Teaching
Commonly Confused Latin Abbreviations
Commonly Confused Latin Abbreviations
These days, a sound rule for using Latin abbreviations (such as e.g., etc., et al., and i.e.) is not to use them at all.
Such abbreviations were popular when Latin was the universal academic language in Europe and America. That’s no longer the case. Because so few people study Latin anymore, expressions that once were common have fallen into disuse or misuse.
In our time, Latin abbreviations are generally appropriate only in special circumstances that prize brevity, as in footnotes, bibliographies, and technical lists. But if we must use Latin abbreviations, we should learn how to use them correctly.
Let’s look at four Latin abbreviations that still appear in modern English–and that are often confused with one another.
1) e.g. (for example)
Example: ”One and the same thing can at the same time be good, bad, and indifferent, e.g., music is good to the melancholy, bad to those who mourn, and neither good nor bad to the deaf.”
(Baruch Spinoza)
What e.g. stands for in Latin: exempli gratia
What e.g. means in English: for example
How e.g. is punctuated: with periods after e and g, followed by a comma
How e.g. is used: to introduce examples
How e.g. should not be used: as a synonym for etc. or to introduce an all-inclusive list.
How e.g. can be avoided: use “for example” or “for instance” instead.
2) etc. (and so on)
Example: ”None of my own experiences ever finds its way into my work. However, the stages of my life–motherhood, middle age, etc. –often influence my subject matter.”
(Anne Tyler)
What etc. stands for in Latin: et cetera
What etc. means in English: and other things
How etc. is punctuated: with a period at the end
How etc. is used: in informal or technical writing, to suggest the logical continuation of a list of things (not, as a general rule, of people)
How etc. should not be used:
How etc. can be avoided: specify all of the items in a list or use “and so on.”
3) et al. (and others)
Example: ”Why is it that any time any of us mentions that women can be something other than just mothers, teachers, nurses,
et al., some mother, teacher, nurse,et al. comes in demanding that we re-affirm that it’s okay to be a mother, teacher, nurse,
et al.?” (Shelley Powers)
What et al. stands for in Latin: et alii
What et al. means in English: and others
How et al. is punctuated: with a period after the l but not after the t
How et al. is used: in bibliographic citations or in informal or technical writing to suggest the logical continuation of a list of people (not things)
How et al. should not be used:
How et al. can be avoided: specify all of the items in a list or use “and so on.”
4) i.e. (that is)
Example: ”Software is like entropy. It is difficult to grasp, weighs nothing, and obeys the second law of thermodynamics;
i.e., it always increases.” (Norman R. Augustine)
What i.e. stands for in Latin: id est
What i.e. means in English: that is
How i.e. is punctuated: with periods after i and e, followed by a commaHow i.e. is used: to introduce an explanatory phrase or clause
How i.e. should not be used: as a synonym forbecause
How i.e. can be avoided: use “that is” instead.
Words ending in -ed
In Italian most vowels are pronounced, whereas in English a lot of them are combined with the consonants on either side ( or the word before or after ) and become either very soft or unspoken.
Sometimes the vowel disappears and the consonant following it changes.
This is the case in words that end in “-ed”.
Listen to how the following sentences would be pronounced by an Italian, using the Italian pronunciation rules.
(Italian)
- I walked to the shops.
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- I played snooker with my friends.
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- I decided to go home early.
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Now listen again to the English pronunciation.
(English)
- I walked to the shops.
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- I played snooker with my friends.
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- I decided to go home early.
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As you can hear there are three distinct endings.
- “d” (without the “e”)
- “t” (without the “e”)
- & “id” ( the “e” and the “d” are pronounced – Italian style.
So how do you know which ending to use ?
Simple – there are 3 simple rules.
- If a word has a hard ending (work,ask,stop) – the “-ed” form uses the “t” ending.
- If a word has a soft ending (Playyyyyy, Videooooo, Minnnnnne) – the “-ed” form uses the “d” ending.
- If a word finishes with a “d” or “t” sound ( decide, invite, seat ) – the “-ed” form uses the “id” ending.
A simple way to practise the correct ending of these words is to think of them as two words ( play….d )
If you try and think of them as one word you will end up with the Italian pronunciation “playEd”.
When you start practising, place a distinct gap between the word and its ending.
- I play……..d until I was ask……t to come home, I decide………id I should go.
(It sounds ridiculous – but stay with me)
Now reduce the gaps.
- I play…d until I was ask..t to come home, I decide…id I should go.
Keep repeating those until you are happy that there are two words, then when you are happy shorten the gap again.
- I play.d until I was ask.t to come home, I decide.id I should go.
That should now be correct.
Listen to the following to get the idea.
- I walked down to the shops.
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- I played snooker with my friends.
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- I decided to go home early.
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Proof Reading #1
As a teacher I have to proof read any article I may give to my students very carefully, to make sure that there are absolutely no errors (It is a universal law that regardless of how much the students understand the text, they WILL find the one mistake you missed – and query it)
But proofreading is a very difficult thing to do, either with a text that you have written, or with something from somewhere else.
Why ?
It is difficult because your brain is an amazing machine. Your brain doesn’t actually read every single word it sees, it looks at chunks of words, picks out significant ones, and fills in the gaps with what it “thinks” should be in there. As your brain quickly grasps the context of the text it refines the possibilities of what can go where, and restricts it’s insertions to words relevant to the context.
eg.
- The car was speeding down the road, a long twisty road, when the driver, a 17 year old elephant saw his friend on the street and screeched to a halt.
- (Without knowing it – your brain will read that – hit a warning light, then backtrack and make sure it saw the word “elephant” – it wasn’t expecting it)
Similarly with :
- I went to the library to ask about a bok that my teacher had recommended to me.
- (Most people will read that as “book” – not “bok” – your brain compensated and put in the correct word)
So how does this help with proof reading ?
Well, basically you have to force your brain to read each individual word – not chunks – which is difficult, as it is unnatural for your brain to do so.
One way to do this is to read your text backwards – last word to first. As your brain can’t work out what is supposed to be coming up next it is forced to look at each word individually (great way to catch typos, and inappropriate wording)
Another way is to mix the sentences up (I have a little macro that does it) so that you read the last sentence first, then the penultimate etc until you read the first sentence.
This forces your brain to think outside of context and look at each sentence individually – was it constructed properly, was it actually a sentence etc
There are probably many other ways to improve your proof reading – but those are my two main ones.
Try them – they may work for you.
(Another thing you might like to do if you regularly have to proof read is to check your spell checker’s dictionary for words that you allowed – we all click on “add to dictionary” without really thinking about it when we are in a hurry – clean out the typos from time to time)
Pin It Linguistic Differences #1
Itanglish
Given my location – Italy – most of the people I teach when in a physical environment (Classrooms, Offices, houses etc) are Italian.
Over the years I have noticed certain things that Italians find difficult, not because the underlying concept is hard, but because the structure of the two languages are so different.
So when trying to speak English, an Italian may slip back into the rules (if not the words) of their native language – because they are so ingrained into the way that they speak (I do the same when I speak Italian.)
One of the more widespread differences, and hence errors, is the article and use of it.
In Italian almost all nouns, whether they be singular, plural, countable or uncountable are preceded with an article.
eg.
- “Io uso i treni tutti i giorni”
- (Literally “I use the trains all the days)
- whereas in English we would say
- “I use trains everyday”
So, let’s have a little re-cap on how to use the article (or not).
Firstly there are 4 articles, split into 3 types.
-
Nothing ( Ø ) No article The Definite article A Indefinite article An Indefinite article
( when explaining articles with examples, no article is usually represented by Ø )
We do not use an article when we are :
| Using non-specific uncountable nouns | I like Ø milk. |
| Using non-specific plural countable nouns | I like Ø oranges |
| When using conceptual nouns** | I love Ø music |
- ** conceptual nouns **
- These are essentially uncountable nouns – but sometimes it is easier to think of them as concepts, and not actual objects.
- e.g ( Traffic, Home, Work, Noise )
We use the indefinite article when we are :
-
Using non-specific singular countable nouns I would like an orange. Using sub-quantities** I would a glass of milk. - **sub-quantities** – Effectively the sub-quantity is the noun, so the rules apply to it, not the object being quantified.
- ** Therefore it is “I would like a glass of milk” – not “I would like glass of milk”.
(Note)
- There is often confusion when to use “a” or “an” as an indefinite article.
- ( For some reason the myth that its use depends on the 1st letter of the noun has spread the world over – I was even taught that in primary school in England )
- That is Wrong.
- We use “an” when the 1st syllable sounds like a vowel (A,E,I,O,U).
- eg. I need an umbrella because it is going to rain in an hour.
- (Note the “an” for hour – hour is pronounced “our” – therefore the syllable sounds like a vowel)
- We use “a” when the 1st syllable sounds like a consonant (B,C,D,F,G,H,J,K,L,M,N,P,Q,R,S,T,V,W,X,Y,Z)
- eg. Hand me a coat I am going to visit a university soon.
- (Note the “a” for university – university is pronounced “you-ni-vers-ity” – therefore the 1st syllable sounds like a consonant.
Finally, we use the definite article “the” when we are :
-
Using specific uncountable nouns. I enjoy the wine from Lombardy. Using specific singular countable nouns. I like the red T-shirt. Using specific plural countable nouns. I will take the plates, you bring the glasses. Using specific conceptual nouns. I love the music of the early 19th century. talking about a unique object. I visited the Vatican last year. - Note the common factor here is “specific”.
- When you are writing about or about to talk about an object, ask yourself a question :
- “Which one ?”, or “which objects ?”
- If you can answer the question, then you should use the definite article (“the”), because you are going to specify the object/objects/concept.
- If you can’t specify which, then you probably need an indefinite article or none at all.
(In most grammar books, use of the definite article is also expanded to include “an object that has been mentioned previously”
“There was a man sitting on the fence, the man was wearing a red coat.”
The 1st time we mention him – he is a non-specific man.
The 2nd time we mention him – he is specific – THE man I am talking about
So you can keep that rule in mind if you wish – but I personally prefer specific/non-specific)
So there you have it – the article – it’s not overly difficult. But if you are a non-English speaker, you have to set yourself little alarms to say “article, article, warning article – English articles are different – think about it“.
(Note : As with most things English there are exceptions
I live in the high street, she lives in West road.
He has climbed Everest, she has climbed the Matterhorn.)
Refer to a good grammar book for a list of when we “break” the rules…
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