This time, I want to focus on pronunciation instead of grammar. Pronunciation, just like grammar, is an equally-important aspect of being able to converse in the English language effectively. Truly, when one mispronounces a word, it immediately makes the other person think he/she must have meant something else or worse, it or the entire sentence doesn’t make any sense at all.

Therefore, it’s important that Filipinos, being non-native speakers, know all the acceptable yet correct versions of saying a word, specifically commonly-mispronounced words, in order to facilitate discourses in the English language smoothly. Now, I mentioned ‘all the acceptable versions’ because if one will study the dictionary (I personally prefer Merriam-Webster), it will be noticed that each entry actually offers different ways of saying a word. There could be the primary, the secondary, or the tertiary version. There are even words that are pronounced in more than three different ways. Generally, these varied pronunciations of a given word are the American and British counterparts. Now, it’s kind of wrong to pronounce words in a way that’s not stated in the dictionary because then, it makes them invalid.

So, I came up with a list of ten Filipino mispronunciations below. These aren’t just any commonly-mispronounced words that I know might already being taught in call centers or that most students likely already know in college. I’ve thought of ten Filipino mispronunciations that most people don’t even know they’re wrong about all these years.

Here they are:

1. Request (both verb and noun)

I even hear some AM radio announcers or FM radio DJs pronounce this as REE-kwest where the first syllable is emphasized and the vowel in it is produced with Long e. The correct and only pronunciation should be ri-KWEST where the syllable stress is placed on the second and the first syllable is produced with Short i and nothing else.

2. Scarce

Whomever I talk to, I always hear people pronounce this as SKäRS (with an Italian a). The correct and only pronunciation should be SKERS (with a Short e).

3. Inevitable

Is it i-ne-VI-ta-ble or i-NE-vi-ta-ble? It’s actually the latter. The stress isn’t placed on -VI- or the third syllable. It’s placed on -NE- or the second syllable instead.

4. Create

If you’re a Filipino like me, you must be guilty of pronouncing this as KREE-EYT. Almost right. However, English pronunciation, particularly American, combines words or syllables by relying on the final sound of the preceding syllable and connecting it to the first sound of the next syllable.

What I mean by this is the first syllable KREE (in cre-), is produced with Long e. This sound, if you listen to it, ends with a ‘y’ sound (listen to yourself). Therefore, you bridge that little ‘y’ sound there to vowel E of the second syllable.

As a result, you get KREEY-EYT or KREEYEYT. This is how you say ‘create’. This also applies to its derivatives like creation, creative, etc.

5. Activity

I know it’s easy to get away with this mispronunciation but trained ears can actually tell if you’re saying this right or not. I hear Filipinos pronounce the first syllable with a Schwa (like uk-TI-vi-ty). Now, you’re gonna go ‘I didn’t know that’ when I tell you that the first syllable is really pronounced with American or Short a. It’s æk-TI-vi-ty. Just don’t prolong the first syllable too much because the stress isn’t there, but on the second syllable -TI- instead.

6. Most words ending in -sion, -sure, and -sual being pronounced with only the ‘SH’ sound

Here’s the rule. Almost all words, except when the syllables or word endings above are preceded by the consonant ‘s’, are pronounced with a ‘ZH’ sound.

Ergo, we never say VI-shun for vision. It’s always VI-zhun. We don’t say YOU-shwul for usual. It’s always YOU-zhwul. Lastly, it’s TRE-zhur for treasure and not TRE-shur. It’s the same with words like collision, decision, pleasure, measure, visual, and a lot more with the same word endings.

Yes. Now, you have to practice your Zs a lot.

7. Pronouncing words starting with either MO- or NO- with Circumflex or Short o (moh- or noh-).

Although it’s not always the case, most words starting with MO- or NO- are pronounced with Long o (like MOW or NOW).

We never say noh-VEM-ber for November. We say now-VEM-ber. The same can be applied to notice. It’s like you’re saying the word ‘No’ when you’re producing the first syllable.

Moreover, we don’t say moh-ti-VATE for motivate. It’s always mow-ti-VATE. We pronounce motive the same way.

The only exception I could think of right now is the word model. Of course, we never say MOW-dul. It’s always been Mä-dul with Italian a (sounds like mop).

8. Pronouncing words with the consonant s in the middle with only the ‘s’ sound.

I’ve also observed that Filipinos only pronounce words with the consonant S in between with a simple ‘S’ sound. Now, you know it’s wrong. We have to make an extra effort.

Here’s another rule in English pronunciation. When the consonant S is positioned between two vowels, the sound usually becomes ‘Z’ and not ‘S’. Remember, English pronunciation is not based on spelling. It’s interestingly based on sounds.

Therefore, words like choose, noisy (y is considered a semi-vowel), noise, poison, arouse, please, and busy are all pronounced with a Z sound.

9. Curriculum Vita or Vitae

I know this is THE word that will surprise you a little bit. Even the most highly-educated professionals in the Philippines mispronounce this.

All along, we’ve thought that the word VITAE is pronounced as vi-TEY. It’s not. The correct and only acceptable pronunciations are VEE-tay (like the Filipino word ‘bitay’) and VEE-TEE (like ‘BT’ with a V).

We don’t even use this word to refer to a singular biographical sketch. If we’re only requiring one CV from an applicant, we use or say Curriculum Vita (which is pronounced VEEH-tuh like cheetah or VAY-tuh like vitamin without the -min).

You didn’t really know this, did you? Now, you do.

10. Liaison

I know you’ll agree with me that Filipinos pronounce this as ‘LAYASON’. Now, it’s about time that we correct this. The only standard pronunciations, as per the dictionary, are ‘LEE-ya- ZäN’, ‘lee-YEY-ZäN’, and ‘LE-yuh-ZäN’.

So, the next time you’re gonna say this word, which usually comes with positions like Liaison Officer, you already know how to say it right.

Our takeaway

I could’ve mentioned a lot more than ten examples, but it will only make this article too long that it might only end up annoying some. The reality is there are more mispronunciations out there and all we have to do is to make an effort to know them, believe that they’re wrong, unlearn them, and correct them.

We, as Filipinos, are known to be one of the best English-speaking races on the planet despite this foreign language not being our native tongue. Nobody could deny or contest that. Nonetheless, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with enhancing that reputation more by being informed and correcting what we realize have been wrong all along with the right pronunciations based on what a reputable reference like Merriam-Webster requires.

Let’s keep in mind that just like grammar, correcting word pronunciation will make it much easier for us to interact with not only native English speakers but with essentially everybody else as well. English is the language of the world. It’s the language of the business. Leveling up our sway of the language by improving our pronunciation will take us to places we want to be.

Does this article interest you in hiring us for your in-house corporate training program need on English Proficiency? Just give us a call at (02) 919-2734 or email us at info@mssbizsolutions.com and we’ll design and develop something for your target participants.

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While the language continues to evolve in terms of vocabulary and syntax (informal vs formal conversations or discourses), grammar, both in conversational and formal/literary speech, arguably remains to be a compliance-sensitive aspect. In other words, the moment one makes a mistake with sentence construction or uses words as opposed to their strict dictionary meaning and function, the overall context already changes even to the point of not making any sense to a native speaker.

Being a local grammarian, I’ve endlessly observed native speakers, particularly highly-educated and grammar-conscious Americans, speak the language on TV, in person, and over the radio and have educated myself about grammar and syntax by reading books and ‘googling’ at the same time. Just the same, I’ve observed how my fellow Filipinos speak the language (Filipino English variant) and have noticed that they, we, have speech habits that are considered to be non-grammatical or not how most educated or rules-aware native speakers would generally say them.

Therefore, I’ve come up with ten (10) of the most common Filipino grammar imperfections or areas for improvement that have to be corrected. As additional information, I’ve also included a few examples that would be categorized as vocabulary slips instead. I mentioned them anyways. They are:

1. Placing ‘yet’ in the middle of the sentence when the meaning is ‘until now’ or ‘so far’

Yet, in the contexts above, should always be placed at the end of the sentence. For example:

My secretary hasn’t emailed me her technical report yet.

I noticed that Filipinos, on the other hand, place it in the middle of their sentence right after the verb. For example:

My secretary hasn’t (or has not) yet emailed me her technical report.

Notice the difference?

2. Placing ‘already’ at the end of the sentence when the meaning is‘before now’ or ‘so early’

Already, in either aforementioned meaning, should always be placed after the verb and not at the end of the sentence. For example:

My secretary has already emailed me her technical report.

When a speaker places (or utters) it at the end of the sentence, just like how most Filipinos say it, the meaning becomes an intensive that usually emphasizes annoyance, anger, or misery. For example,

I’m getting impatient already! My secretary hasn’t emailed me her technical report yet.

You don’t want to be misunderstood as angry, pissed, or sad, do you?

3. Placing ‘only’ at the end of the sentence when the meaning is ‘alone’ or ‘existing with no others of the same kind’

Only should always follow the subject, whether it’s a noun or a pronoun. In some cases, it also follows a helping verb. Grammatically, it’s never put at the end of the sentence. For example:

My secretary only submits technical reports to me and financial reports are not included.

or

My secretary has only submitted part of the technical report.

Saying it at the end of the sentence would put it in an awkward position which will be misconstrued as broken English. For example:

My secretary has submitted part of the technical report only.

4. Interchanging ‘Whom’ and ‘Who’

I believe it’s not only Filipinos who get confused between these pronouns as this pair also gets mixed up even by native speakers themselves.

Unfortunately, these words can’t be interchanged.  Aside from they’re not the same type, ‘who’ is a Personal Pronoun and ‘whom’ is a Relative Pronoun (although the latter may also be used as Personal at times), they’re used differently.

‘Who’ is a pronoun that only replaces or refers to a subject whether it’s a noun or a pronoun. For example:

Who will submit the technical report? The secretary will. (As you see, the answer becomes the statement’s subject, the word secretary.

or

The secretary is the person who will submit the technical report. (If you convert this to a question, it becomes the exact question above which answer is just the same).

‘Whom’, on the other hand, is dominantly a Relative Pronoun which function is to serve as the objective case of ‘Who’. When we say objective, in this explanation, it’s the object of the preposition. This explains why this word is always used with prepositions like to, with, and for. For example:

To whom will the secretary submit the technical report?

or

It’s her manager to whom the secretary will submit the technical report.

Just so you know: In informal conversations, putting the said prepositions at the end of the sentence in similar contexts is now acceptable even by the strictest grammarians or maybe just acceptable.

For example,

Whom will the secretary submit the technical report to?

5. Following through with the previous explanation, a related grammar mistake is answering questions like ‘May I speak with (any person’s name)’ with ‘This is him/her’.

This is a bit complicated to explain as it’s been more of a convention than grammar compliance because even native speakers would say ‘this is me’ or ‘this is him/her’. Matter of fact, saying ‘this is him/her’ is essentially correct grammar-wise.

Let’s keep in mind that ‘he’ or ‘she’ is a Personal Pronoun that’s nominative in nature. It means it’s always used as a subject and not as an object (the one being referred to) in a sentence. In this case, the subject is ‘This’. Therefore, it can’t be ‘this is he/she’ as this would contradict the rule.

Nonetheless, that’s not how people got used to saying it for already a very long time. The widely-accepted justification is that, as I said, this has always been more of a convention (what’s usual) than a grammar-compliant sentence. Ergo, the majority rule says we might as well stick to it.

6. Answering questions which start with ‘Do’ or ‘Does’ with ‘(noun/pronoun) has/have’

I’ve noticed that when most Filipinos are asked, ‘Do you have a change for P1000?’, the common answer is ‘I have’. It’s the same with questions like ‘Does the secretary have to submit the technical report to her manager immediately?’. Expect that the usual answer will be ‘Yes, she has’.

When questions start with ‘do’ or ‘does’, the answer should also contain it depending on whether the subject is singular or plural (Use ‘do’ for plural and ‘does’ for singular). ‘Have’ can’t be the accompanying verb in replies because in either question above, it didn’t function as a helping verb but an actual ‘action verb’ which is synonymous to ‘possess’ or ‘own’. Thus, ‘do’ or ‘does’ should be mentioned instead.

Now you know.

7. Misusing ‘between’ and ‘among’.

Always remember this. ‘Between’ and ‘among’ are intermediating words which denote how many persons or things are involved and which persons or things those/they are.

When ‘between’ is used, there are only and strictly two nouns or pronouns involved. For example:

Between the two secretaries, it’s Annie who will submit the technical report. (Only two are referenced)

Whereas, ‘Among’ is used for more than two nouns. For example:

The one who will submit the technical report will be chosen among the secretary, the administrative assistant, and the meeting scribe. (Three persons are being referred to)

8. Misuse and/or confusion among ‘agree with’, ‘agree on’, and ‘agree to’.

I used to be confused among these phrasal verbs myself until I initiated to correctly understand their grammatical differences. Please check below.

‘Agree with’ is used when the context is one person is accepting the point of somebody else or something which could be an idea or an action and the recipient (person) of the agreement feels the same (like mutual; on the same page; two-way). For example:

(Idea or action) I agree with the decision to assign the secretary as the one who will submit the technical report (Presumably, the others or the other party agrees too).

(Person) I agree with him when he said it should be the secretary who will submit the technical report.

‘Agree on’ is to be used to emphasize that one party (could be a person or an entire group) consents to what is being referred to (a thing or an idea and can never be a person). Another way of explaining it is that what (not who as this isn’t applicable to persons) is being referred to is agreeable to a person or a group of people (one side to a thing or idea). For example:

We (one party or group) agree on one thing and that’s to allow the secretary herself to submit the technical report to the manager.

‘Agree to’ should be a no-brainer as it simply means to give consent, approval, or permission to do something. For example:

The secretary, without questions, immediately agreed to submitting the technical report herself.

I hope this helps with the confusion or settles the dispute regarding the differences among the phrasal verbs above.

 9. Giving a positive response when asked questions which start with ‘Do you mind…?” when the reply is actually negative.

I’ve noticed that when some Filipinos are asked the question above, they usually reply with either ‘sure’, ‘of course’, ‘no problem’, or worse ‘yes.’

Think of the question again. It asks ‘do you mind…?’. It’s as if the question is ‘Do you have an issue with…’. If one’s reply is actually negative, meaning No, then the reply should be ‘Not at all.’, ‘Of course not.’ , ‘Of course I don’t.’, or ‘No I don’t’. Saying otherwise means one does mind or has an issue.

So, if you don’t, you know the proper response.

10. Making the word that follows the phrase ‘One of the…’ singular.

The phrase ‘one of the…’ is a direct literal translation of the local version ‘isa sa mga…’. Therefore, the noun that follows it should be plural. However, the helping verb that follows the entire phrase (together with the noun) should be singular (is, was, has, or does). This is because while the noun the phrase refers to is in its plural form, the actual subject is literally ‘one of the’ or ‘isa sa mga’ persons, things, ideas, or places mentioned. When we say one, we mean one. For example:

One of the secretaries by the name of Joy was (singular) assigned to submit the technical report to the manager.

The only exception is when the same phrase is followed by the pronouns ‘WHO, THAT, or WHICH’, then the case is different. The form of the helping verb or the action verb is plural. For example:

One of the employees who are usually assigned to submit the technical report in the absence of the others is the secretary.

In the example above, the previous rule doesn’t apply because the phrase ‘…who are usually assigned to submit the technical report…’ only serves as a parenthetical statement that lets the reader know that there are employees who are usually assigned to submit the technical report. Parenthetical statements may or may not be a part of a sentence and their presence should not affect the number of the determined subject. They are usually enclosed by commas or parentheses although they were not used in the sentence above just to make a point. Therefore, the actual helping verb is ‘is’ which should be singular as the rule states.

One more thing. The phrase ‘One of the employees…’ above is not even the subject but is in reality just a part of the predicate of the sentence that was placed at the beginning and that which gives details about the subject. The real subject is the word ‘secretary’. If unsure, ask the question ‘Who is one of the employees who are usually assigned to submit the technical report? If the answer is ‘secretary’, then it is the subject.

So, remember. Unless the context requires one to use otherwise, the phrase ‘One of the…’ is always followed by a plural noun but is used with a singular linking or action verb.

In closing…

The aforementioned items are just ten (10) of the common grammar imperfections that most Filipinos commit. I used the word ‘imperfection’ instead of ‘mistake’ because while they aren’t really grammatical, they’ve already become part of what we call Filipinoisms or Filipinisms, a now-acceptable variant of the English language just like Australian, Indian, Chinese, or Kiwi English that puts forth our proud identity as one of the better English-speaking nations despite having non-native speakers.

Nonetheless, this fact should not hinder us non-native speakers from making a continuous effort to correct or improve (whatever the rightful action is) our conversational skills in English, be it informal or formal. Doing so would only make us much more competent and competitive in both the corporate and the business worlds where English or speaking it is such a very powerful edge.

After all, I recommended that the ten imperfections above be corrected.

Bad grammar is like bad breath. Just because no one says anything doesn’t mean that no one noticed.

Does this article interest you in hiring us for your in-house corporate training program need on English Proficiency? Just give us a call at (02) 919-2734 or email us at info@mssbizsolutions.com and we’ll design and develop something for your target participants.

If you need to see all of our Communication Skills training programs, just click the link below:

Communication Skills Training in the Philippines

The post Ten Filipino grammar imperfections that need to be corrected appeared first on MSS Business Solutions - a Top HR Training and Consultancy Company in the Philippines.

Accordingly, the industry is projected to provide jobs to more than 1.3M call center professionals and 3.2M more in indirect employment, not to mention that it is positioned to generate revenues to the tune of US$25B this year.

This is certainly enough of a reason why much more Filipinos are bent on, if not addicted to, improving their communication skills in English in order to join for the first time or jump ship onto this industry.

For several years since customer service or call center department outsourcing has become a booming industry, all sectors concerned have leveraged the Filipino people’s propensity to learn, improve, and perfect their spoken and written English the fastest in Asia. This can be attributed to our rich history of being governed by the States from 1898 to 1946 and getting Westernized, somehow, in the process.

However, since English is only our second language, almost all call centers, big or small, have still incorporated a mandatory English Proficiency program into the new recruits’ on-the-job training before they are allowed to take and make calls on the production floor.

This is not only to correct their pronunciation, refresh (since foundation has already been built since pre-school) them on grammar , neutralize their accent, and enrich their vocabulary but also to help them communicate effectively with their foreign customers over the phone through a crash course on culture, geography, time zones, and the like.

One particular significant aspect of new employee training though is standardizing their English words usage by discouraging and correcting the use of Filipinisms.

Filipinisms or Filipinoisms (for some) are words or terms that are expressed or spelled in English but are not necessarily right or acceptable as far as being used by Americans, Canadians, British, Australians, and Kiwis (the top native English-speaking countries) are concerned.

They are generally a product of direct translation (translating word for word from the local language, in this case Tagalog, to English) or a wrong local conversation habit that has never been corrected.

Without a doubt, call center agent aspirants learning these words and removing them from their vocabulary would help express themselves to their foreign customers much more effectively and be understood clearly in return.

However, from my years of working in the training and development division of the call center industry and until my current career as an owner of a corporate talent solutions, particularly talent development, firm, I’ve observed that there are words that are supposed to be entirely acceptable, if not strictly grammatical, that most local Soft Skills Foundation or Voice & Accent trainers have always trained their agents on to be wrong or non-existent when in fact, they’re acceptable or used (both spoken and written).

They are :

Disclaimer: We’re both referring to the formal and the conversational (informal) use of neutral English that can be understood by any race the speaker is talking to.

Note: Once again, ‘irregardless’ is obviously wrong. However, matter of fact, native English speakers (Americans particularly) actually use it. Thus, it’s a misinformation for Filipino call center trainers to claim they don’t say it this way. They actually do. Grammar-flawed, yes, but acceptable on the standard of common usage. (Reference: Merriam Webster)

Picture 1: (Slippers)

Picture 2: (Flip-flops)

Once again, the words above are commonly spoken and written by native English speakers, both in formal and informal interactions, so there’s no reason they are incorrect.

By the way, the goal of call center training programs for these Soft Skills Foundation or Voice and Accent training is to guarantee that new hires, if not new agents, would make perfect sense when they converse with their customers over the phone and would be understood as effectively as well.

Therefore, I’ve just realized the desire to correct these misconceptions or fallacies so call center trainees would not be misinformed and they could perform their jobs, particularly speaking English fluently, well.

Now that you know, you can go ahead and bring these to your trainers’ attention for a healthy debate.

Speaking of debate, this writer welcomes questions, clarifications, and contentions (especially from trainers who still believe the aforementioned words/expressions are wrong) below.

Let’s learn from one another. Shall we?

References:

www.m-w.com (Merriam-Webster Online)

www.thefreedictionary.com (The Free Dictionary)

Intensive and extensive research

Does this article interest you in hiring us for your in-house corporate training program need on English Proficiency? Just give us a call at (02) 919-2734 or email us at info@mssbizsolutions.com and we’ll design and develop something for your target participants.

If you need to see all of our Communication Skills training programs, just click the link below:

Communication Skills Training in the Philippines

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