Belong is a verb and this is how you use it

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,

Belong is a verb which is used to indicate possession or belonging to someone or something.

For example, you have a pen. You say: That pen belongs to me.

Just to be clear, it's wrong to say: That pen is belong to me.

Please, I plead you, don't do that.

Allah knows best.

Deadline

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,

Deadline refers to a particular time or date which something should be completed. [1]

Example: "The deadline is tomorrow and you are telling me this now?"

It is not to be confused with dateline, which is a line of text, usually at the beginning of an article or a news report, which shows the date and origin of an article.

Allah knows best.

[1] Taken from definition of deadline from Oxford Dictionaries Online.

SHAH ALAM, Selangor, Dec 12

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,

See the title? SHAH ALAM, Selangor, Dec 12.

That is what you call a dateline.

It is a line of text, usually at the beginning of an article or a news report, which shows the date and origin of an article.

So if you tell me that you have a dateline to adhere to, I would assume that whatever you are doing now must have taken place from the dateline that you are mentioning.

Allah knows best.

It's and its.

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,

It's a good day for the cat today. It has managed to get out of its cage.

It's is used when the phrase 'it is' is shortened to one word.

Its is used to show possession for the pronoun it. Like 'his' for a he and 'her' for a she, 'its' is for it.

This is grammar and I'm sorry if this entry slowed your learning process.

Allah knows best.

I need to learn grammar

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,

Recently, Wan Asmuri posted this comment on my blog:

"we should learn english without concentrating a lot on grammar.Grammar make us learn very slow."

I respect his opinion, but I do not share his view on this.

For me, grammar is fundamental in the process of learning a language. If I may quote Karen Armstrong from her autobiography of the bible:

Language is a complex code, ruled by deep laws that combine to form a coherent system that is imperceptible to the speaker, unless he or she is a trained linguist.

The rules of grammar are the laws of the language. An impressive vocabulary would mean nothing if the rules of grammar are not applied to it.

Take this collection of words as an example:

pretentious relucent be? indie artists must why

Is this English? The words look English. Spellchecker doesn't complain. So it should be English, right?

For someone who knows nothing about grammar, they might think that its perfect English(except 'relucent' though, I don't think anyone would use that word).

But even for someone like me, a struggling English learner with minimal knowledge of the English grammar, I would say that this is not English.

These words do not make sense at all. The words might seem pretty but without grammar, it lacks meaning.

The purpose of this blog is to share my experience of learning the English language and I intend to do it by learning grammar. It might be slow, but hey, I'm a slow learner.

Allah knows best.

Of things that happened in the past

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,

Don't you think there are just way too many tenses in the English language? You have the past tense, the perfect past, the present tense and more other tenses that I think I will ever use. Be that as it may, tenses are part and parcel of the English language therefore it is vital that a learner of the language properly understands the different tenses and their usage.

As a start, when do I use the simple past tense?

The simple past tense should be used for describing things that happened in the past.

For example, yesterday I attended my friend's wedding reception. So for verbs that we want to use to describe what happened at the reception should be used with the past tense.

I had Nasi Minyak at the wedding.
The Nasi Minyak was delicious.

Simple is it not? For things that happened in the past, we should use the past tense.

Allah knows best.

Common

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,

When do we use the adjective common? Here are several cases in which I would use the word common:

1) When we share something.

Example:

In these darkest hours, let us forget our differences and unite to face the common enemy!

2) When something is widespread.

Examples:

That is a common mistake.
Mat Rempits in Shah Alam? Sadly, that is a common sight.

3) Normal, nothing special.

Example:

I am but a common man.

So those are the cases in which I would use the word common. Interestingly, I have also seen the word common prevalently used in such phrases:

Common Manchester United!
Common Ahmad!

This is actually a common mistake. In cases like this, the word common should be replaced with the proper phrase: come on.

"Come on" is used when you want to urge someone to perform better.

For example, during a match, you would say "Come on Manchester United!". In this case, you are urging the football club to play better.

Hopefully this has helped my readers to understand the difference between common and come on.

Allah knows best.

An history? Seriously, why?

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,

Everyone who knows even a little bit of English should know that the article 'a' is used before words that do not start with a vowel.

For example: a loaf of bread.
However, when the word starts with a vowel (a, e, i, o or u), the article 'a' becomes 'an'.

For example: an apple.

Simple, is it not?

Well, no. English can never be this simple. There are always exceptions to the rules. Always.

So for words that do start with a vowel but somehow pronounced like they start with a consonant(letters which are not vowels) , the article used is 'a'.

For example: a uniform

Because uniform is pronounced you-nee-form.

How about words that start with a consonant, but the consonant is silent? Like that of the word 'hour'.

In this case, we use 'an' instead of 'a'.

For example: an hour.

So these are the rules and exceptions that determine the usage of a and an in English.

If I were to ask you, which article would you use for the word 'history'?

According to what we just learnt, it should be 'a', right? As in, 'a history'.

But why, oh why do we still see people use 'an history' in writings?

I am aware of the fact that people used to write it that way. The keywords here are 'used to'. Not 'we still do' but 'used to'. When old people write 'an history', I am probably okay with that but when people who are just as young as I am write 'an history', that is just being pretentious.

Allah knows best.

Atrocious

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,

atrocious adjective - extremely or shockingly wicked, cruel, or brutal

Atrocious. That is how you describe the massacre of the Palestinian people by the Israeli army.

So far, the merciless bombardments and assaults by the Israeli army that began 27 December 2008 have reportedly killed 1010 Palestinians, amongst them 315 children.*

Can we afford not to care about it? Would it be just if we do nothing about it?

Although we may be powerless to stop the butchering of our Palestinian brothers and sisters, God willing, we can help them get through this.

Please, donate to the Palestine Relief Fund.

PALESTINE RELIEF FUND

Cheque payable to MERCY MALAYSIA
CIMB Account No : 1424-000-6561053

Futher information can be found here.

Allah knows best.

* Source: Palestinian Ministry of Health/ Ocha

Heartless

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,

What is heartless? Would it be heartless if our government suddenly decides to privatise its one and only institution dedicated to the well being of our heart?

heartless - adjective Devoid of compassion or feeling; pitiless

Allah knows best.

Flower for baking?

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,

Living with a family that is involved in the Kek Lapis business, the house smells deliciously of Kek Lapis all the time. Sounds good eh?

Not so if you are trying to cut down your sugar consumption. The sugary smell can be too tempting for my weak soul.

One fine day, while my sister was busy preparing Kek Lapis in the kitchen and the house was unsurprisingly filled with the fruity fragrance of the Kuih, I decided that I needed to go out to get away from the delicious aroma lest my hope of cutting down my sugar consumption be not more than that of a new year's resolution.

As I took the car keys that were hanging on the wall, my sister spotted me and approached me with a RM50 bill, (Do take note that all this is made up because my family doesn't speak English at home.)

"Can you get me something while you are out?"

Being the helpful brother that I am, I happily obliged.

"Sure. What do you need, kak?"

"I need 5 kilograms of flower. I received a new order for more Kak Lapis and we are running short on flower. The usual type would do. Be sure to get a receipt."

Flower? Flower for baking? My sister wants me to buy flowers? By the kilo? She is kidding me right?

Well since we were in the mood for jesting, it seemed that there was no harm in seeing how much funnier this joke could get.

"Usual eh Kak? Is that hibiscus or sunflower? I seem to forget." I said that with a wry smile.

To my amazement, my sister stared blankly at my face as I said that.

"Huh? What?"

Judging by the expression on her face, maybe my sister was not joking after all.

"You said you wanted flowers right? So that's why I asked hibiscus or sunflower? I don't know why you would need them for the Kek Lapis, though. For the scent perhaps?"

I asked her, hopefully seeking explanation for the need of flowers.

"Oi, I meant tepung lah. Thats how the word flour is pronounced. Go look it up in a dictionary."

Ah... Flour! My sister wants me to buy flour, not flower! Oh, to be a fool.

"Oh, tepung ke? My mistake! Sorry eh kak." I apologised to my sister before I went out the house in shame, thinking that my sister needed flowers for baking.

Later that day, I did look up the word flour in the dictionary and it is indeed pronounced in a way similar to the word flower.

Allah knows best.

Flour pronounciation at www.howjsay.com

Second last?

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,

Second last.

'Second last' is a phrase which is used to describe something that comes before the last thing.

For example:

".... the second last thing we did at the event was to have him come up to the podium to give a speech. "

Alternatively, we could use the word 'penultimate' in place of 'second last'.

---

According to Dictionary.com

penultimate - adjective: next to last

---

So, instead of using "second to last" we could rephrase it like this:

" ... the penultimate thing we did at the event was to have him come up to the podium to give a speech. "

Allah knows best.

On why you should learn English

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,

I first read about it here. Thanks barkylarky.

Seriously people, this is why you should learn English.

Other links:

NST, The Star

Allah knows best.

One of many

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,

When using the expression "one of ... ", the verb used is singular because it refers to a single object from a group of objects.

Examples:

One of the things that I learnt in school was there are just some people you can't stand.

One of the students insisted that I was wrong. It was funny because if I was* really wrong, why would only one student realise it? What about the others?

Observe the underlined verbs. The verbs used are singular while the subjects are plural subjects. As mentioned earlier, the verb is singular because when we use "one of ...", we are actually referring to a single subject and hence the singular verb.

See? I do update my blog.

Allah knows best.

*edited after comment by H

Do or do not. Or don't.

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,

Don't = do not

When do not is shortened into don't, the o in the not is substituted with an '.

Allah knows best.

Break fast

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,

In this holy month of Ramadhan we get to have a few more minutes to ourselves in the morning because since we are fasting, we don't have breakfast. Instead, we break fast at the end of the day.

Break fast and breakfast?

Funny how those two seem alike. Come to think of it, breakfast is similar to break fast if you consider the hours in the night, in which we sleep and do not eat for I do not know of anyone that can eat while he or she is asleep, as fasting.

Curious with this revelation, I googled the internet to see whether the word 'breakfast' really originated from the phrase 'to break fast'.

And it seems that it does. At least, according to Oxford it does. Click here for link.

Enjoy Ramadhan everyone. I'm off to break fast now.

Allah knows best.

Fast

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,

I would like to wish my readers a pleasant Ramadhan.

Word of the day: fast

Meaning 1; adjective: at a high speed

Example:
Sorry, what was that? You spoke too fast.

Meaning 2; verb: to abstain oneself from eating and drinking

Example:
I won't be going for lunch today, I am fasting.

Allah knows best.

I won one won!

In the name of Allah, the most Gracious, the most Merciful,

Do you know how the word "won" is pronounced?

If pronounced in a way similar to that of the word "one", it becomes the past tense of the verb win.

If pronounced in a way similar to that of the word "worn" but without the "r", it becomes the currency for South Korea.

Now try saying "I won one won!". That should help you to remember the pronounciations of the word "won".

External links:

Pronounciation for won (past tense of win) at www.howjsay.com

Pronounciation for worn at www.howjsay.com

Allah knows best.

Key to the house near the quay

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,

If Bahasa Malaysia is the national language of Malaysia, why do developers still use English names for their projects?

Behold, Sunway South Quay.

---

Word of the day:

Quay

According to dictionary.com:
Noun - a landing place, esp. one of solid masonry, constructed along the edge of a body of water; wharf.

Quay is pronounced the same as key.

Allah knows best.

Never

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,

Sometime ago (This is a lie. This never happened. I'm making this up for this entry), during one of the trips to a factory of a prominent company over here, as a sign of goodwill from the host, they served us ham sandwiches and beer for lunch.

Me, being a Muslim, in no ways lamenting the fact that I could not indulge myself in those ham sandwiches, decided to go outside and enjoy the wonderful spring.

It was then, my colleague came up to me and asked me,

"You are not eating? We are having sandwich inside."
(This is another lie because they don't speak English over here)

"No, thank you. I am full." I spoke untruthfully to him.

"You are always full. Are you really full? Or are you just saying that because you don't like the food over here?"

I am always full? I didn't know how he came up with that conclusion since this was the first time I even talked to him. I never have had the chance to do it before.

"No seriously, I am full. The food here is actually interesting but seriously, there is not an inch left in here for that sandwich." Another untruth being told as I rubbed my tummy, attempting to indicate to him that I was full.

"Just a little bite wouldn't hurt, would it now? It's free after all. Here, I have an extra sandwich here." And he took the unappetisingly ham-filled sandwich from his plate and offered it to me.

I didn't want to offend him but it's ham! I don't eat ham. Well even if it was turkey ham I still would't eat it. Unlike some people who believe that when you are away from home it is permissible to eat meat which are not slaughtered in accordance to Islamic guidelines, I don't eat such meat. So I politely said to him,

"Thank you for the gesture but sorry, I don't eat pork. My religion forbids it." as I said that, I realised that I should have really told him straight away that I don't eat pork. Feigning that I was full wasn't really a good idea.

"Oh, really? So thats why you are not eating this sandwich?"

"Yes. Thanks for the offer though."

"Oh, interesting. So you have never had any pork in your life?"

"'No, I haven't."

Which is the grammatically proper reply as opposed to the more popular reply of 'No, I did not.'

The question asked for an action which started in the past and is still happening in the present so we use the perfect present tense (have + perfect form of verb) instead of the simple past tense.


For actions that happened in the past (started and ended in the past) , we use the simple past tense instead.


So if my colleague had asked me "You had pork yesterday?". I would answer "No, I did not." because the action being discussed was in the past (in this case: yesterday). In contrast, the question "Have you had pork in your life?" asked about an action which is referring to our life. We haven't ended our life yet, so we use the perfect present tense.

Summary:

1. The simple past tense is used to describe an action which was done in the past.
2. The perfect present tense is used to describe an action which began in the past but is still happening in the present.
3. When dealing with cultural differences in our lives, explaining is better than lying.

Allah knows best