Mr., Mrs., Miss, or Ms.? - What's the difference?

The use of Mr.

Mr. (pronounced as Mister) is used for most men; married or unmarried man. You may address a man by Mr. “Something” (his last name) if you don’t know a person’s first name, or if the person has not told you to use his first name. However, never call that man just “Mister” (Mr.), say, for example, Mr. Howard.

The use of Mrs.

Mrs. is used to refer to a married woman. Her last name is (normally) her husband’s last name.

Example:

Mrs. Hillary Rodham-Clinton.

–> Her maiden name is Hillary Rodham; Clinton is his husband’s last name. We call her Mrs. Clinton, NEVER MRS. Rodham or Mrs. Hillary. If she got divorced, she would use her maiden name. We would call her Miss Rodham or Miss Hillary Rodham.

NOTE:

Mrs. (woman’s first name) (surename) is the format traditionally used by divorced women in the US. For example, Mrs. Julia Perez is the traditional form for a divorced woman who was formerly married to someone named “Perez”, but had kept using the “Perez” perhaps because that is the family name of her children (she has kids with him), or for some other reason.

Widow is traditionally continue to be Mrs. (deceased husband’s full name), as long as she doesn’t remarry.

The use of Miss

Miss is used to address young or unmarried women. In some countries, it is also used to address teachers. For example, Miss (women’s frst name) (surename): Miss Juliar Fadillah, or Miss (surename): Miss Fadillah, or Miss (first name): Miss Juliar (to address teacher).

The use of Ms.

Ms. (pronounced as /miz/) is used to address women regardless their marital status. To avoid confusion whether to address a woman by Mrs. or Miss; you can’t go wrong with Ms. whether the woman you are addressing is married or unmarried, has changed her name or not.

How to write a name:

Full name: John (first name) Christian (middle name Howard (last name)

Written     : Mr. John Christian Howard (OR: Mr. Howard, John Christian)

Spoken    : Mr. Howard (NEVER Mr. John)

Mic or Mike?

Did you know that the early abbreviation for microphone was “mike“ /maɪk/? But over the past 25 years or so“mic“ /maɪk/ has been steadily pushing “mike“ out.

The problem with “mic“ is that it doesn’t follow our usual habits of matching abbreviation spellings to our pronunciations. “Mic“, like similar words ‘tic’, ‘hic’, ‘sic’,and ‘pic’ (the short for picture) looks like it should be pronounced “mick“. If we want to pronounce it like“mike“, we should adapt the spelling, as we normally do.

We have…

Coke, not COC(a-cola)

nuke, not NUC(lear)

fave, not FAV(orite)

fridge, not (re)FRIG(erator)

bike, not BIC(ycle)

delish, not DELIC(ious)

There’s an additional problem when it’s used as a verb. When someone is attaching your microphone are theymicing you? Are you then miced? No one wants to be covered in mice (the plural for mouse). But in 2010 the AP style guide switched over to endorse “mic“ for the noun while keeping “mike“ for the verb.

Examples:

• He tossed the mic on the floor.

• The minister was already miked up for the interview.

British vs American English - Grammar Differences

British vs American English – Grammatical DifferencesEnglish language is used differently in the United States and in England and in other English speaking countries. There are some differences between American and British English in vocabulary, spelling, pronunciation as well as a few grammatical differences. In this section I’m only going to tell you the grammatical differences.

1. The use of present perfect
The American English prefers the simple past tense to the present perfect tense.

American:
• They just arrived home.
• We just finished our meal.
• Did you have lunch yet?

British:
• They have just arrived home.
• We have just finished our meal.
• Have you had lunch yet?

Perfect tense “Have”
American:
They have most likely landed by now.

British
They most likely have landed by now.

2. The use of subjunctive
The American English tends to hide “should” from the sentence.
[It’s Necessary/ essential / vital / urgent / imperative… that + (hidden should) + verb]

American:
• It’s essential that she be told the truth.
• It’s vital that you be taken to hospital.
• It’s important that Barry stop smoking.

British:
• It’s essential that she should be told the truth.
• It’s vital that you should be taken to hospital.
• It’s important that Barry should stop smoking.

3. Asking for the person on the phone
American:
Hello, is this Julie?

British:
Hello, is that Julie?

4. Use of look like /as If
American:
He looks like he is an expert.

British
He looks as if/like an expert.

5. The use of tags
The Americans use tags much less often than the British. Americans often use “right” and “OK” as tags.
American:
• You’re coming with us, right?
• I’ll bring the baggage in, OK?

British:
• You’re coming with us, aren’t you?
• I’ll bring the luggage in, shall I?

6. The names of the rivers
The Americans put the word “river” after the name, whereas the British put it before.
American:
Colorado River

British
River Thames

7. The title of an important person
The Americans normally put both the title and the descriptions of offices in front of the names.
American:
• President Roosevelt
• Prime Minister Churchill

British
• President Roosevelt

• Churchill, the Prime Minister

The Use of SHALL

We don’t use shall very frequently in modern English, particularly in American English.

“Shall I” or “shall we” is used in questions to make offers and suggestions, also to ask for advice. As in“Shall I open the window?” – it simply means “Do you want me to open the window?” (You give a suggestion). Or in “I’ve got no money. What shall I do?” – it simply means “I’ve got no money. What do you suggest?” (You ask for an advice).

More examples:

• What time shall we meet?

• Shall we vote on it now?

• What dress shall I wear?

• Let’s go, shall we?

Pay attention to the difference between “shall I” and“will you” used in the following sentences:

• Shall I close the door? (Do you want me to close it?)

• Will you close the door? (I want you to close it.)

Formerly, in older grammar, shall was used as an alternative to will with ‘I’ and ‘we’. Today, will is normally used. When we do use shall, it has an idea of a more personal, subjective future.

• I shall go to see the boss and I shall ask him to explain this decision.

Notice that the negative of shall can be shall not orshan’t  – though the second one is now very rare in American English.

Examples:

• I don’t like these people and I shall not go to their party.

• I shan’t object if you go without me.

• You shall not pass the exam unless you study hard.

6 Rules to Improve Your English Speaking Skills

1. Don’t study grammar too much

This rule might sound strange to you and to many ESL students, but it is one of the important rules. If you want to pass examinations, then study grammar. However, if you want to be fluent in English, then you should try to learn English without studying the grammar. Studying grammar will only slow you down and confuse you. You will think about the grammar rules when creating sentences instead of naturally saying a sentence like a native English speaker.

2. Learn and study phrases

Many students learn vocabulary and try to put many words together to create a proper sentence. It amazes me how many words they know, but they cannot create a proper sentence. The reason is because they didn’t study phrases. When children learn a language, they learn both words and phrases together. Likewise, you need to study and learn phrases.

If you know 1000 words, you might not be able to say one correct sentence, but if you know one phrase, you can make hundreds of correct sentences. If you know 100 phrases, you will be surprised at how many correct sentences you will be able to say. Finally, when you know only 1000 phrases, you will be almost a fluent English speaker. So don’t spend hours and hours learning many different words. Use that time to study phrases instead and you will be closer to English fluency.

3. Don’t translate

When you want to create an English sentence, do not translate the words from your mother tongue. The order of the words is probably different and you will be both slow and incorrect by doing this. Instead, learn phrases and sentences, so you don’t have to think about the words you are going say. It should be automatic.

Another problem with translating is that you will be trying to incorporate grammar rules that you have learned. Translating and thinking about the grammar to create English sentences should be avoided.

4. Reading and listening is not enough. Practice speaking what you hear!

Reading, listening, and speaking are the most important aspects of any language including English. However, speaking is the only requirement to be fluent. It is normal for babies and children to learn speaking first, become fluent, then start reading, and then writing. So the natural order for learning a language is listening, speaking, reading, then writing.

Even though the natural order is listening, speaking, reading, then writing, the order for ESL students is reading, listening, speaking, then writing. The main reason is because when you learn a second language, you need to read material to understand and learn it.

In order to speak English fluently, you need to practice speaking. Don’t just stop at the listening part. Speak out loud the material you are listening to and practice what you hear. Practice speaking out loud until your mouth and brain can do it without any effort. By doing so, you will be able to speak English fluently.

5. Submerge yourself

You will notice that many people who are good English speakers are the ones who studied in an English speaking school. They can speak English not because they went to an English speaking school, but because they had an environment where they can be around English speaking people constantly. However, there are some people who study abroad and learn very little. That is because they went an English speaking school, but found friends from their own country and didn’t practice English.

You don’t have to go abroad to become a fluent English speaker. You only need to surround yourself with English. You can do this by making rules with your friends that you will only speak English. You can also constantly surround yourself in English by listening to the English podcasts that you can download from Google. As you can see, you can achieve results by changing what your surroundings are. Submerge yourself in English and you will learn several times faster.

6. Study correct material

Studying English with a friend who is not a native speaker is both good and bad. You can motivate each other and point out basic mistakes, but you might pick up bad habits from one another if you are not sure about what is correct and incorrect sentences. There is a saying “practice makes perfect”; however, this is far from the truth. Practice only makes what you are practicing permanent. If you practice the incorrect sentence, then you will have perfected saying the sentence incorrectly. Therefore, it is important that you study correct material that is commonly used by most people.

In other words, study English material that you can trust, that is commonly used, and that is correct.

Bad English Pronunciation Can Be Dangerous

Be careful when you pronounce these following words. Make sure you pronounce them right.

soup /suːp/

soap /soʊp/

If you say “I’ll have a /soʊp/“ to the waiter at a restaurant, he will bring you a bar of soap for sure.This is a common pronunciation mistake made by ESL learners. But not my students. Even my 3rd graders know very well how to pronounce these two words.

I’ve also noticed ESL learners, particularly in Indonesia, often pronounce ‘pear’ (a fruit) as /pɪər/ when it should be pronounced as /peər/.

Also ‘sweater’ (a type of clothes) as /switer/ when it should be pronounced as /ˈswet̬·ər/. ‘Sweeter’ is the comparative degree of the adjective ‘sweet’.

They thought all ‘ea’ sounds are pronounced as the ‘i’sound. Since they pronounced ‘beard’ as/bɪərd/, then they thought ‘bear’ is also pronounced with the ‘i’ sound: /bɪər/.

And I know how difficult it is for most Spanish speaking ESL learners to pronounce the ‘th’ sound . They often pronounce ‘think’ as ‘sink’, for example.

So, you’d better work on your pronunciation from now on. Good pronunciation can save your life!

You have got to watch this video from Espresso English. You’ll know how a bad pronunciation can be so dangerous!

Collective Nouns

What are collective nouns?

Collective nouns refer to words used to represent a group of people or things.

Examples:

• a crowd of people

• a company of actors

• a team of football players

• a troupe of dancers

• a herd of cattle

• a brood of chickens

• a congress of baboons

• a school of fish

• a flight of aeroplanes

• a peal of bells

• a quiver of arrows

etc.

Are collective nouns plural or singular?

In British English collective nouns can be followed by a singular or plural verb depending on whether the group is thought of as one idea, or as many individuals.

Compare these sentences:

The jury returns with a unanimous verdict.

— The subject ‘jury’ (the numbers of jury are working together as a group) requires the singular verb ‘returns’.

The jury often have different reactions to the evidence they hear.

— The plural subject ‘jury’ takes the plural verb ‘have’because the numbers of jury are being considered as individuals.

In American English collective nouns are always followed by a singular verb, so an American would usually say “Which team is losing?” whereas in British English both plural and singular forms of the verb are possible, as in “Which team is/are losing?”

Now why don’t you try this exercise?

Can you answer this quiz? After answering the quiz, you can read the explanation below.

Here’s the explanation to the quiz:

“Every other”
Means: each alternate.

Another example:

“I visit my parents every other week.”
Meaning:
I visit them on the first week.
I don’t visit them on the second week.

Watch this video lesson from Shmoop. It will teach you collective nouns in a simple way.

Intonation in Spoken English

Intonation in spoken English is the musical patterns of ups and downs in your speech.

In English, there are three intonation patterns:

Rise  

Full fall  

Partial fall  

These different musical patterns that convey different messages to your listener.

When to use falling   or raising   intonation in your speech?

1. Finishing A Statement

Use the falling intonation pattern to tell the listener that you’re finished with a sentence.

Compare these sentences:

• His dog understands English.  

• His dog understands English?   

When you use the rising intonation, as in the second sentence, you’re telling the listener that you’re surprised. When you use the falling intonation, as in the first sentence, you are merely making a statement; reporting that his dog understands English.

2. Asking Yes/No Question

Use the rising intonation for asking a yes/no question.

Examples:

• Do you understand English?    – No, not really.

• Are you listening?   – Yes, I am.

3. Asking with WH Question Words

Use the falling intonation when asking with ‘what’, ‘who’, ‘when’, ‘where’, and ‘how’.

Examples:

• Who are you looking for?  

• What’s that you’re reading?  

• Why are you learning English?  

4. Showing Surprise

Use the high/rising intonation to express surprise.

Examples:

• Oh, really?  

• Your dog understands English?  

5. Requesting Clarification or Repetition

As an English language learner, you may sometimes have a hard time understanding a speaker. If you don’t understand everything that was said, you can use the rising intonation to let the speaker know that you require clarification.

Example:

X: I think I’ll go to the door.

Y: You’ll go to the store?  

X: No. The door.   (The intonation goes down when finishing a statement.)

Here are some phrases you can use to request clarification or repetition with the rising intonation if you don’t understand a speaker:

• I’m sorry?  

• Excuse me?  

• What was that?  

• Could you repeat that please?  

6. Making A List

Use a partial falling intonation when you’re making a list.

Example:

I’ve always wanted to visit Paris , New York , and Tokyo .

The intonation goes up on the two cities in the series ‘Paris’ and ‘New York’. To make yourself clear to the listener that you’re done with the list, use the falling intonation on ‘Tokyo’. That means ‘Tokyo’ would be the last city on your list.

Check out this video from Australia Plus to learn more on intonation and how it takes an important role in IELTS speaking test.