Tek Tip 2sD - Spoken Grammar

I want to get a job.  I want to present myself as a professional.  I want to speak well.

Starting with a firm handshake, good eye contact, and a smile, I remember that if I got the interview I already qualify on paper.

Sometimes the only thing that separates me from another job candidate is my ability to speak so I want to practice my professional lingo on a regular basis.

Following are some common spoken errors:

"Where you at?" - "Where are you" - get rid of the "at"

"Would OF, could OF, should OF" 

                        "Would HAVE, could HAVE, Should HAVE"

"I think I seen you yesterday."  - "I think I SAW you yesterday."

"I should have went to the concert with you."  - "I should have GONE..."

"I've did that a few times."  -  "I have DONE that a few times"

There is a difference between the simple past and the past participle with helping verbs like to have and to be.  I saw.  I have seen.  I did.  I have done.

"If I was you, ..."  -  "If I WERE you, ..."

This is the subjunctive mood that I learned in Spanish class in 8th grade.  Years later I realized that it was also a part of English.  I did not learn that from an English teacher.

"I didn't do good on that test"  -  "I didn't do WELL..."

Please use adverbs where they belong.  Well is an adverb and it modifies the verb.  Adjectives modify nouns.  Good is an adjective.

"Who do I write that to?"  -  "TO WHOM do I address the letter?"

Who is the subject.  Whom is the object.

"Him and me went to a party for he and I"

                      "HE AND I went to a party FOR HIM AND ME" (FOR US)

I and he are subjects.  Me and he are objects.

"Irregardless of the outcome, ..."  - "REGARDLESS"

Some words don't exist.

"She use to spend a lot of time reading."  - "She USED to spend ..."

"Supposably"  -  "Supposedly"

"Anyways"  -  "Anyway"

"360 degree turn."  -  "180 degree turn"

A 360 is a full circle.  You're still heading in the same direction.

"Spicket"  -  "Spigot" or "Faucet"

"Wheelbarrel"  -  "WheelBARROW"

"Pythagorum's Theorem"  -  "the Pythagorean Theorem"

"Feta"  -  "Theta"

"Expresso"  -  "Espresso"

"Flustrated"  -  Sometimes poor English "FRUSTRATES" me

Read.  A lot.  Good classic works of cultured literature.  It takes a while.  Or a coach.

Then yinz'll talk good.

Avoiding the 200 Most Common English Mistakes
Top 25 Grammar and Language Mistakes
The Ill-Advised Fight Against Malapropisms
10 Body Language Interview Mistakes


I am not, by the way, advocating that you always speak "properly" - just know what's correct and switch dialects as the need arises.