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Getting to Know English / Is your “were” in the indicative or subjunctive mood?

« Last post by Joe Carillo on November 29, 2023, 03:17:25 PM »

It won’t be surprising at all if this basic grammar question still stumps not just a few English writers and speakers among us: “How do you know if a sentence that uses ‘were’ is indicative or subjunctive?” I say this because this happens to be a very-often asked reader’s question in the almost 21 years that I’ve been writing this column.

So let’s demystify this usage again by doing a quick refresher of the uses of “were,” which of course is the familiar past-tense form of the linking verb “be” in the third-person plural. In “The villagers were happy,” for example, “be” takes the form “were” because “villagers”—the subject—is in the third-person plural and the action is in the past tense. But when the subject is in the third-person singular “villager” and the action is in the present tense, “be” takes the normal form “is”: “The villager is happy.”)

Statements like “The villagers were happy” and “The villager is happy” are in the indicative mood, which in English is the mood for conveying the idea that a condition or act is an objective fact, an opinion, or the subject of a question. In such statements, the speaker is talking about real-world situations in a straightforward, truthful manner, and the linking verb “is” takes its normal inflections in all the tenses and obeys the subject-verb agreement rule.

The polar opposite of the indicative mood is the subjunctive mood, which conveys possibility, conditionality, or wishfulness rather than an objective fact or condition. The subjunctive is the mood in these sentences: “If I were the dean of that college, I would have fired that incompetent professor by now.” “They wish that their president were more circumspect in his pronouncements.”

In the first example above, note that “be” is in the plural past-tense form “were” although the subject is the singular first-person noun “I”; in the second, “be” is likewise in the plural past-tense form “were” although the subject is the singular third-person noun “president.”

This is the understandable baffling answer for why subjunctive mood sentences in English use “were.” Always keep in mind that in the subjunctive mood, regardless of the person and number of the subject, the linking verb “be” always takes the plural past-tense form “were” instead of “was” or “is.”

There are four grammatical situations that specifically need the subjunctive “were” rather than the indicative “was” or “is:”

1. When the sentence indicates a supposition or possibility. In “if”-clauses indicating a supposition or possibility, the subjunctive “were” is used regardless of whether the doer of the action is singular or plural: “If I were to accept that foreign assignment, I’d have to take my family with me.” “Many legislators would be indicted for graft if the Ombudsman were to apply the law regardless of their party affiliation.”

2. When expressing a desire or wishful attitude. In “that”-clauses that follow main clauses expressing a wish, the subjunctive “were” is used: “I wish (that) she were more amenable[/i] to a compromise.” “I wish (that) I were the class president.” The wish or desired outcome is neither a present reality nor a future certainty.

3. When describing the outcome of an unreal situation or idea that’s contrary to fact. Given a hypothetical state or outcome, the subjunctive “were” is used in expressing the condition that’s unreal or contrary-to-fact: “If its polar electromagnetic field were not there, Earth would be devastated by intense solar radiation.” Without “if,” such constructions can sometimes take an inverted syntax: “Were its polar electromagnetic field not there, Earth would be devastated by intense solar radiation.”

4. When expressing doubt about certain appearances or raising a question about an outcome. Statements that cast doubt on observed behavior or raise a question about a presumed outcome should take the subjunctive “were” form: “Rod acted as if he were the only knowledgeable newspaperman in town.”

I trust that after reading this column, the subjunctive “were” will no longer be an exasperating grammar puzzler to any English writer or speaker among us.

Read this essay and listen to its voice recording in The Manila Times:
Is your “were” in the indicative or subjunctive mood?

(Next: Dealing decisively with the “who” vs. “whom” conundrum) December 7, 2023

Visit Jose Carillo’s English Forum, http://josecarilloforum.com. You can follow me on Facebook and Twitter and e-mail me at j8carillo@yahoo.com.

Essays by Joe Carillo / The Language of Business

« Last post by Joe Carillo on November 27, 2023, 08:33:16 PM »

The Language of Business
By Jose A. Carillo

As someone who worked for many years in corporate communication, I am sometimes asked what language would be best for business. Is it that bewildering language called corporatese, which uses stilted and convoluted English like “It has come to the undersigned’s attention that…” or “Yours truly respectfully requests that immediate action be taken on the aforementioned matter”? I must admit that for a while I was so beguiled by such lofty language that I started using it myself. I began to think that to be believed, to be followed, and to get results, you must not write as you would talk. You must use language several notches higher and airier than the English of ordinary mortals. Corporatese was the language of authority, of distinction. You must learn it by heart to be effective, to climb quickly up the corporate ladder.

IMAGE CREDIT: LINKEDIN.COM

In time, however, it dawned on me that corporatese simply could not be the language of business. How could sensible people who want results use such an obtuse, roundabout language? I also discovered that corporatese had become the norm in many companies not because it made communication more effective, but because it had been handed down by generations of executives who did not know any better. So, if not corporatese, what business language then is better? My answer now is this: it all depends on who the audience is. Our language of choice should carefully consider the odd mixture of executives, managers, staff, and workers in an organization. Each of them brings a business language of his own into the organization. The accountant will talk accountese with fellow accountants, the lawyers will talk legalese, the researchers will talk researchese, and the marketing people will talk…well, how about calling it marketingese? The corporation on a typical day is, in fact, a Babel of the argot of every profession, occupation, or trade that finds it way into its fold.

This was the situation when one time, an accountant in the corporation I worked for jokingly threatened his associates, most of them also accountants, in these exact words in Tagalog: “Huwag kayong magluluko at isang journal entry lang, yari kayong lahat.” [“Don’t fool around with me because I could do you all in with just one journal entry.”] Of course, being a non-accountant and too ashamed to ask, it took me a long time to understand that line. You have to know accounting intimately to discover how deliciously malicious that remark is; I will not even attempt to explain it here, so better ask your own friendly accountant what it means.

The point I would like to make is that in that remark, we are up against deep jargon—that short-cut language of professionals and tradesmen to the highly specialized knowledge in their heads. If he didn’t use jargon, it probably would have taken my accountant-friend ten times longer to drive home his point, and the joke would have been lost.

In any case, I actually hated jargon because it was often my job to interpret it painstakingly in writing for lay readers. But soon I learned to tolerate it, especially when I discovered that it was actually the professional’s way of being brief, concise, and to the point when talking business. Also, I saw that when used solely within a circle of peers, jargon could actually be as harmless as the coded language we sometimes cultivate with very close friends.

IMAGE CREDIT: COMPANIESHOUSE.BLOG.GOV.UK

The problem with jargon arises only when professionals and managers habitually use it even when writing or talking to lay people. Then it becomes a serious communication stumbling block. You probably have heard and seen some of those jargon-struck executives guesting on TV or radio, so confident that they look and sound brilliant with their jargon, but actually befuddling us with every word they say. They are the same people who, back in their organizations, will write corporatese and highly technical memos and letters that need to be painstakingly deciphered word for word, phrase by phrase. They have become so immersed and comfortable with corporatese and jargon that they could not imagine that they have actually become dark harbingers of confusion.

These jargon-fanciers, of course, are unfortunate that they have not yet discovered one thing--that the most successful executives and managers are those who do not publicly use corporatese and who, outside their professional circles, shun jargon like the plague. These executives and managers are the better communicators because they know that the language of business should neither be stilted and obtuse nor technical, but one that, without having to be clarified, can be understood perfectly by most everyone. The language that meets all of these criteria is, of course, plain and simple English. It is the English that knows and respects its audience, no matter who they are. It is, in fact, the superior business language that we have been looking for all this time—not knowing that we already had it and had already been using it all along.

****

The above essay on the "The Language of Business" appears in Part III - "Usage and Style" of Jose Carillo's book English Plain and Simple: No-Nonsense Ways to Learn Today's Global Language (Third Updated Edition, 2023; 500 pages), copyright 2008 by the ManilaTimes Publishing Corp. The book is available at National Book Store and Facebook branches in key Philippine cities. For volume orders and overseas deliveries, send e-mail inquiring about pricing and bulk discounts to Manila Times Publishing Corp. at circulation@manilatimes.net, or call Tel. +63285245664 to 67 locals 117 and 222.

Education and Teaching / Constructing a Story, Writing a House

« Last post by Joe Carillo on November 25, 2023, 12:50:41 PM »

Constructing a Story, Writing a House
By Antonio Calipjo Go, Forum Contributor

Writing a story is like building a house.

Your central idea, your theme, is the foundation upon which you build. Your sundry thoughts and notions are your nouns, pronouns and verbs, the blocks of bricks and pieces of stones that, piece by piece, give form, body, volume and structure to the content of your piece, the substance of your writing.

IMAGE CREDIT: ISTOCKPHOTO

Your opening sentence is the door, the main entrance to your house. If what you’ve come up with is a good introductory sentence, if your porch is sunny and bright, people will be drawn to come visit, will want to take a look at what you have in store there. Your first statement should catch the attention of passersby, pique the curiosity of your readers and invite a connection with your visitors.

The component paragraphs are the rooms of your house and each should serve to create the final big picture of how your house will eventually look like and take on an identity of its own.

Everything must be in their proper place. You wouldn’t be placing your toilet or bathroom right after the entrance hall, would you? The foyer leads to the living room, then the dining area and then the kitchen. Your conjunctions are the stairs that lead ever inward and upward, the deeper you go into your narrative. The bedrooms are the inner sanctum of your house, repositories of the innermost workings of your mind, the most secret stirrings of your heart.

Your closing statement is the roof that finishes and completes the entire construction. It has to be robust and strong, able to withstand the elements while making something of a statement, so that people seeing it from afar will say: What a pretty place!

Then and only then should you embellish, after you’ve written down your most important thoughts. Then and only then may you summon your adjectives and adverbs and lay down the carpets, hang the curtains, put up the blue lights and the chandeliers, the windchimes and the mirrors.

And, if you’re still up to the job, install the garden, bring in the grass and the flowers. Send in the gargoyles, your idioms, your figures of speech.

Your house need not have seven gables. It need not be situated at some distant wuthering heights. It is what you have to say that matters, and how you express and articulate your message. Truthfulness and honesty are the foundations of a sturdy house, what makes a house a home. If you have nothing worth saying, zip it. Go build yourself a shack or a lean-to or anything the big bad wolf could easily huff and puff to smithereens in one go.

Wanting is a verb, an action word. If you have this hunger to share what you are thinking or feeling, record it before it goes away. Capture it, in permanent black and white, and freeze that memory, fossilize that dream, house that moment.
------------

This advice was the response of Mr. Antonio Calipjo Go to a student of his who had sent him this query: “How Can I Write a Good Story?” A retired academic supervisor of the Marian School of Quezon City, Mr. Go is an advocate of good English usage who has been waging a crusade against badly written English-language textbooks in the Philippines for many years now. Several of his no-nonsense critiques and personal essays have appeared in the Forum over the years.

Site Announcements / Playlist Update for November 18 - 24, 2023 of the Forum’s Facebook Gateway

« Last post by Joe Carillo on November 23, 2023, 06:45:19 PM »

PLAYLIST UPDATE FOR NOVEMBER 18 - 24, 2023 OF THE FORUM’S FACEBOOK GATEWAY

Simply click the web links to the 14 featured English grammar refreshers and general interest stories this week along with selected postings published in the Forum in previous years:

1. Getting to Know English: “Still baffled when to use ‘can’ or ‘could’ and ‘will’ or ‘would’?”

2. Essay by Jose Carillo Retrospective: “‘My salad days,’ ‘the whole nine yards,’ and other idioms”: (Originally: “Great titles in the making”)

3. Student' Sounding Board: “‘All’ can actually mean ‘totality,’ ‘everything’ or even ‘nothing but’”

4. My Media English Watch Retrospective: “Did that newspaper columnist commit an egregious grammar error?” (2017)

5. You Asked Me This Question: “Setting the matter straight on the ‘not me’ vs. ‘not I’ usage”

6. Going Deeper Into Language Retrospective: “The need for logical thinking in our everyday life” (2017)

7. Essay by Jose Carillo: "Caution in times of reasonable doubt" (2009)

8. Time Out From English Grammar: “Pebble in my shoe, stone in my heart” by Antonio Calipjo Go (2019)

9. Language Humor at its Finest: “25 lighthearted denunciations of the English language” (2013)

10. The Forum Lounge: “Watch Japan's all-female Band-Maid perform as one of the world's best rock bands”

11. You Asked Me This Question: “A fascinating question on the modals of conjecture”

12. A Forum Lounge Retrospective: “Things my Mother taught me” (2010)

13. You Asked Me This Question: “Absolute phrases don’t function in the same way as appositives"

14. The Forum Lounge: “Stunning and magically beautiful sights from all over the world"

Click this link to earlier Playdate features!

Visit Jose Carillo's Blogspot on the English Language

Students’ Sounding Board / “‘All’ can actually mean ‘totality,’ ‘everything,’ or even ‘nothing’”

« Last post by Joe Carillo on November 23, 2023, 03:58:26 PM »

Let’s take up the many-splendored word “all” to answer a very interesting question raised about its usage way back in 2015 by a member of Jose Carillo’s English Forum.

Here’s the question of Justine Aragones: “Why is the indefinite pronoun ‘all’ treated as singular rather than plural in this popular saying: ‘The limits of our language are the limits of our mind, and all we really know is what we have words for’?”

IMAGE CREDIT: LINKED-IN.COM

“Another thing: ‘Is the use of the comma after “coherent” in the sentence that follows more a matter of style than an obligatory punctuation? ‘Next make yourself thoroughly familiar with the various tools of English for putting words together into grammatically and structurally correct, coherent, and clear statements.’”

My reply to Justine’s questions:

The pronoun “all” can be singular or plural depending on context. It could mean “totality,” as in “All that I have is yours” (singular); “everybody,” as in “All are required to come tomorrow” (plural); and “everything,” as in “All is fair in love and war” (singular).

But “all” has an entirely different sense in this sentence: “The limits of our language are the limits of our mind, and all we really know is what we have words for.” It’s functioning as an adjective to mean “only” or “nothing but,” and it makes the noun phrase “all we really know” singular in sense. This is why the singular “is” is used in the clause “all we really know is what we have words for.”

Now about the use of the serial comma in your other sentence: “Next make yourself thoroughly familiar with the various tools of English for putting words together into grammatically and structurally correct, coherent, and clear statements.”

Yes, using the comma after “coherent” in that sentence is a punctuation style called the Oxford comma. For serial enumeration sentences, many publications—including The Manila Times—actually do away with that last comma between the last serial item and the one preceding it. They construct the sentence this way as a matter of style: “Next make yourself thoroughly familiar with the various tools of English for putting words together into grammatically and structurally correct, coherent and clear statements.”

As for me, though, I prefer to use the Oxford comma every time as my personal style. Here, in a nutshell, are my reasons for doing so:

The serial comma’s usefulness might not be readily appreciated when the sentence has a serial list of items consisting of only a single word or two, as in “She bought some apples, oranges and pears” and “For the role of Hamlet, the choices are Fred Santos, Tony Cruz, Jimmy Reyes and George Perez.”

But see what happens when the enumerated items are long phrases with, say, more than four or five words: “The major businesses in the domestic pet services industry are traditional veterinary services, fancy pet grooming and makeover shops, a wide assortment of animal and bird food, freshwater and marine fish of various kinds and aquarium equipment and supplies for industrial and home use.”

Now try figuring out where each enumerative item ends and begins in the phrase “freshwater and marine fish of various kinds and aquarium equipment and supplies for industrial and home use.”

In contrast, see how clear and unequivocal the last two items in the list become when we deploy a serial comma between “various kinds” and “aquarium equipment”:

“The major businesses in the domestic pet services industry are traditional veterinary services, fancy pet grooming and makeover shops, a wide assortment of animal and bird food, freshwater and marine fish of various kinds, and aquarium equipment and supplies for industrial and home use.”

This is why I think it’s better to use a serial comma by default regardless of the length of the phrase for each item in an enumerative sequence.

Visit Jose Carillo’s English Forum at http://josecarilloforum.com. Visit me on Facebook. Follow me at Twitter.com @J8Carillo.

Getting to Know English / Still baffled when to use “can” or “could” and “will” or “would”?

« Last post by Joe Carillo on November 22, 2023, 11:23:53 PM »

I think it’s high time for a full review of the choice between the function words “can” and “could,” “will” and “would,” and also “shall” and “should.” From my experience as an editor, they continue to be frequent pitfalls to many English learners and even some long-time writers in English.

The most important thing to remember about these word-pairs is that they aren’t meant for conveying simple facts or absolute certainties. They are distinct grammatical forms called modal auxiliaries or modals, and they work in tandem with a given verb to convey varying shades of necessity, advice, ability, expectation, permission, possibility, or conditionality.

“Can” or “could.” These two modals convey the idea of ability, possibility, permission, or potential to perform an action or do a task—“can” is the present-tense form, and “could” the past-tense form. Use “can” to convey a current ability, as in “As a single woman I can write novels,” but use “could not” when that ability has been lost, as in “As a mom of three hyperactive toddlers I could not write novels anymore.” Use “can” to convey possibility: “The team can win if its members are more disciplined.” Use “can” to ask permission: “Can I go out with my playmates now?” And use “can” to indicate potential: “With his political acumen, he can be presidential timber.”

The modal “could” likewise conveys a deferential or polite request, offer, or suggestion: “Could you tell me how to leave the send-off party now without offending the boss?” But among social, age, or professional coequals, “can” is more suitable without raising eyebrows: “Can you tell me how to leave the send-off party now without offending the boss?”

“Will” or “would.” The usual function of “will” is to be a verbal auxiliary for expressing the simple futurity of an action, as in “Evelyn will go to Tokyo tomorrow.” As a modal, however, “will” works to convey choice, willingness, intention, consent, or habitual or customary action. Choice: “I will take the train instead of the bus.” Willingness: “I will go if you wish.” Intention: “I will prove you wrong.” Consent: “Yes, the school will admit you.” Habitual or customary action: “She will get angry over trivial things.”

In the past tense, the modal “will” inflects to “would.” To convey choice: “That year, I would fly first class rather than economy.” To convey willingness: “In my mid-twenties, I would go wherever I was assigned.” To convey habitual or customary action: “After breaking up with her fiancé, Joanna would get angry over trivial things.”

In conditional sentences, the modal “would” works to express probability or presumption of something happening in both present and past, as in “That overambitious politician (would win, would have won) hands down if not for the very serious corruption allegations against him.”

Likewise, the modal “would” conveys politeness and deference in expressing intent or desire, as in “Would you consider my daughter for that overseas job?” This differs from the rather pointed request conveyed when the modal “will” is used: “Will you consider my daughter for that overseas job?”

As quick exercise, are “will” and “would” used correctly in these two questions? “Will it rain tomorrow? If it wouldn’t, would it be a sunny day?”

Yes, both are correct. The first question uses “will” as a verbal auxiliary to express simple futurity; the second is a conditional construction where (a) the “if”-clause uses the modal “wouldn’t” to express negative possibility, and (b) where the result clause also uses the modal “would” to express expectation of a desired outcome in question form.

“Shall” or “should.” In American English (the English we use in the Philippines), the modals “shall” or “should” are used sparingly to state polite questions (suggestive that permission is being asked) in the first-person, as in “Should I get a taxi for you now, ma’am?” More commonly, the modal “shall” is used in formal written directives and records of corporate proceedings, as in “All workers shall be responsible for the upkeep of their respective work areas.”

This review should have given you greater confidence in using these modals.

Read this essay and listen to its voice recording in The Manila Times:
Still baffled when to use “can” or “could” and “will” or “would”?

Next: Are you using “were” in the indicative or subjunctive mood? November 30, 2023

Visit Jose Carillo’s English Forum, http://josecarilloforum.com. You can follow me on Facebook and Twitter and e-mail me at j8carillo@yahoo.com.

Lounge / Band-Maid, all-female Japanese band (rock, metal, pop, jazz, blues)

« Last post by Gerry T. Galacio on November 20, 2023, 11:23:10 PM »

Band-Maid is an all-female Japanese band that’s considered as one of the best rock bands in the world today. The band combines genres such as rock (hard, progressive, punk), metal, pop, blues, and jazz. Formed in 2013, the band is composed of Miku (founder, rhythm guitarist, lyricist, vocalist), Saiki (vocalist), Kanami (songwriter, lead guitarist), Misa (bassist), and Akane (drummer). For more information about this band, please surf to my blog post at https://campusconnection.blogspot.com/2022/02/band-maid.html

For starters, you can listen to:

"Thrill" (the band's first MV; 2015) at https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Uds7g3M-4lQ

"Freedom" (the band's anthem with a great drum solo) at https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FHpuEqMAcDg (this upbeat song will perk up your energy for days)

"Daydreaming" (midtempo power ballad; watch out for the guitar solo) at https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RCaeUkrItyY

"Secret Maiko Lips," "Gion-cho" by Band-Maiko, alter ego of Band-Maid; combines electronic instruments with traditional instruments, with the girls in kimonos

"Manners" (a blend of rock, jazz, and blues with a great bassline)

"Dice +Hate?" (bass versus lead guitar) in Lollapalooza 2023

"Wonderland" (blend of rock, pop, jazz, and blues)

"Domination" (another anthem; watch how fast the bassist switches from using a pick to slapping)

"Blooming" (featured in Netflix movie "Kate")

"Influencer"

"Onset" (instrumental)

"From Now On" (instrumental)

"Endless Story" (the song that Band-Maid usually closes their concerts with)

"About Us" (slow tempo song; tribute to fans during pandemic)

"Catharsis" (acoustic version)

Band-Maid GIF:

Lounge / Facebook page "Family Code of the Philippines"

« Last post by Gerry T. Galacio on November 20, 2023, 10:03:36 PM »

Link: https://www.facebook.com/familycodephilippines/

Some of the topics discussed in this FB page are:

1. "Alienation of affection": Can you file a civil case for damages against the homewrecker who took your spouse away from you and your children?

2. "Irreconcilable marital differences" as ground for divorce in the current divorce bills in the House of Representatives and the Senate

3. Protecting teachers from baseless allegations of child abuse under RA 7610 "Anti-Child Abuse Law" | Senate Bills 540 and 632, House Bills 364, 549, and 6940 on protecting teachers by amending RA 7610

4. If your wife or husband (or your
live-in partner) wins the lotto or any game of chance, will you have a share in it? | Systems of property relations between spouses or between live-in partners under the Family Code

5. A wedding through videoconferencing and solemnized by a provincial governor? A wedding where the bride and groom are abroad but the solemnizing officer (priest, rabbi, imam, or minister) is in the Philippines?

6. Legislation to protect Filipino children or teenagers who are social media influencers? Social media activities as "child labor" that needs to be regulated? | Articles 225 up to 227 of the Family Code

7. Supreme Court tears down the "iron barrier" (aka "iron curtain") between the legitimate and illegitimate sides of a family

8. New terms for legitimate children ("marital children") and illegitimate children ("non-marital children")

9. If your foreigner-husband divorced you and now refuses to give your child financial support because he claims he's not bound by the Philippine law on support, can you charge him criminally under RA 9262 VAWC?

10. Harmonizing Articles 14, 96, 124, 211, and 225 of the Family Code with Republic Act 9710 or the "Magna Carta of Women"

11. A child is presumed legitimate even if it's the result of sexual relations between the wife and a man who's not her husband — if it's born before the marriage is declared void; "Legitimacy" versus "filiation"

12. Are you divorced from your foreign spouse? Judicial recognition of a foreign divorce | Senate Bill No. 554 filed by Sen. Pia Cayetano seeks to amend Articles 13 and 26 of the Family Code to make it easier for divorced Filipinos to remarry through administrative recognition of a foreign divorce

13. If you're an illegitimate (nonmarital) child, you can force your biological father to acknowledge you by filing with the Family Court a "petition for compulsory recognition of an illegitimate child"; Should filiation between an illegitimate child and the alleged father be established first before support can be demanded?

14. Protecting the children of OFWs under the "Parens Patriae" doctrine | House Bill 8560 or the "Overseas Filipino Workers’ Left Behind Children Protection Act" filed by OFW party-list Rep. Marissa Magsino

15. Protecting teachers from baseless allegations of child abuse under RA 7610 "Anti-Child Abuse Law"

16. IVF (in vitro fertilization), surrogacy, and artificial insemination under the Family Code of the Philippines

17. If the father abandons his wife and legitimate children and fails or refuses to support them, can the wife ask the court to have her children's surname changed from their father's surname to her maiden surname?

18. Declaration of nullity of marriage under Art. 36 Family Code (psychological incapacity), extramarital affairs, and the "doctrine of unclean hands"; Can the spouse who's suffering from psychological incapacity file the petition to have the marriage declared void?

19. Marital infidelity is a form of psychological violence that's punishable under RA 9262 "Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act of 2004"

20. Things to do if (1) you're planning to get married to someone whose previous marriage was declared void, or (2) you're the child of parents whose marriage was declared void

21. Does RA 9255 — the law that gives illegitimate children the right or choice to use the surname of their biological father — apply only to illegitimate children who were born on or after March 19, 2004?

22. Dissolving a marriage has become easier with the Supreme Court’s ruling that "psychological incapacity" in Art. 36 of the Family Code is not a medical but a legal concept

23. Legitimate children can use their mother's surname, instead of their father's surname | Supreme Court ruling in "Alanis III vs. Court of Appeals" (2020)

24. Should adultery and concubinage be decriminalized?

Site Announcements / Third updated edition of “English Plain and Simple” now available nationwide

« Last post by Joe Carillo on November 19, 2023, 01:44:29 PM »

November 19, 2023—Now available at National Book Store and Fully Booked branches in key cities nationwide is the third updated edition of Jose Carillo’s best-selling book English Plain and Simple: No-Nonsense Ways to Learn Today’s Global Language. Hailed by leading academicians, journalists, and critics upon its release in 2005 as “a charmer of a book that delights as well as instructs,” it won the National Book Award for linguistics from the Manila Critics Circle that same year.

The Manila Times Publishing Corp. accepts direct volume orders for the 500-page book for delivery to institutional and corporate buyers and interested individual distributors. Copies can also be ordered from Lazada or Shoppee for immediate delivery to individual customers in Metro Manila.

English Plain and Simple brings together Jose Carillo's first collection of grammar lessons and advice that originally appeared in his long-running Manila Times column that started coming out six days a week in 2002. Two more volumes drawing material from his Times columns followed, namely The 10 Most Annoying English Grammar Errors (2008) and Give Your English the Winning Edge (2009).

In his foreword to English Plain and Simple, Dr. Jose Y. Dalisay, Ph.D, professor emeritus of English at the University of the Philippines and Hall of Famer of the Carlos Palanca Awards for Literature, says: “There are many guides to English that the avid student can pick up, but quite a few, I think, actually do more harm than good as ponderous rulebooks meant for rote memorization. But every now and then comes a charmer of a book that delights as well as it instructs. English Plain and Simple is one such gem, for which we have the pseudonymous Mr. Carillo to thank. Whether he was walking me through the hierarchy of adjectives or discovering Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Carillo never failed to show me something new and cause me to smile in recognition of a shared experience.”

In the latest edition of English Plain and Simple, the author finally revealed his identity after over 20 years of using Jose Carillo as pen name and explains why he used it. The author is the veteran newspaper journalist and communications executive Carlos O. Llorin Jr., a former college newspaper editor-in-chief (the weekly Dawn, University of the East), marketing field researcher (Asia Research Inc.), national newspaper reporter (Philippines Herald), and ad agency public relations manager (J. Romero & Associates). He worked for San Miguel Corporation for 18 years as editorial services head, audio-visual group head, senior communications assistant, and product manager, then as corporate communications manager for rhe company's Magnolia Divison with the rank of assistant vice president.

He won nine major Philippine industry awards as editor in chief of the company’s monthly magazine Kaunlaran and fortnightly newsletter. As executive director of San Miguel’s Magnolia Youth Achievement Awards, he won a Gold Quill Award from the U.S.-based International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) in 1989 and the Golden World Award from the U.K.-based International Public Relations Association (IPRA) in 1990.

Llorin took optional early retirement as assistant vice president for communications of San Miguel’s Magnolia Division in 1993, later running the English-language services company Asia Herald Inc. as general manager for five years until 2007. Currently, aside from writing his weekly column in The Manila Times, he is an independent writer and book editor as well as editing and communication consultant for corporate, institutional, and individual clients.

Describing the rationale for writing his three English-usage books, Carlos Llorin Jr. says: “As with my weekly columns in the Manila Times, they aim to help nonnative English speakers improve their written English without having to go back to the classroom and, frankly, also to make Filipinos keenly aware that if their English is bad, it’s largely due to the Philippine culture’s fervid addiction to legalese. This done, his English-usage books then gently walk the reader through the basic and practical and later the finer aspects of English grammar and semantics, revisiting all of the parts of speech and their rudiments. The emphasis is to train themselves to think, speak, and write in clear and simple English.

Site Announcements / Playlist Update for November 11 - 17, 2023 of the Forum’s Facebook Gateway

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PLAYLIST UPDATE FOR NOVEMBER 11 - 17, 2023 OF THE FORUM’S FACEBOOK GATEWAY

Simply click the web links to the 14 featured English grammar refreshers and general interest stories this week along with selected postings published in the Forum in previous years:

1. Getting To Know The World’s Genocidal History: “The world in 710 words”