I didn't do nothing!

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

Observe:

Thug 1: You can't do nothing to me man! You can go to hell!
Policeman: What is it that I can't do? Nothing?
Thug 1: You heard me right! You can't do nothing to me!
Policeman: So I can do anything to you?

End observation.

Obviously Thug 1 doesn't frequent this site often. His sentence doesn't make any sense at all.

Can't do nothing? Huh? What? Let us dissect this sentence and find the true meaning behind it!

Can + not + do + nothing = Modal Verb + Negative + Verb + Negative

In this case, the not is used to indicate the negative state of the modal verb can to indicate an inability of someone or something to do something.

Do is an intransitive verb which according to dictionary.com means to perform or execute something. The usage of do in conjuction with nothing (do nothing) indicates that nothing is being performed or executed.

So when we combine can not + do nothing, we get =

Inability of someone or something to perform or execute nothing.

Which doesn't make sense at all. What he probably wanted to say is:

You can't do anything to me.

Which means:

Inability of someone or something to perform anything.

Aaaah, which makes more sense because maybe the policeman is powerless to do anything. Why is he powerless? Who knows, maybe the thug has political immunity like many of those working at the United Nations who park their cars anywhere they like because they don't have to pay parking tickets.

So the moral of this entry is: Instead of saying I didn't do nothing, say I didn't do anything. It makes more sense.

Allah knows best.

Loosen up! If you lose, try again.

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

Here are some words for today:

Loosen - Verb
1. To release from restraint
2. To cause or permit or become less strict

Loose - Adjective
1. Not rigidly fastened or securely attached

Lose - Verb
1. Not winning
Present: lose
Past: lost
Perfect: lost

Loosen up - Phrasal verb
1. To become less tense, to relax.

I am writing this entry to loosen up myself before an exam.

Allah knows best.

Verbs as adjectives. Case study: Included

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

Case study: included

Included is the past participle of the verb include.

Taken from Dictionary.com:

include verb - to contain as a secondary or subordinate element

In some cases, included is used as an adjective, describing an object which has been subjected to the verb include.

Examples:

1. Included as an adjective:

The taxi fee is included in the ticket.

2. Included as a verb:

Two new ministers have been included into the new cabinet.

Further case study.

What is the difference between is included and was included?

In this case, the difference is the tense of the verb to be in the sentences. The first one is in present tense while the latter in the past tense.

Is included is used when you are describing something which is, as of the moment, included.

Example: The taxi fee is included in the ticket. Meaning: The ticket covers the taxi fee as well.

Was included is used when you are describing something which at first, you included it but at a later date you decided to exclude it.

Example:

Customer: I would like to buy a ticket to Rosenheim please.
Accountant: Eh? Excuse me? I'm sorry sir, this is finance, please hold on while I connect you to sales.
Customer: Oh, I'm terribly sorry. The girl before connected me here. I had no idea. Sorry to take up your time.
Accountant: No problem sir. This happens all the time. It seems that people nowadays are terribly useless at what they are supposed to do.
Customer: Tell me about it. The other day I had to fire 5 people because they didnt seem to like working. Yes, they wanted money but no, they did not want to work. How was that ever going to work?
Accountant: I'm terribly sorry to hear that.
Customer: Eh, thats finance right?
Accountant: Yes, sir.
Customer: I was wondering, whether the taxi fee is still included in the ticket?
Accountant: (What does that got to do with finance?) Oh sir, I'm sorry to tell you it is no more included. It was included last year but it has been excluded since January this year. I'm sorry to inform you that.
Customer: Oh, thats too bad. But hey, thanks for the info.
Accountant: Welcome.

From this lengthy example, we can learn that:

1. Good help is hard to get nowadays.
2. Was included is used for something which happened in the past.

Allah knows best.

Prevaricate

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

According to Reuters, China is encouraging its pilots to improve their English. But some pilots have the wrong attitude and are prevaricating.

Example taken from this article.

Word for the day:
prevaricate - verb(intransitive): to stray from or evade the truth, to make untrue declarations.

Allah knows best.

Did you know?

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

Did you know that a verb that follows a did or a do is always in its root form?

So do verbs that follow a does.

Examples:

Did you do that? -> The root form of does is do.

He does not know how to answer that question. -> Know is used here for a third person pronoun(he) instead of knows.

Yes, she was here but she did not eat the pie. -> Eat is used in its root form even though the event was in the past.

Allah knows best.

Phlegmatic

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

Word for the day: Phlegmatic.

phlegmatic - adjective: Having or suggesting a calm, sluggish temperament; unemotional.

Example:

Everyone seems to be annoyed and some even angered by his decision. His phlegmatic manner in announcing the decision might have also contributed to the resentment against him.

Allah knows best.

Incredible

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

I have to admit, Mathematics is sometimes simpler than English.

Mathematics is logical. For example, if you subtract a number with a number bigger than it is, it becomes negative and gains a minus sign to indicate that it is a negative number.

English would be easier if it had such a rule. To form an opposite of a word, add a minus sign before the word.

For example the opposites of efficient, sufficient and sane would be -efficient, -sufficient and -sane.

But since, English, like all languages, is not at all logical, the opposites of efficient, sufficient and sane are actually inefficient, insufficient and insane.

We seem to have a pattern here no? It seems that the opposites are formed using the in- prefix. It is like Mathematics, but with in- instead of a minus sign. Can English really be this simple?

Sadly, no.

Because when you plagiarise the work of another and you lose credibility by doing it, you do not become incredible.

Allah knows best.

ps: Plagiarise is pronounced 'play' (like playing football) + je (like jerk but without the rk) + rice (the food).

Simple present tense

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

After a long period (longer than even most medic student blogs) of no updates, it is only proper that I update this blog with something simple which is, the present tense.

The present tense is the simplest of all tenses in English because verbs retain their infinitive form in present tense. Since most verbs are learnt in their infinitive form, it is easier (at least for me) to construct sentences in the present tense.

Infinitive form of a verb is also referred to as the root word of a verb in most English classes that I have attended.

Examples:

Infinitive form of slept is sleep!*
Infinitive form of ate is eat!*
Infinitive form of read is read!*

When do we use the present tense?
I don't know about other people but I use present tense to describe habits, common facts and current non-continuous occurrences.

Examples for habits:

He plays badminton every day.
He never washes his hand. Ever.

Example for factual statements:

The earth is spherical.

Examples for current occurrences:

I am here.
He is here.

Frequently asked questions on present tense:

Why do we say 'I am eating' instead of 'I eat' when we are describing that we are currently eating? Shouldn't we use the present tense instead?

abd: Because it doesn't sound right. I'm sure most grammar books would explain it better but my explanation would be is that eating is a continuous action and therefore both the verb 'to be' in its proper tense and the -ing suffix is required.

But in most anime subtitles, the verb 'to be' and the -ing suffix are usually omitted when describing a continuous action. Are you wrong?

abd: I might be wrong but I think I'm not. I don't think anime subtitles are the best material for you to be learning proper English grammar. Try BBC Learning English instead.

So, there you have it. The simple present tense. Simple is it not?

Sentences with * should be read in a very cheerful and enthusiastic manner.

Allah knows best.

Indefiniteness

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

Articles a and an. When do we use them? When do we use articles in English?

When do we use the? When don't we use the?

A , just like an, is an indefinite article. The, however, is a definite article.

To help us determine whether we use a definite or an indefinite article, we need to look up the meaning of the word indefinite.

Indefinite adj - not clearly expressed or defined.
definite adj - clearly expressed or defined.

So now it is clear that we should use definite articles when we are defining nouns that are clearly expressed while indefinite articles are used when we are defining nouns that are not clearly expressed or defined.

Example:

I would like an apple please.
Which apple? The apple on the table or the apple in the basket?
I would like the apple which tastes best.

In the first sentence, an is used because the sayer didn't care nor did he clearly express which apple he wanted.
In the third sentence, the is used because it is clearly mentioned which apple the sayer was referring to.
And in the last sentence, it is clearly expressed that the apple mentioned is the apple that tastes best.

Allah knows best.

Much and many.

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

When do you use much and when do you use many?

Much is used for uncountable nouns while many is used for countables.

Examples:

How much water did you drink last night?
How many glasses of water did you drink last night?

How much of an effort will it take for you to finally do it?
How many times have you attempted and failed?

How much money do you have?

---

You can't count money eh? Money is considered uncountable in English.

Allah knows best.

Gaunt

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

Gaunt - adj. Pale and exhausted, as because of worry or sleeplessness.

Example:

Ahmad: Salam Abd, you're looking rather gaunt today.
Abd: Salam. I do? Oh, I couldn't sleep last night.
Ahmad: What seems to be the problem?
Abd: You don't want to know.

Allah knows best.
wassalam.

Its Wednesday.

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

Do you know that Wednesday is pronounced wens-day instead of wed-nes-day?

Go look up in a dictionary.

Allah knows best.
wassalam.

He and him.

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

Have you ever wondered whats the difference between the words ‘him’ and ‘he’?

They both have the same meaning right?

He and him are both pronouns that are used when referring to a male person in the third person.

So when do we use he and when do we use him?

Observe:

Ali is a 13-year old student. He likes mathematics. His mathematics teacher thinks very highly of him. But his friends, being the malays that they are, are uneasy about this and they systematically bully Ali every day after school. They kick him. They punch him. They even spit on him. Oh Ali, how sad of you to be bullied everyday.

He likes mathematics.

Why is he used here and not him?

They kick him.

Why is him used here and not he?

IF you observed the sentences above, you will realise that in the first case, he is used because we are describing Ali in a so called nominative case, meaning Ali is not the object of a verb,

In the second case, him is used because Ali is the object of the verb kick. Therefore we use the word him instead of he.

So when describing a male in 3^rd person without him being the subject to any verb, we use he and whenever that person is on the receiving end of a verb, we use him instead.

Now that we know the difference of he and him, we should also know the difference between who and whom where in this case, whom is used when the person is on the receiving end of a verb.

Allah knows best.

Penitent

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

Word for the day is: Penitent

adjective feeling or showing sorrow and regret for having done wrong

e.g. Korea and China share the same position that a summit meeting of the three countries is meaningless unless Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi shows more penitent attitudes toward Japan’s past atrocities.

Allah SWT knows best.

Yam bean.

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

Yam bean is sengkuang.

Allah SWT knows best.

Be that as it may

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

Zidane plays football. Zidane can play football.

Notice that when can is used in the sentence, the verb play loses it s? Can is a verb which I think is called a modal verb.

Other verbs, when used in conjuction with a modal verb, retain its original form. Hence the absence of s in this sentence: He can play football.

Other modal verbs are shall, will, must and may.

Examples:

Shall we go visit them today?
Will they be having rendang?
Must we help?
May it be then.

Allah SWT knows best.

---

Have a pleasant Eidulfitri and may Allah accept(worship and good deeds) from you and us.

wassalam.

Close, but no cigar.

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

One of the many usages of the word close is to convey the sense of distance between two objects. Another meaning would be to bring two things together to close an opening. ie. Please close the door.

When you close a door, would you say the door is closed or the door is close?

I would say the door is closed. The door may be close to the window but here I would like to emphasise on the fact that you closed the door hence I would say the door is closed.

If you look up in a dictionary, you would find close to be listed as both a verb and an adjective.

Close as a verb is defined as an act of bringing two things together to close an opening while close as an adjective is defined as a short distance between two objects.
(These are my definitions. To get proper definitions go look up in a dictionary.)

So close as an adjective can happily(and properly) be used with the verb 'to be'.
Example: The door is close to the window.

But how do you use the verb as an adjective?

Whenever a verb, when used as an adjective, is used in conjuction with the verb 'to be' it has to be used in its perfect form.

Example:

Close(present), closed(past), closed(perfect)
Present: Please close the door.
Past: He closed the door.
Perfect: He hasn't closed the door yet.
Verb as an adjective: The door is closed.

graduate, graduated, graduated.
Present: (I can't think of an example.)
Past: I graduated from a school here. I think that will be my only graduation in my life.
Perfect: Unlike my peers, I haven't graduated.
Verb as an adjective: (Not used. 'I is/graduated' is not proper English. Use 'I graduated' instead.)

open, opened, opened
Present: Open the door please.
Past: He opened the door.
Perfect: He hasn't opened the door.
Verb as an adjective: (Not used because open is an adjective. 'The door is open' is correct because open is an adjective.)

Confusing? Well as a summary,

'The door is close' is wrong. 'The door is closed' is correct.
'The door is open' is correct. 'The door is opened' is not used.

Have a pleasant Ramadhan.

Allah SWT knows best.

On abbreviations

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

This is not an entry about English but rather an entry about the usage of abbreviations in writing.

Abbreviations are used in writing because everyone, truth be told, is lazy. Hence we like to shorten things up.

Be aware that I am not entirely against the usage of abbreviations in writing but they are times when I wish people would stop using it. At least until everyone knows how to use it properly.

It really saddens me whenever a writer uses abbreviations without even trying to mention what the seemingly unpronounceable word actually means.

For example:

The NBA is trying to implement a new transfer system. NBA spokesman, John Every, declined to comment further on the new transfer system rumoured to be favouring teams that suck.

So what is NBA? I do not have a clue. It could be lots of things. It could be National Bakers Association or even Nudist Basking Aphrodites.

That is the problem with abbreviations. If the writer did not write what it actually stands for, people would never know what it is.

The writer could have always written it like this:

The National Basketball Association(NBA) is trying to implement a new transfer system. NBA spokesman, John Every, ....

See how clear it turned out this time? Now we know it is the National Basketball Association and not some National Bakers Association.

So the next time you want to use abbreviations, write a little bit extra to inform the readers what it actually stands for.

Allah knows best.

We specialise in...

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

We do not say we are specialise. Yes you may be specialists, but specialise you are not.

SIMPLE RULE:

'We are' + description.

Example:

We are big.
We are funny.

And not:

We are specialise.
We are rock.

Allah SWT knows best.

Spelling number.

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

Number is spelled with an N, a U, an M, a B, an E and an R yet it is abbreviated to ‘No.’ Why eh?

Allah SWT knows best.