Email Writing – Mind Learning Association

Stative Verbs for Business

George — Mon, 10 Aug 2020 15:16:00 +0000

Do you know why it is wrong to say ‘I am agreeing with you’ in a meeting? In (business) English, there are some verbs that usually do not come with ‘ing’ forms. We called them stative verbs (or state verbs).

What are stative verbs?

The name ‘stative’ tells you that they are verbs that do not move. What does that mean? It means when you use them you don’t use the ‘ing’ form:

e.g. I agree with your Plan B.

(not: I am agreeing with Plan B.)

Why do they not move?

You may wonder why they do not move. Or why is ‘ing’ form not used?

One simple reason. They show a process that do not have a clear ending. What does that mean? It means when you ‘agree’ with your co-worker, you do not know when the process of agreeing ends, right?

But for non-stative (dynamic) verbs like ‘Are you kidding?’ The process of kidding your co-worker will end, sooner or later. Moreover, dynamic verbs usually come with actions and so they are also called action verbs. Common action verbs for business include:

‘He is running a superhero company with his friends.’

‘Mr Superhero is working on the project now.’

Types of Stative Verbs (in business)

As far as business is concerned, there are usually 4 types of stative verbs:

1. Likes / dislikes	Our boss approved her proposal. (Not: Our boss was approving her proposal.)
2. Possession	Our department has 5 photocopiers. (Not: Our department is having 5 photocopier.
3. Thinking	I think / believe / know / feel you are right. (Not: I am thinking / believing / knowing / feeling you are right.
4. Talking about things	The computer costs a lot. (Not: The computer is costing a lot.)

Grammar for Writing Emails: Reply (2)

George — Thu, 09 Oct 2014 15:27:00 +0000

Summary: In the previous post you have learnt that ‘I will ~~reply your email~~‘ is wrong. In this post, we will further explain why and link the verb ‘reply’ to a sentence pattern that you have learnt.

A. Reply & Sentence Pattern

If you remember, this is a sentence pattern you have learned at school.

What pattern is it? The pattern of ‘SVO‘.

Subject	Verb	Object
Ms Talk.	made	a speech (at a meeting)

Yet, your teacher might have forgotten to tell you one thing. In ‘SVO’ there is a special relationship between a subject and an object.

By special, I don’t mean they have an affair. What I mean is in the pattern of ‘SVO’ a subject has some control over the object.

Put simply, in this pattern one thing is bigger. Which one is bigger? A subject is bigger than an object. In other words, If a subject is a master, then an object is like a servant.

And do you want to give the relationship a name? What about MS? MS has nothing to do with any company. It means a Master-servant relationship.

B. Correct Usage: Reply to your email

However, in the case of ‘I will reply your email soon’, the word ‘I’ is not the master of ‘your email’.

What does that mean? ‘I’ is not the one who wrote the email. In other words, ‘I’ write something, but not the email ‘I’ received. It is Mr Big, not ‘I’, who wrote the email.

In other words, Mr Big is the master (subject) of the servant (the email).

So, when using ‘reply’ as a verb, stick to the following rule:

Person	Verb	+ Preposition	Thing
I	will reply	to	your email (soon)

That is, when there is no MS relationship, a preposition is needed. This is why when you use ‘wait’, you have to add a preposition: Wait FOR me, but not ‘Wait me’.

C. Quick Tip

So, the Feel Good Tip is ‘Re + Re‘. What does that mean?

reply + to ————> (reply + preposition)

D: More Examples from Everyday life

The same tip also applies to:

‘I will write to you.’

or

‘I will talk to you‘.

—————————————————————————————-

Pic sources

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12394349@N06/4656677533/sizes/m/in/photostream/

Emails and Prepositions (1): About

George — Thu, 20 Mar 2014 08:29:00 +0000

Do you have to write lots of emails every day? Do you think there is some way you can make email writing easier for you?

Yes, there is. One of the ways is to pay attention to ‘about’. ‘About’ is very helpful. It can help you to do (at least) two things in your emails. Which two?

a. About (1): Saying Sorry

You have done something wrong, and your customer is angry. What are you going to do?

Quit your job? Kill the customer? But what about saying sorry by an email?

The easy one is : I am sorry about the mistake.

You learned it at kindergarten? Alright. What about this?

I am sorry about the mistake + in + the order (you made yesterday).

So, if you want to be more specific, you need help. And the word ‘in’ comes to your rescue.

a1. Sorry about VS Sorry for

Well, you may have a question. What is it? What about ‘sorry + for’? In other words, what is the difference between ‘sorry about’ and ‘sorry for’?

When you use sorry with for, you talk about doing something. What do I mean by doing something? Read the 2 sentences:

I am sorry about the mistake.

I am sorry for making the mistake.

b. About (2): Asking for It

Well, back to ‘about’. You may think saying sorry is a bit negative. Actually you can use ‘about’ positively: asking for something (making requests). For example:

I have a few questions about your products.

Sounds too casual? Alright. What about this:

I would like to ask about your products.

b1. What about you don’t want to use about?

Well, there are lots of choices. You can have:

a. One-Word Prepositions:

regarding

concerning

respecting

Lucky you! They all end in ‘ing’. So the sample sentence becomes:

I have a few questions regarding your products.

b. Three-Word Prepositions:

Yes, some prepositions come in three words. So the sample sentence becomes:

I have a few questions with regard to your products.

Other members in this team of three-word prepositions include:

with reference to

with respect to

C. Key Points

When writing emails, think about ‘about’. About helps you to

a. to say sorry (sorry about that)

b. to ask for something (ask about your product)

A secret between verbs and subjects

George — Wed, 11 Dec 2013 03:19:00 +0000

Summary: What you are going to learn is probably one of the many secrets in English: the method of going left. That is, first, you learn why ‘Tomorrow will go to office’ is wrong, through a sense of humor. Then, you get the method of making good sentences. Whenever you see a verb, go left and see if there is a match between the verb and the subject and you know the sentence is right.

A. Learning English the Wrong Way:

If you think there is nothing wrong with ‘Tomorrow will go to office’, then think again. It is something like English, but not English.

But aren’t people telling you that as long as you can communicate, it is okay? No it is not, absolutely not. Why? It is because there is something hidden in English sentences, a hidden secret that does not allow you to do so.

B. A Hidden Secret in English: A Match between Verbs and Subjects

To get the hidden thing in English, you have to go back to ‘Tomorrow will go to office’ again, asking yourself 3 questions:

Which word is the verb (in the sentence)?
Which word is the subject (in the sentence)?
Is there a match between the verb and the subject?

So the first two questions are pieces of cakes. The verb is ‘go’ and the subject is ‘tomorrow’. But what does ‘a match’ mean?

Before you know what a match is, you have to learn what it is not from the sentence. There are questions for you to work on:

1. How can ‘tomorrow’ go to office?

2. Does ‘tomorrow’ have legs?

3. Can ‘tomorrow’ take a bus or drive?

In other words, in ‘Tomorrow will go to office’ you treat tomorrow as a living thing, a person, or an office worker. But actually it is not.

When you use ‘will go to office’ you are referring to a real person. But obviously, ‘tomorrow’ is not a person’s name (well, unless you change your name to ‘tomorrow’ now). So, in a word, ‘Tomorrow will go to office’ doesn’t make any sense in English as it breaks a rule: a match between verbs and subjects.

C. Learning English the Right Way: Going Left

So there is an easy way to check if you write (or speak) good English or not: Going left.

How?

1. Locate the verb in a sentence.

2. Go to the left of the verb to find the subject.

3. Check if there is a match.

So let’s check the sentence below with the three steps:

At last month’s meeting our CEO discussed the difficulties in hiring new technicians.

Step 1	Verb	discussed
Step 2	Subject	(our) CEO

And about step 3, is there a match between ‘CEO’ and ‘discussed’? Yes, there is a match.

But what about this:

Last month’s meeting discussed the difficulties in hiring new technicians.

There is a mismatch between ‘meeting’ and ‘discussed’. Why? A meeting is not a living thing, so:

How can a meeting discuss anything?

I guess you have got the secret, right?

—————————————————–

Posts Other Readers also Read:

How to make better sentences (from simple ones)

George — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 04:30:00 +0000

If you want to improve your English, both spoken and written, there is one thing you must know: how tomake better sentences from simple ones.

Watch the coming video and find out how to make better sentences from the following two (a situation in which you have to apologize in public):

I have made a big mistake. I am responsible for it.

Level I: Watching a Video

Remember to turn on the captionsand annotations.

Level II: Post-Watching

So I guess you’ve got the ‘two ice-creams’:

I have made a big mistake, a mistake that I am responsible for.

But you can go further by applying the ‘two ice-creams’ to other situations such as:

a. upon announcingsomething big

We need a new kind of banking service, a service that replaces traditional practices.

b. upon presenting your proposal

With an increase in leisure activities, there would be job opportunities, job opportunities that benefit people living in this city.

c. writing an email to promote a vacation package

To help you plan your vacation, we have enclosed our resort brochure, a brochure (that) describes our facilities and areas attractions.

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Most popular Posts

Post	Link
Grammar for Writing Emails (1): Reply	Link
Grammar for Presentation: Baby Verbs (3)	Link
Grammar for Speaking: American Slang (1)	Link
How to Make Complex Sentences (1)	Link

grammar for emails

George — Wed, 04 Sep 2013 01:07:00 +0000

Directory (1) Grammar for Emails

Grammar for Writing Emails (1): Reply

Summary: This post is about how to write emails with regard to the verb ‘reply‘, a verb that has been used incorrectly by lots of people.

You will learn that ‘I will reply your email‘ is absolutely wrong, and that the concept behind is funny and easy to grasp.

In a way, you will learn what Graham Lock (a guru of English grammar) means by transitivity, an important concept in English grammar, if you want to write emails with better English.

So enjoy your reading!

Grammar for Writing Emails (2): as followS

Summary: This post is about how to write emails. It explains the tricky issue of why there is an ‘s’ in ‘as follows‘. You will learn that there are two explanations for this complex structure. Before you get the answer, the post explains the two meanings of ‘as’: ‘like’ and ‘because’ respectively. You will then notice that the ‘as’ in ‘as follows’ means ‘like’.

So enjoy your reading!

Grammar for Writing Emails (3): to inform you or be informed

Summary: This post is about how to write emails in a polite way. You will learn the idea (concept) of transitive verbs, yet the term is not used in this post. Instead, an interesting and user-friendly term, Friendly Verb, is invented to make your learning fun and enjoyable.

So enjoy your reading!

Grammar for Writing Emails (4): Looking forward to hearING from you

Summary: This post is about how to end your emails. You will understand better one of the most troublesome words in English: to, especially when you use it to end your emails. You may be confused by ‘looking forward to hear‘ or ‘looking forward to hearing from you’.

Yet, in a funny and interesting way, this post entertains and teaches you that actually the ‘hearing‘ in ‘to hearing from you’ is something like a noun. In terms of grammar, the ‘ing’ gives you a signal that it is a gerund (a noun).

So enjoy your reading!

Writing Emails: as followS

George — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 11:20:00 +0000

Dear Ms Funny

The information you needed is as follows:

——————————————————————

Do you add ‘s’ at the end of the ‘follow’? Or do not add ‘s’ at the end of the ‘follow’? Before you know which one is correct, there is a question for you.

What is it? What is ‘as’ in ‘as follows’? Or, what does ‘as’ mean here?

(There are) two options for you to choose.

————————————————

Option / Meaning (1)

Read the sentence: He is as cool as Johnny Depp. So what does ‘as’ mean? It means he is like Johnny Depp.

————————————————

Option / Meaning (2)

But what about the ‘as’ in the following situation, your presentation:

As you all know, our company is becoming bigger and bigger. (I guess you will say so even if your company is getting smaller and smaller.)

What does ‘as’ mean here? Not sure about it? Put differently, why do you say ‘As you all know ’?

Is it a comment? A comment about which you think everyone knows that your company is getting bigger and bigger, that the information is shared by everyone in the room, right?

————————————————

So now back to the email, ‘as follows’. Which meaning, one or two, is similar to ‘as follows’? I guess you’ve got it. The ‘as’ in ‘as follows’ is very much like ‘as cool as’, right? In other words, the ‘as’ in ‘as follows’ means:

————————————————

Well, now you know what ‘as’ means, but why there is ‘s’ in ‘follows’? There are two explanations.

Explanation 1: There is a ‘what’? What does that mean? Read the following email:

You may insert ‘what’ before ‘follows’.

Explanation 2: Yet, there is more than one explanation. Read the following email.

You may insert ‘it’ before ‘follows’. Well problem solved, right? There is still a Feel Good tip for you, but this time you have to work it out yourselves. Before you feel surprised, if not disappointed, break the code:

As + follows

Pic sources:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/balladist/2376057218/sizes/z/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/revstan/4412635671/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/76029035@N02/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bobnrenee/4338327776/sizes/m/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/carbonnyc/2206470413/sizes/z/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28096801@N05/4729446076/

How to Make Sentences in Business English (4)

George — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 03:48:00 +0000

Summary: This post is about how to make sentences in business English. It starts with one of the biggest mistakes in English ‘suggested to build a new team’ and then moves on to discuss the reasons and concepts behind. In a way, you will learn what gerunds and infinitives are, but without explanations that are difficulty and not funny.

Big Verbs followed by verb+ing

Before you know which (Big) verbs are to be followed by verb+ing, I’ll tell you the biggest mistake in Business English, really the biggest. What is it? Read the following sentence.

The CEO suggested to build a new team. (WRONG)

Is the sentence correct? No! Am I crazy? Or is it some kind of joke? No, absolutely not. When ‘suggest’ is a Big Verb (the first verb in a sentence), it is to be followed by verb+ing. Yes, verb+ing.

Why? Why? Why?

If you read books on grammar, you will find that they just tell you the rule, the rule that suggest is followed by verb+ing, and they will give you a horrible term ‘gerund’.

However, in George Yule’s book (Explaining English Grammar), he has come up with an explanation. According to him, the thing followed by ‘suggest’ is an event. What does that mean? It means it is like a noun. In other words, to build (from the above example) is more like an action but less like a noun.

Yet, ‘building’ can work as a noun. You may ask a further question: How does ‘building’ work like a noun? To get the answer read the following two sentences:

a. We shopped in Paris last month.

b. We did some shopping in Paris last month.

The word ‘shopped’ is a verb but ‘shopping’ is a noun. In other words, when you add ‘ing’ to a verb, it can become a noun, or a noun-like event. So besides ‘suggest’, what other verbs (Big Verbs) are to be followed by verb+ing? Before you get the answer, read the following case.

Situation

Apologising for making mistakes

I regret making the mistakes (that was careless), but I deny having anything to do with money laundry.

In the sentence the two Big Verbs (regret and deny) are followed by verb+ing, as shown below:

regret	making (make + ing)
deny	having (have + ing)

So you’ve got the rule that ‘regret and deny’ are usually followed by verb+ing. But what is wrong with ‘I regret to make the mistakes‘.

Besides Yule’s above explanation, I would suggest another one. ‘To make the mistakes’ sounds like the mistake has not been made. A mistake is in the future. Odd enough! Right? In fact, I guess you have been using to+verb in daily and professional lives. Are the following two situations familiar to you?

Situation 1: Things to buy at a supermarket

Things + to buy

So have you bought the things already? Probably not. As ‘to buy‘ has something to do with the future.

Situation 2: Schedule
People to meet at 10:30

So, when you use to+verb, you usually refer to something that is to be done, and that you haven’t done it yet.

The case of ‘deny’

On the contrary, can you deny something that is to be done? Probably not. The things you deny can hardly be in the future, right? That is, if you want to know how to use deny, once again, you may get in touch with your feelings. What do you feel about things you deny?

Do you like what you deny?

Do you not like what you deny?

You’ve got it, I guess. Usually, for things you don’t like (or hate), you take verb+ing. A typical example is:

I hate eating out with my boss.

↓

hate + eating out

Similarly, other Big Verbs about things you don’t like followed by verb+ing include:

avoid

delay

postpone

risk

We postponed submitting the report (on an analysis of our industry).

So, do you like ‘submitting a report’? What can I say if you say yes! With Big Verbs like ‘postpone’ you can imagine it usually goes with things you don’t like.

What about things you like? The same rule applies. That is, with verbs (Big Verbs) about things you like, you use verb+ing to follow them. A typical example is the verb ‘enjoy’?

I enjoy having lunch with my boss.

(Well, are you telling the truth?)

↓

enjoy + having

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This post is adapted from the book:

FeelGoodGrammar:
How to Make Sentences in Business English

Buy the book:

Kindle (ebook) Amazon (paperback) Kobo (ebook)

TO INFORM YOU or BE INFORMED

George — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 13:49:00 +0000

When you write emails to your customers, do you want to be polite or impolite?

Is that a real question?
Well, I guess most of you want to be polite. Yet the real question is: how?

How to be polite in your emails?

_______________________________________________________

THE QUESTION IS: BE INFORMED OR TO INFORMED YOU

If you want to know how, read the following two sentences:

1. Please be informed that the task is complete.

2. This is to inform you that the task is complete.

So which one is more polite? You probably think that the first one is more polite, right? But why? What why? I mean, if you want to improve, enhance, upgrade, or boost your Office (business) English, you have to know why, the reasons behind, right?

_______________________________________________________

WHY’BE INFORMED’ IS MORE POLITE

So here you are, the reasons behind. Sentence 1 is in passive voice, so it is more polite.

That’s it? Well, it could be. But there is something moreabout the verb ‘inform’. ‘Inform’ is a specialverb. How special is it?

It is a Friendly Verb.

What? What do I mean? I mean ‘inform’ is usually followed by someone (or a friend), for example, I am writing to inform you that you have won a prize. So the friend of ‘inform’ is ‘you’, and you can’t leave out the word ‘you’, which is why ‘inform’ is a Friendly Verb.

(What is a Friendly Verb? A verb that wants to be with a person, or a friend all the time. So you do not write things like: I informed. I told.)

With the idea of Friendly verbs, you can see that the coming sentence is ABSOLUTELY wrong: I am writing to inform that you have won a prize.

(Why: The you (the friend) is missing)

In other words, in the above sentence, ‘inform’ becomes a Lonely Verb, with no friends around. So the problem is solved? Well, not yet.

_______________________________________________________

INFORM + YOU

There is a problem with ‘inform + you’.

What problem is it? It implies something bad. How bad is it? It implies that ‘you’ is inferior, that ‘you’ has a lower status, and that the one who writes the email has more ‘power’ than ‘you’.

You don’t get it. Well, what about the following sentence?

I told you to finish it before 6pm.

That is, ‘told + you’ is impolite.

So if you want to be polite with ‘inform’, give it a twist.

How are you going to twist it? Put ‘inform’ in passive voice and the sentence becomes: Please be informed that the task is complete. In other words, when you put ‘inform’ in passive voice, the word ‘you’ can be skipped.

_______________________________________________________

INFORM + ME

Yet, there is a situation in which you can still be polite with ‘inform + someone’. What is it? Well, the someone does not necessarily have to be ‘you’, right? In fact it can be ‘me’ or ‘us’.

So when you ask for information and you want to be polite, you may write:

Please inform us of any change regarding the proposal (discussed yesterday).

_______________________________________________________

So to sum up, the Feel Good Tips are:

Inform + me / us	POLITE
Inform + you	IMPOLITE

Pic Sources:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/76029035@N02/6829383079/in/photostream/?reg=1&src=comment
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dylaphant07/8191530690/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jdickert/2267116583/sizes/m/in/photostream/

Looking forward to hearING from you

George — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 14:52:00 +0000

Do you know which word is one of the most troublesome in English? A hint: it is just a word with two, not four, letters. ‘To’ is just a two-letter word, right? Yet it is a word that causes lots of trouble in English, especially when you want to end your email or letter by asking someone to reply.

You don’t think so. Alright, which one of the following is correct?

I am looking forward to hear from you.

I am looking forward to hearingfrom you.

A. To Hear or To Hearing

When you write emails or letters, do you get confused with ‘to’? In other word, the big question is: to hear or to hearing. Before you get the answer, you have to go back to the past. Look at the picture. Who is the one in the picture? Your teacher?

B. Your Teacher Was Wrong?Did this happen to you? At a grammar lesson, your teacher told you a golden rule. What golden rule? After ‘to’, don’t add ‘ing’ to the verb (followed). So if this is correct, the answer will be ‘I am looking forward to hear from you.’
Yet, the correct answer is: I am looking forward to hearing from you.

So your teacher was wrong. No, not exactly!

The thing is: he or she just told you half of the story. And you are going to learn the other half now.

C. What do you see?

The second half of the story is an experiment. An experiment? Don’t panic. Well, it is a bit exaggerating. But what you need to do is just to look forward. Yes, just look forward. What do you see?

Correct me if I am wrong. You seea computer, a tablet or a smart phone, right? And what do a computer and a smart phone have in common? They are all English? Well, no time for kidding. They are all things, or if you like, nouns.

So what is my point? Or do I have one?
The point is: When you look forward, you see something, right? And that something is a noun. When you link the two together, you need the a word, right?

Look forward ______

A smart phone

What word do you need? A word with two letters:

to

So it becomes: Look forward TO a smart phone. That is, it is ‘impossible’ to write ‘Look forward a smart phone’

D. Smart Phone and To Hearing From You

But how does ‘a smart phone’ relate to ‘hearing from you’? Both (a smart phone and hearing) are nouns. What? ‘Hearing’ is a noun?

Yes, ‘hearing’ can work as a noun. How? Read the following two sentences:

I jog every day.

I do some jogging every day.

The word ‘jog’ is a verb but ‘jogging’ is a noun. In the sentence, jogging is something, some kind of activity, so it is a noun. Yes, you are right. Sometimes when you add ‘ing’ to a verb, it becomes a noun.

Looking forward to	+	a thing (a noun)
Hear + ing	=	a thing (a noun)

E. So the Feel Good tips are:

You may end your email with ‘I am looking forward to hearing from you‘.

Email Writing – Mind Learning Association

Stative Verbs for Business

Grammar for Writing Emails: Reply (2)

Emails and Prepositions (1): About

a1. Sorry about VS Sorry for

I have a few questions about your products.

b1. What about you don’t want to use about?

a. One-Word Prepositions:

I have a few questions regarding your products.

b. Three-Word Prepositions:

I have a few questions with regard to your products.

A secret between verbs and subjects

How to make better sentences (from simple ones)

Most popular Posts

Grammar for Writing Emails (1): Reply

Grammar for Presentation: Baby Verbs (3)

Grammar for Speaking: American Slang (1)

How to Make Complex Sentences (1)

grammar for emails

Directory (1) Grammar for Emails

Grammar for Writing Emails (1): Reply

Grammar for Writing Emails (2): as followS

Grammar for Writing Emails (3): to inform you or be informed

Grammar for Writing Emails (4): Looking forward to hearING from you

Writing Emails: as followS

Explanation 1: There is a ‘what’? What does that mean? Read the following email:

How to Make Sentences in Business English (4)

The case of ‘deny’

TO INFORM YOU or BE INFORMED

Looking forward to hearING from you