TAKE A MEETING?

The word that we normally associate with ‘meeting’ is ‘convene’. People generally talk about ‘convening a meeting’ at a particular time. It is also possible to say, ‘have/hold/arrange/organize/ a meeting’. The expression take a meeting, which came into existence quite recently, was coined by the Americans, and was initially used in informal contexts to refer […]

Data is or data are?

It depends on whom you ask. In the past, people used to argue that since data is the plural form of the Latin datum, it should always be followed by a plural verb. Nowadays, there is a tendency, even among native speakers of English, to use both – some people use a singular verb, while […]

I Wonder……. Full Stop or Question Mark?

Should I use a full stop or a question mark when a sentence begins with ‘I wonder’? (K. Sameer, Pune) During the various phases of our life, we wonder about many things. When we are in school, we wonder if we will do well in the coming exams. Once we graduate, we wonder if we […]

Discouraged to or from?

Is it okay to say, ‘She was discouraged to go to the park’? (SV Jayanthi, Chennai) The word ‘encouraged’ can be followed by ‘to’. For example, we can say, ‘The children were encouraged to go to the park’ and ‘Sheba’s parents encouraged her to go abroad to do her PhD’. ‘Discouraged’, on the other hand, […]

Along with and As well as

Which of the following sentence is correct? The father, along with his three children, were seen swimming in the lake or The father, along with his three children, was seen swimming in the lake? When two subjects are combined using along with, the verb we use (whether it is singular or plural) is usually determined […]