2015-2016: "English Plain and Simple" columns in The Manila Times(This listing is in reverse chronological order, the latest first. To access and read a particular column, simply click the indicated link.)December 31, 2016:
A letter from a purchaser of my English-usage books six years ago - 2December 24, 2016:
A letter from a purchaser of my English-usage books six years ago - 1December 17, 2016:
Blessed are they who can speak in simple, clear, effortless English — 2December 10, 2016:
Blessed are they who can speak in simple, clear, effortless English — 1December 3, 2016:
Why there’s really no such thing as a complex-complex sentenceNovember 26, 2016:
What sets apart auxiliary verbs from linking verbs in EnglishNovember 19, 2016:
Usage of the phrase ‘on the ground’ in official circles getting out of handNovember 12, 2016:
Is ‘percent’ a countable noun or not?November 5, 2016:
The sequence of tenses for sentences with relative clausesOctober 29, 2016:
Noun clauses as subjects don’t obey the sequence-of-tenses ruleOctober 22, 2016:
Three years apart, two SOS about ‘resulting to’ and ‘resulting in’October 15, 2016:
A subject-verb agreement peculiarity of inverted sentencesOctober 8, 2016:
Pronouns as subject complements always take the subjective formOctober 1, 2016:
Time for a quick review of the English prepositions (3)September 24, 2016:
Time for a quick review of the English prepositions (2)September 17, 2016:
Time for a quick review of the English prepositions (1)September 10, 2016:
Why Pinoy writers strongly prefer the modals ‘would’ and ‘could’ (3)September 3, 2016:
Why Pinoy writers strongly prefer the modals ‘would’ and ‘could’ (2)August 27, 2016:
Why Pinoy writers strongly prefer the modals ‘would’ and ‘could’ (1)August 20, 2016:
A daunting question about the usage of noun clauses and relative clauses (3)August 13, 2016:
A daunting question about the usage of noun clauses and relative clauses (2)August 6, 2016:
A daunting question about the usage of noun clauses and relative clauses (1)July 30, 2016:
Developing the confidence to match ‘confident’ with the right prepositionJuly 23, 2016:
Distinguishing between prepositions of place and prepositions of timeJuly 16, 2016:
Open letter on stories that Filipinas have the world’s smallest breastsJuly 9, 2016:
Choosing between full infinitives, bare infinitives, and gerunds - 2July 2, 2016:
Choosing between full infinitives, bare infinitives, and gerundsJune 25, 2016:
Crafting a ‘We want to know’ sentence that doesn’t offendJune 18, 2016:
Using the wrong words or just too many words for comfortJune 11, 2016:
Choosing tense for reporting verbs in reported speechJune 4, 2016:
Disrupting the usual declarative pattern for stronger emphasisMay 28, 2016:
Extreme liberties in the use of the word ‘presumptive’May 21, 2016:
Presumptuous reporting in political journalismMay 14, 2016:
Using indefinite pronouns followed by an ‘of’-phrase(This column appeared in the print edition of
The Manila Times on May 14, 2016 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.)
May 7, 2016:
The difference between elliptical sentences and elliptical clausesApril 30, 2016:
The two grammatical situations that need a comma before ‘and’April 23, 2016:
No, we shouldn’t ever stop learning English grammarApril 16, 2016:
The correct usage of ‘sometime’ and restrictive appositive phrasesApril 9, 2016:
How the present perfect differs from present perfect continuousApril 2, 2016:
Committing things to memory is not really a burning processMarch 6, 2016:
The right form of the future perfect progressive tense(This column appeared in the print edition of
The Manila Times on March 6, 2016 but was inadvertently not published in the online edition as scheduled. The version posted in the Forum's You Asked Me This Question section is therefore being provided to fill in the gap.)
February 27, 2016:
A gerund or a gerund phrase is always singular as a subjectFebruary 20, 2016:
Cautionary tale on asserting what is good or bad EnglishFebruary 13, 2016:
The form and uses of the perfect gerundFebruary 7, 2016:
The form and uses of the perfect infinitiveJanuary 30, 2016:
The proper use of articles for various types of nounsJanuary 23, 2016:
The little-heralded past imperfect tense in EnglishJanuary 16, 2016:
Phrasal verb usage and states of undressJanuary 9, 2016:
Revisiting the continuing forms of the perfect tensesJanuary 2, 2016:
A full-dress review of the perfect tenses (4)December 26, 2015:
A full-dress review of the perfect tenses (3)December 19, 2015:
A full-dress review of the perfect tenses (2)December 12, 2015:
A full-dress review of the perfect tenses (1)December 5, 2015:
What a sentence needs to take a true perfect tenseNovember 28, 2015:
An awful and otherworldly use of the possessive formNovember 21, 2015:
Frenzied arrival reporting for the APEC dignitariesNovember 14, 2015:
Distinguishing between main verbs, auxiliary verbs, and linking verbsNovember 7, 2015:
Phrasal verbs are phrases with a figurative meaningOctober 31, 2015:
How the contrastive conjunctions ‘even though’ and ‘even if’ differOctober 24, 2015:
Wordsmithing verbs of destruction in EnglishOctober 17, 2015:
The perplexing workings of the double possessiveOctober 10, 2015:
Outcomes of reducing subordinate clauses into adjective phrases (3)October 3, 2015:
Outcomes of reducing subordinate clauses into adjective phrases (2)September 26, 2015:
Outcomes of reducing subordinate clauses into adjective phrases (1)September 19, 2015:
When notional agreement prevails over plain grammatical agreementSeptember 12, 2015:
Back to basics in English sentence constructionSeptember 5, 2015:
The use of the prepositions ‘in’ and ‘at’ in American EnglishAugust 29, 2015:
It’s unwise to drop the helping verb ‘do’ in emphatic sentencesAugust 22, 2015:
In English, it’s the helping verb that takes the tenseAugust 15, 2015:
Two exceptionally instructive cases of bad English in mediaAugust 8, 2015:
Subject-verb agreement poser over noun phrase/gerund phrase usageAugust 1, 2015:
The active- and passive-voice forms of the perfect tensesJuly 25, 2015:
The use of modals to calibrate politeness when making requestsJuly 18, 2015:
Lesson on Latinate English word usage from a linguist in GermanyJuly 11, 2015:
Attributes that make some words ‘shades of meaning’ of other wordsJuly 4, 2015:
Is it grammatical to use ‘respective memorandum’ in court decisions?June 27, 2015:
‘All’ can actually mean ‘totality,’ ‘everything’ or even ‘nothing but’June 13, 2015:
Awful for priests to think they are infallible in their EnglishJune 6, 2015:
The possessive disconnect of ‘each’ and ‘everyone’May 23, 2015:
When can ‘that’ be safely dropped in reported speech?May 16, 2015:
When faulty logic overrides good grammar and semanticsMay 9, 2015:
What does it mean to be asked “Are you understanding me?”May 2, 2015:
A serious grammar malfunction about a wardrobe malfunctionApril 25, 2015:
Trouble in news reporting due to needless rhetorical flourishApril 18, 2015:
Shell-shocked by English grammar bombs in entertainment reportingApril 11, 2015:
A devilishly equivocal English grammar questionApril 4, 2015:
No column (no issue of
The Manila Times on Black Saturday)
March 28, 2015:
How to proofread questionable or downright wrong legalese (2)March 21, 2015:
How to proofread questionable or downright wrong legalese (1)March 14, 2015:
Puzzling instances of word usage in the English lexiconMarch 7, 2015:
How third conditionals differ from subjunctive sentencesFebruary 28, 2015:
Clarifying a questionable notion about the proper use of “each”February 21, 2015:
The use of ‘cuddling the enemy’ and other English malapropismsFebruary 14, 2015:
Stickler for perfect English objects to a phrase with a dangling modifier(This column appeared in the print edition of
The Manila Times on February 14, 2015 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.)
February 7, 2015:
The peculiar grammar of comparative clausesJanuary 31, 2015:
Grammatical pitfalls when ‘everyone’ is the antecedentJanuary 24, 2015:
The workings of the 7 other types of English pronounsJanuary 17, 2015:
How the English personal pronouns inflect for caseJanuary 10, 2015:
Why the nominative and subjective are lumped as just a single caseJanuary 3, 2015:
No earthly reason why the clergy should be bad in English grammar(2013-2014 columns in previous panel)
