Feedback 001 - Some Grammatical Notes

Written by and copyrights Eki Qushay Akhwan

This post is your feedback from your first assignment (Writing A Profile). Please read it carefully. I suggest that you download and print it so that you can refer to it for your next assignments. (I want you to avoid making the same mistakes again in your next writing projects.)

GRAMMAR: Verb Pattern for MAKE
Look at the following example from your own and your classmates’ writings:
- It can make us to chat with someone who we didn’t know before.*)

Please remember that every verb in English requires a certain sentence pattern (called Verb Pattern), and the verb MAKE takes the following patterns:

- make + sb/sth + do something. For example: “He made me cry.” (NOT: “He made me to cry.”)
- make + sb/sth + adjective. For example: “This is too big. Can you make it smaller?”

Please check with the dictionary for other patterns. A good dictionary such as Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary usually gives you a clue about the pattern of the verbs and has an appendix that lists the different verb patterns.

GRAMMAR: Modals + Infinitive
Look at the following examples from your and your classmates’ writings:
- You can called me John. *)
- I cannot drawing well. *)

You remember of course that MODALS (can, could, may, might, will, shall, should, etc.) should always be followed by PLAIN INFINITIVE (infinitive without to). Therefore, the above sentences should be:
- You CAN CALL me Ninda.*)
- I CANNOT DRAW well.*)

GRAMMAR: To Be + Verb
Pay attention to the following sentences that you and your classmates made:
- My family is consist of my father, my mother, my brother, and I.*)
- I love it because it is very entertain me.*)
- I’m not really like listening to music because my knowledge about music is not good.*)

Please remember that TO BE should NEVER be combined with a regular verb EXCEPT in the following conditions:
- To form a sentence in the Progressive/Continuous Tense. For example, “I AM STUDYING at the English Department of UPI.”
- To form a passive voice sentence. For example, “I WAS ACCEPTED at the English Department of UPI.”

I understand that the first sentence “My family is consist of ….” may be a transfer from the Indonesian sentence of “Keluarga saya TERDIRI dari …”, but in English is normally used in active voice, “My family CONSISTS of ….”

The word “entertain” in the second sentence is a VERB and in that sentence it is active. Therefore, it should be “I love it because it ENTERTAINS me very much.”

In the third sentence, “I’m not really like listening to music …,” the word LIKE is a VERB and the sentence is not passive or in progressive tense. Therefore, you cannot put TO BE before it. It should be “I DON’T LIKE listening to music because …”

GRAMMAR: Passive or Active Voice?
Look at the following mistakes from your and your classmates’ writings:
- I born in this city. *)
- I was graduated from Senior High School in 2002.*)
- It called an industrial city. *)
- Thank God, I accepted in here.*)

The passive voice, as you may remember from the lesson you had in high school, is formed by TO BE + PAST PARTICIPLE (Verb 3).

The first example may be a little bit confusing sometimes because in Indonesian you can say “Saya lahir di kota ini” or “Saya dilahirkan di kota ini.” In English, however, it is always passive “I WAS BORN in this city.”

On the contrary, the second example is always in active voice: “I GRADUATED from High School in 2002.” In Indonesian, we normally also say “Saya lulus …” and not “Saya diluluskan …” You graduate from a school because you have met the necessary requirements, e.g. pass some tests, and not because somebody decides to pass you out of nothing.

The third and fourth examples should definitely be passive voice sentences.

Passive: “Kota ini disebut kota industri.” (It IS CALLED an industrial city.). The Active: “We CALL it an industrial city.”

Passive: “I WAS ACCEPTED at this university.”
Active: “The university accepted my application.”

One of the differences of passive and active voice sentences is the explicit mention of the agent (or the doer) of the action.

DICTION: Little or Small?
Look at the following examples from your own and your classmates’ writings:
- My family is a little family.
- I have two little brothers.

The words “little” and “small” are often translated into the same word “kecil” in Indonesian. However, they are used differently and have slightly different meanings in English.

The word “little” means “not big” in sense (perasaan, persepsi) and in comparison. It also means “not much”. The word “small” means “not big” in size, degree, etc. (ukuran, derajat/tingkatan, dsb.). So, if you are talking about the size of your family, it is better to use “small” because you are refering to its size not your sense (perasaan). “My family is a small family.”

What do you think is the difference between “I have two little brothers.” And “I have two small brothers”? Which one is better?

If you are refering to degree (derajat/tingkatan), then it is better to use “I have two small brothers.” However, it is better (and this is what the native speakers of English usually say), “I have two younger brothers.”

Please check this blog again later in the week for exercises and other inputs. Please leave a comment to indicate that you have read and attend this session.