A Little English Too


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A common mistake I noticed in this forum is using the word break for brake. This will not show as a spelling mistake, as this is not a wrong spelling but wrong usage. (like bare for bear).

@ autosafari

Sometimes we do make mistakes. I, for one, typed payed instead of paid in one post.[embarass] I caught it while reading it later, but then, it was too late.
 
Thread Starter #19
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A correction: It is spelled as “Grammar”. :smile:
Drive Safe,
350Z
lol..[lol]

Sometimes we do make mistakes. I, for one, typed payed instead of paid in one post. I caught it while reading it later, but then, it was too late.
Yes that do happen many times.

Thats why I have mentioned in the first post of this thread

"Here we are not discussing about those mistakes in spelling and grammar which some times do happen while typing and go unnoticed/ignored during available edit time.

Topic here is about mistakes and wrong usage (without knowing the right word or usage) which convey a different meaning or message to readers than what is intended by the person posting it."


A common mistake I noticed in this forum is using the word break for brake. This will not show as a spelling mistake, as this is not a wrong spelling but wrong usage.
This one is observed in TAI quite often.
 
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Some tips:

try using

last night instead of yesterday night

this morning instead of today morning

and don't wish people good morning when it is past noon

Another serious issue I have come across in this forum is people quoting a post and saying something which is not at all related to the quoted post. This misguides the reader.

I am not sure if these relate to the topic.
 
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A common mistake I noticed in this forum is using the word break for brake. This will not show as a spelling mistake, as this is not a wrong spelling but wrong usage. (like bare for bear).

@ autosafari

Sometimes we do make mistakes. I, for one, typed payed instead of paid in one post.[embarass] I caught it while reading it later, but then, it was too late.
lol..[lol]



Yes that do happen many times.

Thats why I have mentioned in the first post of this thread

"Here we are not discussing about those mistakes in spelling and grammar which some times do happen while typing and go unnoticed/ignored during available edit time.

Topic here is about mistakes and wrong usage (without knowing the right word or usage) which convey a different meaning or message to readers than what is intended by the person posting it."




This one is observed in TAI quite often.
I believe I had once used break for brake and am sure either one of you should have mentioned it to me. From then onward, whenever I type this word I will look into it once again before continuing the sentence[:D]
 
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A simple spelling rule which could be of help:


'i' before 'e', except after 'c'


For example,

'i' before 'e': piece, relief, niece, priest, thief
after 'c': receive, conceive, conceit, receipt
 
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A very common error made by experts and novices alike- "I drive my motorcycle/ I took a test drive of XYZ motorcycle"

Now the thing to remember is, anything with two wheels or less is 'ridden' and anything with more than 2 wheels (no need to balance) is 'driven'.

So you always 'ride' a bike and you always 'drive' a car.
Govt. morons issue driving licenses for two wheelers as well as for four wheelers, instead of riding licenses and driving licenses.

Yes...and a Bear is always Bare [lol].
Bear remains at room temp., but bare increases room temp. [;)]
This is bare and basic fact.[:D] correct me if I am wrong.
 

Akash1886

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This is a great initiative by our fellow member. I would like to add my bit here with a couple of small suggestions to our fellow members.

1) To be effective in putting forward an idea, one needs to be good at sentence formation.

2) The spelling mistakes make the sentences appear incomplete and doesn't give out an actual meaning.

Eg:
my friend by Honda city at good price and less drive car its 2008-2009 model silver color
The member wants to convey that his friend purchased a less driven Silver colored Honda City at a good price. But, the sentence does not convey the same.

No offense meant to anyone but being one of the youngest automotive forum in India with so much goodwill and respect earned in a short time, I feel all the members including myself should revise their posts prior to clicking the "quick reply" button below the message box. It will not only help in improving content quality but it will also engage more and more readers.

Regards

Akash
 
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This is a great initiative by our fellow member. I would like to add my bit here with a couple of small suggestions to our fellow members.

1) To be effective in putting forward an idea, one needs to be good at sentence formation.

2) The spelling mistakes make the sentences appear incomplete and doesn't give out an actual meaning.

Eg:

The member wants to convey that his friend purchased a less driven Silver colored Honda City at a good price. But, the sentence does not convey the same.

No offense meant to anyone but being one of the youngest automotive forum in India with so much goodwill and respect earned in a short time, I feel all the members including myself should revise their posts prior to clicking the "quick reply" button below the message box. It will not only help in improving content quality but it will also engage more and more readers.

Regards

Akash
I am sorry brother. The example you have given is ok but you should not reveal the name of that member. It don't look good . It hurts.
@mods please remove the name of that member from example in post #24
 
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You seem to want an improvement in the quality of English used in this forum so I am happy to oblige. In the first post these are the mistakes that you have made. In turn is actually two words not one. Topic here should actually have been the topic here. I have few friends does not mean I have no friends it means that I don't have many friends. Someone who tells lies is a liar and not a lier. So let us discuss; to improve our English*should have read as let us discuss how we can improve our English.
Here we are discussing about those mistakes in spelling and grammar which
should have read as here we are discussing the mistakes. Got my car serviced should have read as had my car serviced. Misplacing a comma should have been putting the comma in the wrong place.
It really feels noble to undertake such a venture. Thank you!

Post 19 yes that do happen many times should have been does happen.

.
 
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Thread Starter #27
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^^^
Oh dear, please don't shoot the messenger.

Just thought that this thread will be used to discuss common errors in our forum to make communication better.

Teaching English was never the intention.

As rightly pointed out by Sg Sir, pushing Queen's English was not the goal
and I have mentioned in two posts that the intention is not to be perfect in grammar but only to make forum better in terms of communication.
Emphasis here is not to be perfect in grammar but to make communication effective without any ambiguity and also provide a pleasant reading experience for members and guests.
Typo error in spelling "liar" has been corrected now.

While contesting the usage about few and a few, you have ignored the additional explanation in grammar.

"I have few friends" means "I don't have many friends and I feel lonely" which denote a negative meaning and in terms of communication it is equivalent to "I don't have any friends"

Emphasis here is in proper communication only.
For instance, see this post from another thread
I wish I knew that you were going I needed an answer from them as to whether they were going to start making cars or were they going to stick to making trucks only.
The sentence quoted above is enough to give nightmares to an English teacher.
But to a common man in our country, it is acceptable in terms of communication since it conveys the message. Therefore correcting it is OT in this thread.
 
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Akash1886

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can anyone tell me the difference between "Whooping" and "Whopping"
Whooping refers to a cheerful state of mind.

Example: I was whooping with happiness when my girl-friend said no to shopping!

Whopping refers to a heavy, gigantic structure.

Example: Toyota Land Cruiser is a Whopping Car!

Regards

Akash
 

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