Relax, Refresh your English knowledge 111
496. Which is correct? "Grandson of the late" or "grandson of late"?
We usually find this in wedding invitations. Karthick, grandson of the late Jayaraman, etc. When you want to refer to someone who is no more, you generally use "the" before "late". *Padma, the daughter of the late Ganesh, is building a house. *The late President was known for his sense of humour. "A man who has never made a woman angry is a failure in life." — Christopher Morley
497. What is the difference between "sometime", "sometimes" and "some time"?
The word "sometimes" has the stress on the first syllable, and is used to mean "occasionally" or "once in a while". *The boys sometimes go to their favourite restaurant for masala dosas. *Sometimes, the students sit in the canteen and do their homework. In the case of "some time", both words are stressed. It means "a lot of time". *I am afraid it will take us some time to find a replacement for this part. Like the word "sometimes", "sometime" has the stress on the first syllable, and is often used to mean "one day". It refers to an unspecified period of time in the future or the past. *I told Sadanand that I would meet him sometime next week. The word can also be used with people. When you refer to someone as a "sometime CEO", what you mean is that the individual held the position of a CEO in the past. He is not a CEO now. *Divya, the sometime Director of Cultural Academy visited me last week.
498. Is there a substitute for "him/her" which is commonly used in formal texts?
Yes, there is. There is a tendency nowadays among native speakers to replace "him/her" with the plural pronouns "they", "their", and `them". *If anyone is interested in going, they can get in touch with Bala. *If anyone calls, tell them I am not in town. Grammar pundits would argue that both these sentences are wrong because "anyone" is singular and therefore should be followed by "him/her" — it should not be followed by the plural "they" or "them". Native speakers of English feel that the use of "him/her" makes the construction look clumsy and therefore should be avoided
A collection from the Open Page Supplement of The Hindu Newspaper
Courtesy: Sri Upendra, the writer of the above
Post a Comment