Anomalies

Consider the following sentence;

Yesterday we fulfilled your document, but we would like to appoint some inconsistencies we found.

There are two glaring mistakes in this sentence, mistakes that have resulted in a lot of head scratching for some people.

The word FULFILL is used to denote  achievement, as in fulfilling a dream, ambition, potential. To meet a requirement, the terms or conditions of an agreement. To have a particular role or purpose, 

English classes should fulfill the function of helping professionals prepare for multinational trade.

In the sentence at the top of the page, the word FULFILL is inconsistent with the intended meaning.

The expression FILL IN or sometimes FILL OUT is what is needed. These two expressions are used in a similar way although FILL IN is more common and means to place specific information in the input spaces provided on a form. That means providing a NAME, ADDRESS, TELEPHONE NUMBER or any other information required to complete a form.

Please fill in details of the items you require. Please fill in details of the problems you had. Please fill out the form below.

The word APPOINT is used to choose somebody for a job or position. It can also be used to indicate a prearranged time such as in an appointment.

Eduardo Suplicy was appointed Human rights secretary. The CEO still has to appoint a spokesperson for the company.

We should meet at the appointed time.

In the example sentence at the top of the page, the correct expression is to POINT OUT.

We would like to POINT OUT some inconsistencies we found.

Please be very careful when using these particular expressions.

How strong is DO or MAKE

When offering corrections to my students for odd sounding structures, one of the most common errors that seems hardest to make go away is the use of DO or MAKE in the place of much better and STRONGER verbs.

There seems to be a tendency in Portuguese to use only DO/MAKE - Fazer - together with a noun instead of the verb. So we hear structures like;

• We need to make our registration on the site. (We need to register on the site)
• Doing this simplification. (Simplifying)
• I did a confusion. ( I confused the two)
• I will get my friend to do a recommendation of this product to his colleagues. (I will get my friend to recommend this product to his colleagues. )

While this may not seem to be such a serious problem, it becomes so because of the arbitrary use of DO or MAKE without any real sense of the difference in meaning between them.

So this post has two main objectives.

The first purpose is to try and define what these differences are, and the second purpose is to try and reinforce the concept of using stronger verbs in English.

So how do we understand the difference in meaning between these two words?

Basically, DO is used to refer to an action taking place.

DO as a Transitive verb ' Perform, effect, transact, bring about, finish.

DO as an Intransitive verb ' Act, manage, work, fare, serve, suffice, happen

• DO an exam
• DO homework
• DO (somebody) a favour
• DO exercises
• DO a course

Make is more related to constructing something.

MAKE as a Transitive verb « Construct, produce, create, establish.

MAKE as an Intransitive verb « Tend, contribute

• MAKE a mistake
• MAKE an appointment
• MAKE a phone call
• MAKE a list
• MAKE a noise

Inconsistencies can be found in the use of the two in specific expressions.

• DO Business
• MAKE a profit or loss.
• DO the dishes - where you wash and dry the dirty dishes.
• MAKE an offer
• DO research
• MAKE the bed - This means tidy the bed you have just slept in.

Because of the apparent duplicity in meaning when translated from the Portuguese - FAZER, there can only be confusion on both sides of the language table.

I believe these two verbs are very weak. English is known for it's vast vocabulary which includes verbs. There is a greater tendency for English speakers to be more specific in their language by choosing the more appropriate verbs rather than DO or MAKE.

In the case of a simple request like, Could you DO/MAKE a presentation for me?

What would you expect to do?

So let's make a list of possibilities

VERBS Prepare, Present, Give, Rehearse, Review, Revise, Research, Check, Outline, Write, Develop, Organize etc

The original question Could you ******* a presentation for me would be better asked using the specifics of any of the verbs in the previous list. The DO or MAKE request leaves the listener relying on context and best guesses to really understand what is required.

As an aid to more efficient communication it might be a good idea to get used to learning and using a greater variety of verbs.

Revert

This is supplemental to my weekly post.

Some time ago I was reviewing a student's correspondence with her, advising on possible changes and enhancements.At the end of the text, she had signed off with 'I will REVERT to you later.'

I immediately offered her a correction when she said, 'But we all use this expression.'

I began to explain to her what revert meant.
REVERT is used in the sense of getting back to, and it's here where the real meaning needs to be seen. In actual fact, REVERT should be used to mean getting, or going back to a previous state. Eg. With backup files, there is always the possibility of REVERTING to the most recent backup if a recent change has caused a problem or been lost.

In its use as a salutation the 'getting back to' has been misunderstood and where the writer intends saying I will continue this conversation at a future date, the understanding is that a previous state or conversation must be chosen. This can only lead to confusion.
When I asked my student where she thought it had come from, we traced the probable origin to some correspondence with some writers from India who have a very good command of English, but can at times misinterpret seemingly obvious meanings.

I would recommend that if you or your company has gotten into the habit of using such an expression, then you instruct your people to choose something less challenging.

Eg; With regard to the new processes recently implemented, I feel that after so many problems we should REVERT to the previous method until substantial changes have been made to the new system. (REVERT is used in its proper sense here) I WILL GET BACK TO you later if any further changes need to be made. (And this is the proper salutation)

How many anys?

It kind of sounds strange doesn't it. How many Anys do we use in English?

Well, this is a medium to serious problem when used incorrectly. 

I have seen it used to express;

• We have anybody to do the work
• He has any time to do the work
• There are any reasons for this problem.
• Where is the document you need? Anywhere.

         These are real world examples

An English speaker might recognize what is intended by each of these phrases, but let's see if you did.

• We have NOBODY to do the work. We don't have ANYBODY to do the work.
• He has NO time to do the work or He doesn't have ANY (enough) time to do the work or even He has plenty of time to do the work. (Confusing?)
• There are NO reasons for this problem. Or there are MANY reasons for this problem.
• The ANYWHERE answer should be SOMEWHERE. This means I don't really know where.

The misuse of ANY comes about because some translations of the Portuguese NENHUM, NENHUMA offer not only NO, but ANY as the translation. 

I believe that there is also a problem of pronunciation and Maths. The letters N and M are pronounced 'enni' and ' emmi' respectively. If we consider the variable N in Maths used to represent an unknown quantity and its pronunciation being so close to ANY ('enni' ) we might understand that there is a probable reason for its misuse. I have a friend who very much doubts this reason.

Together with these two reasons is the use of ANY when MANY should be used.

The rule in ENGLISH is that we use ANY ONLY in questions and negative sentences.

Do you have ANY money?
No, I do not have ANY money. He doesn't have ANY time for his Cats. Do they have ANY pets?
I have SOME money. I have SOME time for my cats but I do not have ANY time for work. They have SOME pets but don't have ANY space.

In these examples, I have introduced the word SOME, used in affirmative statements. We can also use A LOT to mean MANY.

So let's see how much you have understood.

1. I have any/many friends who are learning English.
2. I don't have any/some friends who are learning English.
3. Do they have some/any time to study?
4. There is anybody/somebody who likes to eat chocolate.
5. There is anybody/nobody who likes to eat Ants.
6. There isn't anybody/nobody to take the garbage out.
7. Anybody/Everybody celebrates their birthday.
8. There are any/many ways of sending messages.
9. Is there everything/anything I can do for you?
10. There aren't anything/many things that can be done without using a Cellphone.

I hope you can see what a difference the wrong use of ANY can make to your communication. Try doing the exercise choosing one of the options in bold, send me your answers or check them yourself in my next post.

Welcome - Bem Vindo - to 2015

Well, here we are with a bright new opportunity to get everything back into order.

I'm sure that you have all resolved to dedicate more time to trying to make your English as good as your Portuguese. I know I did. I have spent the last few weeks studying ways of improving my use of English, practiced my listening by playing Audio-books and watching a lot of those films I had set aside to watch during the holiday period.
I have read a lot and practiced some ONLY English conversations, and I am happy to say that I am feeling revitalized. I am fully ready to get on with things and make this the best year ever.

So, let's see what you have been doing.

Normally you'd have 1 class a week of 1.5 hours. That would be 6 hours a month. 11 months, if we discount the weeks of holiday you probably took, so that comes to 66 hours a year. Last year you were happy with 3 days of classes to keep your English swinging and constantly  improving to the point of becoming almost fluent. Probably not.
Imagine if you were to dedicate 3 days to your profession, being one and a half hours a week. Of course, it might take you a little bit longer to get that promotion, that new car, that house or dream holiday, but then again that was all the time you could find to dedicate to such an unimportant event.

And it seems that tomorrow will come along and miraculously, you will be a fluent speaker of English, But tomorrow never comes. It has to be today and your knowledge and use of English is becoming as critical as the many other skills you have to hone, to get ahead.

Just in case you've forgotten, the Internet provides an immense source of material for most of your needs. Many of you have the latest in Cell-phones and other portable devices, all with their own dedicated APPs to help you with your English. You can learn so much from these resources alone.
Now, a great number of you have regular classes, and for the lucky ones, supplemental material sent out on a weekly basis. Roughly 10% of my mailing list respond in some way to this material. Those 10% who do are well on their way to doubling their involvement in English and English Fluency.

LET'S MAKE 2015 A MEMORABLE YEAR, A YEAR WHERE YOUR ENGLISH TAKES OFF AND JUST KEEPS GETTING BETTER.