Coffee Or A Coffee?

I've been hearing more and more people say "Let's get a coffee" now. Before, people would just say, "Let's get coffee." Why the addition of the article a? Is the article even correctly placed?

I think people say "a coffee" now because of the many coffee shops and coffee varieties available. When the article a is used, it means that the speaker wants one variety out of many (a bag out of so many kinds, a book out of the many available, a drink out of so many varieties of drinks). So, if the person says "Let's get a coffee," he or she wants one kind of coffee out of many (cape barako? African coffee? black coffee? coffee with cream? decaf?). Or, "a coffee" could also mean the types of coffee that come out of coffee preparations and recipes (latte? mocha coffee? French vanilla? espresso? cappuccino? caramel machiatto?). Thanks to Starbucks and all these lifestyle coffee places, we can now say "a coffee."

If you want to say "Let's get coffee," it's still all right. Truth be told, the article doesn't make much of a difference anyway.

I don't drink coffee, though.

Fixed Rate

Yesterday, while I was at SM Hypermart, I noticed this message on the parking ticket: "Fix Rate." Although I understood that Hypermart charges only P25 no matter how long you keep your car parked with them, I could not resist the chance to blog about "Fix Rate."

The proper form is really "Fixed Rate." I understand where the confusion comes from because "fixed" and "fix" do sound so much alike. Although both have very similar meanings, there is a slight difference between the two.

The most common meaning of the verb "fix" is "to repair" or "to make something right." So we say, "I will fix the stove" or "I asked someone to fix the car." However, where parking fees are concerned, "fix" is used to mean "to make definite" as in, to make it impossible (or very hard) to change something. If a parking area has a "fixed rate," then it means that they charge only one amount, no matter how long you stay parked. If you go to a store and try to get a discount, you might be told that they charge a "fixed price;" hence, no discounts or price changes. You might also want to say that you have a "fixed schedule" which means your time is already spoken for.

On weekends, though, you're supposed to relax and enjoy a day with no fixed schedules. Have fun!

Near My Place

I don't know why I've been hearing people say, "That restaurant is near in my place," or something like it. The correct way of saying this is "That restaurant is near my place." I wonder why some people add the preposition "in" when there's no need for it?

One explanation I can think of is there could be some kind of transliteration going on from Tagalog to English, although I don't know what. The other explanation is perhaps some kind of automatic response: people associate "in" with "my place," like, "In my place, we have a garden." Because of the association, they forget to take it out when it's not needed.

The bottom line could possibly be a problem with prepositions like "in." I've posted twice on this topic. Just remember, when it comes to places, "in" is used when something is surrounded. The sentence "The restaurant is near in my place" is definitely wrong because the restaurant is not surrounded by the speaker's home. Rather, the restaurant is near the speaker's home, which means it's close by. In this case, just say, "near my place" or "near where I live."

Have a nice day!

Family vs Families

While I was in Bacolod, I kept hearing people say, "I want to work abroad to support my families." I was not sure what these people meant by using "families." Did they have large families or did they have several families, i.e., more than one wife or husband or children from different marriages?

Since most of the people I was talking to were young women who were studying English to work as nurses abroad, I can only assume that they meant they had large families who needed financial support. Now, what is the difference between family and families?

Family is a collective noun which refers to a person's blood relatives. We all know that family is the basic unit of society composed of the mother, father, and kids. Here in the Philippines, family will include grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, and all manner of blood relation. Family also connotes the responsibilities we have to take for people who are related to us. As a collective noun, though, family means several people--all your relatives or all the people you consider as part of your family. The plural is never used to talk about one family, no matter how many members it has.

When do we say families, then? We use the plural when we're referring to several families. Consider: "Most Filipino families have at least one member working as an OFW." In this sentence, we're talking about many (more than one) Filipino families. This is different from "I have a big family. Some of the members of my family are working abroad." Here, the speaker is referring to just her family, despite the fact that many people are part of it.

If you say families, though, people might think you're part of several family units. In other words, you have more than one wife or husband or several children from different marriages. You know, the stuff soap operas are made of.

So, it's best to say, "I want to work abroad to support my family."

Based On

Hi everyone! It's been five days since my last post. Whew! I've been extremely busy. I was supposed to be free yesterday but I got called in to work so I was out all day again. Anyway, I'm back and here's my newest post:

I keep hearing people say "based from" when they want to say something like: "Based from what I was told, if I want to be a nurse abroad, I have to take several qualifying tests." I've also heard "Based from the website I read, to work in the U.S., you have to spend a lot on application fees." Now, the other parts of the sentences are all right; the problem lies in the expression, "based from."

The correct form is actually not "based from" but based on.

When we say based on, what we're referring to is drawing conclusions from information. So, let's say you want to be a nurse abroad, you might want to refer to several websites and agencies to find out how you can go about it. Once you've checked with all of these, then you can make conclusions about your own application: "Based on the information I gathered, I need to work on getting all the qualifications first before I can apply for a working visa."

Based on statistics, most Filipinos want to work abroad.

Sold!

While reading through the readers' feedback of a magazine, I saw this message from a satisfied reader: "At first, I was not sold to the idea of your magazine, but I learned to enjoy it." What I want to blog about is the mistake found in the expression, sold to.

We know that the word sold is the past tense of the verb, sell. This verb means to exchange goods for money: "I sold my iPod for a good price." However, it also means to convince someone to buy into or accept an idea, item, etc.: "I sold her on the idea of celebrating her birthday in Tagaytay." It also means that the speaker is convinced by an idea: "I am sold on the idea of buying a new car." Both sentences mean that someone was convinced by something. If you want to use the verb sold in this way, the correct expression is sold on and not "sold to."

In the sentence I got from the magazine, the writer was saying that at first, she was not convinced by the idea of the magazine but that she eventually learned to appreciate it. Since this is the case, then she meant that she was sold on the idea.

Sold to, however, is correct if you want to say that an item was sold to someone: "I sold my iPod to my cousin" or "That item was sold to your neighbor." It is never used to say that someone was convinced to buy into something. Where this is concerned, we use sold on.

By the way, I will be in Bacolod this weekend. See you again either Monday or Tuesday.

Turn Off The Lights!

I often hear people say, "I put on the light" or "I put on the electric fan." We do not use the expression "put on" to mean to "turn something on."

One of the meanings of the verb "put" is to place something in a definite place or location. Hence, we "put the plates on the dining table" and we "put the pots and pans in the pantry." We also "put on clothes" like, "I just need to put on my socks." When we're hitting light switches or electric fan switches, we're not "putting on" lights or fans or any appliance. Instead, when we want lights or fans, we say, "We turn on the lights and fans when we get home."

When we use the verb "turn," one of the things we mean is to "start a process." When we're talking about appliances, we need to switch them on to start the process that will make them work. So, when we "turn on the lights," we're starting the electrical process that makes lights work. We also say "turn off the lights" when we want to stop the process.

We do say "put out," though, when we're irritated with someone or something: "I was put out because they arrived so late!" We can also say "put on" when we're saying that someone is teasing us or giving us false information: "You say aliens exist in the Philippines? You're putting me on!"

Want to save energy? Turn off the lights when you don't need them or you might put out the environmentalists out there!