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 - IINovember 29, 2014:
How an absolute phrase with a passive perfect participle works - INovember 22, 2014:
How the three kinds of objects work in EnglishNovember 15, 2014:
Lost in Tagalog-English cross-translationNovember 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 sentencesOctober 25, 2014:
Baffled by officious and bureaucratic ‘regards’ phrasesOctober 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 EnglishSeptember 13, 2014:
The determiners as functional elements of sentence structure - IISeptember 6, 2014:
The determiners as functional elements of sentence structure – IAugust 30, 2014:
How ‘mine’ functions as pronoun, adjective, or determinerAugust 23, 2014:
Wrong or willfully violated mall parking signs in EnglishAugust 16, 2014:
The proper use of ‘can’ and ‘may’ as a mark of civilityAugust 9, 2014:
We shouldn’t mistake mass nouns for collective nounsAugust 2, 2014:
The perils of glorifying a fallacious question with an answerJuly 26, 2014:
A crash course in politically correct EnglishJuly 19, 2014:
Getting acclimatized to PHL’s weather terminologyJuly 12, 2014:
Fixing a sentence with a misplaced modifying phraseJuly 5, 2014:
(No column)
June 28, 2014:
When it’s a dangling modifier that conveys the wrong senseJune 21, 2014:
Placing a modifier where it rightfully should beJune 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 infinitiveMay 31, 2014:
(No column)
May 24, 2014:
Dealing decisively with the ‘who’ vs. ‘whom’ conundrumMay 17, 2014:
Once and for all, when do we use ‘fewer’ or ‘less’?May 10, 2014:
Some recurrent misuses of the English subjunctive – IVMay 3, 2014:
Some recurrent misuses of the English subjunctive – IIIApril 26, 2014:
Some recurrent misuses of the English subjunctive – IIApril 19, 2014: Black Saturday
No issue of the
TimesApril 12, 2014:
Some recurrent misuses of the English subjunctive - IApril 5, 2014:
The pitfalls in constructing negative “used to” sentencesMarch 29, 2014:
Using euphemism to cushion the blow of request rejectionsMarch 22, 2014:
How to construct the perfect tenses in the passive voiceMarch 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 formsFebruary 22, 2014:
How to improve your written and spoken English by really tryingFebruary 15, 2014:
When using a parenthetical is necessary in a sentenceFebruary 8, 2014:
The usage of ‘can’ and ‘could’ and ‘will’ and ‘would’February 1, 2014:
Making the choice between infinitives and gerunds – IIIJanuary 25, 2014:
Making the choice between infinitives and gerunds – IIJanuary 18, 2014:
Making the choice between infinitives and gerunds – IJanuary 11, 2014:
When it becomes a must to split infinitives for clarity’s sakeJanuary 4, 2014:
Putting an end to the annoying ‘at the end of the day’ plagueDecember 28, 2013:
Searching for and finally finding ‘the winning edge’December 21, 2013:
The proper way to spell compound words in EnglishDecember 14, 2013:
When the passive voice is needed for clarity’s sakeDecember 7, 2013:
The perils of using double negative constructionsNovember 30, 2013:
What does the idiomatic expression ‘if anything’ mean?November 23, 2013:
TV advisory runs aground due to unparallel construction – IINovember 16, 2013:
TV advisory runs aground due to unparallel construction – INovember 9, 2013:
Some syntax variations in English evoke practically the same senseNovember 2, 2013:
Never too late to pursue writing if you’ve got the talentOctober 26, 2013:
Misplaced modifying phrase fractures Bohol earthquake newsOctober 19, 2013:
Shock-and-awe English in Bohol earthquake reportageOctober 12, 2013:
What do we need subjunctive sentences for?October 5, 2013:
The four nominative functions of nounsSeptember 28, 2013:
Is it true that English has no future tense?September 21, 2013:
Excessive use of ellipses beclouds the sense of sentencesSeptember 14, 2013:
Isn’t the phrase ‘2,500 cringeworthy English’ itself cringeworthy English? – IISeptember 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 materialsAugust 24, 2013:
How long should a sentence be to effectively deliver an idea?August 17, 2013:
Rectifying usage myths about correlative conjunctions and appositives – IVAugust 10, 2013:
Rectifying usage myths about correlative conjunctions and appositives – IIIAugust 3, 2013:
Rectifying usage myths about correlative conjunctions and appositives - IIJuly 27, 2013:
Rectifying usage myths about correlative conjunctions and appositives - IJuly 20, 2013:
Protocol should trump grammar at all timesJuly 13, 2013:
Strategies for avoiding tedious repetition – IIIJuly 6, 2013:
Strategies for avoiding tedious repetition – IIJune 29, 2013:
Strategies for avoiding tedious repetition - IJune 22, 2013:
Two often interchangeable forms of the English future tenseJune 15, 2013:
An anatomy of a famous dog’s life-saving heroismJune 8, 2013:
What a difference the word ‘off’ makes in an idiom!June 1, 2013:
Some puzzlers about collocations and Latinate phrasesMay 25, 2013:
When the perfect participle and present participle hardly differMay 18, 2013:
‘Nor’ doesn’t always need ‘neither’ to functionMay 11, 2013:
An SOS on the usage of ‘resulting in’ vs. ‘resulting to’May 4, 2013:
A fascinating question on the usage of modalsApril 27, 2013:
The proper usage of the Oxford or serial commaApril 20, 2013:
It’s obtuse to say that seeing a doctor is ‘pleasurable’April 13, 2013:
Using the tenses properly in main and subordinate clausesApril 6, 2013:
The functions and grammar of subjunctive sentencesMarch 23, 2013:
The maverick behavior of verbs in subjunctive sentencesMarch 16, 2013:
How a second conditional sentence differs from the subjunctiveMarch 9, 2013:
When it is desirable to position adjectives postpositivelyMarch 2, 2013:
Should an object always agree with its possessive pronoun?February 23, 2013:
How gerund phrases and infinitive phrases work with verbsFebruary 16, 2013:
The correct usage of the apostrophe-s to show possessionFebruary 9, 2013:
Getting the hang of tricky contracted tag questionsFebruary 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 tenseJanuary 12, 2013:
Which of the indefinite pronouns are singular or plural?January 5, 2013:
How different prepositions change the sense of verb phrases
