick -- Hayaku

Cheap -- Yasui

Cold -- Samui

Hot -- Atsui

Cake -- Kehki

Chair -- Isu

Child -- Kodomo

Cigarette -- Tabako

Coffee -- Kohhi

Coffee with milk -- Kohhi gyunyu

Fruit -- Kudamono

Good -- Yoi

Girl / Woman -- Onna

Man -- Otoko

Hot water -- Oyu

Hotel -- Hoteru

Key -- Kagi

Money -- Okane

New -- Atarashii

Old -- Furui

Paper -- Kami

Pencil -- Empitsu

Room -- Heya

Stamp -- Kitte

Station -- Eki

Store -- Mise

Taxi -- Takushi

Telephone -- Denwa

Ticket -- Kippu

Tea (green) -- Ocha

Tea (black) -- Koh-cha

Water -- Mizu

Small -- Chiisai

Large -- Ohkii

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Nouns have many forms

In English, the plural is formed by adding the suffix –s (book/books) or –es (mango/mangoes, lens/lenses), and number is indicated by cardinal numbers (three birds) – with some exceptions, e.g. three head of cattle (not three cattle).

Changing a noun from the singular to the plural may involve the mere addition of the suffix –s or –es. However, there are many nouns which form the plural in other ways, e.g. ox/oxen, child/children, tooth/teeth, die/dice, mouse/mice, knife/knives, man/men.

To compound the confusion, one needs to beware the pitfalls with nouns derived from other languages – both the singular and the plural are, almost always, as in the original language.

From Greek, we have criterion/criteria, phenomenon/phenomena, stigma/stigmata, octopus/octopodes (although octopuses is the usual form used in English), phalanx/phalanges, crisis/crises (pronounced “kraiseez”), analysis (noun)/analyses (noun, pronounced “analiseez”).

Latin contributed alumnus/alumni (masculine), alumna/alumnae (feminine), bacterium/bacteria, fungus/fungi, cactus/cacti (although cactuses is also acceptable in English), axis/axes (pronounced “akseez”), index/indices (pronounced “indiseez”, although indexes is also acceptable).

Hebrew contributed kibbutz/kibbutzim, cherub/cherubim (although cherubs is also acceptable); Arabic fellah/fellahin, mujahid/mujahidin; French bureau/bureaux, tableau/tableaux; Italian libretto/libretti, paparazzo/paparazzi.

Let us get back to English. Even though we have seen the possible variations in the formation of plural nouns, we must take care to recognise nouns which exist only in the singular, those which exist only in the plural, those which are both singular and plural, and so on.

Nouns only in singular form: These are nouns that do not have the plural form. Words like apparels, attires, equipments, furnitures, luggages are unacceptable.

Nouns singular in form but used both ways: These are nouns which are singular in form, do not have the plural form, but can be used in both the singular and the plural, e.g. aircraft, boar (boars is rare), carp, craft, deer, offspring, sheep, spawn, steer.

When one occasionally sees a report of some politician releasing fish fries (my underscoring!) into a pond, one should read fry (meaning “freshly hatched or young fish”) and not fries (meaning “French fries, or deep-fried potato chips”).

Noun plural in form but can form the plural: This is the example of summons which is plural in form but is actually singular in number. It forms the plural in the usual way (summonses, e.g. he has received three summonses since last month).

Nouns plural in form but singular in meaning: There is a group of nouns which are plural in form but are singular in meaning – and are used only in the singular, e.g. crossroads (he soon came to a crossroads), gallows, news (this is the 7 o’clock news), shambles (his room is often in a shambles).

Nouns which are plural in form and in usage: Such nouns, whose meaning is associated with only the plural form, do not have the singular form, e.g. arrears, doldrums, goods (the goods have arrived), remains (his remains were cremated), tidings, throes.

“Paired” nouns: These are nouns which are plural in form and in construction (being made up of two inseparable parts) and are used with the phrase “pair of”, e.g. scissors, trousers. (Note: the singular form is used as an adjective, e.g. trouser pocket).

Apart from the above nouns, there are nouns with singular and plural forms which, significantly, have different meanings. Examples are:

* fish/fishes and fruit/fruits (the singular is used in a generic sense, the plural is used to refer to individuals);

* desert/deserts (pronounced “dezert/dizerts”, the former meaning “an arid, barren place”, the latter “that which a person deserves as a reward or punishment”);

* due/dues (the singular form means “that which is owed as a debt or obligation” while the plural form means “a fee or charge such as for membership of a club or for enrolment in a university”;

* premise/premises (the former means “an underlying assumption as a basis for inference” while the latter means “a house or building, together with its land and outbuildings”);

* spectacle/spectacles (spectacle means “a visually striking display” while spectacles means “a pair of lenses set in a frame and used to correct one’s eyesight”).

And then there are group nouns, also called collective nouns – but that is another story.

I should like to conclude with this observation. Children grow up to distinguish the right from the left; conscionable people know right from wrong; and the recent general election tells us that the electorate are beginning to exercise their rights.

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Adjectives and adverbs

Adjectives and adverbs with the same form.

ADJECTIVES and adverbs are modifiers. Adjectives modify nouns and noun substitutes, while adverbs modify, mainly, verbs, adjectives and other adverbs.

In this exercise about adjectives and adverbs with the same form, can you tell if the words in italics are adjectives or adverbs?

1. The skilful magician pulled a hat with a wide brim out of a fluffy little rabbit.

2. The avid punster read from his collection of puns: “Finding it wide open, the burglar climbed intruder window.”

3. It was a pretty silly idea – his invention of an egg opener.

4. “I wanted to get you a pretty dress,” the burglar says to his wife, “but the darn shop was still open!”

5. He says jestingly to her, “You must be dead tired from all the running you did in my dream last night.”

6. The naughty boy said he put a dead mouse in his sister’s bed because he couldn’t find a toad.

7. Mother Cat says to her kitten, “Stay away from danger. You have only nine lives!”

8. The hummingbird is the only bird that can fly backwards.

9. “I just don’t know what went wrong. According to the cookbook, this is supposed to be a delicious dish.”

10. She wore her wedding ring on the wrong finger because she married the wrong man.

11. Whenever she is down, she cheers herself up by going on a shopping spree.

12. Did you write down your score for this test?

Answers 1. adjective 2. adverb 3. adverb 4. adjective 5. adverb 6. adjective 7. adverb 8. adjective 9. adverb 10. adjective 11. adjective 12. adverb

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