Spoken English May - 2016 - eenadupratibha.net · Q: I am watching movie on / over the TV. - Is this correct? A: I am watching a movie on the TV- Correct. - Paddu Sambangi Q: Sir,
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Q: Sir, when we use COULD MAY andMIGHT to indicate possibility then whydon't we use COULDN'T to indicate possi-bility in negative sentences like otherMAYN'T and MIGHTN'T do. - Pleaseexplain.
A: Though 'could' indicates possibility,'Couldn't' is used mostly to indicate inability.
Eg: I couldn't (was not able to) come yester-day because of the severe heat.
★ 'Mayn't' and 'Mightn't' can of course beused for possibility of something not hap-pening.
Eg: He mayn't come / He mightn't come today(His coming today is doubtful). Mightn'texpresses greater doubt than, 'mayn't'.
- VVN Varalakshmi
Q: Sir, please explain meeting, conference,put up, put on, put off.
A: Meeting - One person / some persons speak-ing to a number of people on some subject.
★ Conference - A meeting in which anybodycan speak on a particular subject.
★ Put up = stay temporarily. We put up for thenight at a small hotel.
★ Put on = wear. He put on a white shirt andbrown striped pants.
★ Put off = Postpone. They put off their trip.
- Bhaskar, Visakhapatnam.
Q: Sir, how to use 'make sense'?A: What you say makes sense = What you
say is right / wise. (Å®Ωnç ÖçC)★ What you say doesn't make sense = What
you say is meaningless / nonsense (Å®Ωnç°æ®Ωnç ™‰ü¿’.)
Q: I am watching movie on / over the TV.- Is this correct?
A: I am watching a movie on the TV - Correct.
- Paddu Sambangi
Q: Sir, when we spell a word there are someletters (E, I, J) comes silent, whether theword comes first, middle or end, like MEI-JER etc. How to identify those spellings,spell correctly and be familiar. - Pleaseclarify.
A: There are no rules about which letter com-ing where should be pronounced or issilent. It is all a matter of usage (¢√úø’éπ.)
Q: Sir, please explain different usages of 'off'with examples. Also please explain theuse of 'by means of'.
A: Why don't you refer to the dictionary?Any good dictionary will give you thedifferent meanings and use of, 'off'.Anyway here are the meanings for off.
Off = 1) Away from a place or position,especially the present.
By means of = i) with the help of , ii) using Eg: i) Water can be supplied for agriculture
by means of dams. (With the help ofdams, water can be supplied for agri-culture)
ii) Even very heavy things can be liftedby means of (using) a crane.
- Kanike Veerashekar
Q: Sir, what is the difference betweenhobby and habit?
A: There is a lot of difference between thetwo. A hobby is what you do for plea-sure (Ææ®Ω-üΔí¬ ´’†ç îËÊÆC.) For example,photography, stamp collection, coin andcurrency collection - these are all hob-bies, which people do for pleasure.
★ Both the above are questions to which theanswer is stating strongly that you can take
your own decision and that youdon't need anybody's help. Both arecorrect.
- J. Siva Kumar
Q: Sir, without using direct speech(or) reported speech can anysentence be written like this inany situation:
She said, she knew that what was happen-ing there.
A: She said she knew what was happeningthere (not, 'that what was happeningthere') - Correct. This is in the indirectspeech, isn't it? Nothing wrong here.
M. SURESAN
Q: Sir, please explain the following idioms:1. Behind the scenes 2. In a nutshell3. Redtapism
Q: Long jump event will be held at the cornerof the ground. Students will report to theteacher concern. - Is this correct sentence?
A: The correct sentence is: Long jump eventwill be ..... Students will report to theteacher concerned.
Q: Please tell me the meaning of phrase"more of one and no less of others."
A: More of one and no fewer of others - cor-rect = More of one thing, and the other,same as or more than the other thing.
- Bogi Ramana
Q: Sir, please explain the differences amongteaser, first look and trailer.
A: A teaser is a single scene of the movieshown before the release of the movie.
★ First look is the first wall-poster of themovie released by the producers.
★ A trailer is longer than a teaser and mayhave a number of scenes from the movie.
- Baratam Prathap Kumar, Srikakulam.
Q: Sir, how to ask time to someone in Englishin polite way?
A: What time is it, please? / Could you pleasetell me the time?
- B.Venkata ramana, Pendurti.
Q: My son is studying class VI. Kindly informthe steps and guidelines to improve thecommand on language, interest and skills.
A: Make him read short story books inEnglish, and talk to him as far as possiblein English. Let him watch English newstelecasts once a day.
- Navarapu Vijaykumar, Nalgonda.
Q: Sir, please explain different usages of 'cut' with examples.A: The usual meaning - to break something with a sharp instrument, usually a knife, and sep-
arate it into two or more parts.(éÓߪ’úøç.) Eg: He cut the bread into slices. ★ Reduce. (éÌ®Ωûª °ôdúøç/ ûªT_ç-îªúøç.) Eg: The boss cut his salary for the days he was absent
Eg: I have had a car for the past two years. (=starting two years ago till now / even now– í∫ûª È®çúË-∞¡Ÿxí¬ Ø√èπ◊ é¬®Ω’ ÖçC.)
c) If you use, just / just now, action just com-pleted: Eg: I have just had a cup of coffee, Idon't want anymore. (鬰∂‘ É°æ¤púË -û√í¬-†’,ÉçéÌü¿’l.)
★ 'Had had' is the past perfect tense of 'have' -tells us of our possessing something, beforewe possessed something else.
Eg: I had had a bike before I bought this car.(Till sometime ago I had a bike. Later Ibought this car.) (Ñ é¬®Ω’ é̆-éπ-´·çü¿’ Ø√èπ◊¶„jé˙ ÖçúËC – È®çúÕç-öÀF éπLT Öçúø-ôç™, ¢Á·ü¿-öÀ-üΔEo éπLT Öçúø-ö«Eo had had ™ -îÁ-•’--û√ç).
Q: Sir, please give the different kinds ofexamples using the word 'being'.
A: I am being confused = Something / some-one is confusing me - NOW. (É°æ¤púø’ †ØËoüÓí∫çü¿-®Ω-íÓ-∞«-EéÀ í∫’J-îË-≤ÚhçC.)
★ He is being punished (Åûªúø’ PéÀ~çîª-•-úø’-ûª’-Ø√oúø’ – É°æ¤púø’) = Someone is punishing him(Right NOW.)
★ They are being sent out of class (¢√∞¡x†’ •ßª’-ôèπ◊ °æç°œç-îË-Ææ’h-Ø√o®Ω’ – É°æ¤púø’) = The teacheris sending them out of the class - NOW.
★ Is being confused, is being punished, etc.,are the passive forms of am / is / are con-fusing - actions taking place NOW.
Q: Sir, please give example sentences in usingthe following words:i) in which ii) for whichiii) after which iv) by which v) with which
A: i) This is the box in which I keep mymoney. (à °õ„d™ Å®·ûË Øˆ’ úø•’s °úø-û√ØÓ ÅC.)
ii) This is the property for which the twobrothers are fighting. (à ÇÆœh éÓÆæ-¢Á’iûË)
iii) üËE ûª®√y-ûÁj-ûË: Sankranthi is the festivalafter which the course of the sunchanges.
iv) üËE üΔy®√ Å®·ûË: This is the method bywhich you can solve the problem easily.
v) üËEûÓ Å®·ûË: This is the gun with which hekilled his enemy.
- Y. Vamsi, Hyderabad.
Q: Sir, please corroborate the following sen-tences.1) Bag of whole tricks.2) Name of the game. 3) Eager Beaver.4) School of hard knocks. 5) A for effort.6) Give the game away.
A: 1) A whole bag of tricks (not, 'a bag ofwhole tricks') = All methods / all tricks /all techniques - used to achieve some-thing.
Eg: I have used my whole bag of tricks tomake my father agree to my marrying thatgirl but I failed.
2) Name of the game = the most important part/ the most important quality that you need.
Eg: The name of the game to succeed in anycompetitive exam is real hard work andthe guidance of experts.
3) Eager beaver = a person who is ready towork hard.
Eg: He is an eager beaver and is sure to suc-ceed in the civil services exam.
4) School of hard knocks = learning things ina difficult and unpleasant manner.
Eg: He did not have a proper education, butlearnt things from the school of hardknocks and became the prime minister ofthe country.
5) A for effort = Praising somebody for tryinghard to do something, though without suc-cess.
Eg: You could not do the job well, but I willgive you an 'A for your effort' (Praise youfor trying hard)
6) Give the game away = tell / reveal to othersa plan / secret and spoil the surprise.
Eg: We wanted to surprise her by pretendingnot to know it was her birthday, but Ramgave the game away (told her about ourplans.)
- Madhu Thota
Q: Sir, I would like to learn spoken English.But I am not understanding from where tostart. Can you please suggest me a way tolearn Spoken English?
A: Begin talking in English to people whoknow and understand English. Read shortstory books, English news papers, andwatch English news telecasts. www.eenadupratibha.net
Q: Sir please explain the differencesbetween the two sentences.1) Interpersonal and soft skills2) Intellectual and spiritual
A: 1) They are both more or less the same.They include Communication skills,Decision-making, Self-motivation,Leadership ability, Team working,Creativity and Problem-solving, andTime management.
2) Intellectual means connected with ourintellect (¢Ë’ü∑¿Ææ’qèπ◊ Ææç•ç-Cμç-*†).
★ Spiritual means connected with our soul,like, our good qualities, and our sense ofmorals, etc. (ÇüμΔu-At-éπ-¢Á’i†.)
Eg: The silver plate is glittering in the brightlight of the sun (Ç ¢ÁçúÕ °æ∞Îxç Ææ÷®Ωu-é¬ç-A™üμ¿í∫-üμ¿í¬ ¢Á’J-Æœ-§Ú-ûÓçC.)Glitter × Dullness (¢Á’®Ω’°æ¤ ™‰E)
Eg: The dullness of the old aluminium platewas the opposite of the glittering of thesilver plate.
5) Gloomy = Dark and poorly lit, causingdepression (E®√¨¡ éπL-TçîË *®Ω’ <éπöÀ)
Eg: a) The room was so gloomy that we couldnot see anything clearly. (¢Ë’ç àO’Ææp≠ædçí¬ îª÷úø-™‰-†çûª <éπ-öÀí¬ ÖçüΔ í∫C.)
Gloomy × bright (v°æé¬-¨¡-´ç-ûª-¢Á’i†)b) With all his near and dear dead, he led a
Eg: I am in a fix whether to continue in thepresent job in my home town or go for abetter job at a distant place. (Not able todecide = confused = at sea)
M. SURESAN
v°æߪ’-Aoç-* --îª÷ÊÆh... Look
- N. Tirupathi Rao
Q: Sir, please say the difference between fed-eration and union.
Q: Sir, can you tell me about the adjective ofafraid? I request to know the sentence for-mation with Telugu meaning.
A: 'Afraid' itself is an adjective = 1) Havingfear / anxiety.
Eg: a) The little girl is afraid of cats. b) The mother is afraid that something has
happened to her son.
2) Suspect (ÆæçüË-£œ«ç-îªúøç)Eg: I am afraid that he did not pass. (Ø√
ÆæçüË£æ«ç ¢√úø’ §ƒÆæ-´y-™‰-ü¿E.)3) Apologize. Eg: I am afraid I don't under-
stand. Could you explain it again? (éπ~N’ç-îªçúÕ, ÅC ´’Sx N´-J-≤ƒh®√?)
- Divyaseshasree Deevi
Q: Sir, please define the words and give anexample. 1) Forlorn 2) Chicanery
A: Forlorn = a) Alone, unhappy and not caredfor (á´J ≤ƒEo-£œ«-ûªu´‚ ™‰éπ, îª÷Ææ’-èπ◊ØË ¢√∞Îx-´y®Ω÷ ™‰éπ äçô-Jí¬ Öçúøôç.) Living alone inher home the old woman led a forlorn life. b) A 'forlorn place' is a place which not
many people go to. A forlorn little vil-lage = a little village very few know andgo to.
Eg: Most Indian politicians indulge in chi-canery to gain power and wealth.
Federation, Union
-´’--üμ¿u --ûË-ú≈ -à-N’-öÀ?
-Batta Ramakrishna, Southmopur.
Q: What is the difference between 'envelopeand envelop'?
A: 'Envelop' is a verb which means to coversomething / somebody in something.
Eg: a) Mothers envelop (cover) their babiesin soft clothes.
b) Clouds envelop (cover) the tops of tallmountains.
★ 'Envelope' on the other hand is a noun =cover usually made of paper in which wesend letters, parcels, etc.
- D. Mahesh, Guntur.
Q: "India's help has been sought for develop-ment of infrastructure or amenities in thesites that form part of the Ramayana cir-cuit".- In the above quoted lines why they are
using HAS BEEN? Please let me know differ-ent uses of has been. A: The verb in the sentence is, not 'has been'
as you think, but 'has been sought'(has been + PP / V3) - Passive voice.
★ 'Sought' here is the PP (V3) of seek = askfor. Has been + V3 is the passive form ofhas / have + V3 (PP). This verb is used fora past action, time not stated.
Eg: Please ensure (= make sure) that weget the tickets for the show.
Ensure × Invalidate (éπ-*a-ûªçí¬ îÁ°æp-™‰-éπ-§Ú-´úøç)5. Enable = Help somebody do something
(Ææ£æ…-ߪ’°æ-úøôç.) Eg: The scholarshipenabled him to continue his studies. Enable × Prevent
- Sudeep
Q: Sir, please explain the difference between'while' and 'when', and in which situationswe use these words?
A: When and while are more or less the same.However, there is one difference. When wetalk of one long action and one short actionat the same time, we use, 'When'.
Eg: When the teacher entered the class, theystopped quarrelling.
★ While is used when we speak of two longeractions. Eg: While he was singing, she wasdancing.
- T. Mohan Krishna, Kadapa.
Q: Sir could you please explain the differ-ences among the following words:1) Sentence 2) Phrase3) Transitive verb 4) Intransitive verb
A: Sentence: A sentence is a group ofwords with complete meaning. Eg: He ishere - this group of words has completemeaning, so it is a sentence.
★ Phrase: A phrase is a group of worldswithout a verb. Eg: In the evening, afterschool hours, etc.
★ Transitive: We have explained theseterms a number of times. However, we areexplaining them again: A verb with anobject is a transitive verb. That is, if youput the question 'whom' (á´-JE?) or'what' (-üË-Eo?) to the verb and get ananswer it is TRANSITIVE.
Examples:
a) He met her yesterday. The verb here is,met. Met whom (á´-JE?) We get theanswer met her. So the verb 'met' here istransitive.
b) She bought a dress yesterday. In this sen-tence the verb is 'bought'. She bought what(üËEo?) - You get the answer, a dress. Sothe verb, 'bought' is transitive too.
★ Intransitive: A verb without an object isan intransitive verb. Put the question'whom' or 'what' to the verb. If you don'tget an answer the verb is intransitive.
Eg: We go there every day. The verb here is'go'. Go what (üËEo ¢Á∞¡xúøç?) / go whom(á´-JE ¢Á∞¡xúøç?) you get no answer. So'went' (go) is intransitive.
- T. Krishna
Q: Sir, what is the meaning of Pavlovian?A: Connected with Pavlov, the famous
Russian psychologist, very famous forhis theory on psychological condition-ing. This is psychology and cannot beexplained here.
- N. Tirupati Rao, Bobbili.
Q: Could you please advice the way toimprove writing skills and suggest thebooks for it.
A: Practising writing is the onlyway to improve writing skills.Read the newspaper. Take atopic (in the beginning lightones) and write your opinions onthe topic. Compare your writingwith what is written in the news-paper. This will help you toknow where you have gonewrong. Or take the help of a person whoknows English and show it to them. Taketheir suggestions.
★ There are a good number of books in themarket on writing skills. I will recommendsome books next time. Read them and fol-low what is suggested there.
Q: Sir, thanks for explaining the differencebetween federation and union. But mydoubt here is those words are used in theteachers unions i.e., APTF, UTF, STUAND PRTU. Some unions use the wordfederation and some use union. In thisregard how we can apply your answerhere. - Please explain.
A: Teachers' union means an association ofteachers. APTF is Andhra PradeshTeachers' Federation = A number of teach-ers' unions forming a single associationtemporarily for a purpose. UTF = United
Teachers' Federation - again anumber of associations joining toachieve something. So is the casewith UTF. STU = State Teachers'Union (only one). PRTU =Panchayat Raj Teachers' Union.
- Keerthi, Nandigama.
Q: Sir, please tell me which of thefollowing sentences is correctand explain why?
1) I wish, I DON'T have to do the exercise.2) I wish, I WEREN'T have to do the exer-
cise.A: The first sentence is correct. It means that
the speaker of the sentence wishes not tohave to do the exercise - now/ in the future.(¢√uߪ÷´’ç ™‰èπ◊çú≈ Öçõ‰ – É°æ¤púø’ – áçûª-¶«-í∫’ç-ô’çC!)
★ The second sentence is wrong. Its correctform is: I wish I didn't have to do the exer-cise = The speaker is doing the exercise butwishes that he didn't have the need to doit. (¢√uߪ÷´’ç ™‰éπ-§Ú-ߪ·çõ‰ – í∫ûªç™– áçûª¶«í∫’ç-úËC.)
M. SURESAN
When, While -´’-üμ¿u -ûË-ú≈..?
- M. Hanumanth
Q: Let me know is the below sentence is cor-rect or not?
'I was in time'. Can we use in as preposition to describe
that I was before scheduled time?A: I was in time (for the function) = I was ear-
lier than the time of the function. I was ontime = I was exactly at the time that thefunction began. When you say, 'I wasbefore the scheduled time', there is no needfor any preposition.
- Revathi Krishna
Q: Sir, please explain the difference betweenego and self-respect.
A: Ego is a feeling of self-importance andsuperiority - trying to prove you are supe-rior to others - this is a negative quality.(-Å£æ«ç-¶μ«-́ ç)
★ Self-respect, on the other hand, is notallowing others to ill treat you or insult you,and trying to prove that you are as good asothers. (Çûªt-íı-®Ω´ç)
- Hemanth Saikiran
Q: Sir, I saw a sentence in news paper likethis "the panel had suggested that the sub-scribers will purchase a dwelling unit withloans from the bank."I think this is in indirect speech but he did-n't use would in the place of will - pleasetell me why?
A: The correct sentence is: The panel suggest-ed that the subscribers would purchase adwelling unit with loans from banks. Herethe question of direct and indirect speechdoesn't arise. This is reporting a recom-mendation made by the panel.
- E. Subba Simha Reddy, Badvel.
Q: Sir, I would like to know about the detailsof HOMOPHONES and their uses withsome examples.
A: Two or more words having differentspellings, different meanings but the samepronunciations are 'Homophones'.
2) Cent (´çü¿) and scent (Ææ’¢√-Ææ†)3) Lead (Æ‘Ææç – ™£æ«ç) and led (üΔJ îª÷§ƒ®Ω’)4) There (Åéπ\úø) and their (¢√∞¡x/ ¢√öÀ), etc.
- K. Visweswara rao, Srikakulam.
Q: Sir, please explain difference betweeninsolvent and bankruptcy. And Vijayamallya related to which one?
A: Insolvency is the inability of an individualor a company is unable to pay back theirdebts.
★ 'Bankruptcy' is a court, legally declaringthat a person / company cannot repay itsdebts because of losses and other reasons,that is, they are insolvent.
- Katiki Venkat
Q: Sir, please tell me the difference between'inequity' and 'iniquity'.