Everyday aspects

Everyday aspects you might currently be missing

Oftentimes, we use some words, phrases and clauses on a daily basis.  While doing so, we might not consider whether they are grammatically correct or not. However, grammar mistakes are sometimes inevitable and we should continuously work on improving them. Besides that, it is okay to err up on that word knowing that we will have the error corrected upon noticing it. This is pretty much a good way to learn language.

Confusing words

There is a number of confusing words in English. Let us have a look at some of them.

a) daily, dairy & diary

daily
If something is done daily, it is done every day.

Walking is a daily activity. (adjective)
I walk daily. (adverb)

dairy

She bought some dairy products. (adjective)
Butter is a dairy product. (adjective)

diary

I record my daily experiences in my diary. (noun)

clue: Carefully analyse the letters in such confusing words. They are probably the reason why you keep mixing up the words.

b) quite & quiet

It is quite cold today. (adverb)
She hardly talks because  she is a quiet girl. ( adjective)

c) complain, complaint & complainant


They always complain about the noise. (verb)
They made a complaint about the noise. (noun)
They are the complainants. (noun)

You can, therefore, see that when you complain, you make a complaint. One who makes a complaint is called a complainant.

Articles (a, an & the)

Did you know?
Not always can one use any of the articles anywhere. Let us find out the reasons behind this.

Indefinite articles: a & an

These are indefinite articles. this means that we use them when talking about something in general (unspecifically).

They will go to a mall.
They will go to an orchard. 

Note that in this case, we do not know which mall or orchard they will go to. The malls or orchards might be more than one. All we know  is that, they will have to go to one of the malls or orchards.      

NB: For you to use the indefinite articles appropriately, you must first determine the sound at the beginning of the word preceded by the indefinite article. If the preceded word begins with a vowel sound, use an.
examples: an apple, an orange, an hour etc.

If the preceded word begins with a consonant sound, use a.
examples: a ball, a web, a university etc.

Definite article: the

This is a definite article. We use it when we are being specific.

They will go to the mall.
They will go to the orchard.
In this case, the mall  or orchard to which they will go is known.

The h in the following words is silent. They, therefore, take  the indefinite article an.

• hour
• honour
• honest
• heir

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Frans SM ( authoress)