{"id":64,"date":"2013-10-16T02:22:00","date_gmt":"2013-10-16T02:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/monkeygrammar.org\/index.php\/2013\/10\/16\/inside-secrets-to-improving-your-business-english-2\/"},"modified":"2020-04-15T13:45:46","modified_gmt":"2020-04-15T13:45:46","slug":"inside-secrets-to-improving-your-business-english-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/inside-secrets-to-improving-your-business-english-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Secrets to Improving Your Business English (2)"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a><\/div>\n

How much do you know about English grammar<\/span>?  Do you know that English grammar is sometimes like a hidden face<\/span> behind a mask?<\/p>\n

What does that mean?  It means there are lots of hidden rules <\/span>(or inside secrets<\/span>).  By ‘hidden rules’ I mean you can’t find them even if you read books on grammar.<\/p>\n

(<\/span>pic source<\/a>)<\/span><\/p>\n

Here are four<\/span> for you.<\/p>\n

1. Use ‘which’ to give comments <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

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

Praising<\/span> your coworker:<\/p>\n

Mr Sale: I have just made the biggest sale this month.<\/b><\/span>
\nYou: Which<\/span> is good news for our team.<\/b><\/span>
\n                                    <\/b><\/p>\n


\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Why<\/span>:  You think ‘which’ is for making questions<\/span> only.  Well, think again.  In English, ‘which’ also stands for the sentence<\/span> your coworker has just said.<\/p>\n

How<\/span> to make it:<\/span> After ‘which’ you may use ‘is<\/span>‘ or ‘was<\/span>‘.  Well, why?  (It is) because you comment on a single<\/span> sentence.  For example:<\/p>\n

<\/a>You and your coworkers are gossiping<\/span> about Mr Rude:<\/p>\n

Coworker:<\/span> Mr Rude was rude to the Creative Director at the opening part.<\/b><\/span>
\nYou:<\/span> Which <\/span>was<\/span> a stupid thing to do. <\/span><\/p>\n

2. Use ‘High \/ Low + Noun’<\/i><\/span> to talk about your products <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

When talking to your customers<\/span>:<\/p>\n

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

We sell high<\/span>-end<\/span> video equipment.<\/b><\/span>
\nThough we a a low<\/span>-cost<\/span> airline, we provide good service.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Other examples include:<\/p>\n

a high-quality<\/span> image<\/span><\/b>
\na high-yield<\/span> investment<\/span><\/b>
\na low-risk<\/span> deal<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

               <\/div>\n
(pic source<\/a>)<\/div>\n

3. Use ‘what’ to introduce something big<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

At your presentation<\/span>, when you come to some big points, you may say:<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n
\n<\/span><\/b><\/span>
\n<\/span><\/b><\/span>What<\/span> we need is more money. <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

 
\n(pic source<\/a>)<\/div>\n

You can visualize<\/span> the sentence by breaking it into three<\/span> parts and you use ‘is’ after ‘What we need’.<\/p>\n


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

\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n
\n
Head<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
Body<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
Tail<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
What<\/span> we need    <\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
is<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
more money.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

Other examples include:<\/p>\n

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

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

\n\n\n\n\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n\n
\n
Giving advice<\/span><\/span> to your coworker<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
What <\/span>you have to do<\/b><\/span> is<\/span><\/b> <\/span>to choose the right customers.<\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
Introducing <\/span>your project<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
What<\/span> I will do first<\/b> <\/span>is<\/b><\/span> <\/span>to give you an outline of the project.<\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
Asking for <\/span>a holiday<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
What <\/span>I would like is<\/span> a 5-day holiday.  <\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

4. Use either a linking verb or an action verb<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

What is wrong<\/span> with the following if you use it to start your presentation?<\/p>\n

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

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

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

\n<\/b><\/span><\/div>\n
I am<\/span> here present<\/span> the proposal<\/b>.   <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

If you think there is nothing wrong, then think again.  There is a hidden rule in English, stating that you are not allowed <\/span>to put a linking verb and an action verb together<\/span> in a sentence.<\/p>\n

But first of all, what is a linking<\/span> verb?  They are verbs like:<\/p>\n

is<\/span>\/am<\/span>\/are<\/span>\/was<\/span>\/were<\/span>\/been<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/div>\n

And what are action <\/span>verbs?  Common examples in business English are:<\/p>\n

run<\/span> a business, <\/div>\n
develop<\/span> a program, <\/div>\n
discuss<\/span> an issue<\/div>\n

But why<\/span><\/b> is putting them together a problem<\/span>?  Look at the picture and you’ll see what problem it is:<\/p>\n

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

The two kinds<\/span> of verbs crash<\/span> on the Road of English Sentence<\/span>.<\/p>\n


\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>How to avoid the ‘verb’ crash<\/span>: Make ‘present’ not much like a verb so that there is only a linking verb here.<\/p>\n

I am<\/span> here to<\/span> present<\/span> the proposal.    <\/span><\/div>\n

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

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

\n<\/span><\/div>\n
Well, in English, ‘present<\/span>‘ is a verb but ‘to<\/span> present<\/span>‘ is less than a verb, another not-so-hidde<\/span>n rule in grammar.   <\/span><\/div>\n

Why are there inside secrets in English?<\/span><\/p>\n

And before we are done, you may ask one ultimate<\/b><\/span> question:<\/p>\n

Why<\/span>?    Why<\/span> are there inside secrets<\/span> in English?<\/b><\/span><\/div>\n


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

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

Well, that is a tough<\/span> one.  There is a reason suggested by Noam Chomsky<\/a><\/span>, a guru of English (or if you like, Linguistics).  He tells us that there are rules in grammar that native speakers of English are not conscious of. <\/span>In other words, somehow they know there is something special <\/span>about English sentences, but they don’t know how to<\/span> say it clearly.<\/p>\n

But again, why?  Why can’t they say it clearly<\/span>?  Well, in a word, it is about the structure of our brains.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How much do you know about English grammar?  Do you know that English grammar is sometimes like a hidden face behind a mask? What does that mean?  It means there are lots of hidden rules (or inside secrets).  By ‘hidden rules’ I mean you can’t find them even if you read books on grammar. (pic source) Here are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":660,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/FreeGreatPicture.com-28742-interesting-material-of-commerce.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64"}],"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=64"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":736,"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64\/revisions\/736"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}