Learning with English

Male and Female VS Men and Women

Male dan female pada dasarnya adalah adjective (kata sifat), bukan noun (kata benda). Keduanya bisa digunakan sebagai noun (kata benda), tetapi secara umum lebih baik untuk tidak melakukan demikian jika kata ini menunjuk pada orang. Saya pikir itu karena kita sering menggunakan male dan female sebagai noun ketika kita berbicara tentang hewan. Perhatikan contoh-contoh kalimat berikut:

(a) Males are thought to be physically stronger than females.
(b) Men are thought to be physically stronger than women.
(c) This company treats the women employees the same as the men employees.
(d) This company treats the female employees the same as the male employees.

Kalimat (a) kedengaran seperti sebuah kalimat yang bercerita tentang hewan. Jika Anda berbicara kepada orang, maka lebih baik menggunakan man dan woman (atau men dan women untuk bentuk jamak) sehingga kalimat (b) kedengaran lebih baik dibanding (a) dalam hal ini. Akan tetapi, jika Anda memerlukan sebuah adjective (kata sifat), maka lebih baik menggunakan male dan femala karena men dan women adalah noun (kata benda); kalimat (d) kedengaran lebih baik dibanding kalimat (c).

Phrasal Verbs and other multi-word verbs

Phrasal verbs are part of a large group of verbs called "multi-word verbs". Phrasal verbs and other multi-word verbs are an important part of the English language. Multi-word verbs, including phrasal verbs, are very common, especially in spoken English. A multi-word verb is a verb like "pick up", "turn on" or "get on with". For convenience, many people refer to all multi-word verbs as phrasal verbs. These verbs consist of a basic verb + another word or words. The other word(s) can be prepositions and/or adverbs. The two or three words that make up multi-word verbs form a short "phrase" - which is why these verbs are often all called "phrasal verbs".

The important thing to remember is that a multi-word verb is still a verb. "Get" is a verb. "Get up", is also a verb, a different verb. "Get" and "get up" are two different verbs. They do not have the same meaning. So you should treat each multi-word verb as a separate verb, and learn it like any other verb. Look at these examples. You can see that there are three types of multi-word verb:

IDIOM Today

Pull someone's leg Informal

Meaning: If you pull someone's leg, you play a joke on them by saying something that isn't true.

For example:

1. I was just pulling Karl's leg when I said Marissa wanted to go out with him, but he believed me and he called her. And now they really are going out!

2. Joe was just pulling your leg when he said he was going spaghetti picking. Spaghetti doesn't really grow on trees, Sally.

EQUAL - COMPARISON

Comparison (kalimat perbandingan) adalah kalimat yang digunakan untuk membandingkan dua noun atau lebih. Comparison pada umumnya dibuat dengan menggunakan adjective (kata sifat) atau adverb (kata keterangan) dan kadang-kadang dengan menggunakan noun.

Tipe kalimat perbandingan ada tiga, yaitu: equal comparisons, comparative, dan superlative. Tulisan ini khusus membahas penggunaan "as…as", "the same… as" dalam equal comparisons.

Equal comparison

Equal comparison menyatakan bahwa hal yang dibandingkan adalah sama (tidak berbeda). Polanya adalah sebagai berikut:

Contoh:

1. Dadang is as
   tall
   as
   I. (Dadang sama tingginya dengan saya).
   
2. Is a rose as fragrant as a jasmine? (Apakah sekuntum mawar sama harumnya dengan sekuntuk melati?).
   
3. Dedi sings as well as his wife. (Dedi bernyanyi sama baiknya dengan istrinya)
   
4. Does Michael Schumacher drive as fast as Valentino Rossi? (Apakah Michael Schumacher mengendarai (mobil) sama cepatnya dengan Valentino Rossi?).
   

Note:

a. Bentuk pronoun yang digunakan setelah as adalah subject pronoun (yaitu: I, you, they, we, he, she, it). Walaupun dalam conversation, object pronoun sering digunakan, tetapi dalam standard written English, object pronoun (yaitu: me, them, us, him, her) tidak boleh digunakan.

Contoh:

1. Joni is as clever as she. (Joni sama pintarnya dengan dia). INCORRECT jika, Joni is as clever as her.
   
2. My brother is as naughty as they. (Kakak saya sama jahilnya dengan mereka). INCORRECT jika, My brother is as naughty as them.
   
3. You study as frequently as he. (Kamu belajar sama seringnya dengan dia). INCORRECT jika, You study as frequently as him.
   

b. Dalam kalimat negatif,  so juga dapat digunakan sebelum adjective atau pronoun; Dalam hal ini, so menggantikan as yang di awal.

Contoh:

1. Joni is not as clever as she = Joni is not so clever as she. (Joni tidak sepintar dia).
   
2. My brother is not as naughty as they = My brother is not so naughty as they. (Kakak saya tidak sejahil mereka).
   
3. You don't study as frequently as he = You don't study so frequently as he. (Kamu belajar tidak sesering dia).
   

Selain pola di atas, equal comparison juga dapat dinyatakan dengan menggunakan pola berikut:

Untuk mengaplikasikan pola ini, nouns harus sinkron dengan adjectivenya. Hafalkan adjectives dan nouns-nya pada tabel berikut:

Contoh:

1. Budi is the same weight as she = Budi is as heavy as she. (Budi sama beratnya dengan dia.
   
2. My teacher is the same height as my brother = My teacher is as tall as my brother. (Guru saya setinggi kakak saya).
   
3. Your well is the same depth as yours = Your well is as deep as yours.  (Sumurmu sedalam sumur saya).
   
4. My father's land is the same width as your father's = My father's land is as wide as your father's. (Lahan bapak saya seluas lahan bapakmu).
   
5. These trees are the same as those. (Pohon-pohon ini sama dengan pohon-pohon itu).
   
6. Canadian speaks the same language as American does. (Orang Kanada berbicara bahasa yang sama dengan orang Amerika).
   

Note: Untuk menyatakan tidak sama dengan (kebalikan dari the same as), gunakan different from. INCORRECT jika menggunakan  different than.

Contoh:

1. These trees are different from those. (Pohon-pohon ini berbeda dengan pohon-pohon itu).
   
2. Indonesian speaks  different language from American does. (Orang Indonesia berbicara bahasa yang berbeda dengan orang Amerika).
   

Hyphenation

Sometimes we need to split (break) a word at the end of a line, for example:

In the above example we have split the word "convenient". We have done this by inserting a hyphen (-) between "conven" and "ient". We have hyphenated "convenient".

In such cases, it is important to insert the hyphen in an appropriate position, that is, between syllables.

Since we insert the hyphen between syllables, it follows that we cannot hyphenate a single-syllable word.

We cannot hyphenate the single-syllable word "friend", for example, but we can hyphenate the three-syllable word "convenient" as "con-venient" or "conven-ient".

To hyphenate correctly, it helps to understand syllables. Every word is made from syllables. Each word has one, two, three or more syllables, as shown in the following chart.

Understanding Syllables

Notice that (with a few rare exceptions) every syllable contains at least one vowel (a, e, i, o or u) or vowel sound.

Table of English Tenses

This is a list of the origins of 10 slang words or phrases that we all use regularly. From insults to idiomatic expressions, these are common in virtually all English speaking nations.

1. Idiot

Idiot originally comes from the Greek word Idiotes which was used to refer to a person who was a private individual – or more specifically, one who was so preoccupied with their own personal life that they would not take part in the democratic process. In the biblical sense, the word referred to an uneducated person. By the fourteenth century, it could also refer to a clown, a layman (non-religious), or an individual. Later, however, the Oxford English Dictionary gave it the following definition which has stuck: "A person so deficient in mental or intellectual faculty as to be incapable of ordinary acts of reasoning or rational conduct". When IQ tests arrived, a person scoring less than 20 was regarded to have earned the "idiot's score".

2. Moron

Another Greek word, Moron meant foolish or stupid. It was first propagated in English by an American psychologist Henry Goddard (1886-1957). In his report to the Journal of Psycho-asthenics about his study of the feeble-minded, he argued for the adoption of the word which he defined as: "One who is lacking an intelligence, one who is deficient in judgement or sense." It was originally used to refer to an adult with a mental age of between 8 and 12. The term has not really made its way into high literature.

3. Cool

Who hasn't used this word at least once in their life when speaking highly of something? This meaning of the word is relatively new in English, but not as new as you might think. The earliest record found so far is from 1884 in the phrase 'Dat's cool!'. After that the next is 1902 from the lyrics of a song from the Black and White minstrel show: "de way we dress is cooler".

4. Third degree

To get the third degree means to be thoroughly questioned. The third degree of something has been regarded as the upper limit (or extreme) even since the time of Shakespeare when he wrote: "For he's in the thirde degree of drinke, he's drown'd" – referring to a very drunk man. Therefore, it is a natural progression that when referring to the most extreme type of questioning, it would be referred to as the third degree.

5. Slut

This unpleasant term is used these days to refer to an immoral woman. But the origin of the term had a far less sinister meaning. It actually meant a woman who did not keep her room tidy – though it is easy to see that this could be a metaphor for immorality of a sexual type. In Thomas Hoccleve's 1402 Letter to Cupid, we read: "The foulest slutte of al a toune". This meaning eventually crossed to the word slattern which retains its original meaning of being an untidy woman. In Victorian English, sluts wool referred to the little piles of dust that gather on the floor if it is not swept.

6. Well Heeled

According to the Chambers Dictionary, well heeled means "comfortably supplied with money" and states that it comes from the word heeled, meaning provided with a heel. Heeled also used to refer to being armed with a revolver. A person carrying a set of guns was said to be long-heeled. Despite the Oxford English Dictionary saying otherwise, it appears that the origin of the term actually comes from Cockfighting. In the early days of cockfighting, the owners would sometimes add spurs to the feet of their birds, putting them at an advantage. If you did not add spurs to the bird it was said to be naked-heeled. The use of the term well-heeled in this context is first seen in print in 1866 in a story by Mark Twain.

7. Kick the Bucket

This means "to die". Many people consider the term to have come from a condemned man standing on an upturned bucket which was then kicked out from under his feet leaving him to hang, but there is no written evidence that this is the case. In fact, it is more likely from a different type of bucket entirely. In butchery, when a pig was slaughtered it would be hung from a piece of timber called the bucket beam. It is mostly likely that in his death throes, the pig's feet would bang against the rail to which they were tied. Therefore, kicking the bucket was a term referring to the last actions of the pig before he finally died.

8. Kinky

Originally this word simply meant something with a bend or twist, probably coming from the Icelandic word meaning to bend your knees. In time the word was adopted by the criminal world to mean something that was illicit – for example a stolen car may have been referred to as a "kinky car". But then in 1959, Colin MacInnes changed the meaning of the word for ever. In his book Absolute Beginners, he says: "Suze [...] meets lots of kinky characters [...] and acts as agent for me, getting orders from them for my pornographic photos." From that time on the word was associated with the steamy side of sex.

9. Underhand

Underhand means "surreptitious" or on the sly. The Chambers Dictionary also adds "with the hand below the elbow or shoulder" which would suggest doing something on the sly with your hand while distracting the eye. But the actual origin of the term most likely comes from Archery. A well known lover of archery, Roger Ascham (c1515-1568) wrote: "Thus the underhande [shaft] must have a small breste, to go cleane awaye oute of the bowe." To shoot underhand was and is a common archery term.

10. Bob's Your Uncle

Bob's your Uncle generally means that something is simple or easy or a "job done". It is most likely that this phrase came about as a result of nepotism (family favoritism). In the late 1800s, Lord Salisbury (first name Robert) was prime-minister of Great Britain. After his third term he was succeeded by his nephew Arthur. Arthur had been made Chief Secretary of Ireland in 1886 which caused some scandal. Suspicions arose that Robert was favoring his nephew Arthur. The term "Bob's your uncle" could be used at the time as a sly reference to this charge of nepotism.

Going to

Intention

We use the special going to construction when we have the intention to do something before we speak. We have already made a decision before speaking. Look at these examples:

• I have won $1,000. I am going to buy a new TV.
  
• We're not going to see my mother tomorrow.
  
• When are you going to go on holiday?
  

In these examples, we had an intention or plan before speaking. The decision was made before we spoke.

Prediction

We often use going to to make a prediction about the future. Our prediction is based on evidence. We are saying what seems sure to happen. Here are some examples:

• The sky is very black. It is going to snow.
  
• It's 8.30! You're going to miss the train!
  
• I crashed the company car. My boss isn't going to be very happy!
  

In these examples, the present situation (black sky/the time/damaged car) gives us a good idea of what is going to happen.

• We use will for prediction when we have no real evidence: "It will rain tomorrow." (It's my feeling but I can't be sure.)
  
• We use going to for prediction when there is some real evidence: "It's going to rain." (There's a big, black cloud in the sky and if it doesn't rain I'll be very surprised.)
  

Passive Voice

The passive voice is less usual than the active voice. The active voice is the "normal" voice. But sometimes we need the passive voice. In this lesson we look at how to construct the passive voice, when to use it and how to conjugate it.

Construction of the Passive Voice

The structure of the passive voice is very simple:

subject + auxiliary verb (be) + main verb (past participle)

The main verb is always in its past participle form.

Look at these examples:

Use of the Passive Voice

We use the passive when:

• we want to make the active object more important
  
• we do not know the active subject
  

Note that we always use by to introduce the passive object (Fish are eaten by cats).

Look at this sentence:

• He was killed with a gun.
  

Normally we use by to introduce the passive object. But the gun is not the active subject. The gun did not kill him. He was killed by somebody with a gun. In the active voice, it would be: Somebody killed him with a gun. The gun is the instrument. Somebody is the "agent" or "doer".

Conjugation for the Passive Voice

We can form the passive in any tense. In fact, conjugation of verbs in the passive tense is rather easy, as the main verb is always in past participle form and the auxiliary verb is always be. To form the required tense, we conjugate the auxiliary verb. So, for example:

• present simple: It is made
  
• present continuous: It is being made
  
• present perfect: It has been made
  

Here are some examples with most of the possible tenses: