WATTMAG: June 2015 UNVEILING THE NEW GENERATION

Common Errors Committed By The Filipinos In The English Grammar

Common Errors Committed By The Filipinos In The English Grammar

by nogaraleugim

Good day chap, lad, lassies, ladies and gents. If you ever think trying to apply for a job in a call center or any establishments owned by foreign investors or simply going out of the country, there are words or a group of words that we Filipinos commonly misuse in the usage of English grammar. Though we are one of the countries who speak fluently in the language, there are still errors we commit and this is called Filipinisms.

Filipinisms are English grammar structures which are acceptable for the Filipino community but gives ambiguity to the native speakers of the language, commonly they are exaggerated or sometimes unnoticed faults in our grammar as Filipinos. Below are some of the most common English grammar errors of Filipinos:

1. When you are making orders in a restaurant or a food chain and asked whether to dine in or to eat the meal outside; then you decided to eat it outside instead of saying Takeout, you should say Takeaway.

2. When you asked your friend about the light do not ever say Kill/close/open the... instead say, Switch the... on/off. The common error in using these sentences is that the use of the words Kill, Close and Open which are inappropriate to use if you are referring to an object.

3. When you are elaborating things and stating an example, never ever say Like for example, instead say, Like or For example. For it brings redundancy to the phrase or sentence.

4. When you are in an airport trying to check-in your belongings instead of having a Hand Carry say, Carry on luggage.

5. When you are asked about your course in college do not say I'm taking up... instead say, I'm taking... the usage of the term Up is inappropriate and too casual.

6. When you are talking to someone over the phone, instead of saying, Hold your line/For a while... the right term you must use is Would you mind if I put you on hold for a second? The term holds your line/for a while looks absurd and confusing.

7. The moment when you can't hold yourself and ask a permission to piss off instead of saying May I go to the CR? You must say May I go to the toilet? The term CR or comfort room is not recognized in the English dictionary.

8. The use of the term Traffic. Traffic is common, it is a part of the daily life and it pertains to the flow of the vehicle, the correct term that must be used is Heavy traffic.

9. The usage of the term Bottomless, in the dictionary it pertains to an object without a base. Instead, you must use the term Refillable.

10. This is the most misused term in English by the Filipinos, Salvage. We commonly use this term to emphasize that someone was viciously murdered, but the term itself is used to save someone/something from destruction.

These are only some examples of how we Filipinos misused the English language, there are more kinds of these Filipinisms out there just try to observe next time when you tried to listen and talk with people who are native speakers and you will see the difference and ambiguity in our own filipinized English language.