Do u get confused between in's, on's, at's, etc.

Happy to be of help

Yes! This helps a lot! I am glad I started this discussion. :) I can always revert to it and check what should be used where. :) Thanx a lot. :)

Hi jwfarrimon, may I trouble u in future thru this discussion about any other doubt that I have in English?

Trust you to muddy the water!

I became aware of how complicated English is when I stopped using it on a daily basis after I moved to Italy. Not using it has nmeant that I often get stuck in the middles of a sentence and am undecided as to which word is correct. In Italian the rules are simple and it is much easier to learn. This is why I really do admire those Lotters who come here and post with what appears to be ease, even though it is not their language. Hey jw, you didn't clear my doubt though did you?

Hi Diana :) That is exactly the problem I have. I try to recall other sentences in which the same objects are used and all the prepositions (I think you all call them that - I didnt formally learn English grammar - he he) associated with it, and I find that confuses me some more. :) Thanks for letting me know that even people of English origin face such problems. But one thing, expression in English is far simpler. In my mother tongue, it is so easy to have misunderstandings, because of the usage! For example, u all dont differentiate in the way u all mention a laborer or a boss (except royalty, of course). But here, a worker is still addressed in a different way. If accidentally somebody uses the form of address for a laborer for the boss or neighbor, things get sour. :) This is what happened in our building a couple of days ago. So I was just appreciating English as a language. :) Thanks for responding. Have a good day. :)

Hi Vandana! You may be fishing for compliments from other than those whose native languauge is English. It is good that we both are trying to learning from each other. I fully agree with you that we keep committing some inadvertent errors because we tend to rely on others and feel that they are using the correct English. There is always scope for further improvement and we can always learn. Deepak

Hi Deepak, :) Fishing for compliments from people who come from native English speaking countries! Is it possible? :) I can definitely get away with flying colors in front of some of my countrymen, but getting away in front of those who can spot the errors in fraction of seconds! How wrong can you be? :( You are trying to learn from my expressions, and I am trying to learn from yours. :) Actually Deepak, there are instances when we pick a wrong usage primarily because we constantly hear it from somebody we think is better than us. Likewise, that person would have picked from somebody they admire. But the point is, it creeps in our language and becomes a permanent feature there. I'd like all those whose English is better than mine to help me eliminate those flaws. And that includes you. :)

Hi Deepak, I will gracefully accept the compliment that you seem to be hell bent on pushing down my gullet like some bitter capsule. . But more because it is embarassing me now. . Your vocabulary is really good. Though words like inadvertently are there in my vocabulary as well, I rarely use them, and therefore, when I really need them, they are like little kids hiding in some corner of my brain, difficult to find. :) I guess, I need to read a lot. :) I confined myself to essentially job related subject. :( I am lucky, I got a couple of good friends who will be helping me from now on. So I can safely say, mission accomplished as far as this discussion is concerned.

THE means you are referring to something. THE box. THE table. UP though is a sort of word with many uses. Look UP, pick UP, gobble UP (to eat very fast) There are many other examples that can be given.

Hi Hatley, thanks for the clarification. Yeah, it makes a lot of sense now. Can you also clarify when we should be using "the". And as I mentioned und jw's discusssion box, whether using the word "up" with a word like "gobble" is necessary? And thanks for the compliment. I wish I was intelligent. I am just an average person.

While I sympathize with your plight, myLot is not the forum to correct other people's use of the English language, in fact it is forbidden by myLot. http://www.mylot.com/o/guidelines.aspx [i]DON'T Post discussions, responses or comments criticizing members for bad/broken English or bad spelling. Everyone is welcome at myLot, we have users from all around the world and they are welcome regardless of their proficiency with the English Language.[/i] I will however point out that the use of the letter u for the word you is not proper English. It is only used as a substitute when texting messages in SMS due to a restriction in the number of characters in order to save space.

I will tell you that I am a native English speaker. The an, at and on words are no problem to me as I use them every day. As mentioned, a lot of the language is learned in phrases, not individual words. You also have to remember that English is not one language. England has been invaded by many peoples, all of whom left behind parts of their language. England then in turn spread their imperial empire around the world, gathering enven more words from foreign countries. The Vikings, Angles, Saxons, French, Spanish and Romans either invaded or influenced the English. English further borrowed, and continues to appropriate things from other languages, like the colour "kahki" from India and "tsunami" from Japan.

Hi mariposaman, I agree criticising might sound offensive, but guiding will not be. :) I assure u I am open to that, so whenever u come across any mistakes that I make, please make it a point to correct me. You all are not going to laugh at me. But once I am in my social circle, and they are all quite highly educated, if I make any blunders, they will be laughing on my face, or behind me, or may choose to correct me in rather condescending way. Would you, as my friend, like me to be ridiculed like that? I guess not. :) So help me out. :) For example - I think I made a mistake in the first sentence - guiding will not be. Isn't it? If it is not, then I am ok. But if it is, please let me know when I should be truncating such words. :)

Were and Where is one of my points of confusion as well. I often mix them up and use the wrong word for the context. Much to my sisters disgust - she has no such problem

Hi tamron, thanks for putting my mind at ease. :) But as long as people like jwfarrimond help, we can keep alive our dreams of becoming as gr8 as Shakespeare. :)

may I help I have a BA in English. were is past tense of was so you would say were you at the house yesterday? Where is asking where something is or someone is or something is, so where is von store from here? YOu go to something, but if you are going with someone else you might say I went with James too. No is opposite of yes,it is a negative like no I will not do that. Know means you have knowledge of something like I know my times tables pretty well. hope this helps.

Hello Spartan. :) Not only are you highly accomplished (French, Russian, and English - wow ) but even the discussions that you respond to are well above my intellectual level. :) I am not that highly educated you know. So I guess, I should feel honored that you accepted my request for friendship. :) Coming to this topic, mylot doesn't allow criticism, but mylot doesn't say don't guide them either! :) Don't tell me you are going to cross swords with me for that. LOL. Suppose I do make a mistake (and I make one too many), and you come across it (you don't have to read through all the discussions everyday just to locate my response), you can correct me, whenever you happen to read one of my responses. So that such correction does not lead to other people coming into the box and taking the discussion topic elsewhere, you could try including the part where I erred in your response, and use the correct English. Now, if you highlight (bold) only that bit, I would get the message loud and clear, and others wouldn't think it is criticism, or correction, would they? :)

I hope I got the message across. :( Now you would have realized what is my problem. :( .. where I erred in your response... kind of thing. Problem is, I am aware that I make such mistakes. :( And I don't know how to express myself any better. :( And as to using SMS language, I think Internet is flooded with information. English is one language where we can cut down on letters and bring down the memory usage (which I am sure is exhaustive). If I type the word you, I use three letters, and therefore the code needed to store that must be much more than what may be required to store just the letter u. Therefore, I thought using SMS language for regular words or usages such as by the way (BTW), oh! my god! (OMG), etc., would be ok. We are, after all, already using etc., i.e., ok, and so on in regular language. But I've realized that some of the mylotters, including you, are not ok with it. So I will elaborate those SMS words from now on. :) And sorry for such long posts. I just want people to help me out. :)

I don't know what you mean when you say I respond "discussions above you intellectual level"... it's been a while since I responded to some scientific or religious debates that might be considered a bit more difficult, but that's not the issue here. The fact that I don't like it when people use texting, or SMS language, as you put it, is only related to my personal belief that this kind of typing denatures the English (or any other) language, in such a way that the people will fail to know how to use the correct language... It's everyone's option either to use this type of writing, and my option not to take the discussions using it, if it bothers me too much. I am not in any way insulted or annoyed by it - I just disagree of its usage. As of the information storage problem... come on... you can't be serious about it... There's so much rubbish on the Internet that I think the space used by writing correct language is well used and not wasted in any way. I'll try and keep in mind your request of signaling your own mistakes such as to help you improve your English - I don't mind helping people learn things as I have much to gain from other people that help me learn new things too.

Vandana, Blog is the short form of web log. It is a like a website. Usually people use it like a personal diary. They can share their thoughts to the world through their blogs. Only difference is the latest post will be seen in the front page of the blog. I have written about 125 articles in my blog. If you are interested you may visit my blogs here; http://vijayanths.blogspot.com/

Yeah, mylotters are so tolerant! I am touched by a couple of them. They've gone out of their way to guide me, as you would ahve noticed. And one of them even volunteered to check all my previous posts and let me know where I was going wrong. That would've been a big exercise! 1000+ posts! So I suggested that she look at it prospectively instead of retrospectively. :) She agreed. Where can you get such help? And honestly, I dont know what is blogging! Can you explain it? Even Yugasini wanted to know what is blogging all about. :)

Easy to learn! I am forever confused about these words. :) I do try to read, and watch a lot of English movies. But I am not sure, I have the right words always. :) For example, right now, I wanted to write "I am forever confused on these words", then I thought that didnt sound right, and therefore, I chose a more innocuous way out. What then would be the right word in that place?

"With" instead of "on"

Hi jwfarrimond, thanks. That's sweet. :) Please help me in future as well. :)

[b] Oops! Sorry--typo! "...if they aren't much longer THAN," not "THAT." Maggiepie "WHERE'S THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE?"[/b]

[b]That would be fine. But you really have nothing to worry about; it's hard to tell you're not a native speaker most of the time! Maggiepie "WHERE'S THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE?"[/b]

Hi Maggiepie, that is such a sweet offer! :) Unfortunately, I've started writing longer posts (frankly only to improve my expression skills). What I had in mind was that whenever you come across my posts in any of the discussions that interest you, and you feel that I need to be told something, please dont hesitate in coming to my discussion box, and writing any response including the phrase where I err. Please highlight that with the mylot code (bold). That way, nobody can really call it criticism - which is against mylot rules, and I could still get your valuable guidance, without letting the discussion go astray. Do you think this is possible? Oh! I have too many doubts. :( So I can certainly do with a lot of guidance.

I have to second that! Vandana does a brilliant job - I make more mistakes!!!! May I just offer a tip? Instead of typing 'u', why not typ 'you' which is correct English and will help lengthen your posts. Might make more cents too - or sense?

Thanks Diana. I'll keep that in mind. :)

Thank u catdla1. But honestly, everytime I sit down to write, I spend some time trying to decide which word would be most appropriate from the in's, out's, on's, at's, etc. Thanks for letting me know u can understand me. :)

You can master your English here. Because most of the members here are from the foreigner and they taught us to talk for their language. Even do most of the people here did make any correction in our errors if there be? We can practice our English because of day to day use it as our main sources of writings discussion. Because I believe practice makes us perfect and experience is the best teacher. Therefore, I would say that to learn is to use it...

Yeah aerous, people in mylot are not paying attention to the language, they are just trying to make sense out of what we are writing, and responding accordingly. :) I am interested in mastering English, if I can do that of course. :) Oh! I know, at this stage of my life, it serves no purpose. But consider it as a hobby. :)

Hi Slewis, though I agree that English is a tough language, there are several plus points. It is not very easy to misunderstand each other when you use this language. The language itself is very polite unless you deliberately choose to use bad words. Sadly this is not true about my mother tongue. People have one misunderstanding too many with it, because there are some words that are used regularly for menials,and other words are confined to other people. If accidentally somebody uses the words wrongly, what happens is not very pleasant. :( That is why, I feel a bit safer with English, even though it is not my language. :)

Hi Slewis, I've asked jw so many doubts by now, he must find it annoying to answer. :) So I am taking the liberty of asking you one. :) "take away all or major parts of the profits", or "take away all or major part of the profits". Which of the two is correct? I know somebody jocularly suggested that I am fishing for compliments, but now that you know the kind of doubts I have, you possibly realize that I genuinely have doubts, and I want to improve. Please help me if you can. :) Thank's. :)

Yeah, actually I learnt quite a bit of English phonetically, by watching movies and television programs. :) But I have this bad habit, I get lost in the story, and then things dont really register in my brain. :) I even tried listening to the audio recordings for transcriptions as they would give me a better idea about the words. Generally, a drawl covers up such words making us miss them out, isn't it? :) Thanks for sharing the clue. I will definitely follow it. :)

yeah,sometimes I got lost in the movie either.hope both of us can learn english well! We need encouragement but not correction in the process of learning english which will do harm to our fluenc!

In my case, I think I am confused about the usage of the language. I hear something very frequently such as the word "anyways", in Hindi television serials. I was accustomed to using it as "anyway". I suppose the younger generation knows English better than me, because they watch more English movies, more television serials, and are in jobs that bring them in direct contact with English speaking people. Apart from this, I have never been able to forget that my primary education, i.e., right up to the 5th standard was in Hindi medium, because of which the only thing I know about English grammar is the spelling of grammar.:) So I do admire many mylotters out here.:) I also cannot follow some of the jokes that these people share, which I classify as expressions. We too have our own way of expressing I guess. So I feel I am missing out on those. I want to master all that and enjoy everything, including arguments:), to the fullest. And I want to be able to express myself correctly so that people do understand what I want to say, and not understand it in a way that I didn't want it to be.:)

Oh! I am always confused. If you'd read what I've written under some of the above posts, you would have realized how many mistakes I must be making! Some of these people have agreed to help me out. That should help. :) Hopefully, in a couple of years, all my mistakes would be a thing of past. :)

Hi gunjanpri, thank's for your support. It feels good to know people have no objections in trying to help others learn. :) Hope you will be helping me correct my mistakes as and when I make them. But just in case, so that there are no arguments raised by other mylotters, and the topic of discussion doesn't get sidelined, please leave your suggestions in an inconspicuous way, for example you could integrate the correct version of the phrase in your response, and highlight that. I will understand. Thank you for being open to the idea. :) Have a nice day. :)

Hi gracefuldove, please guide me regarding those structural issues. Yes, I wanted to bring that up as well. :) I know that problem does exist. Let me cite an example and get a clarification at this stage itself. For example I write "If the telephone is to be used by business purposes, it will be used more often, and it will also be be misused." Then, should the words "it will" appear twice? That doesn't sound ok to me. Well, I think you would understand what sort of problems I do face. Would you mind being my friend, and guiding me? I am sending a request. If you feel that is asking too much, you can decline the request. :)

Hi victoriousm, thank u for taking time to help me. Can you clarify why it is not John is sitting on the chair, and why is it John is sitting on a chair. The difference between "the" and "a". Why is it there? :( These are some of the places I can really be confused. :(

Well, then you can help me off and on. :)