Expector Smith's Posts (219)

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Yes, some words seem to be so hard to memorize - you may even wonder who on earth has created such a word or why they needed to create such a word. 

It may help if you know the 'root' in a word, for example, it may help you memorize the word 'vocabulary' if you know the root 'vocabul' means 'word'. A lot of 'word roots' are Greek or Latin originated, which may seem alien or unfamiliar to you. 

It may be so helpful if you can pronounce the word correctly. The most effective way, though, may be 'repeat' - the more you use the word, the more likely you'll memorize it. 

However, you may need to try whatever works for you. For instance, 'ethic' and 'ethnic' are two different words and are so confusing, but there is an 'n' in 'ethnic' and 'n' may be related to 'nation':) 

It may sound so funny, but it works for you. Anyway, you have managed to memorize the word.

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Yes, you may have failed to catch every words uttered by others. That doesn't mean your English is not so fluent - in fact, the speakers, not you, may have failed to clearly or correctly express what they were trying to convey. 

You should let them repeat what they're trying to say if you can't understand what they're saying. What if they know they can't express themselves fluently but you seemd to have understood what was expressed wrong? 

I told a patient that I didn't get what he said this morning in the clinic. The patient is from France, not really that fluent in English. He expressed himself both in English and in Chinese. We were trying to understand each other - I'm a doctor I have to make sure I really know what's the problem my patient is suffering, rather than try to save face

It won't make you lose face if you tell them you don't understand them. On the contrary, they will trust you more, because you're sincere or honest. 

The more you're confident, the more possible you'll let them repeat or say something again - the thing is, only too ofen, you're not that confident.

So, don't pretend to understand what you don't really get.  

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Yes, your doctor or even your parents will advise you to drink plenty of water. They have reason to do so, though.

Your body needs water to work properly - in fact, your body fluid accounts for most of your body weight. That is, you need to keep supplementing (drinking) water to make up for the everyday loss of your body fluid. 

It's not a good idea, however, to drink too much water. Then, how much water is too much water? Some people may sugget you drink water even though you're not thirsty. They argue that it may be too late when you really feel like drinking. Besides, the bottled water or drinking water seems harmless. 

So, it was not surprising when an outpatient told me that I was the first doctor who had suggested she shouldn't drink that much water. She kept going to toilet or urinating and she thought there must be something wrong with her urinary system. It turned out, though, there's nothing wrong with the system. 

Your body has to get rid of the extra water if you keep drinking. Drinking too much water will dilute your blood, and may even lead to coma (a serious condition). Sometimes when you're ill, you may have nausea or vomiting, which makes it even harder to drink that much water, even though it may be helpful in the fight against the disease - more toxin could be excreted via the urine. 

So it makes sense not to drink too much water. 

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Yes, there are mistakes in the blogs published here, just as there are in the articles published somewhere else. Unfortunately, mistakes are everywhere, even in a textbook which is supposed to be 'flawless'.

I mean grammar, spelling or punctuation errors by 'mistakes'. It seems it's inevitable for learners to make some mistakes when they're writing.  In fact, making mistakes is part of learning. It's hard to imagine you'll be fluent in English without making any mistakes. 

It's true you can even spot some mistakes in the blogs written by native English speakers. Even the president created a new word 'unpresidented' - the word he intended to use is 'unprecedented'. 

With more practice (reading, writing), you'll spot more mistakes in the blogs. Sometimes, however, it may not be a mistake - it's just a different expression in another English. 

Don't be afraid of learning the mistakes while you're reading the blogs. First, you can easily spot the mistakes. Second, if you're not so sure about a word or expression, you can consult a good dictionary or an English teacher. So, it's not a good idea to stop reading a blog or a pieace of writing or a book, just because there are some mistakes in it (some may just be typos). 

Nevertheless, I suggest you proofread your blog before you publish it, since it's no fun reading all the mistakes you failed to correct:)) It may not be sufficient to proofread just once. Keep editing your blog even after you've posted it.  Don't forget to republish what you just edited, though. 

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Yes, you say 'as was expected', 'as follows' or 'as is well known'  - not 'as it was expected' or 'as it follows' or 'as it is well known'.

You shouldn't add the pronoun 'it' after the 'as', because 'as' acts as the subject - you don't need another subject 'it'. For example, you can say 'Expector will add another comment on the blog today, as happened yesterday."

The word 'as' can also act as an objective or complement, for example, "MyEC members keep writing blogs, as they did last year."

In addition to 'as', the word 'than' can be used in the same way. You can say 'than is necessary', 'than you wrote' or 'than you were'. 

Be careful, you can omit or leave out the subjective pronoun and the 'be', for example, you can say "I'll bring my laptop to the meeting, as (it was) agreed.". Some other conjunctions can be used like this: 'if necessary', 'when possible', 'while reading', etc. This usage is called 'ellipsis', which means leaving out words rather than repeating them unnecessarily. 

You can try to make some sentences by using 'as' and/or 'than'. 

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Yes, it may have something to do with pronunciation if you find it hard to memorize a word or understand what they're saying or said on the radio or TV. 

Some words are so hard to pronounce, though. It helps if you have learned how to pronounce a word by the International Phonetic Alphabet or Smart Phonics, but it doesn't work when you're trying to pronounce a word which is derived from Latin or Greek or other non-English languages. How about some of the names of people, places, microbes, plants, or product names, such as medication, chemical compounds?

What makes it even harder is that different people may pronounce a word differently, for example, the word 'saline' may not sound the same in British English and American English. I once attended an international academic meeting where I wondered how I should pronounce the word 'tigecycline' (an antibiotics), as it was pronounced differently there. It seems the pronunciation rules are not always effective or sufficient. 

It's also true you can understand what they wrote, even though you don't know how to pronounce some of the words. As a non-native English speaker, you can learn English even without paying much attention on pronunciation. Some people call it 'silent English', which is not a good idea, though. 

I suggest you try to pronounce a word when you're trying to learn or memorize it, even though you may pronounce it not that standard. 

PS: 'pronounce' (verb) - 'pronunciation' (noun) (the spelling)

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Yes, we've been trying to encourage you to write more and we do have reason to do so.

Only when you write can you realize that it's not always easy to write something readable or interesting. Only by writing can you really improve your writing skills. So, it makes sense for us to come up with some writing challenges or blog challenges which we think will inspire you to write more.

It takes a lot of time and effort to write skillfully or fluently, and it can be so frustrating or discouraging when you find it's still hard for you to write a blog, even though you've been learning English so long here on MyEC. On the other hand, writing blogs can be so fun. After you've published a blog, some members will comment on it, and I bet you can't wait to read all the comments. 

So, bear in mind that you write to polish your writing skills, to communicate with or help others, and more importantly, to enjoy yourself - that's why I suggest you write only when you really feel like writing. 

It doesn't matter how many blogs you can write in a month - what really matters is you're trying to improve your English by writing the blogs. The number itself is meaningless unless it does mean your English has improved.

I know some members no longer have an interest in writing blogs - it may have something to do with me (the blog moderator). I may have failed to feature what they wrote or failed to comment on or correct their blogs. Sorry but they should know they write to improve English, not for Expector:)

 

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Yes, this morning I failed to prescribe a patient any medicine. I didn't think the patient needed to take any medication for his back pain - I just suggested rest and hoped he'd feel better tomorrow. He agreed and left the clinic.

The pain was bearable and intermittent - it's likely the pain will ease itself. Besides, any medication has some side effects and abuse of medication is such a concern now. So, I decided not to prescribe him medication. 

On the other hand, maybe I should have prescribed him some medicine. He did present with a back pain, and he managed to take one day off work and came all the way to my office. Also, he do have medical insurance. I wonder if he regretted agreeing to take no medication.

Maybe he should have insisted that I should suggest some medication for the pain - I can't wait to know if he feels better now!

Do you think doctors should prescribe any patient some medicine, in addition to ordering all the tests and investigation?

'prescribe': if a doctor prescribes a medication, they say you should have it

'intermittent': happening occasionally rather than continuously

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Are you ready for the New Year? I hope so. Yes, the New Year is just around the corner, and I bet some of you can't wait to celebrate it!

You have to say goodbye to 2016, whether you enjoyed it or not - the year 2016 may be so eventful, unforgetable, impressive or so boring or dull for you.  Also, you've spent another year here on MyEC and I hope you enjoyed every minute of your stay.

Don't let any year go without saying anything about it. I assume you must have something to share about MyEC in 2016. What impressed you (the) most - a blog, a photo, a video, or a member, a blogger or something else? Why? What's your impression or memory of MyEC 2016? Any suggestions about making MyEC more enjoyable? 

First let me have my say: The year 2016 is so eventful for me. I have moved to a new city - working in another hospital now. It sure takes time and effort to adapt to the change. Fortunately, my colleagues have helped (to) make the adaption less stressful. As a blog moderator here on MyEC, I'm supposed to keep an eye on Blogs, but, sorry, I failed to add a comment on every blog or feature one that deserved to be featured, and I may even have missed some great blogs. Thankfully, I managed to publish some tips on English usage - I hope you find them helpful. I'll keep challenging you with more blog challenges in 2017, because you'll find that only when you write can you realize you still need more writing practice. 

Your turn now! We'll try to correct you since it's a blog challenge, and I suggest you add the tag 'correction' if you really mean it. 

'have your say' - 'give your opinion about something'

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Unpresidented or unprecedented?

Yes, it must be a typo or careless mistake - it should be 'unprecedented'.

English words can be so confusing - it's not uncommon for you to spell a word wrong/wrongly, no matter whether you're a learner of English or the presiden elect of the United States. 

There are only 26 letters in English, but a million English words - a word is just a combination of English letters. So, no wonder there are so many confusing words - they look alike and/or sound similar. How about 'ethic or ethnic', 'stationary or stationery'?

So, be careful, not to misspell a word - it can be so embarrassing to misspell a word in a formal occasion. The president-elect must have learned his lesson from the misspelling incident - 'unpresidented' doesn't mean you have never been a president before:)

'typo' - 'a typographical error'

'unprecedented' - 'never have happened before'

'president elect' - 'the person who has been voted to be president'

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Yes, I mean 'You're completely right' by 'You're quite right'. 

The word 'quite' has two meanings: with 'gradable' words, it means 'fairly', 'rather' or 'very'; with 'non-gradable' words, it means 'completely' or 'absolutely'.

In other words, you can use 'quite' to emphasize that something is completely the case. You can say 'I'm quite sure', 'It's quite impossible', or 'That's quite amazing'. 

So, if I say 'I quite agree with you', I mean 'I agree with you completely', but you may not be that happy if I say 'Your English is quite good' - 'quite good' means 'there's still room for improvement':)

'gradable' - 'a gradable adjective or adverb is one that can be used in the comparative or superlative'

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Yes, you can use the past progressive/continuous or past simple tense to make a request or suggestion sound more polite, for example, you can say "I was wondering/I wondered if you could comment on my blog", instead of saying "You should try to comment on my blog". 

In addition to 'I was wondering/I wondered', you could use 'I was hoping', 'I was thinking' or 'I thought' instead of 'I hope' or 'I think' to express politeness. That is to say, the past simple or progressive tense can have present or future meaning - to make a request sound 'indirect', 'tentative' or less definite. 

Sure, there are other ways to express your politeness. You could use the present progressive or the future tense or some of the modals instead, for example, "I'm hoping you can read my blog" or "I'm looking forward to reading your comment soon" or "I'll have to suggest you proofread your blog before you publish it" or "I would say you'd prepare for another blog challenge - I'm sure Expector's got something up his sleeve".

However, you might enjoy something 'straightforward' or 'direct' if you are outspoken:)

'modal': a word such as 'can', 'may', 'must'

'have something up your sleeve': have a good plan or idea you intend to use later

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There are many ways to say goodbye: bye, see you, catch you later, so long, have a nice day, take care, cheers, and so on. 

It can be so tricky, however, for a doctor, especially for a Chinese doctor,  to say goodbye to a patient. As you know, 'goodbye' in Chinese just sounds like 'see you or see you around'. The thing is nobody really wants to be sick again - in other words, they don't want to see their doctor again, but the doctor and patient may feel like saying something when they are leaving each other after a satisfying visit or consultation. 

It's not like the doctor is a bad guy or unqualified or just someone who doesn't want to help or is so annoying, so they may say 'see you' to each other when the patient is leaving. Sometimes, they do mean it because they may have made friends with each other - doctors do make friends with their patients!

Yes, it's the same thing that a car owner doesn't really want to see the garage mechanic again, because it may mean something is wrong again with the car if they need to see each other again, unless they are already friends and are meeting each other for something pleasant, not for a broken car. 

So, you can see how tricky it can be for a Chinese doctor to say goodbye to a patient. 

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Yes, 'managed to do something' means 'succeeded in doing somthing, especially something difficult'. If you say "I managed to write a blog yesterday", you mean you succeeded in writing a blog or were able to write a blog yesterday. 

You can't say "I could write a blog yesterday", though, because  'could' is not used to talk about particular ability in the past (on one occasion).

You can say, however,  "I could eat a whole cake when I was little" - 'could' can be used for general ability in the past. 

'Couldn't' (the negative), on the other hand, can be used for both general and particular ability in the past, you can say, for example, "I couldn't write so well when I was young" (general ability) or "I managed to write a blog yesterday, but I couldn't proofread it" (particular ability). 

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Yes, you can say "English is easy to learn." or "It's easy for us to learn English.", but you don't say "We are easy to learn or learn English."

You can use this structure if the subject of the sentence is also the object of the infinitive. So, you can say "He is easy to please." or "The book is difficult to read."

The adjective 'impossible' can be so tricky too, for example, you don't say "She is impossible to do that" - because 'she' is also the subject of the infinitive 'to do'. 

I hope I've made it clear enough for you to use the structure correctly. Any questions?

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I've recently been working in a consulting room - in the VIP outpatient clinic of a hospital in China. Most of the patients in the VIP clinic are from other countries and can't speak Chinese. Thankfully, most of them speak English and bring a smartphone - that really helps.

Usually, patients have already searched their symptoms on the Internet with their smartphone before they go to see a doctor. That is, they'll go to hospital with in mind all of the relative medical English terms or terminologies. 

When they are in the consulting room with a doctor, they use a smartphone to google anything they are not so sure about to make sure they don't misunderstand the doctor who doesn't share the mother tongue with them.  

Sometimes, with a smartphone, they show a doctor the English name of a medication/medicine they're taking, just in case the doctor isn't really familiar with the medication's English name. They can also show their doctor an X-ray image or laboratory results on their smartphone. 

The doctors who can't speak English fluently may use a smartphone to make sure they have prescribed their patient the right medications. 

So, smartphones are so helpful in the consulting room - I suggest you bring your smartphone when you need to see a doctor in China. 

VIP: very important person

smartphone: a mobile phone that can be used as a computer

mother tongue: first language

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Yes, 'no doubt' ('probably') means you assume that something is true or likely to happen - it sounds like 'I suppose', for example, 'No doubt Expector will give us another blog challenge soon.'

If you want to say something is certainly or definitely true, you use 'there is no doubt that'. You can say 'There is no doubt that your English has improved.' 

You can also use 'without (any) doubt' ('absoulately certain') to emphasize that something is true, for example, 'MyEC is without doubt the best English-learning website.' 

So, don't use 'no doubt' when you actually mean 'without doubt' ('certainly' or 'definitely').

I'll be so flattered if you say 'Without doubt Expector is the most popular moderator.':))

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Yes, it's a common mistake to link two independent clauses with a comma. That is called 'comma splice' or 'comma fault'.

You can use a period/full stop, a semicolon, or a comma with a coordinating conjunction to connect two independent clauses:

(comma splice/fault) "I went for a walk, she cooked a meal."

(correct) "I went for a walk. She cooked a meal."

(correct) "I went for a walk; she cooked a meal."

(correct) "I went for a walk, and she cooked a meal."

(correct) "When I went for a walk, she cooked a meal."

Note that, in the last sentence, 'When I went for a walk' is no longer an independent clause because you have used the conjunction 'when' - in other words, you've changed the independent clause 'I went for a walk' to a dependent clause 'when I went for a walk'. 

Sure, there are other ways you can use to join two independent clauses. Also, you may have noticed some people linked two short parallel clauses with a comma, for example, "It's cool, it's wonderful." ('deliberate splice')

So, don't misuse the useful comma,,,

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Yes, you say "I don't think it is the case.", rather than "I think it is not the case.",  if you think something is not the case. 

That is, if 'think', 'suppose', 'believe' or 'imagine' is used to introduce a negative idea, you say 'I don't think...', 'I don't suppose...', etc. The usage is called 'transferred negation'. 

You also say 'I don't think so.', 'I don't suppose so.', etc - in a negative 'short answer' structure. 

The word 'hope', on the other hand, is an exception, for example, you say 'I hope they won't come.', not 'I don't hope they will come.'

So, you can try to make some sentences by using this structure - you can say "I don't think Expector knows all the grammar rules.", but not "I think Expector doesn't know all the grammar rules."

Hope it helps! 

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Yes, I mean you should use 'or' (not 'and') after a negative verb, for example, you say "I don't like football or basketball.", not "I don't like football and basketbll." - that is, 'or' means 'and not' here. 

It's not uncommon for a learner to use 'and' in place of 'or' in a situation like that - I know they are trying to say they don't like both of them: both football and basketball. 

It may have something to do with the so-called 'first language interference'. 

However, you could use 'not A, nor B' instead of 'not A or B', for example, you can say "I don't like football, nor basketball." 

Don't confuse 'neither...nor' or 'either...or' with 'not...or' or 'not...,nor...'. 

You could try to build some sentences to make sure you can use them correctly. 

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