Misleading newspaper headline

Writings/messages should be clearly presented to avoid ambiguity.






Sketches of suspects released is the headline of a news item in a popular national English daily.

Such headline can lead you to understand its meaning to be "Sketches (are or have been) released and they belong to suspects" or "Sketches of suspects (who are or have been) released".

You cannot be sure until you have read the first paragraph of the news proper which says, "Pakistan yesterday released sketches of four men suspected of involvement in a deadly ambush on Sri Lankan cricketers and broadcast CCTV footage of gunmen escaping after the siege."

To do away with the embiguity, the headline can be "Sketches released of suspects" or "Released: sketches of suspects".

There is then creative reading as well as creative writing.
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Strange constructions or just slips in editing/typesetting

Following the correct route will ensure early arrival at the desired destination.






(1)Of course, I’m happy that my job takes me round the world, but I miss not having my family with me.

(2)We are now aware of the important of respecting intellectual property and of using licensed software in our business.

The above two sentences appear in a very popular national English daily with (1) in a column promoting the correct use of English and (2) in a notice/advertisement.

When we say we miss something, we are not having that something. Sentence (1) should have been, "Of course, I’m happy that my job takes me round the world, but I miss having my family with me." Or, it can be simply refined to be, "Of course, I’m happy that my job takes me round the world, but I miss my family."

The use of 'important' which is an adjective is inappropriate in sentence (2). The noun 'importance' is required in its stead, and the sentence should have been, "We are now aware of the importance of respecting intellectual property and of using licensed software in our business."

An accomplishment sticks to a person.
-- Japanese Proverb

Plural nouns/pronouns/antecedents accompanied by singular verbs

Great improvements can be achieved if you have someone to guide and police your work in English.




Subject-verb disagreements or plural nouns/pronouns/antecedents accompanied by singular verbs have remained common grammatical mistakes found in writings.

Below is one of the many examples noted in a print advertisement which contains the sentence reading, "We are experts in creating fearless appliances that weathers the elements."

The word 'appliances' is a noun plural in form being the antecedent of the relative pronoun 'that' which must be used with a plural verb. The sentence in question should, therefore, be "We are experts in creating fearless appliances that weather the elements."

A famous writer once observed that mistakes could still be found even after self-editing the writer's own writing for six times.

Vigilance is the key if we do not have the help of a capable editor.

Truth springs from argument amongst friends.
-- David Hume

Everyone is a singular pronoun

If children can be taught to use proper English, that will result in better chances of raising our standard of English.




Please encourage the use of proper words and sentences in our daily conversation.

The above is a call in a letter published in the Opinion Column of a popular national English daily.

MY wife is expecting twins and everyone in the family are so happy. This is the first sentence of another letter in the same column on the same day.

Everyone is a pronoun which is singular in form and, therefore, has to be accompanied by a singular verb 'is' instead of 'are'.

However, if the plural verb 'are' is to be used, the sentence can be recast as "My wife is expecting twins and all in the family are so happy."

The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.
-- Aristotle

Who or Whom - Many writers find it confusing to make the correct choice

Due attention must be paid to avoid grammatical mistakes for effective communication.




In a newspaper article touching on people with disabilities, the following question appears on its sub-headline, "Who then can the disabled turn to for help?"

You can answer the question in order to know whether "who" or "whom" is to be used.

Can the answer be 'The disabled can turn to "he" for help'? Obviously, the answer is not correct grammatically as the pronoun after the preposition "to" cannot be in the subjective case. It must be in the objective case which is "him".

The said question should, therefore, be "Whom then can the disabled turn to for help?"


If we don't change our direction we're likely to end up where we're headed.
-- Chinese Proverb