How to use ‘used’

The word ‘used’ can be the past tense of ‘use’ which is a verb in the past tense. It is also an adjective and takes the meaning ‘second-hand’. When used with the preposition ‘to’ it means ‘accustomed to’ or ‘in the past one usually did something’. Readers may get confused just by reading the above explanations. Why not look at the following sentences to see how they appear in sentences.

1 I used all my savings to buy a new computer yesterday. [past tense of ‘use’]
2 A used car cost less than a new one. [second-hand]
3 I am used to being shouted at by the boss here. [accustomed to]
4 I used to play barefooted when I was a boy. [In the past, I usually played]

So much for the use of 'used' for your perusal.

Doing a good turn a day

I like to listen to dharma talks by monks and those well-versed in Buddhism. They really enlighten me on many important things in our lives such as the reasons for our living, what to do to be of service to others and how to prepare for Buddhahood. Doing dana is something we should practise as often as possible. According to one monk, if we want to donate R100 ringgit, we can split the money so that we can do it daily. If we donate RM5 a day, the above sum will enable us to do dana for 20 days. It is not the amount that counts, it is the heart, the willingness to help the needy with whatever meagre we may have. Doing dana daily reminds us that things that are with us are not permanent. The money that we have may be robbed, destroyed in fire and flood and other natural disasters. Hence, we ought to part with our money to assist others who need our help.

For those who have no money, they can still do dana by giving advice to someone to kick his bad habit, console the depressed, accompany a timid person to his destination so that he is not afraid of going there all alone, giving dharma talks and so on.

You need not be a Buddhist to do a good turn a day.

Ways to add variety to our essays

Writing has been my hobby since I got into contact with languages in school. Frankly speaking, I write more English than Malay and Chinese. I seem to be fascinated by English because there is enough vocabulary for any situation.

In this post, I like to share with readers how you can break the monotony of your essay. To achieve this end, you have to know a lot of words which carry the same meaning in case you want to use them for variety. Besides, you must delve into phrasal verbs and know most of them so that they come in handy for you when you want to express the same idea after having used a verb for it. Let us look at one paragraph which I will compose offhand as an example.

1 For the time being, the computer is still indispensable to most of us. 2 We need to use this gadget to get our work done. As it can speed up our chore, it serves as a time-saver. 3 Besides, we can store data in the hard disk to be retrieved later. 4 Computers have found their way into factories, offices and schools because they are a great help at these places. 5 They help to expedite work in factories keep customers’ information and act as good teaching aids for students. 6 Most school-going children like to lay their hands on this modern invention for they are able to look for information need for their school projects through the Internet, play video games and communicate with their cyber friends. 7 In short, this sophisticated device has become part and parcel of our lives.

In the above paragraph, I use ‘the computer’ for the first time, ‘this gadget’ for the second and ‘this modern invention’ for the third and ‘this sophisticated device’ when I want to refer to it again. Similarly, ‘speed up’ is my first choice while I use ‘expedite’ subsequently to mean the same thing. ‘As’ appear in my third sentence to mean ‘because’ and ‘for’ is used to bear the same meaning in the sixth sentence. The use of ‘store’ and ‘keep’ is intended to bear the same appear in the third and fifth sentence respectively. The word ‘indispensable’ and ‘part and parcel of our lives’ are meant to carry the meaning of ‘cannot do without’.

So much for ways to add variety to our essays.

Passive voice in Malay

In English, the passive voice does not take into account the persons in personal pronouns but in Malay it does.
For personal pronouns in the first and second person, there is one structure for it. The structure differs when personal pronouns in the third person are involved. To see what I mean, look at the examples given below.

1 Passive voice in the first and second person [Ayat pasif yang melibatkan kata ganti nama diri pertama dan kedua]
a) Saya akan membaca buku ini.(Active Voice – Ayat Aktif) [I will read this book.]
Buku ini akan saya baca. (Passive Voice – Ayat Pasif) [This book will be read by me.]
[Object + auxiliary word + first person + verb in the passive form]

b) Awak harus menghormati gurumu. .(Active Voice – Ayat Aktif) [You should respect your teacher.]
Gurumu harus awak hormati. (Passive Voice – Ayat Pasif) [Your teacher should be respected by you.]
[Object + auxiliary word + second person + verb in the passive form]

2 Passive voice in the third person [Ayat pasif yang melibatkan kata ganti nama diri ketiga
c) Mereka sudah membuat kerja itu. .(Active Voice – Ayat Aktif) [They have done the work.]
Kerja itu sudah dibuat oleh mereka. (Passive Voice – Ayat Pasif) [The work has been done by them.]
[Object + auxiliary word + verb in the passive form + oleh + third person]

Treating my own wounds

When I was in my second year studying in a teachers’ college, I bought a Honda C70 by installment, paying RM50.00 per month as my montly allowance as a trainee teacher was RM150 only. This motorcycle became my means of transport whenever I wanted to go anywhere.

One day, I wanted to go to Carnavon Street to buy a book. I was negotiating a turn leading to the street when I fell off my bike which went over a patch of lubricant dropped by a ill-serviced bus. My vehicle skidded and fell to the side and my leg brushed against the rough tarred road. Blood began to ooze out from the wounds.

At once, I checked my bike and found that it still could function. Hence I got on my Honda C70 and headed to the nearest medicinal shop. I bought a bottle of Dettol, some cotton wool, acroflavine, gauze and bandage. Being a first aider before I knew what to use to do the job of treating wounds.

Using the cotton wool damped with Dettol, I began to clean my wound from the centre and then outwards. Then I applied acrofavine to the wounds, put a piece of gauze over and bandaged it. The wounds only completely healed after a lapse of six weeks.

How to widen your vocabulary in English

When we study English, we will find it easy to read novels if we have a wide vocabulary. Hence, one way of knowing more new words is to start reading a novel. Put a dictionary by your side but don't use it the moment you come across a new word.

Whenever your eyes fall on a new word, highlight it with a highlighter or underline it with a pencil. Meanwhile, guess its meaning by looking at the words in front of it and after it.

Only when the same new word appears three times do you look up your dictionary to find its meaning so that you will not break the continuity of the story you are reading.

Reading the leader page and editorial of a newspaper is another way of widening your vocabulary. Usually, you will find new words here because different events require specific words for their description.

The third method is my favourite, that is reading the dictionary. When you read a dictionary, you will not miss out any of the meanings a word has.

Panting for breath after reading

When I was studying in Form 1, my English teacher was Mr Ang Chek Ming. Through him, I learnt the intonation of English words. He was very forceful when he spoke. He encouraged us to listen to English news broadcast over the radio. I could not catch what the newsreader was reading at first. Later, I was able to follow the news. According to Mr Ang, if we really pronounce every word correctly, we will be panting for breath at the end of reading a long passage.

I tried what he had said and I was panting for breath after reading quite a long passage.

See what I have here

For today's post, I am going to talk about 'see' and other words bearing almost the same meaning but used in different ways.

We need our eyes to perceive things around us. You can make a sentence with the word 'see' as follows:
When I opened my eyes I could see my worried mother beside my bed.

You look at something when you focus your attention on it. Hence you can say "I look at the distant hill which is covered with thick forests.'

The word 'watch' as a verb is used in sentences such as the following:
a) I watch television after dinner after day.
b) We watched an exciting football match just now.

To gaze at someone is to look at him for a long time. If you are away for a long and you come home, you mother will gaze at you because she wants to know whether you are all right.

To peep through the keyhole is to look at someone or watch some activities without the knowledge of others. For example, you can construct a sentence such as the one below:
The thief peeped through the keyhole to see whether there was anyone in the house before he acted.

To glance at something is to take a quick look at it. You can glance at your watch to know the time.

To scrutinize some document is to look at it carefully, including the details. A sentence such as the following can be made:
The auditor scrutinized all the accounts and statements slowly to see whether the income and expenditure were in order.

To stare at someone is to look at him without winking your eyes. So, you can say "I stared at the dog to make it go away."

To view is to see something you have done for checking. After setting up a web page, you can view it through a browser.

So much for words having almost the same meaning as 'see'.

Going through flood water

Tonight as I went back from my tuition class, it was still raining. There was one stretch of low-lying road where flood water used to accumulate. I saw many motorists stopping by the roadside, not brave enough to go through the flood water. As for me, I did not want to wait. With my experience, I knew I had to engage second gear and press the petrol pedal all the way while going through the stretch of flood water. I gingerly did that and finally I went through without any hitch.

As I reached Green Lane, there was a long queue and I knew it was flooded again. So I took an alternative route by turning left into Lim Lean Teik Road and took the Batu Lancang Lane. I turned left again to head for Jelutong Road. Then it was plain sailing for me all the way home.

How not to get angry

I heard of a Buddhist story about a young sami who had broken the chief monk's favourite flower vase in his absence. He was so scared that he did not know what to do. Then he told another sami of his predicament. This sami is very clever and knowledgeable in the teachings of the Buddha. He promised to help the younger sami.

When the chief monk came back to the temple, the clever sami told the chief monk that he had been contemplating on many things. He asked the chief monk whether human beings could avoid dying. Upon hearing this, the chief monk explained that all things are impermanent, including human beings and hence death is unavoidable for them. The clever sami that asked again whether things are permanent and the reply from the chief monk was all things are not permanent as they can get spoilt as time goes on. Now came the chance for the clever monk to put forward his case. He asked the chief monk whether one should felt angry or sad because one has broken one's favourite porcelain piece. Without hesitation, the chief monk said that we should not be sad or angry should this happen because impermanence is the nature of things and all beings on this earth. At this moment, the clever monk said that he had broken the chief monk's favourite vase. Of course, the chief monk just said that it was all right because such things tend to happen. He did not get angry!

The moral of this story is that when we can see the true nature of things, anger will not arise in ourselves.