KNOW YOUR ENGLISH

“Welcome back! How was the conference in Singapore? Did you enjoy it?”

“There were a few minor problems with the accommodation, but otherwise things were good. We really enjoyed ourselves in the evenings. Perhaps what was more important was that by and large most people found the conference useful.”

“By and large? What does the expression mean?”

“It basically means all things considered.”

“In other words, you’re saying that everything considered, most people thought the conference was useful?”

“That’s right! On the whole, everyone thought they had learnt something new.”

“I see. How about this example? We have a new VC, and he’s very strict. By and large, the students are very unhappy with him.”

“That’s a very good example. Driving in Singapore is a very enjoyable experience. By and large, everyone follows traffic rules.”

“Which is the exact opposite of what happens in our country. In India, by and large, everyone ignores traffic rules.”

“I’d say quite a few people aren’t even aware of them.”

“That’s true. Tell me, what’s the difference between advice and advise? I know we’ve talked about the difference before, but I keep forgetting.”

“Understandable, I guess. According to Google, quite a few people have a problem with these two words. It’s a pair that is frequently looked up. ‘Advice’ is a noun. The advice the coach gave the batsman proved to be useful.”

“I would like some advice about how to deal with the problem.”

“That’s a good example. Remember, the word ‘advices’ does not exist. One can talk about ‘a piece of advice’ or ‘pieces of advice’. But not ‘advices’. When I was young, my father gave me a piece of advice which I’ll never forget.”

“The only person who ever gave me advice when I was young was my uncle.”

“Uncles are famous for their advice. My uncle shared several excellent pieces of advice.”

“Like what? What did he…”

“We’ll talk about them later. Let’s stick to advice for the time being. Remember, the final ‘ce’ in advice sounds like the ‘s’ in ‘sit’ and ‘set’.”

“In other words, the ‘ice’ in ‘advice’ rhymes with ‘rice’, ‘ice’ and ‘dice’.”

“Very good! As for advise, it’s always used as a verb.”

“My doctor advised me to lose weight.”

“In your case, I would say that’s pretty good advice. You do need to knock off some weight.”

“I know. Tell me, how is the final ‘se’ in this word pronounced? Is it the same as…”

“The final ‘se’ in ‘advise’ is pronounced like the ‘z’ in ‘zip’ and ‘zoo’.”

“In other words, the second syllable rhymes with ‘size’, ‘eyes’ and ‘prize’.”

“Exactly! And what’s more, in both words, the stress is on the second syllable. The words are pronounced ‘ed-VICE’ and ‘ed-VIZE’.”

“But how do I remember which is the noun and which is the verb?”

“Good question. This is what I do to remember. In a dictionary, advice is listed before advise because the ‘c’ comes before ‘s’. Similarly, in the case of the words noun and verb.”

“The word ‘noun’ comes before ‘verb’.”

“Exactly! So, ‘advice’ is the noun and ‘advise’ is the verb.”

“I should try and remember this.”

“A conference is a gathering of people who singly can do nothing, but together can decide that nothing can be done.”

- Fred Allen

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