{"id":45,"date":"2014-10-09T15:27:00","date_gmt":"2014-10-09T15:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/monkeygrammar.org\/index.php\/2014\/10\/09\/grammar-for-writing-emails-reply-2\/"},"modified":"2019-03-24T09:36:38","modified_gmt":"2019-03-24T09:36:38","slug":"grammar-for-writing-emails-reply-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/grammar-for-writing-emails-reply-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Grammar for Writing Emails: Reply (2)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Summary:<\/b> <\/span>In the previous post you have learnt  that<\/span> ‘<\/span>I will reply your email<\/span><\/strike>‘ is wrong.  In this post, we will further explain why and link the verb ‘reply’ to a sentence pattern that you have learnt.   <\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>
\n<\/b>
\n<\/b>
\n<\/b>A. Reply & Sentence Pattern<\/b>
\n<\/a>
\nIf you remember, this is <\/span>a sentence pattern<\/span> you have learned at school.  <\/span>
\n
\n<\/b><\/span>What<\/b><\/span> pattern is it? <\/span>The pattern of ‘SVO<\/span>‘. <\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/span><\/span>
\n<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n
Subject<\/span><\/td>\nVerb<\/span><\/td>\nObject<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ms Talk<\/span>.<\/span><\/td>\nmade<\/span><\/td>\na speech <\/span>          (<\/span>at a meeting<\/span>)<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

<\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Yet<\/span>, your teacher might have forgotten to tell you one thing. In ‘SVO’ t<\/span>here is <\/span>a <\/span>special<\/b><\/span> relationship <\/span>between a subject and an object.  <\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>By <\/span>special<\/span>, I don\u2019t mean they have an affair. What I mean is in the pattern of ‘SVO’ <\/span>a subject has some <\/span>control<\/span> over the object.<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/b>
\n <\/span>
\n
\n<\/span><\/b>
\n
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n

Put simply, in this pattern <\/span>one thing<\/span> is <\/span>bigger<\/span>. <\/span><\/span><\/span> Which one is bigger?  <\/span>A subject is bigger than an object. <\/span>In other words, <\/span>If a <\/span>subject<\/span> is a<\/span> <\/span>master<\/span>, then an <\/span>object<\/span> <\/span><\/span>is like a <\/span>servant<\/span>.  <\/span><\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>And do you want to give the relationship a name? <\/span>What about <\/span>MS<\/span>?<\/span>  <\/span>MS has nothing to do with any company. <\/span>It means a<\/span> <\/span><\/span>Master-servant<\/span> relationship. <\/span><\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/b>B. Correct Usage: Reply <\/b>to<\/span><\/b> your email<\/b>
\n
\n<\/span>However<\/span>, in the case of \u2018I will reply your email soon\u2019, the word \u2018I\u2019 is <\/span>not the master<\/span> of \u2018your email\u2019.  <\/span><\/b>
\n
\n<\/span><\/span>What<\/span> does that mean<\/span>? <\/span>\u2018I\u2019 <\/span>is <\/span>not the one <\/span><\/span>who wrote the email<\/span><\/span>. <\/span><\/span>In other words, ‘I’ write something, b<\/span><\/span>ut not<\/span> the email<\/span> ‘I’ received.  <\/span>It is <\/span>Mr Big<\/span>, not ‘I’, who <\/span>wrote<\/span> <\/span>the email.  <\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>In other words, Mr Big is the master<\/span> (subject) of the servant (the email).<\/span>    <\/span>
\n
\n<\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n


\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>So<\/span>, when using \u2018reply<\/span>\u2019 as a <\/span>verb<\/span>, stick to the following rule:<\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n
\n
Person<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
Verb<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
+ Preposition<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
Thing<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
     I<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
will reply<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
          to<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
your email (soon)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

That is, when there is <\/span>no MS relationship<\/span>,<\/span> <\/span>a preposition<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span>is needed. <\/span>This is why when you use \u2018<\/span>wait<\/span><\/b>\u2019, you have to add a preposition: <\/span><\/span>Wait <\/span>FOR<\/span> me, but <\/span>not<\/span> <\/span><\/span>\u2018Wait me\u2019.  <\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>
\n<\/b><\/span>
\n
\n<\/b><\/span>C. Quick Tip<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n


\n<\/span><\/p>\n

So, <\/span>the<\/span> <\/span>F<\/span>ee<\/span>l G<\/span>oo<\/span>d T<\/span>i<\/span>p <\/span>is ‘<\/span>Re<\/span> + Re<\/span>‘. <\/span>What<\/span> does that <\/span>mean<\/span>?<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/span>
\n
\n<\/span><\/span>
\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
reply + to<\/span>  <\/span>————>   <\/span>(<\/span>re<\/span>ply + p<\/span>re<\/span>position)<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span>
\n         <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/span><\/span>
\n<\/span><\/span> <\/span>
\nD: More Examples from Everyday life<\/b>
\n
\n<\/span><\/b>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n

The <\/span>same tip <\/span>also applies to:<\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>‘<\/span>I will <\/span><\/span>write to<\/span><\/i><\/span> you<\/i><\/span>.’ <\/span><\/span><\/b>
\n
\n<\/span><\/span><\/b>or <\/span><\/span><\/b>
\n
\n<\/span><\/span><\/b>‘<\/span><\/span><\/b>I will <\/span>talk to<\/span><\/span><\/i> you<\/span><\/i>‘.<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n


\n<\/span><\/span><\/b>
\n<\/span><\/span><\/b>
\n<\/span><\/span><\/b>
\n
\n<\/span><\/span><\/b>
\n<\/span><\/span><\/b>
\n<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/b><\/p>\n
—————————————————————————————-<\/div>\n
\n
Pic sources<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n<\/span><\/span>http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/12394349@N06\/4656677533\/sizes\/m\/in\/photostream\/<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/b><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":218,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/email-writing-2.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":220,"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45\/revisions\/220"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}