| Jawaharlal Nehru often remarked that English is | | | | singular (I): am, have, do, run/ talk/ read. (I am. I |
| one of the most un-scientific languages! As | | | | do. I run.)o First person, plural (We): are, have, do, |
| opposed the Indian languages like Sanskrit, Hindi, | | | | run/ talk/ read. (We are. We do. We run.)o |
| Bengali or Marathi, where the grammar rules are | | | | Second person (You): are, have, do, run/ talk/ |
| the same that one studies in school and what the | | | | read. (You are. You do. You run)o Third person, |
| last generation studied in their school, English | | | | singular (he/ she/ it): is, has, does, runs/ talks/ |
| grammar changes quite rapidly and what you | | | | reads. (He is. She does. It runs.)o Third person, |
| learnt in school might be rendered redundant or | | | | plural (they): are, have, do, run/ talk/ read. (They |
| labelled stuffy and pedantic in a few years. | | | | are. They do. They run) |
| People from vernacular, non-English medium | | | | 5. Keep few regularly used prepositions in mind. |
| background often find themselves at a | | | | Prepositions are words that describe the position |
| disadvantage in spoken English as compared to | | | | and relationship of on object with other nouns or |
| those from an English medium or convent school | | | | pronouns in the sentence. Example, I went to the |
| background. This article is an attempt to help such | | | | office. Here 'to' is the preposition. Prepositions |
| people avoid simple mistakes and speak more | | | | describe the relationships including time, direction, |
| confidently by keeping few rules in mind. | | | | place, manner and amount. Following are |
| Points to remember: | | | | commonly used prepositions: |
| 1. Always speak in short sentences. Instead of | | | | *Prepositions are in capitals.o Set UP an office/ |
| trying to join two or more sentences by using | | | | camp.o Take UP an offer.o Investing IN shares.o |
| and, but, although etc, it is better to speak in | | | | Interested IN Computer Science.o Working WITH |
| short and simple sentences. | | | | a company (working in association with).o Working |
| 2. Do not think in your mother tongue and then | | | | FOR a company (as an employee of).o Listen TO |
| translate your thoughts into English. Try to | | | | your teacher.o Know ABOUT the job offer you |
| structure your thoughts in English before speaking | | | | got.o Let's make a deal WITH them.o Be delighted |
| them aloud. This is where your English medium | | | | WITH your child's progress. |
| educated colleague has an edge over you. | | | | There are few words and phrases with which |
| 3. Avoid using 'back' with words like 'revert' or | | | | prepositions are NOT used.o Home. |
| 'return'. Return itself means bring back or come | | | | I went home.o This morning/ afternoon/ evening |
| back. So return back is wrong. Correct usage is | | | | Let's meet this afternoon.o Every week. |
| simply: Please return the library book or he'll return | | | | I go to the theatre every week.o Next/ last year |
| home after six. Similarly, Revert if in doubt is | | | | week/ month/ Tuesday. |
| correct as opposed to revert back to my mail. | | | | We'll return next year. |
| 4. Take care of the verb and its object. A verb is | | | | 6. Read magazines and newspapers regularly and |
| the word describing action (ex. Do, is, have etc) | | | | make it a point to read aloud for 10 minutes |
| and object is the noun/ pronoun whose action it | | | | every day. |
| describes. Points that need to be taken care of | | | | 7. Watch English news regularly and notice how |
| are the tense of the verb and its singularity/ | | | | sentences are structured. |
| plurality. Refer to this table when in doubt. If we | | | | 8. Always keep a dictionary handy and refer to it. |
| speak in simple present tense, we'll just take care | | | | These are the basics for error-free spoken |
| of the singularity and plurality of the verb. (We'll | | | | English. See you soon with some more handy tips |
| take up tenses in the next article.)o First person, | | | | and rules. |