Translation: Pandai Berkata-Kata

Dia pandai berkata-kata: he has a glib tongue; he is a person who is so glib with his tongue.

Antonym -- Lidah kelu: tongue-tied, inarticulate, quiet.

When Do Rain And Flood Become Plural?

I've been questioning myself this question for sometime now. I know rain is rain and flood is flood.

I just that I have no bloody idea when should I use the singular or plural form? Of course I should use the plural form if I'm referring of the rain occurred many times in a day; or flood in plural if I'm referring to several flooding that happened in the past.

But I've seen the plural form of the same rain and the same flood being used in some newsreports.

I guess, it's time to do some research.

Splitting Hairs Over Will And Would

Okay, would is the past tense of will and I don't have any problem using both as long as the tense is clear. Problem arises when using would in the present tense.

According to what I can gather from various online sources:

Will is used when the degree of certainty is higher;
Would is used to indicate a theoretical or tentative situation.

BBC has a brief but extensive explanation over the semantic difference between will, would as well as shall. It says:

3. Would (or the contracted form 'd) is sometimes used as an alternative to 'used to' when discussing past habits:

• 'When we were young, we would spend (we'd spend) every summer holiday at the sea-side.'
• 'You would find him (you'd find him) sitting at the bar every lunchtime, drinking that strong black beer and chatting to the bartender until one day he was there no longer.'

Would is also used to make polite requests:

• 'Would you be prepared to do all this work by yourself without any assistance?'
• 'Would you (be so kind as to) pick Jennifer up from school on Monday?'

Would (or its contracted form 'd in conversational English) is also associated with the conditional in its simple, progressive, perfect and passive aspects:

• 'There's no doubt about it. I would definitely (I'd definitely) travel to Mexico with you, if I could afford it.'
• 'You would still be (you'd still be) working for the World Bank, if you hadn't kicked up such a fuss.'
• 'I would have told you (I'd have told you) all about it, if you had phoned me.'
• 'If you wore smarter clothes, you would be invited (you'd be invited) to all the press conferences.' [BBC Learning English]
  

Thank God for BBC!

Here's another great resource for will/would usage in first, second and third conditional situation.

One Of The Best Editorial I've Read Is About Obama Tackling Race Issues

Perhaps, I may be bias because the editorial speaks about Obama and I'm a great admirer of the man. But here's a New York Times editorial about Obama tackling race issues, in which the writer concludes:

We can’t know how effective Mr. Obama's words will be with those who will not draw the distinctions between faith and politics that he drew, or who will reject his frank talk about race. What is evident, though, is that he not only cleared the air over a particular controversy — he raised the discussion to a higher plane.

Read the article and be enlightened about the man, and about how crisp English writing can deliver meanings so powerfully even without constantly resorting to big, multi-syllable words.

Reneged, Renegaded

I might have renegaded but I haven't reneged on my commitment!

Reneged: Failed to carry out promises or commitment; to disown; to renounce.

Renegaded: One who rejects a religion, cause, allegiance, or group for another; a deserter; an outlaw; a rebel.

Source: The Free Dictionary.

Reporting Reported Speech

I think I've found what I had wanted to find, thanks to English Grammar Secrects:

"...when we are reporting something that was said in the past but is still true, it is not obligatory to make the tense 'more in the past'. The choice is up to the speaker. For example:

"The train doesn't stop here."

He said the train doesn't stop here.
He said the train didn't stop here.

"I like Sarah."

She said she likes Sarah.
She said she liked Sarah.

The keyword is "not obligatory", meaning we can write in both ways.

Number, Majority, Total

Ok, this is weird. The article the and a can either make a noun singular or plural. So, while the total, the majority, the number are singulars; a number, a total, a majority, are plurals.

Another thing, in what situation should a noun be plural or singluar the qualifier "any"?

One general rules, when it's in the negative, it's plural, i.e it didn't show any irregularities. But also depends on whether you are refering to one or more subjects after the word "any".

More Reading...

Here's a list of English grammar resources which I plan to read over the weekend:

1. 100 worst grammar mistakes

In the meantime, I'm still looking for a definite answer on how to safely shift between tenses in a sentence and in an essay/article. I understand that the tense must be consistent in a sentence, e.g. "I knew I'm wrong" is wrong while "I knew I was wrong" is right.

But what about this phrase, "He said the museum will be completed in two years"? Shouldn't it be written, "He said the museum would be completed in two years?" Tell me, tell me, because I don't know.

I've asked a friend, whose command of English is better than mine, and all he could tell me was "both sentences can also".

How To Clean Copy

Here's a a course, which I'm sure will be a great resources, on how to clean your copy but I haven't register. I'll do it this week.

Summer Institute for Midcareer Copy Editors is another great copy editing resources.

Claiming That Racial Tensions Have Increased...

Pembangkang mendakwa bahawa ketegangan kaum meningkat. I wouldn't know how to translate this without changing the structure of the sentence, all because of the inability to utilise the word "mount".

The sentence can be translated without changing the structure, like this: "The oppositions claims that racial tensions have mounted".

Moving Beyond "Enhance, Uplift And Improve"

It's time to welcome the word "bloster bolster" into the oft-used enhance, uplift and improve.

And by the way, you don't shift the tense unnecessarily, I was told. But I think there must be an exception to this rule. I think the ability to weave in and out of the past, present and future tenses, is an art in itself that needs perfections.

The only guide I hold on in as far as tense is concerned is this, "It's okay to move from past to present but it's not okay to move back into the past in the same sentence". I don't know if this is true.

Perhaps I may come to this issue in the course of reading The Element of Style By William Strunk and E B White.

Gambling And Betting

... are two different things. Gambling is not only about betting but betting is definitely gambling. Therefore you can't gamble on the election results, but you can bet on it!

I Can Prove To You That Ducks Were Once Chickens

It happened very, very long time ago in the era of The Big Bang. The animal on earth saw the asteroid coming but it was the chickens who knew what actually was going on.

As the giant asteroid approached the earth, they shouted, "The Sky Is Falling, The Sky Is Falling!"

Many of the terrified animal managed to take cover under some rocks, except for the dinasours because they were too big to be taking refuge under the rocks, and some chickens, that were still in the open because they moved too slowly.

In the final moment, as the giant asteroid slammed the earth, the only thing that they could manage was to duck.

And duck they became until today.

Hopelessly Confused By The Article "The"

I'm having a big problem understanding how to properly apply the article "the" before an abbreviation.

For instance, under what circumstances do I need to use the article "the" in an abbreviation.

And what about the name of electoral constituency. Should I write "in the Perai parliamentary seat" or will "Perai parliamentary seat" suffice?

Perhaps, I should start getting to know more about the article "the", starting from the basic. Maybe I can start doing so at the Online Writing Lab or OWL. By the way, in this case, do I need to say "the Online Writing Lab"?