Author Topic: Links to my 2013-2014 "English Plain and Simple" columns in The Manila Times  (Read 82126 times)

Joe Carillo

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4646
  • Karma: +202/-2
    • View Profile
    • Email
2013-2014: "English Plain and Simple" columns in The Manila Times

(This listing is in reverse chronological order. To access and read a particular column, simply click the indicated link.)

December 27, 2014:
Of numbers and numerals and the usage of ‘will’ and ‘would’

December 20, 2014:
The nitty-gritty of the usage of the English modals (2)

December 13, 2014:
The nitty-gritty of the usage of the English modals (1)
(This column appeared in the print edition of The Manila Times on December 13, 2014 but was inadvertently not published in the online edition as scheduled. The version posted in the Forum's Use and Misuse section is therefore being provided to fill in the gap.)

December 6, 2014:
How an absolute phrase with a passive perfect participle works - II

November 29, 2014:
How an absolute phrase with a passive perfect participle works - I

November 22, 2014:
How the three kinds of objects work in English

November 15, 2014:
Lost in Tagalog-English cross-translation

November 9, 2014:
Should companies stop using ‘is in need of’ in job want ads?

November 1, 2014:
Bedlam when the verb shows up very late in long sentences

October 25, 2014:
Baffled by officious and bureaucratic ‘regards’ phrases

October 18, 2014:
Which is correct and why: “I didn’t (see, saw) her”?

October 11, 2014:
When is ‘were’ in the indicative or subjunctive mood?

October 4, 2014:
The various forms and kinds of noun clauses in English (II)

September 27, 2014:
The various forms and kinds of noun clauses in English (I)

September 20, 2014:
We can count as many as 23 auxiliary verbs in English

September 13, 2014:
The determiners as functional elements of sentence structure - II

September 6, 2014:
The determiners as functional elements of sentence structure – I

August 30, 2014:
How ‘mine’ functions as pronoun, adjective, or determiner

August 23, 2014:
Wrong or willfully violated mall parking signs in English

August 16, 2014:
The proper use of ‘can’ and ‘may’ as a mark of civility

August 9, 2014:
We shouldn’t mistake mass nouns for collective nouns

August 2, 2014:
The perils of glorifying a fallacious question with an answer

July 26, 2014:
A crash course in politically correct English

July 19, 2014:
Getting acclimatized to PHL’s weather terminology

July 12, 2014:
Fixing a sentence with a misplaced modifying phrase

July 5, 2014:
(No column)

June 28, 2014:
When it’s a dangling modifier that conveys the wrong sense

June 21, 2014:
Placing a modifier where it rightfully should be

June 14, 2014:
The choice between 'whether it is' and 'whether it be'

June 7, 2014:
Playing it by ear when to use a gerund or infinitive

May 31, 2014:
(No column)

May 24, 2014:
Dealing decisively with the ‘who’ vs. ‘whom’ conundrum

May 17, 2014:
Once and for all, when do we use ‘fewer’ or ‘less’?

May 10, 2014:
Some recurrent misuses of the English subjunctive – IV

May 3, 2014:
Some recurrent misuses of the English subjunctive – III

April 26, 2014:
Some recurrent misuses of the English subjunctive – II

April 19, 2014: Black Saturday
No issue of the Times

April 12, 2014:
Some recurrent misuses of the English subjunctive - I

April 5, 2014:
The pitfalls in constructing negative “used to” sentences

March 29, 2014:
Using euphemism to cushion the blow of request rejections

March 22, 2014:
How to construct the perfect tenses in the passive voice

March 15, 2014:
Why legal documents are not in plain and simple English

March 8, 2014:
Why do many academics tend to encode their insights into turgid English?

March 1, 2014:
On academic performance measures and job application forms

February 22, 2014:
How to improve your written and spoken English by really trying

February 15, 2014:
When using a parenthetical is necessary in a sentence

February 8, 2014:
The usage of ‘can’ and ‘could’ and ‘will’ and ‘would’

February 1, 2014:
Making the choice between infinitives and gerunds – III

January 25, 2014:
Making the choice between infinitives and gerunds – II

January 18, 2014:
Making the choice between infinitives and gerunds – I

January 11, 2014:
When it becomes a must to split infinitives for clarity’s sake

January 4, 2014:
Putting an end to the annoying ‘at the end of the day’ plague

December 28, 2013:
Searching for and finally finding ‘the winning edge’

December 21, 2013:
The proper way to spell compound words in English

December 14, 2013:
When the passive voice is needed for clarity’s sake

December 7, 2013:
The perils of using double negative constructions

November 30, 2013:
What does the idiomatic expression ‘if anything’ mean?

November 23, 2013:
TV advisory runs aground due to unparallel construction – II

November 16, 2013:
TV advisory runs aground due to unparallel construction – I

November 9, 2013:
Some syntax variations in English evoke practically the same sense

November 2, 2013:
Never too late to pursue writing if you’ve got the talent

October 26, 2013:
Misplaced modifying phrase fractures Bohol earthquake news

October 19, 2013:
Shock-and-awe English in Bohol earthquake reportage

October 12, 2013:
What do we need subjunctive sentences for?

October 5, 2013:
The four nominative functions of nouns

September 28, 2013:
Is it true that English has no future tense?

September 21, 2013:
Excessive use of ellipses beclouds the sense of sentences

September 14, 2013:
Isn’t the phrase ‘2,500 cringeworthy English’ itself cringeworthy English? – II

September 7, 2013:
Isn’t the phrase ‘2,500 cringeworthy English’ itself cringeworthy English?

August 31, 2013:
2,500 cringeworthy English in DepEd’s Grades 8, 7 learning materials

August 24, 2013:
How long should a sentence be to effectively deliver an idea?

August 17, 2013:
Rectifying usage myths about correlative conjunctions and appositives – IV

August 10, 2013:
Rectifying usage myths about correlative conjunctions and appositives – III

August 3, 2013:
Rectifying usage myths about correlative conjunctions and appositives - II

July 27, 2013:
Rectifying usage myths about correlative conjunctions and appositives - I

July 20, 2013:
Protocol should trump grammar at all times

July 13, 2013:
Strategies for avoiding tedious repetition – III

July 6, 2013:
Strategies for avoiding tedious repetition – II

June 29, 2013:
Strategies for avoiding tedious repetition - I

June 22, 2013:
Two often interchangeable forms of the English future tense

June 15, 2013:
An anatomy of a famous dog’s life-saving heroism

June 8, 2013:
What a difference the word ‘off’ makes in an idiom!

June 1, 2013:
Some puzzlers about collocations and Latinate phrases

May 25, 2013:
When the perfect participle and present participle hardly differ

May 18, 2013:
‘Nor’ doesn’t always need ‘neither’ to function

May 11, 2013:
An SOS on the usage of ‘resulting in’ vs. ‘resulting to’

May 4, 2013:
A fascinating question on the usage of modals

April 27, 2013:
The proper usage of the Oxford or serial comma

April 20, 2013:
It’s obtuse to say that seeing a doctor is ‘pleasurable’

April 13, 2013:
Using the tenses properly in main and subordinate clauses

April 6, 2013:
The functions and grammar of subjunctive sentences

March 23, 2013:
The maverick behavior of verbs in subjunctive sentences

March 16, 2013:
How a second conditional sentence differs from the subjunctive

March 9, 2013:
When it is desirable to position adjectives postpositively

March 2, 2013:
Should an object always agree with its possessive pronoun?

February 23, 2013:
How gerund phrases and infinitive phrases work with verbs

February 16, 2013:
The correct usage of the apostrophe-s to show possession

February 9, 2013:
Getting the hang of tricky contracted tag questions

February 2, 2013:
Using some idiomatic variations of the preposition ‘about’

January 26, 2013:
How ‘right of reply’ differs from ‘right to reply’

January 19, 2013:
The semantic difference between the present and the past tense

January 12, 2013:
Which of the indefinite pronouns are singular or plural?

January 5, 2013:
How different prepositions change the sense of verb phrases
« Last Edit: January 30, 2015, 11:59:22 PM by Joe Carillo »