ToBE #5 : The 'only' problem

The only problem:
The word 'only' impacts the meaning of a sentence depending on where it is placed. Most people miss the significance and almost always, place it right after the subject. For example, "I only came on Thursday".

Following is an interesting example in LIFCO's "Good English - How to Master It?" that illustrates the difference the positioning of 'only' makes to the meaning of the sentence.

The basic sentence is straight-forward : Ravi went to the movie today.
Now, let us allow 'only' to run through it word by word.

Only Ravi went to the movie today.
Meaning : No one else went to the movie, only Ravi went.
Ravi only went to the movie today.
Meaning : The only thing Ravi did today was going to see the movie.
Ravi went only to the movie today.
Meaning : Ravi went to the movie today, and he did not go anywhere else. (Please note that there is a slight difference between this and the previous one).
Ravi went to only the movie today.
The above sentence does not make sense, we will skip it.
Ravi went to the only movie today.
Meaning : There was only one movie running and Ravi went to it today.
Ravi went to the movie only today.
Meaning : Ravi did not go to the movie on any other day, he went only today.

ToBE #4 : Double Trouble

Our double troubles:
Quite often, we say (and hear) two words in succession that mean the same or sometimes have no meaning together. These two words could be from different languages or from the same language, in our case, English.

1. can able - Eg.: I can able to do it.
'can' indicates ability to do something. So, "I can do it" or "I will be able to do it" would be sufficient.

2. last and final - The most heard words in an airport would be "This is the last and final call for flight...". 'Final' means 'Last'. Why repeat it?

3. suppose if - Eg. : "Suppose if you have a cat in your house."
'If' and 'suppose' do not mean the same, however, they can be used interchangeably at times.
To 'suppose' is to make an assumption or ask someone to make an assumption.
I suppose you come by train.
Suppose you win a lottery. (Assume you win a lottery). Will you give up your job?
'If' does not go with 'suppose'. You can ask, "If you win a lottery, will you give up your job?"

4. Why because - Eg. : "I travel by train. Why because I want to avoid pollution."
Sorry, the words don't go together. 'Why' makes up a question and usually, 'because' is part of the answer to that question.
Q : Why do you travel by train?
A : I travel by train because I want to avoid pollution.

5. Unless otherwise - Simply drop the 'otherwise' and the sentence might make sense.

ToBE #3 : Curious plurals

The choice of this topic is due to my encountering 'unusual' plurals like 'datas' and 'criterias'. English is a strange language and there an no standard rules to help us learn it the right way. However, there are some general observations that work most of the time.

Plurals of words ending in 'um':
Datum-data, forum-fora, stadium-stadia, medium-media, maximum-maxima...
That holds true in most cases.
'Data' is already a plural form, so there is no such thing as 'datas'. Nobody remembers that a word 'datum' exists, so 'data' is used in the singular form also.
- Data was loaded. Data were extracted. ==> Both are accepted.
- Forums is also an accepted plural and MS-Word might correct 'fora' to 'for a'.

Plurals of words ending in 'us':
Mostly, the 'us' becomes an 'i'. Focus-foci, radius-radii, syllabus-syllabi, fungus-fungi...
- What were the foci of the meeting?
- The Class V and Class VI syllabi have changed.
For some words, adding 'es' at the end is also accepted.
Beware: Note that 'status' is both singular and plural.
- What is the status of your project?
- What are the defect status in ABC and XYZ projects? (I know it sounds odd, but that is how it is).

Plurals of words ending in 'on':
Some of them end in 'a', like: Criterion-criteria, phenomenon-phenomena, tetrahedron-tetrahedra ...
Note that 'criteria' is a plural word, hence 'criterias' is wrong. Sorry, no opinion-opinia.

Plurals of words ending in 'a':
Most people these days prefer putting an 's' at the end and that is widely accepted, but the old-order would still put an 'e' at the end: Formula-formulae, antenna-antennae, alga-algae ...

Plurals of words ending in 'is':
'is' becomes 'es'. Crisis-crises, synopsis-synopses, analysis-analyses. Note the difference in meaning and pronunciation of 'analyses' in the following:
1. Rajan analyses very well. (The stress is on 'ly')
2. Your analyses of the two topics were well-received. (Stress is on 'na', same as in analysis).

ToBE #2 : Use of apostrophe

Person 1 : "I'm busy. I can't be there at 9 o'clock".
Person 2 : "Let's meet at 10 AM. I'll try to get Babu's brother too".
Person 1 : "Yes, I'd like to meet him. He was one of the first MBA's from our college".

Without dissecting the above discussion on grounds of logic, consider the use of apostrophe. One thing stands out : the apostrophe ( ' ) stands for some missing letter(s) .... most of the time.

I'm - I am. "I am ..." becomes "I'm"

can't - can not
don't - do not
shan't - shall not

o'clock - of the clock. As per the clock, the time is 7. => The time is 7, of the clock ----> shortened to ---> It is 7 o'clock.
(I think the above usage comes from the time when people moved from sundials to clocks. People had to specify that they looked at the new thing, the clock, for time and not the tested and proven sundial).

Let's meet - Let us meet. "Lets meet" is wrong. "Mother lets me play for an hour" is correct. Note that in the second sentence, lets stands for 'allows' and not 'let us'.

He'll / I'll - 'll stands for "will".

I'd - 'd stands for "had" or "would". It depends on the context.
I'd like to meet him = I would like to meet him.
I'd three marbles = I had three marbles.

Babu's - Here, it is in possessive case => "of Babu". When the last letter of the word is "s", the "s" after the apostrophe can be skipped. Examples:
Jesus' mother was Mary. (Jesus' instead of Jesus's).
The Sharma brothers' bicycle was stolen. (Bicycle belonging to the Sharma brothers was stolen).

Apostrophe-s ( 's ) does not make a word plural. There are exceptions:
Plural of abbreviations : Five B.A.'s, three M.C.A.'s. Apostrophe is not mandatory here.
Plural of numbers : There are five 5's in twenty-five.
Plural of single letters : There are two u's in "vaccuum".

ToBE #1 : Which is correct - "its" or "it's"?

Answer : Both.

Yes, both are correct, but in different contexts.

So, when to use "its" and when to use "it's"?

It's : The apostrophe (') in this case stands in for missing letter(s). It's is a short form of "It is" or "It has".
Examples:
It's a bright day => It is a bright day.
It's been a long time => It has been a long time.
It's common-sense! => It is common-sense!

Though not wrong, it is uncommon to see "it's" at the end of a sentence as in, "That is the way it's".

In general, 's would stand for "of something". "Arjun's pen" => "Pen of Arjun" or "Pen belonging to Arjun". Though similar, "It's" does not mean "belonging to it".
That distinction goes to ........

Its : Yes, its means "of it" or "belonging to it".
Examples:
I have a pen. Its colour is black.
That's my cat and these are its kittens. (Note that "That's" stands for "That is").