Daily Grammar – Week 3

DAILY GRAMMAR (DG) 20-03-2018

1. The woman born him two children before he divorced her. (No)

The woman bore him two children before he divorced her. (Yes)

(The forms of the verb are “bear, bore and born/ borne” for present, past and past participle tenses respectively. In the above example, the past form is applicable. The two forms of the participle are used for the passive voice (e.g. she was born in the village) and perfect tense (e.g. she has borne a grudge with him for a week) respectively).

2. We congratulated her for her appointment. (No)

We congratulated her on her appointment. (Yes)

(The correct preposition after “congratulate” is “on”. Yet, many people are accustomed to saying “congratulate for….”)

3. It is high time you get serious. (No)

It is high time you got serious. (Yes)

(When “it is time” or “it is high time” is used, the verb following it is usually in the past form. “It is time you went home” means you should have gone home.)

Did You Know?

To “battologise” means to repeat a word so incessantly in conversation that it loses all meaning or impact while “owl”, when used as a verb, means “to act wisely, despite knowing nothing”.