Either and Neither

Learn how “either” is used in the following sentences.

1. I haven’t been to Delhi. I haven’t been to Calcutta, either.
2. My brother doesn’t read newspapers. He doesn’t listen to the news, either.
3. I can’t do it. You can’t, either.
4. She didn’t come yesterday. He didn’t, either.
5. They weren’t present. I wasn’t, either.

Negative additions to negative remarks can be made by using “neither” or “nor” and “either.”

I didn’t come yesterday.	Neither did I.
The boy hasn’t come.	The girl hasn’t, either.
I don’t care much for that fellow.	Nor do I/I don’t, either.
He won’t tell anyone else.	Nor will we.
He doesn’t speak French.	Neither do I.

Practise the following first with “neither/nor” and then with “either.”

We don’t often go to films.	Neither/Nor do we.	We don’t, either.
She hasn’t had her lunch.	Neither/Nor have I.	I haven’t, either.
He has never been to Delhi.	Neither/Nor has she.	She hasn’t, either.
I am not going to bed yet.	Neither/Nor are we.	We aren’t, either.
I can’t eat beef.	Neither/Nor can I.	I can’t, either.
She isn’t leaving tomorrow.	Neither/Nor are they.	They aren’t, either.
She won’t pay for it.	Neither/Nor will we.	We won’t, either.
They aren’t teachers.	Neither/Nor are we.	We aren’t, either.

Positive answers to positive remarks

Affirmative (or positive) additions to affirmative remarks can be made by using the appropriate auxiliary (are, is, am, do, have, can, must, etc.) with “too” or “so.”

“I believe him.” “We do, too.”
“They are studying.” “So are we.”
“The neighbours have come.” “So have my friends.”
“John came yesterday.” “I did, too.”
“Arun had left by that time.” “So had we.”
“The headmaster will be here tomorrow.” “So will the teachers.”
“She must go home now.” “I must, too.”
“I can play chess.” “So can we.”

Pay attention to the tense and choose you auxiliary accordingly. If it is present tense, use “do”; if past tense, use “did”; if present perfect, use “have,” and if past perfect, use “had.” Do not forget to insert a comma before “too.”

Practice the following first with “too” and then with “so.”

I stopped going to class.	We did, too.	So did we.
She is leaving.	I am, too.	So am I.
They will be at the meeting.	We will, too.	So will we.
I have written to him.	We have, too.	So have we.
He is a carpenter.	John is, too.	So is John.
He will speak to the boss.	They will, too.	So will they.
I ought to go there.	We ought to, too.	So ought we.
They have bought a car.	We have, too.	So have we.

Do or does?

“Do you play soccer?”
“Do you and your brother play soccer?”
“Do your friends play soccer?”
“Does your brother play soccer?”
“Does John play soccer?”

It is clear from the above sentences that you use “does” only when you are talking about someone other than the person you are talking to (you), or when you are talking about more than one person (you and your friends, your friends). So, use “do” when the subject is “you” or if it is plural. Use “does” when the subject is singular and not “you” or “I.”

	Singular	Plural	Use
First Person	I	We	Do
Second person	You	You	Do
Third person		They	Do
Third person	He, She, It		Does

Tensed about tenses?

It is common for every student of the English language to get cold feet at the mention of tenses. Tenses are important as they tell us if a particular action always happens, is happening, will be happening, etc. Pay attention to “when” the action happens, and you would master tenses in no time!

Let’s take the verb “drink.”

Suppose your colleague walks into your room and remarks that you drink too much coffee. If you habitually drink two cups of coffee everyday, you would say, “I drink two cups of coffee everyday.” (Simple Present)

At that moment, your phone rings. It’s your mother asking what you are doing at the moment. You would say, “I am drinking coffee.”(Present continuous)

Later, your secretary wants to know why there is no coffee in the flask. You would say, “I have drunk the whole flask of coffee.”(Present perfect)

Your secretary remarks that you should stop drinking coffee. You would say, “I have been drinking coffee all my life. I can’t give up coffee.” (Present perfect continuous)

The secretary wants to know what happened to the bottle of wine that was a gift from your business partner. You would say, “I drank some of it and took the rest home.” (Simple Past)

Now, your secretary wants to know what you were doing when your mother called. You would say, “I was drinking coffee.” (Past continuous)

Your other colleague walks in and says, “Hey, why didn’t you call me when you had your coffee-break?” You say, “You came in late today. I had drunk all the coffee by the time you arrived.” (Past perfect)

You ask him why he is late and he says, “I had been drinking lemonade when my little daughter came running to give me a hug, and I spilled lemonade all over my shirt. I had to wash and change again.” (Past perfect continuous)

You remind him of the office party that evening. Your colleague says, “I will drink like a fish at the party.” (Simple Future)

You tell him that no drinks will be served in the party and so, “No one will be drinking this evening.” (Future continuous)

The secretary says that there is a huge supply of soft drinks in the pantry. Your colleague says, “I bet people will have already drunk all of it.” (Future perfect)

Boost your confidence

In my stint as a spoken English tutor, I have often come across many students, who could write reasonably well in English, but wouldn’t speak the language. They had learnt English as a language in school for almost ten years, and yet, they would be petrified to speak the language! Only one thing was stopping them from speaking English – lack of confidence.

You need confidence to do just about anything in this world. It may be something as trivial as fixing a leaking tap or something as significant as launching a satellite. Speaking a new language is not going to be easy, but it is not a very difficult task either (believe me; I know what I went through when trying to speak Hindi.)

1. Read English newspapers or books aloud for half an hour every day. This practice would help your mouth and tongue to get used to the language. (Tip: Try reading news articles that you have some knowledge about. For example, if you love sports, read the sports section first, and then move on to the other sections.)

2. Talk to your friends and family in English. If you are shy about that, try talking in front of the mirror; look into your eyes when you are doing so.

3. Listen to news, commentaries, or any programs that are telecast in English.

4. Movie channels like HBO, Star Movies, etc. telecast movies subtitled in English every day at 9pm (IST). Watch these movies and try to follow what the actors are saying; the subtitles are there to help you. (Don’t worry about inappropriate content, as these movies are modified to suit Indian audience.)

5. Write a short description of yourself or a pen, an animal, etc. and read aloud what you have written.

Summary of “Things-to-remember for effective communication”

The following principles are relevant to all media but they are most important to written communication.

Principles of communication
1. Clarity
2. Completeness
3. Conciseness
4. Consideration
5. Courtesy
6. Correctness

Clarity of thought comes from a careful consideration of the objective, content, and medium of communication. For clarity of expression,
• Use simple easy-to-understand words,
• Use concrete expressions that have a visual impact on the min and will
be easy to remember,
• Prefer active constructions, which are direct,
• Avoid infinitives (to-verbs), for they make writing indirect and
impersonal,
• Avoid jargon, for it makes writing tedious and obscure,
• Avoid ambiguity by placing the words correctly and using correct marks
of punctuation,
• Write very short sentences.

For completeness,
• See if you have answered all the queries posed in the letter,
• Check for ‘5 W’ questions-who, what, where, when, and why.

For conciseness,
• Only relevant facts,
• No repetition of information,
• No verbosity, proper organisation of the message.

Consideration implies respect for the reader’s point of view. For consideration,
• Adopt the you-attitude in your language,
• Emphasise positive, pleasant facts,
• Write only what you sincerely feel to be correct.

Courtesy begets courtesy, so make your message courteous. For ensuring courtesy,
• Answer/acknowledge the letter promptly,
• Do not use any irritating/offensive expression,
• Apologize sincerely for any omission,
• Thank profusely for any favors.

Correctness implies,
•Giving correct facts at an appropriate time in a suitable style.

Things-to-remember for effective communication (Part 5)

In business, we must create friendliness with all those to whom we write. Friendliness is inseparable from courtesy. And courtesy demands a considerate and friendly behavior towards others. The following principles help promote courtesy.

a. Answer the letters promptly. In business, it is a general practice to answer a letter the same day it is received. Sometimes, you might need a back reference, or may have to refer to different departments for clarification of certain points or may need the consent of higher authorities. In all these cases, you should at least acknowledge the letter received and intimate the probable time you require to send a full reply.

b. Omit irritating expressions. Some words and expressions are negative in connotation and irritate the reader. Particularly, when used with ‘you’, they become provocative. Expressions like ‘you forgot’, ‘you failed’, ‘your irresponsible approach’ are bound to irritate or hurt the reader; so, scrupulously avoid them. Some other such expressions are:
You are probably ignorant/unaware
You neglected/ignored/overlooked/disregarded
Inexcusable/irresponsible/odious/obnoxious
We disagree with you/we do not believe/you leave us no choice, etc.

c. Apologize sincerely for an omission/thank generously for a favor. If you have overlooked or failed to do something, express your regrets promptly and sincerely and make up for the omission at the earliest. If omission is on part of someone else and he regrets it, promptly tell him that you do not mind and a sort of normalcy is restored. If someone does a favor to you, acknowledge it promptly and thank the person generously for bring kind to you.

d. Give correct facts. Business communication often leads to expensive operations. So you should be sure that you are using correct facts and expressing them in correct language. In fact, you should not transmit any message unless you are absolutely sure of its correctness. If your message involves any legal matter, you should know the correct legal position before you commit anything.

e. Send your message at the correct time. All messages must be transmitted and responded to at the most appropriate time. Outdated information is useless. The principle of correct timing stipulates that you communicate your message at a time when it is likely to prove most effective.

f. Send your message in the correct style. This may also be described as the principle of adaptability. You must adapt your message to the needs of the receiver. You must keep before his educational background, the width of his vocabulary, specialized knowledge of the subject, his psychological make-up etc. If he is a layman, all jargon must be excluded and facts must be explained in a simple language. If he is an expert in the subject, you may perhaps go into the subtleties of the issue. While adapting your message to the needs of the receiver, you must so change it that you preserve its factual as well as emotional content.

Things-to-remember for effective communication (Part 4)

Adopt the you-attitude. It is an accepted truth that one of the most pleasant sounds to the average individual is his own name or self. To make our letter more effective, we must avoid I’s and We’s and have as many you’s as possible. In any case, we should not forget the reader’s point of view in the whole of our letter.

We-attitude	You-attitude
I was happy to hear that my letter of January 5 provided you sufficient information...	Thank you for your assurance that you had sufficient information...
I want to express my sincere thanks for the good words...	Thank you for your kind words...
We have four different savings schemes in which our customers can invest their savings.	You have a choice of four savings schemes in which you can invest your savings.

Emphasis positive, pleasant facts. We swallow sugar-coated pills without any grumble. Similarly, in a business letter, the reader calmly and coolly accepts all the No’s, Regrets and Sorry’s if they are expressed in a positive manner. An approach with a negative beginning or a negative connotation irritates the reader and makes him feel that you lack business manners. A positive approach, on the other hand, convinces the reader of your helplessness, or your genuine difficulties, etc. In other words, a positive and pleasant approach says ‘No’ but retains the customer’s goodwill.

Negative	Positive
We regret to inform you that we will not be able to execute your order until...	Thank you for your order. The goods will be sent to you as soon as...
It is very unfortunate that your payment was received too late to permit us to ship your goods.	It was kind of you to send us a cheque for your order of April 5. However, your goods were mailed C.O.D. last Monday since our credit department assumed that you would want them as quickly as possible.

Impart integrity in your messages. Showing integrity is perhaps the best way of showing consideration. Integrity involves the observance of ethical principles-sincerity and fair treatment. These values should not be discarded as redundant to the modern materialistic world; they are the staple food to nourish growth. Nothing will impress the receiver of your message than these two simple virtues.

Things-to-remember for effective communication (Part 3)

In business communication, completeness of facts is absolutely necessary. Let us suppose you are ordering shirts by mail. Your communication must include all relevant facts-size, color, catalogue number, quantity, mode of payment, mode of dispatch, the date by which you need the shirts, etc. In the absence of any of these details, your order may not be filled to your satisfaction. You should organize your message in such a way that the receiver is not in doubt about anything contained in it.

a. While answering a letter make sure that you have answered all the questions. If your customer has four queries, and you answer only two of them, it will not bring the desired answer. While answering the letter, devote a paragraph each to all his questions and number the paragraphs. This practice will save your answer from getting lost in a jungle of words.

b. Checking for the “five W” questions-who, what, where, when and why, and any other essential points like how also helps to make your message complete. While announcing a meeting, specify when the meeting is to be held, where it is to be held, why it is to be held, what is to be discussed in the meeting, who is to attend the meeting, and may be how members are expected to reach the venue.

A reader’s time is invaluable; don’t make him feel that he is wasting his time in going through your unnecessarily lengthy letter. Be as brief as possible. There are two tests to ascertain whether a letter is too long. Ask yourself these two questions: “does it say more than need be said?” “does it take too many words for what it must say?”

The following four simple rules will help you to achieve conciseness in your messages:

a. Include only relevant facts. Make sure your message does not get encumbered by unnecessary details.

b. Avoid repetition. Repetition induces monotony or irritation. You might repeat information or a request in order to stress it. The reader would naturally expect you are saying something additional. But when he discovers that you are repeating something, he feels cheated.

c. Avoid trite and wordy expressions.

Write not this	But this
In a considerable number of cases	Often
In close proximity to	Nearby
Enclosed herewith please find	Enclosed is
Pursuant to your enquiry	As you requested

d. Organize your message well. Use simple and short words as well as sentences. Ensure that your message is coherent.

Things-to-remember for effective communication (Part 2)

Avoid excessive use of the infinitive. The use of infinitive (to verb-to give, to learn) tends to make the style impersonal and formal.

Action in the infinitive (impersonal, indirect)	Action in the verb (direct)
It is the duty of the cashier to disburse salaries	The cashier disburses salaries.
It is my job to supervise...	I supervise...

Avoid jargon. Jargon creates difficulties in understanding, and it makes the style formal and stiff, so better avoid jargon. In the business field, jargon consists of the use of words like ‘instant’, ‘ultimo’, ‘as per’, ‘we beg to’, ‘and oblige’, ‘same’, etc.

Formal and stiff	Simple and preferable
This is to acknowledge...	Thank you for your...
We will contact you at an early date.	We shall write to you soon.
Attached hereto; attached herewith; enclosed herewith; enclosed please find.	Attached..., or enclosed...
Would you be good enough...	Would you please...
Contents noted.	(This phrase should not be used.)
Your letter of even date...	Your letter of 23rd July...
We hand you our latest quotation, enclosed herein.	Enclosed is our latest quotation.
Your letter of the 26th to hand.	Thank you for your letter of the 26th.
Beg to say, beg to inform	Avoid 'beg'.
Instant, inst.(of the same month); ult., ultimo (of the previous month); prox., proximo (of the next month)	Write the month.
Under (by) separate cover	Either avoid this phrase or say, separately...
We regret to...	(Be positive.)
We shall advise you	We shall let you know
As per; in accordance with	According to
And oblige	Avoid it, or say, thank you.

Avoid ambiguity. If your message can mean more than one thing, it is ambiguous. Ambiguity is very often caused by

1. A careless use of personal pronouns:
Rajiv told Ramesh that he was not being considered for promotion. In this sentence, it is impossible to understand whether it was Rajiv or Ramesh who was not being considered for promotion.

2. Indecisive placing of adverbs. One of such adverbs capable of causing trouble is ‘only.’ Look at the following sentences.
Only the report has been checked by the Manager. (only the report and nothing else)
The report has only been checked by the Manager. (has only been checked and no further action has been taken)
The report has been checked by the Manager only. (by only the Manager and no one else)
A bookseller received the following letter:
“Please send me urgently two copies of Business English and Indian Economy.”
The letter is ambiguous. The bookseller had to enquire whether the customer required two copies of each book or two books in all.

3. Faulty punctuation.
On a busy road, which was under repair, the following sign appeared: “GO. SLOW WORK IN PROGRESS”.
The instruction should have been “GO SLOW. WORK IN PROGRESS”.
“The marketing manager”, said the Chairman, “is a fool”.
Now, look at a different placing of inverted commas and the difference in meaning it makes: The marketing manager said, “The Chairman is a fool”.

4. Sometimes words have two or more areas of meaning. Ambiguity is caused if these areas are confused. A very interesting example of this kind of ambiguity is provided by the following slogan:
We dispense with care.
The word ‘dispense’ has two areas of meaning.
Dispense: to prepare medicines.
Dispense with: to get rid of, to dismiss.
The above slogan was actually used by a chemist, who wanted to claim that at his shop, medicines were prepared carefully. But, he only succeeded in saying that at his shop they had no use for being careful.

Use short sentences. Whether your communication is oral or written, use very short sentences. Long sentences tend to be complex and demand greater concentration. And nobody has time or patience for long sentences. As a rule, if a sentence runs beyond thirty words, it is better to break it up into two sentences.

Things-to-remember for effective communication (Part 1)

The following points are relevant to all media but they are most important to written communication.

1. Use simple words. It is better to use “tell” or “inform” instead of “acquaint.”

Pompous (avoid these)	Simple (use these)
Demonstrate	show
Subsequent to	after
Previous/ prior to	before
To the fullest possible extent	fully

Mark Twain had a point when he said, “I never write ‘metropolis’ when I can get the same price for ‘city.’

2. Use concrete expressions. Concrete expressions create visual images that are easy to register. So instead of vague, generalised statements, give definite facts.

Vague and general	Concrete and effective
Goods are soon being despatched.	Goods will be despatched on 2nd July.
Your savings earn a high rate of interest.	Your savings earn 10% interest compounded half-yearly.
This piece of jewellery is inexpensive.	These beautiful earrings cost only Rs.650.
You can own this refrigerator by paying Rs. 1500 cash down and easy instalments later.	You can own this refrigerator by paying Rs. 1500 cash down and fifteen monthly instalments of Rs. 500 each.

You should avoid words like high, low, big, small, many, a few, soon, easy, large, short, quick, slow, several, frequent, most, least and other such words. These may be considered opinion or contextual words, for ‘many’ and ‘a few’ are a matter of opinion or context. Ten students absent in a class of thirty are ‘many.’ Ten members absent in a group of five hundred are ‘a few.’

3. Prefer active constructions for they are easier to understand. If you deliberately want to create an impersonal style, you ma be justified in using passive constructions. But, in ordinary circumstances, it is better to use active constructions.

Passive (awkward)	Active (elegant)
Your efforts are appreciated by all of us.	All of us appreciate your efforts.
Your report will be discussed by a committee.	A committee will discuss your report.
It is thought that these prices are on the higher side.	We think these prices to be on the higher side.

If you compare the two constructions, you will discover that active verbs are more specific, personal and emphatic.

Correct Use of Articles

The articles “a” or “an” and “the” are placed before a noun.
The article “a” or “an” is used in its original sense meaning “one.” If it means “one”, why can’t I just use the word “one”? Why bother using articles?

Consider the following sentences.
1. I have one apple with me.
2. One car was stolen from the parking lot last night.
3. One mother loves her child very much.

Does the first sentence sound good? Isn’t it a little awkward? Try rephrasing the sentence as “I have an apple with me” (“an” is used before a word beginning with a vowel sound; e.g., an inkpot, an onion, an MBA graduate.) Surely, the rephrased sentence sounds good.

Look at the second sentence. It is known for a fact that a parking lot has, more often than not, many cars. Of those many cars, one car (that is, some car) was stolen; this is what the sentence needs to convey. Note that we are not talking about any particular car, but about some car in a vague sense. Therefore, the sentence should read as “A car was stolen from the parking lot last night.”

You must have figured out what is wrong with the last sentence. In this sentence, the word “mother” is used to mean “any mother”, that is to say, “mother” is representative of the whole class of mothers. Therefore, the sentence should read as “A mother loves her child very much.”

See how the use of an article gives a whole new meaning to a sentence.
The article “the” is used to talk about a particular person or thing, or one already talked about. For example,
“The car you are looking for was stolen last night.” (Which car? The one you are looking for.)
“I saw the boys playing in the ground.” (Which boys? The ones already talked about. Which ground? The one in the neighbourhood/town.)
In conclusion, let me give you another example for the use of articles “a” or “an” and “the.”
“I was walking down the road when a biker drove past me. A few minutes later, I saw that the biker had been in an accident. The accident occurred when the biker tried to overtake a car.”

A few rules to note when writing or speaking English

1. The words each and every are used when referring to individual elements of a set and are always followed by a singular noun (e.g., Each/every car was tested).
2. The adjective few is always followed by a plural noun (e.g., Few people understand the difference).
3. Adjectives always remain singular, even when followed by a plural noun, e.g., antibiotic (not antibiotics) substances.
4. Nouns that end with -is are usually pluralized by replacing -is with -es. For example, the plural of thesis is theses.
5. For nouns ending with –s, –sh, -ch, -o, or –x, plurals are formed by adding –es to the singular. For example, dress – dresses, mango – mangoes, brush – brushes, match – matches, box – boxes. However, the plural of piano is pianos, not pianoes.
6. For nouns ending with –y, preceded by a consonant, plurals are formed by changing –y to –ies. For example, body – bodies, lady – ladies, city – cities.
7. For nouns ending with –f or –fe, plurals are formed by changing –f or –fe to –ves. For example, wife – wives, leaf – leaves, loaf – loaves, knife – knives. However, the plural of chief is chiefs, not chieves.