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Conversation connects us face-to-face with one another. In this age of email, text messaging and sound bites, conversation can seem unimportant. It is though as essential to business dealings as it is to connecting with your neighbour. Follow these steps and hone your conversation skills.
Instructions
Step 1
Consider that conversation is a two-way street a give-and-take. One-side relationships rarely work out. Listen at least as much as you talk, if not more. There is something to learn from almost everyone. Be sensitive to the interests of others.
Step 2
Do your homework so you won't miss an opportunity for conversation. Bring up something about another person's life and you have an instant connection. Ask about the kids, the dog or the recent vacation. Your interest is considered a compliment.
Step 3
Stay current. Know what's going on in the world and you'll always have something to talk about. Be in touch with what people are talking about, what matters, what will drive the future.
Step 4
Exercise good taste. Consider to whom you're speaking and keep topics appropriate. Not all subjects are suitable for all conversations.
Step 5
Be inclusive. People who are left out feel uncomfortable. Find ways to include others in the conversation.
Step 6
Make eye contact for effective conversation. It projects your confidence and makes the other person feel your undivided attention.
Step 7
Win at conversation by realizing that conversation is about understanding what others want and your ability to sincerely convey you're listening.
Having good social skills is important if you want to make a good impression on the people you meet. Here's some advice on what is considered polite or impolite in English-speaking cultures.
1. Please, thank you, excuse me and I'm sorry
These polite expressions are used a lot in spoken English, and not using them can make you appear rude. As politeness is considered perhaps the most important quality in relationships, make sure you use them! Don't worry if you think you use them too frequently: the worst that people will think of you is that you are sweet and charming:))
Please = use whenever you want someone to do something for you, or if you want something from another person
Can you tell me where the post office is, please?
Can you pass me that newspaper please?
Never use imperative forms unless you are giving someone directions. So although you can say to someone "Take the 130 bus to Croydon and get off at Asda supermarket", you can't say to someone "Pass me that newspaper".
Thank you = use whenever someone does something for you, or gives you something.
Excuse me = use when you want to introduce a request to someone, or if you want to get past someone
Excuse me, can you tell me where the post office is, please?
Excuse me, is this the right platform for the London train?
I'm sorry = use any time that you inconvenience someone, tread on someone's toes in a crowded train, or if someone asks you something that you can't do.
I'm sorry, but I don't understand. Is the post office on the left or the right?
Is Mr Jones in the office?
I'm sorry, he's out this morning.
2. Ask permission before doing something that may inconvenience others
Do you mind if I open the window?
Can I take this chair?
3. Avoid controversial topics when you meet someone new
Some topics of conversation can lead to arguments, so unless you know someone well, it's best to avoid them. These topics are politics, religion and financial information such as how much money you earn. If you are in doubt about what to talk about, let the other person take the lead, and respond to them. This leads on to the next point:
4. Keep the conversation going
If someone asks you a question, respond to it. Avoid one-word answers, and try to say at least a few words. Then you can return the question.
For example, if someone says "Terrible weather, isn't it", avoid just saying "yes". Instead you can say "Yes, I wish it would stop raining" or "Yes, it wasn't like this last summer, was it?"
Some cultural tips
- In Britain, queuing is considered polite. If you "jump the queue" (go to the front, rather than stand behind the last person in the queue) or push the people in front of you, you will make yourself very unpopular!
- Don't stand too close to people. Stand at least an arm's length away if you can. On crowded public transport this isn't possible, but people rarely talk to each other in these situations.
COULD you tell me whether a singular or plural verb is called for in the sentence below? An English lecturer had this on her presentation slide and I disagreed with her use of the singular verb.
“Employees may suppress information even when communication and recovery process exists”.
Shouldn’t we use “exist” instead of “exists”? The English lecturer explained that both the words “communication” and “recovery process” were uncount nouns and this warrants a singular verb.
If the verb depends on whether nouns are count or uncount ones, what about the following phrases:
Air and water are essential for life
OR
Air and water is essential for life.
Bread and butter are her only food.
OR
Bread and butter is her only food.
Answer:
Although an uncountable n oun (as subject of a clause) is used with a singular verb, two or more uncountable nouns in a coordinated subject (linked by “and”) are used with a plural verb, as in your first example, “Air and water are essential for life.”
However, when the nouns in the coordinated subject are usually treated as a unit or a single idea, like “bread and butter” in your second example, they take a singular verb. Thus, we say “Bread and butter is her only food.”
The sentence written by the English lecturer has a coordinated subject in which the two nouns, i.e. “communication” and “process”, are not usually treated as a unit or a single idea. So the verb ought to be plural, i.e. “exist”.
I would also like to point out that “process” is not an uncountable noun, although this does not affect the subject-verb agreement. We can say “a process” or “processes”. In addition, an article is needed before “recovery process”, so that the sentence would read:
“Employees may suppress information even when communication and a recovery process exist”.
Use of ‘subject to’
I AM confused about the usage of “subject to” and “subjected to”. Please explain the sentence below:
Service is subject to availability and technical testing.
Can “subject to” be replaced with “subjected to”? If not, please explain how we can use “subjected to”.
Answer:
“Subject to” means “conditional upon”. “Subject” there is an adjective. I don’t know the context of the sentence you quoted. But if it appears in a document or on a notice board of a car service station, it probably means that a car is only serviced there on condition that someone is available to perform the service, and that the car is first tested to find out what mechanical faults it has.
No. “Subjected to” has a very different meaning from “subject to”. It is the passive form of the verb “subject (someone) to” and means “be made to undergo an unpleasant experience”. Here are some examples of its use:
“Black football players in Europe are occasionally subjected to racist insults by spectators.”
“Some prisoners of war weresubjected to torture, which is against the Geneva Convention.”
Open and close an umbrella
ARE these correct?
1) How time flies. It’s already 10 years since we last saw each other.
2) You must open the umbrella when it rains. Close it when the rain stops. (How about “fold”?)
3) He always broke his pencil when he was six. (Can we use “always” for a past event?)
4) I saw many people took part in the protest. (“Taking”?)
5) Just round the corner OR Just around the corner.
6) He fell onto the floor. OR He fell on the floor.
Answer:
1) “How time flies!” is a common expression used when someone feels that time has passed more quickly than he realises. The simple present tense is usually used, instead of the present perfect “How time has flown!”, even when we are referring to a period of time, because it is a general statement.
2) It is correct to use the verbs “open and close” for an umbrella. Here is a quotation from the website of a company that sells umbrellas in the UK:
“Quite simply ingenious. Fashion umbrellas that can be both opened AND CLOSED with one hand at the touch of a button in a compact fold away version.”
“Folding” is what we do to some cloth umbrellas after we’ve closed it.
3) There is nothing wrong in using “always” for a past event. “Always” usually means “at all times” or “on every occasion”, and these can refer to all times and every occasion in the past.
However, in the sentence you gave me, “always” means “very often” and that requires the use of a past continuous tense rather than a simple past tense, and so the sentence should read:
“He was always breaking his pencil when he was six.”
4) No, “took” is not correct there! The past has already been conveyed in the verb of perception “saw”. The sentence should read: “I saw many people take/taking part in the protest.”
5) Both “round” and “around” are correct in that context. “Around” is slightly more formal.
6) “He fell onto the floor.” and “He fell on the floor.” are both correct, but they differ slightly in meaning.
“He fell onto the floor” means he fell from another place or position (e.g. a bed or a ladder) and landed on the floor.
“He fell on the floor” means he was standing on the floor and then something made him fall down on it. Maybe someone punched him, or he fainted.
1) WHICH political leader said recently, “We teared up”, and what did he mean? George W. Bush, Presidential debate. He shed tears.
2) Which of these is American/British usage? (a) Call (b) Ring (c) Phone (a) is American, (b) used to be standard British, but ‘call’ is now widely used too, (c) is British
3) Which of these terms is American, and which the British equivalent? (a) lorry/truck (b) sidewalk/pavement (c) aluminium/aluminum (d) apartment/flat (e) jug/pitcher American - truck/sidewalk/aluminum/apartment/pitcher
4) The United States of America - singular (it) or plural (they)? Now always taken to be a single State, and followed by a singular verb
5) What is the general American, and British, pronunciation of these words? (a) lieutenant (b) schedule (c) tomato (d) potato (e) medicine (a) “lootenant” (US), “leftenant” (British) (b) “skedule” (US), now often heard in Britain, where “shedule” is still usual (c) “tomayto” (US), “tomahto” (British) (d) always “potayto” in US and Britain. (e) recommended as two syllables in RP (“medsin”), three syllables in the US and elsewhere
6) Which of these exchanges is American, and British usage? a) “Do you have any money?” “No, I don’t.” b) “Have you got any money?” "No, I haven’t.” (a) is American, and is now beginning to replace (b) in Britain
7) The past tense may differ in the United States and outside. Which usage belongs where? a) He pleaded guilty. He pled guilty. b) He dived in. He dove in. c) He span the celestial globe gently. He spun towards the sound. (a) “pleaded” is British, “pled” American (b) “dove” is American (c) “span” is a minority form in the United States and elsewhere; it is acceptable but not recommended
8) Which are the British/American spellings? a) theater/theatre b) glamor/glamour c) traveler/traveller d) check/cheque e) catalog/catalogue American first, in each instance
9) What is American in this sentence? Feeling nauseous, she walked toward the exit, but fainted before she had gotten there. “Nauseous” meaning “feeling sick” is an American sense now sometimes found in England; “toward” is American, “towards” British; “gotten” is 100% American
10) Which spellings of American institutions are retained in a non-American context? a) Secretary of Defense b) Lincoln Center c) Pearl Harbor d) Labor Day (a) “Defense” becomes “Defence” in English spelling because the term is universal; (b) “Center” also becomes “Centre”; (c) “Pearl Harbor” is a specific place and is always so spelt; (d) there is no British equivalent of Labor Day and the American spelling is retained.
I'm appalled at the increasing use of less when fewer would be more appropriate. I was taught that if you could count them (people at a meeting) you used "fewer"; if you couldn't count it (sugar) you used "less."
It seems that the trend is to use less for everything. ...
I can't wrap myself around using "less" when "fewer" seems so right to me.
She asked me to comment.
The traditional rule is indeed to use "fewer" with things that can be counted. For example:
* Fewer than ten minutes remain.
* Fewer people go to church now.
* Fewer than a hundred tickets were sold.
* Drink fewer glasses of alchohol.
Traditional usage says that we use "less" in other situations.
For example:
* Less time remains.
* Church attendence is less than it was.
* Ticket sales were less than last year.
* Drink less alchohol.
It gets more complex though. The American Heritage Book of English Usage has this to add:
You can use "less than" before a plural noun that denotes a measure of time, amount, or distance: "less than three weeks", "less than $400", "less than 50 miles".
