English Tips

[وحدي أسير]

Bissmillah

I teach English as a profession in an Arabian context. While teaching and reading your posts in this forum, I have noticed many common mistakes Arab learners do.

In this thread, starting from tomorrow, I will be regularly posting tips that address these common mistakes. I'll try my best to simplify the language of these tips. Because I believe English can only be taught in English, I will not post in Arabic, and I will not reply to Arabic comments.

Hope you find this thread useful.

Sebah

___________

IMPORTANT: I don't care about the mistakes you do when you post here as long as you use English.

[وحدي أسير]

Many Arab learners can't name the different body parts in human bodies.
Knowing these parts' names is actually important.




Another common mistakes is not knowing the difference between fingers and toes.
Fingers are in your hand.
Toes are in your feet.

[وحدي أسير]

المشاركة الأصلية كتبت بواسطة وحدي أسير Another common mistakes is not knowing the difference between fingers and toes.

This was a typo, but a lot of learners do have this mistake.

When you use "another" before a noun, the noun should be singular.
If you meant to use a plural noun, you should use "other" instead.

Ex: I don't need to buy a notebook. I have another notebook at home.
I don't need to buy a notebook. I have other notebooks at home.

[وحدي أسير]

One of the main differences between Arabic and English is sentence structure. When I say sentence structure, I mean the way a sentence is structured / built.

Now, in English, there are many variations, but they all branch from a basic structure:

Subject - Verb - (Object, if needed).

Ex: Sebah slept.
Subject: Sebah
Verb: slept
Object: none because the verb doesn't need one. It's an intransitive verb.

Ex: Ahmad and I took a card from the shop.
Subject: Ahmad and I. It's a compound subject.
Verb: took
Object: a card from the shop

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So, to avoid writing sentences that are not grammatically correct, try to form your sentences based on this basic structure. We'll talk about other structures later on inshAllah.

[الأسيفه]

Thank you sister fo those tips,


I know the parts of the body, but here, I confuse between the "leg" and the "thigh", isn't the leg the part between the knee and the ankle ?

المشاركة الأصلية كتبت بواسطة وحدي أسير This was a typo, but a lot of learners do have this mistake. When you use "another" before a noun, the noun should be singular. If you meant to use a plural noun, you should use "other" instead. Ex: I don't need to buy a notebook. I have another notebook at home. I don't need to buy a notebook. I have other notebooks at home.

Good tip
Thank you

[وحدي أسير]

Hala

Thank you for passing by. I'm glad you find it useful.

I know the parts of the body, but here, I confuse between the "leg" and the "thigh", isn't the leg the part between the knee and the ankle ?

The "leg" is the whole thing.. from under your tummy to your feet. The "thigh" is the upper part of the leg.


Did I answer your question?

Sebah

[وحدي أسير]

I'm sorry everyone. I won't be adding a lesson today.
I need to get some sleep.

Will try tomorrow to add two lessons.

[الأسيفه]

المشاركة الأصلية كتبت بواسطة وحدي أسير Hala Thank you for passing by. I'm glad you find it useful. The "leg" is the whole thing.. from under your tummy to your feet. The "thigh" is the upper part of the leg. Did I answer your question? Sebah

Yes, thank you.

[::العلم نور::]

useful thread

[وحدي أسير]

المشاركة الأصلية كتبت بواسطة الأسيفه Yes, thank you.

It's a pleasure.

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المشاركة الأصلية كتبت بواسطة ::العلم نور:: useful thread

Hala.

I'm glad you find it useful. I hope it keeps being useful

[وحدي أسير]

Another common mistake in sentences is having a noun and pronoun referring to it in the same part of the sentence.

For example, you can NOT say:

Huda she likes to eat pizza.

You either say:

Huda likes to eat pizza.

or:

She likes to eat pizza.

You cannot use a noun and a pronoun referring to it in the same subject. Another wrong example:

Playing with my brothers it's takes a lot of time.

It can be corrected to:

Playing with my brothers takes a lot of time.

or:

It takes a lot of time.

Now, there is another mistake in the sentence. Many learners think that "it's" can always used like "it". They are completely different. You cannot have them in the same place without doing a mistake.

"It" is used when there is a complete verb in the sentence.
"It's" = it is OR it has. This means it has a helping verb attached to it.

[وحدي أسير]

[وحدي أسير]

Another common mistake is how indefinite pronouns are treated.

Now, before talking about this kind of pronouns, it's important for us to remember an important grammatical rule in English:

Singular subjects take verbs after adding (s) to them.
Plural subjects take verbs without adding (s) to them.

Ex:
Ahmad talks very fast.
My parents talk very fast.

___

Indefinite pronouns are words which replace nouns without specifying which noun they replace. A. Singular: another, anybody, anyone, anything, each, either, everybody, everyone, everything, little, much, neither, nobody, no one, nothing, one, other, somebody, someone, something B. Plural: both, few, many, others, several C. Singular or Plural: all, any, more, most, none, some

What does this mean?

It means when you use a word from group A as a pronoun, the verb should be treated as if it has a singular subject (add s). A pronoun from group B is always treated as a plural subject. A pronoun from group C can be treated both ways. (This is another lesson. We'll have it soon inshAllah.)


So, if we want to use "everything" as a subject, we would say:
Exs:
Everything looks very nice today.
Everything is expensive here.
Everyone hates her.
Nobody wants to drink water.

[** قــطــز **]

This is great indeed !

If I may..

ANOTHER = AN (the article) + OTHER
....OTHER = AN (the article) - OTHER

We may say,

ANOTHER one (Indefinite Singular)
THE OTHER one (Definite Singular)

and

OTHER ones (Indefinite plural)
THE OTHER ones (Definite plural)

Keep up the fantastic tips here

[وحدي أسير]

المشاركة الأصلية كتبت بواسطة Glee This is great indeed ! If I may.. ANOTHER = AN (the article) + OTHER ....OTHER = AN (the article) - OTHER We may say, ANOTHER one (Indefinite Singular) THE OTHER one (Definite Singular) and OTHER ones (Indefinite plural) THE OTHER ones (Definite plural) Keep up the fantastic tips here

That's true. You can use "other" with singular nouns if there was a definite article. (Was waiting for the articles post to discuss this, but it might be better to introduce it now.)

Thank you for the tip. Please, feel free to chip in at anytime.
Would definitely appreciate some help.

[وحدي أسير]

Adjectives, as you know, are words that describe nouns, for example, nice, happy, thin, beautiful, large, hungry, etc. Because people/things/places/... are different, sometimes we need to compare two items and sometimes 3 or more.

We have two ways to form comparisons in English. It depends on the type of adjective you're going to use to compare the itmes.

If the adjective is a one-syllable word, you add er to the end of it to compare two items, and you add est to the end of it to compare three or more items, for example, nicer, happier, thinner.

If the adjective is a more-than-one-syllable word, you do not add anything to the adjective. Instead, you put "more" before the adjective to compare two items, and you put "most" before the adjective to compare three or more items, for example, more beautiful, more comfortable, etc.


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Now, a mistake that a lot of Arab learners do is combining two ways to compare two or more things. For example, they would wrongly say, "Ahmad looks more nicer than Ali."
That's not right. You cannot have both ways to compare.

Hope it's clear.

[الأسيفه]

المشاركة الأصلية كتبت بواسطة وحدي أسير Another common mistake is how indefinite pronouns are treated. What does this mean? It means when you use a word from group A as a pronoun, the verb should be treated as if it has a singular subject (add s). A pronoun from group B is always treated as a plural subject. A pronoun from group C can be treated both ways. (This is another lesson. We'll have it soon inshAllah.)

I often commit that kind of mistakes, so, I found this tip really useful.
Thank you.

المشاركة الأصلية كتبت بواسطة وحدي أسير Adjectives, as you know, are words that describe nouns, for example, nice, happy, thin, beautiful, large, hungry, etc. Because people/things/places/... are different, sometimes we need to compare two items and sometimes 3 or more. We have two ways to form comparisons in English. It depends on the type of adjective you're going to use to compare the itmes. If the adjective is a one-syllable word, you add er to the end of it to compare two items, and you add est to the end of it to compare three or more items, for example, nicer, happier, thinner. If the adjective is a more-than-one-syllable word, you do not add anything to the adjective. Instead, you put "more" before the adjective to compare two items, and you put "most" before the adjective to compare three or more items, for example, more beautiful, more comfortable, etc. Hope it's clear.

Clear, thank you,
I have a question if you permit:
I took in my English class that if the adjective is more than one-syllable and it ends with "y", we treat it as one-syllable adjective.
For example:
happy we say: "happier" not "more happy"
easy --> easier
silly --> sillier
cloudy --> cloudier
and so on..

Once I was surfing on a french website that discusses the rules of forming comparison. One of the rules there says:

Two-syllables adjectives ending with : -y, -ly, -ow, -le, -er We form their comparison form by either adding "-er" or using "more"

The examples given are :

I'm wondering about that. Is it true?

[الحَياة كِفاحْ ~]

REALLY GREAT TOPIC
THANK YOU THAT WOULD HELP MANY PEOPLE

[وحدي أسير]

المشاركة الأصلية كتبت بواسطة الأسيفه I often commit that kind of mistakes, so, I found this tip really useful. Thank you. Clear, thank you, I have a question if you permit: I took in my English class that if the adjective is more than one-syllable and it ends with "y", we treat it as one-syllable adjective. For example: happy we say: "happier" not "more happy" easy --> easier silly --> sillier cloudy --> cloudier and so on.. Once I was surfing on a french website that discusses the rules of forming comparison. One of the rules there says: The examples given are : I'm wondering about that. Is it true?

Hala

Parts of what you said is right. I didn't want to go into it, but adjectives with two syllables are a little bit different. Most of them use more/most, but some of them (ones that end with unstressed vowels, the eeee sound, or "er") follow the er/est system, and there exceptions to this rule.

It can be a bit confusing, but referring to your attached example, I never heard of "more happy" or "most happy" as a way to compare happiness between two or more items.


Did I answer your question?

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REALLY GREAT TOPIC THANK YOU THAT WOULD HELP MANY PEOPLE

Thank you. I do hope so.

[الأسيفه]

المشاركة الأصلية كتبت بواسطة وحدي أسير Hala Parts of what you said is right. I didn't want to go into it, but adjectives with two syllables are a little bit different. Most of them use more/most, but some of them (ones that end with unstressed vowels, the eeee sound, or "er") follow the er/est system, and there exceptions to this rule. It can be a bit confusing, but referring to your attached example, I never heard of "more happy" or "most happy" as a way to compare happiness between two or more items. Did I answer your question?

Yes, thank you very much.