English Corner: Spelling

Almost everyone in the Philippines owns a cell phone - from the sophisticated executive to the street vendors. In this day and age, it is a necessity. Thankfully, the cell phone has made communications easier and conveying & receiving messages are literally at our fingertips. Why, even children 7-8 years old use cell phones.

The down side to this is the deterioration of spelling & grammar of everyone, especially the youth. Acronyms replace full spelling in an attempt to squeeze in letters in one "send". English teachers are up in arms, parents are worried, and students...do not care.

I have made a quiet resolution to use full spelling as much as I can afford the time. When sending text messages to students, I spell out the words. Non-negotiable.

Just like using the right utensil for eating, impeccable English proficiency is becoming rare among Filipino youth. Let's help do something about it.

Agreement of Subject and Verb Simplified

At the risk of sounding simplistic, perhaps this will help determine the basic agreement of subject and verb:

The "s" (to make the subject plural generally and to add to the predicate for a singular subject) appears only once.

For example:
The boy sitS. Not: The boy sit.
The boyS sit. Not: The boys sits.

In the first erroneous sentence, the "s" should be added to the verb.
In the second erroneous sentence, the "s" only appears to make the subject plural.

Hope this helps. Of course, there are other rules. But, we can begin with this one. Happy speaking or writing!