British English and Australian English (1)

The English language is spoken in many parts of the world and for various historical and cultural reasons, differences often occur between British English and the English of a specific country or region. We have already looked at some differences between the English spoken in the UK and the USA. Today we offer a few examples of Australian English – bearing in mind, though, that some of them are quite colloquial.


UK – farm; Australia – station

UK – field; Australia – paddock

UK – Good morning; Australia – Good Day (pronounced G’Day)

UK – horse; Australia – neddy

UK – beer; Australia – amber liquid

UK – mosquito; Australia – mozzie

UK – sausage; Australia – snag

UK – excellent; Australia – tops

And my personal favourite – apparently Australians refer to tight-fitting swimming trunks as “budgie smugglers”!

British English and north-American English (3)

Apart from vocabulary, there are other small differences between these two versions of the English language. One question is spelling with American English often offering a simpler option. For example, color instead of colour, or traveling instead of travelling. Prepositional differences include examples such as “on the weekend” (USA) instead of “at”, or “on the team” instead of “in”, or “Will you write me?” instead of “Will you write to me?”


American English sometimes uses the Past Simple where British people would use the Present Perfect. For instance, “I lost my key”, rather than “I’ve lost my key”; “I didn’t tell him yet” rather than “I haven’t told him yet”, or “I just saw her” rather than “I’ve just seen her”.

To finish this brief glimpse into these interesting differences, we would just like to point out that the verb “to enjoy” seems to have evolved and become intransitive even in the UK thanks to Hollywood and its tendency to cry out “Enjoy!” with no one asking “Enjoy ... what?”.

British English and north-American English (2)

As we said in an earlier post, there are some differences in the use of the English language in the United Kingdom or in the USA. Here are a few more examples (with thanks to fellow bloggers):


UK – nappy; USA – diaper

UK – bonnet (of a car); USA – hood

UK – boot (of a car); USA – trunk

UK – windscreen (of a car); USA - windshield

UK – autumn; USA – fall

UK – petrol; USA – gas

UK – underground (the Tube in London); USA – subway

UK – subway; USA – underpass

UK – sweets; USA - candy

Foreign words and phrases in English (1)

The English language does not only include words with origins outside of the British Isles, such as restaurant or bungalow, but also uses “foreign” words or even complete expressions in their original language in certain situations. A few examples:

De facto (Latin), meaning in fact. Used legally to express that someone or something is in fact in a certain position even though there may be no official recognition.
Example; No one had expressed an opinion regarding organisation but he became their de facto leader.

Double entendre (French), meaning with a double meaning, often referring to wordplay and/or jokes.
Example; This writer is a master of the double entendre.

Al fresco (Italian), meaning in the open air.
Example; Let’s make the most of the long summer evenings and eat al fresco tomorrow.

Bête noire (French), meaning black beast, refers to a special hate for something/someone.
Example; Bureaucracy was his personal bête noire, as he hated red tape.

Laissez faire (French), meaning let things be - that is, something is allowed to run its free course without exterior control or interference. Often used in economics and politics.
Example; The government had a very laissez faire policy towards immigration.

British English and north-American English (1)

English is spoken as a first language in many countries of the world. There are often differences in pronunciation, grammar, spelling and vocabulary. Today we shall explain a few examples of how words change between north-American English (USA) and the English spoken in the United Kingdom (UK). However, we must remember that thanks to global mobility, Hollywood and the Beatles, these differences are not set in stone and it is common to hear American words spoken in England, and visa versa.

UK – angry; USA – mad
UK – mad; USA – crazy
UK – biscuit; USA – cookie
UK – trousers; USA – pants
UK – holiday; USA – vacation
UK – tap; USA – faucet
UK – chemist’s; USA – drugstore
UK – rubbish; USA – garbage
UK – lift; USA - elevator

English o Català?

Hi ha paraules que sovint emprem en la nostra llengua però que a tots ens sonen a paraules angleses. Resulta que no sempre ho són, o almenys no tenen el mateix significat en anglès que el que se’ls dóna en català.
Per exemple, en català tothom ha sentit parlar d’un càmping, un lloc on podem acampar. En anglès la forma “a camping” no existeix ja que no és cap substantiu sinó una acció (camping = acampant/acampar). Per referir-nos a un lloc hem de dir “ a camp-site” i en català podríem dir “zona d’acampada”.

Fer footing s’empra com a sinònim d’anar a córrer. En anglès córrer es pot dir "running" (amb un caire més professional), o "jogging" (com a exercici sa), però mai footing. L’únic sentit que té la paraula "footing" en anglès és la de les relacions o fonaments d’alguna relació. "To be on a good footing” amb algú, vol dir tenir bones relacions amb aquella persona.

D’on vénen aquestes paraules aparentment angleses, doncs? Jo diria que és una petita moda per agafar sons anglesos però sense entrar en l’ús correcte de la llengua. Dos exemples més de “màrketing” (això sí que és anglès) que utilitzen paraules que sonen angleses (però que no ho són), són el sistema de llogar bicicletes que han instal·lat a Barcelona, i que han anomenat “bicing”, o l’empresa de vols de baix cost que es diu Vueling.

Amics i amigues

Benvinguts i benvingudes, amics i amigues. Ara els professors i les professores els lliuraran els exàmens.
Sona bé? Sona natural? Sona correcte? Fa temps que hi ha confusió en certs cercles sobre la necessitat o no d’usar les dos formes de certes paraules per a dirigir-nos a tothom sense excloure ni ofendre a ningú.

Aquí es pot trobar la declaració del Departament de Filologia Catalana i Lingüística General de la Universitat de les Illes Balears.
I aquí una explicació més llarga i aclaridora sobre el tema de paraules marcades i no marcades del lingüista Gabriel Bibiloni.

False Friends (2)

Tornem a parlar dels false friends.
Sovint aprofitem les similituds entre llengües per a aprendre i comunicar-nos més ràpidament. Per exemple, futbol/football té el mateix significat en català que en anglès. Però hi ha unes altres paraules que no ens ajuden, més aviat al contrari, ens despisten; no són amics de l’estudiant, sinó amics falsos – false friends. Avui en posem quatre exemples.

La paraula PETROL no vol dir “petroli”, sinó gasolina. Per parlar de petroli, hem de dir OIL, o CRUDE OIL.

NOTICE – és un cartell i no pas una “notícia” (NEWS, o AN ITEM OF NEWS) .

LARGE – vol dir gran. Per a dir “llarg” hauríem de dir LONG.

EXCITING – en català s’hauria de dir “emocionant”. Per parlar d’alguna cosa “excitant”, en el sentit provocatiu, en anglès diríem SEXY.

Passives (2)

As we said in the previous post, passive structures are very common and very useful in English. We can give the object more importance than the subject, or simply leave the subject out of the sentence as in the following example:
That letter should have been sent last week (by ...).

Today we would like to go over some more advanced/complicated examples.
1. In English we can move either the direct object or the indirect object to the front of a passive sentence. So the active statement, “They offered him the promotion” can be written in two ways:
The promotion was offered to him.
He was offered a promotion.

2. We can also have a passive construction “hidden” inside a sentence. Think of this statement: he likes it when people ask him for autographs.
The second part of the sentence has a subject (people) and object (him) and, so, we can make a passive here, after “he likes ...”, remembering that the most suitable form after the verb “like” is the gerund. We can imagine the following statement as an intermediate, but incorrect, step – he likes it when he being asked for autographs.
However, “being asked” functions now as the object of the verb “like", thus leaving us with the correct final version:
He likes being asked for autographs.

3. In Catalan people express general beliefs or opinions with sentences like “es creu que ell és el lladre”, or “se suposa que Lee Harvey Oswald va matar JFK”. In English to avoid explaining who believes this (people, obviously) we have to use passive sentences. We bring the “he” or “Lee Harvey Oswald” to the front of the sentence while the “people” who believe this move behind the verb, but can be, and are, left out of the final sentence. Let’s see. Originally we could say:
People think that he is the thief.
People suppose that Oswald killed JFK.

These become:
He is thought (by the people) to be the thief.
Oswald is supposed to have killed JFK.

Another alternative is to say:
It is thought that he is the thief.
It is supposed that Oswald killed JFK.

Passives (1)

Els estudiants d’anglès sovint es deuen preguntar per què es dona tanta importància a la veu passiva en l’aprenentatge de la llengua. Intentarem explicar-ne els motius, i donar-vos un petit esquema de com es construeixen les frases.

La norma bàsica per fer una passiva en anglès és la d’ajuntar el verb To Be, en el temps apropiat, amb el participi de passat del verb principal. Per exemple,

The book was written in 1982. (literalment, el llibre va ser escrit a l’any 1982)
My car has been repaired by the mechanic. (el meu cotxe ha estat reparat pel mecànic).
The letters will be delivered tomorrow by the postman. (les cartes seran repartides demà pel carter)

En utilitzar la passiva en comptes de l’activa en el segon exemple hem de posar el cotxe encapçalant la frase i així donem més importància al cotxe que no pas al mecànic. Fins i tot es pot eliminar el mecànic de la frase (cosa òbvia ja que sabem que són els mecànics qui reparen cotxes i no cal esmentar-los).

Hi ha tres situacions habituals en què no cal nombrar la persona que fa l’acció, i per tant, tendim a usar la passiva:

1. Si no sabem qui fa l’acció (algú m’ha ratllat el cotxe). 2. Sabem qui la fa però no li donem gaire importància (si pensem més en la novel·la que l’autor, per exemple). 3. Sabem qui la fa però és tan evident que no cal dir-ho (els lladres roben coses).

1. Somebody scratched my car.

Passiva: My car was scratched (by somebody).

2. Shakespeare wrote Hamlet 400 years ago.

Passiva: Hamlet was written 400 years ago (by ...).

3. A thief has stolen my camera.

Passiva: My camera has been stolen.

En català, és possible expressar aquestes idees sense arribar a usar la passiva ja que es poden usar formes impersonals del verb com ara: “m’han arreglat el cotxe”, “es repartiran les cartes”, o “el llibre es va escriure ...”.

Un altre dia, explicarem coses no tan bàsiques sobre el tema de les passives.

2010

Happy New Year! The big question is, though, how should we read 2010 in English? From the eleventh to the twentieth centuries we read years in twos – that is, 1982 is read as “nineteen eighty-two” rather than like the number “one thousand nine hundred and eighty-two”. It was generally assumed, though, that after the year 2000, the years would be read as numbers and, hence, 2010 would be “two thousand and ten”. However, many people read it as “twenty ten”. So which is right?

The truth is both are correct at present as no one actually makes these decisions in English. Popular and official usage will tend to use one more than the other until that becomes the accepted norm. “Two thousand and ten” sounds more correct and traditional, but “twenty ten” sounds more direct and modern, and seems to be winning the day judging by its use on the BBC and other media.

Countable and uncountable nouns (3)

And finally, a few examples of some common mistakes regarding the question of countable/uncountable, or singular/plural, nouns. On the left (in italics), the incorrect sentence; on the right, the correct version.

The news were interesting today. The news was interesting today.

I saw a news about the war. I saw a news item (or, some news) about the war.

The people is happy. The people are happy.

There wasn’t any book. There weren’t any books.

How much apples did you buy? How many apples did you buy?

There was little children at the party. There were few children at the party.

My doctor gave me an advice. My doctor gave me some advice (or, a piece of advice).

He ate too much crisps. He ate too many crisps.

I have too many homeworks. I have too much homework.

Countable and uncountable nouns (2)

Dogs (gossos) are countable in English and Catalan. Rice (arròs) is uncountable in both languages. However, some different or confusing cases include:

PEOPLE – this word is actually the plural of the word person and, hence, is countable. If we think of it in Catalan as "persones", there is no confusion but if we translate it mentally as "gent", we must remember that "la gent" is a singular concept here:

La gent està contenta. The people are happy.

FURNITURE (mobles, mobiliari) – uncountable. If we want to count individual objects in the house we must count ITEMS (or PIECES) OF FURNITURE.

ADVICE (consell) – uncountable. In Catalan, "et dono tres consells". In English, three PIECES OF ADVICE.

NEWS (notícies) – uncountable. Again, either THERE IS SOME NEWS or WE HEARD AN ITEM OF NEWS.

INFORMATION (informació) – uncountable.

GRAPES (raïm) – countable.

Another important point to make regarding this question is the fact that many words in English may be either countable or uncountable depending on the context or meaning. Examples include:
CHOCOLATE (xocolata), uncountable. A CHOCOLATE (un bombó), countable.

COFFEE (cafè), uncountable in general as a powder or liquid. A COFFEE (un cafè) is countable and taken to mean, informally but correctly, a cup of coffee.

PAPER (paper), uncountable. To say “dona’m un paper” we must say “give me a sheet (or piece) of paper”. A PAPER (un diari), countable – an abbreviation of newspaper.

TIME (temps), uncountable. A TIME (un cop, una vegada), countable.

CHICKEN (pollastre, la carn), uncountable. A CHICKEN (un pollastre, l’animal), countable.

I ate too much chicken. There are too many chickens on this farm.

This is a short and simple introduction to the problem - there are many more examples which you may come across when learning or using English. Keep studying!

Countable and uncountable nouns (1)

In English, Catalan and Spanish, we can group nouns into countable nouns and uncountable ones. What do we mean by this? We consider a noun to be countable if you can count it – one dog, two dogs … However, many nouns cannot be counted. For example, we cannot have “two airs” or “two wines”. It is important to see the difference in English as it affects several aspects of the language.

Uncountable nouns only have one, singular, form – always "water", never "waters". Hence, any related verbs must also be singular:

There is water. Water has many properties.

However, countable nouns can use singular or plural forms:

There was a cat and there were two cows.

Also some words we use to define quantities are used with either uncountable nouns or countable ones, but not with both. Examples include much or many, a little or a few. For example:
I didn’t eat much rice or many apples. She has a little money and a few friends.

As a general rule, most nouns which are countable in Catalan are also countable in English, but there are some interesting differences which we shall look at in our next post...

More ways to compare

L’objectiu del bloc no és el de donar un curs d’anglès sencer i ordenat però sí que anirem penjant petites lliçons o, més ben dit, pistes i ajuts per a estudiants de diferents nivells. Avui continuem amb més idees sobre comparatius per als de nivell intermediate.

Following on from our previous advice about comparing for intermediate level students, we shall explain two more structures we can use in English.

One mountain may be higher than another one - a simple comparison - but imagine the first is 1000m high and the second one 3000m. We can say that the second mountain is three times as high as the first one (en català, x vegades més ...), using the formula,
... XX TIMES + AS + ADJECTIVE/ADVERB/QUANTITY + AS ...

More examples:
My car can go twice as fast as yours. El meu cotxe pot anar al doble de velocitat que el teu.
London is five times as big as Birmingham. Londres és cinc vegades més gran que Birmingham.
They drank three times as much as us. Van beure tres vegades més que nosaltres.
Or even ... His cake wasn’t half as good as ours. El seu pastís no era ni la meitat de bo que el nostre.

Another common expression used in Catalan is when we say that something is cada cop més gran, petit … In English we express this idea by repeating the comparative, usually after the verb become or get.

Examples:
John is getting taller and taller. John està cada cop més alt.
The children are getting more and more difficult to deal with. Cada cop es fa més difícil tractar amb els nens.
Life is just becoming better and better. La vida (em) va cada cop millor.

Double comparatives

Today’s advice is for intermediate level students of English who have already studied comparatives and their basic uses.

In English we have a grammatical construction which is usually called a double comparative as we compare two concepts in the same sentence. The resulting expressions are very useful for expressing an idea or feeling. They are the equivalent of saying com més ..., més ... in Catalan. We can use adjectives, adverbs, or quantities in these comparisons. We form them with:
THE + COMPARATIVE, THE + COMPARATIVE.

A few examples:
The more I work, the more tired I get. (com més treballo, més em canso)
The more coffee I drink, the less I sleep. (com més café bec, menys dormo)
The higher the mountain, the greater the challenge. (com més alta és la muntanya, més gran és el repte)
The sooner, the better. (com més aviat facis alguna cosa, millor)

And finally, the well-known saying: The more, the merrier. (com més serem, més xalarem)

False friends

Una pista per als aprenents de l’anglès. Sovint aprofitem les similituds entre llengües per a aprendre i comunicar-nos més ràpidament. Per exemple, futbol/football té el mateix significat en català que en anglès. Però hi ha unes altres paraules que no ens ajuden, més aviat al contrari, ens despisten; no són amics de l’estudiant, sinó amics falsos – false friends. Mirem quatre exemples...

CARPET – els estudiants d’anglès podrien pensar que significa “carpeta”, però no. En realitat la paraula anglesa “carpet” significa moqueta o catifa en català.

ACTUALLY – actualment? No! Significa de veritat o de fet.

Si veiem el senyal DIVERSION a Anglaterra, ens hem de preparar per a una bona festa? No, vol dir que hi ha un desviament a la carretera, probablement, per obres.

CAREER. No vol dir “carrera” en el sentit d’un títol universitari. No es pot dir “I have a career in French”. CAREER vol dir professió, com en la frase “My career as a journalist has not always been easy”.