Unit 4

Communicative English 1

4.1.          Reading: Story Reflection

Story reflecting is a type of written assignment where the author analyses the event from the past using a present point of view. The purpose of reflective writing is to demonstrate the effect of the past event — specifically, what can be learned from the event and how the event helped shape the personality of the individual writing the story.

Description vs. Reflection

In a way, descriptive writing is somewhat similar to reflective writing. Both refer to an event from the writer’s past and both can be equally rewarding for the writer, allowing them to relive the event in their thoughts and possibly even get some closure.

However, there is one key difference between descriptive writing and reflective writing is that the purpose of descriptive writing is to simply describe a past event without providing an in-depth look on the effect of the event on the writer’s personality and present life.

You can use rich language and various literary devices to describe the event, but descriptive writing barely requires the writer to do any analysis at all. Reflective writing also describes a past event in great detail, but its main purpose is to express the consequences of the event and how they changed the writer’s life and outlook.

What to Focus on When Writing a Story Reflection?

The subject of reflective writing can be nearly anything that influenced your life in a major way. The most popular thing to focus on when story reflection writing is a past experience — anything that occurred to you some time in the past. It can be a meeting or conversation with someone that left a lasting impression on you.

Structuring reflective writing

Like most other types of written assignments, reflective writing has a clearly defined structure that you need to follow if you want your paper to have the right impact on your readers. A typical reflective paper will include the following paragraphs.

Introduction

If you are no stranger to writing various papers, you are already familiar with this part. The job of reflective writing introduction is to prepare the readers for what they are about to learn in your paper.

From your introduction, they should find out why exactly the event in the paper was so impactful for your life and personality. Most importantly, the introduction should be interesting enough to convince the audience to carry on reading.

Body

The body of your reflective paper is both the longest and the most vital part of your paper. In this chapter, you will take your readers on a journey through the events of the past and how they contributed to your personality and life.

There is no strict structure to follow in the body of reflective writing, but it’s very important to follow a logical flow of the narrative. Most reflective paper authors prefer to adopt the chronological order, which allows you to describe and reflect on the events in a way that will be easily understood by the readers.

The reflection itself

The crucial part of the paper is the part where you reflect on the event in question. Here you will need to list the reasons why the event proved to be so impactful. After each reason, you will expand on it and analyse the effect this particular aspect of the event had on you in general.

This is reflective writing, which means you can let your thoughts run wild without being conformed to an obligatory way to describe the effects of the event. You can even add a little speculation to make your writing more captivating to the readers.

In the body of your reflective paper paragraph, you need to put a special focus on the lessons you learned from the event. These lessons will not always be pleasant to write about or depict your personality in the best way, but they are necessary for demonstrating your growth.

Returning to the situation

While summarizing the event is not the most important part of reflective writing, this part of the paper is essential for allowing the readers to understand where you were coming from. Again, you can be as detailed as you want here, but the description of the past events certainly shouldn’t be longer than the reflection part of your paper.

Understanding the context

If the events from your past took place years or even decades ago, or if the context of the events was very unusual and different from the things we experience every day, the readers may have trouble understanding the background of the story.

In this part of the body of your reflective paper, you are to offer an insight into what your life was like at the time and what social, economic, and cultural background may have impacted the way the events unfolded and their effect on your life.

Modifying future outcomes

The events that happened to you and the impact they had on your personal life story cannot be changed. However, you can give way to your imagination and predict the different outcomes for the story that could have taken place in a different reality.

In this part of the paper, you can also reflect on what you could have done differently in the situation you were in. You can also fantasize about the possible outcome of the events had the people in your life acted differently or the context of the story changed.

Conclusion

The important thing about writing a conclusion for your reflective paper is that you don’t need to offer any new information to your readers. Instead, you need to summarize everything that has been said in the prior parts of the paper and finish the paper with one strong statement that can stimulate the readers to do some additional thinking after reading your reflective paper.

Questions to Ask When Writing Your Reflective Paper

Even though you don’t need to include any actual questions in your reflective paper, asking yourself those questions and answering them in your head or in your drafts will help you craft a more concise and convincing story. Here are 10 questions to answer if you want to write a strong reflective paper:

• Why exactly was this event so impactful to me?
• How did I react to the event back when it happened?
• How did my attitude towards the event change with time?
• Is there anything I could have done differently back then?
• Would I like a chance to change anything about the event?
• How did the event impact me in the short and long term?
• Was the event more positive than negative or vice versa?
• What did I learn from the event?
• Can the event and my reflection on it help other people?

4.2.          Writing: Pictorial Description

Descriptive Writing

Description is a tool that writers use to keep things live for their readers, to make sure their audience is fully immersed in the words on the page. Every time you tell someone a story, or when you tell someone something, you either use the description or you don't know it. The description is basically "I have a blue car" or "That beautiful baby" or "Flowers soften the sun's golden rays and start showing their bright colours". Descriptive words are used to provide more detail and provide more insight. In fact, commentary is a tool that allows many authors (and speakers) to show up instead of just saying, and enabling our readers to interpret our material.

There are two basic types of Objective and Subjective. The meaning of purpose is shown in the first two examples above; provides a true account of the item. Co-explanation provides a personal examination of the details by selecting specific words and phrases, such as clarifying the colours in the example above. Vibration not only provides information on colours, but also gives the idea or judgment of the value in the description. Many interpretations provide a mixture of both, giving the audience an idea of ​​the emotional state of the subject being described.

The Structure of a Descriptive Essay

Descriptive essays often describe a person, place, or thing that uses sensitive information. The structure of the descriptive text is more flexible than other filtering methods. The introduction of a descriptive article should set the tone and point of the essay. The thesis should convey the author's general opinion of the person, place, or thing described in the body paragraphs.

Article organization can better track spatial order, classification of ideas according to physical characteristics or appearance. Depending on the author's description, the movement can move from top to bottom, left to right, near and far, warm, cold, inviting, and so on.

Example, if the theme was the customer's kitchen during the renovation, you could start heading to one side of the room and then slowly to the other side, explaining materials, cabinetry, and so on. Or, you can choose to start with the old kitchen remnants and move on to new installations. Maybe start at the bottom and climb up to the roof.

Writing a Description

In order to write an essay, you need to pick a topic and decide how to make that topic clearly in your audience. If the title of a piece is simply a description of a specific area, you should decide which elements of that area, when outlined in the text, will be most appealing to your audience. The first step in any descriptive writing is to choose a topic and start making a thesis statement. You may choose to specify a specific location.

Thesis

Thesis Text Statement

Although Minnesota may seem attractive and cold to outsiders, the natives of the state find it a great place to live.
We can see from this thesis statement that the author will try to show the features of Minnesota that make it a great place to live. After defining a thesis statement, you should come up with a list of logical words that provide visual information and support the template. You can start by thinking about the five senses. What does your particular place look like, smell, feel, taste and feel? How can you best describe these senses so that the reader can feel how they feel? By organizing elements of descriptive language into easy to manage categories, such as the five senses, you are able to get involved directly in what elements of meaning are most useful.

Presentation Order

The author in this case may choose to introduce some of Minnesota's best features in terms of seasonal and climate change. Details can be revealed in order, early spring and winter travel, highlighting the features of each season that strongly support the template, that Minnesota is a great place to live.

Before starting the essay, give some thought to your audience. Who will read the essay, and how would you like to impact the readers? Awareness of the audience is important in choosing the level of behaviour you take with your writing. Knowing your audience will also help you distinguish information that should be included in your entire article. Assume that your audience knows very little or nothing about your subject matter, and includes details that may seem obvious to you.

Audience

Example Audience: In this particular article, the author wants to show an outsider why Minnesota's indigenous people are so happy to live there. The article should help break the barriers of those outside with the cold Minnesota climate and the visible drop. Because this story is designed for those who do not live in Minnesota, and probably never did, it is important to include information on a condition that may be obvious to the native.

With the preparation work complete, now is the time to start writing your essay. Use your thesis statement to start building the first paragraph. The introduction should lay the groundwork for your essay, and the thesis statement should state its purpose.

Introduction

Example: Many who have not been to the state of Minnesota only hear about its cold weather and disappointing reputation. They are sure to miss the great opportunities Minnesota offers. Each season offers a unique feel familiar to the Minnesota indigenous people and visitors and they love it. Although Minnesota may seem attractive and cold to outsiders, the natives of the state find it a great place to live.

When the introduction is complete, it's time to start building up the body parts of your article. Each body part should have a central theme by itself, and the theme must be expressed in the topic sentence. As a result, each sentence of the paragraph should coincide with and support the topic sentence. Physical categories are where most information should be provided. When writing the first draft of your essay, include as much detail as possible. You can always remove those that do not use the server again when reviewing your draft. In the case of the Minnesota environmental issue, we decided to set up body categories depending on the season, the beginning of spring.

The body

Example: Spring in Minnesota brings new life to the state after a long winter. The rain cleanses the landscape, leaving its fresh scent for all to enjoy. The flowers brighten up the golden sun's rays and begin to show their vibrant colours. Early birds can be seen and heard throughout the forest and in the fields, recounting their stories in beautiful songs. The pools begin to show their glossy finish as the ice melts slowly under the heat of the season.

Once the body parts are complete, it's time to finish the story and finish. The conclusion should come to a conclusion based on what has been posted throughout the body of the story. You need to get back to the idea, but not to the extreme. The conclusion should give the reader a final idea of ​​what it means to tell a story. Remember that nothing new should be presented in the conclusion, and the way it is presented should give the reader a sense of the end.

Conclusion

Example: The variety of activities and different times available in Minnesota reveals the various advantages of this condition. As one looks at the benefits of each season, it becomes clear why many indigenous Minnesota are satisfied with their homes. Minnesota is a wonderful place to live.

Once the essay is done, it's time to re-read and revise your article (and see review sections of this book). Read your draft first and identify all the descriptive words you used. If possible, go back and add more after what you have already used in the story. If you can, read your friend aloud and tell him which pictures are clearer and which pictures need further improvement. Replace any cloud-based images with additional meaning. Also, check to see if your descriptions use all five senses: sound, smell, texture, sight, and taste. Repeat these steps as many times as you can until you are happy with your product.

Key points

• Paragraphs should explain something clearly to the reader using strong hearing details.

Sensitivity information attracts five human senses: sight, sound, smell, taste and touch.

• The essay should start with a great idea of ​​a person, place, or thing.

Pictorial Descriptions

A pictorial description, as the name suggests, gives a short, simple explanation of a photo or image. This is a handy way to elaborate on a picture or add depth to a piece of content. However, there are different types of descriptions with specific requirements. Here are the most common:

Caption: A catchy description that elaborates on a photo but doesn’t necessarily focus on the visual elements. Also known as a cutline.

Alt Text: A concise description of important features within the picture, originally designed for readers who are unable to look at or understand the image. It is often used for coding and SEO purposes.

Image Description: A more complex description for a photo, giving members of the blind and low vision community and other groups a textual explanation of the photo.

Methods for Pictorial Description

Below are some techniques that are useful for effective descriptions of pictures or images:

Choosing words carefully

You should describe the image in question with such an ample amount of colourful flair that your reader can’t ignore it. So think wisely about the vocabulary you use. Your choice of words will make all the difference in this type of description. Think long and hard about which adjectives you employ to form the description come to life.

Using Concrete description:

Try to use specific, concrete definitions. For example, an author can write a beautiful description of a tree. Instead, the concrete or modifier resistor will be strong and provide maximum impact. The reader needs image details to build up their heads, concepts that don't seem like a good analogue for a real-world analogue.

Here is a description of the tree: "The sun's rays illuminated the leaves around the rain, just as the afternoon sky dropped in the evening." The fine features of the tree are "shown" in concrete details rather than simply being pulled out. This gives the reader the illusion of an immediate experience, as opposed to a variety of dictionaries.

Similes and Metaphors:
 

One way to add descriptive language is to use similes and metaphors, to create an image in the readers' heads by comparing two objects with each other. Metaphors and metaphors help to make connections between two concepts, concepts, or objects that clarify or give new meaning.

A simile to compare using words like or. Usually two different things are compared. For example, bread was as dry as bone. Matching involves a piece of bread that is thick and white than a solid and white bone. The bones are usually dry, and so is the bread. These same characteristics are what make the metaphor successful.

A metaphor says one thing is something else. It's a comparison, but it does NOT use it as a comparison or to make comparisons. For example, my grandmother is an open book. Comparing this means that my grandmother is full of information she willingly shares with others.

To make an simile or metaphor, point to something like the sun, a tree, or a river, or an idea such as love, peace or wrath. Then think of something else with the same features. Decide whether the words "like" or "as" will help make the connection more understandable. An appropriate metaphor or metaphor will enable the reader to view both objects in a new way.

By adding metaphors and metaphors to the definition sheet, the author can attract readers' thinking and make writing more interesting to read. Icons and metaphors add spice to the descriptions. However, many pieces come in the form of metaphors and metaphors, so try to create comparisons specific to your particular topic.

Describe the picture with all five senses in mind

You should describe the chosen picture in such a manner that it touches upon all five senses. Describing an image isn’t only concerned with the appearance. If you are, say, describing an image of a market place, you must describe the sounds, smells and tastes along with the visual sights, and make the reader feel as though they could put out their hand and touch the descriptive scene.

However, every possible explanation uses sensory information as its basis. These are the five senses that attract attention, smell, sound, taste and touch. In fact, different studies prioritize different sensory details and do not require the use of all five senses for all subjects. We all recognize the importance of looking at detail as a tool, but we don't always know how important other details of interest are. However, think about how often you smell something and immediately think of something or someone else. You can smell freshly baked bread and think of your grandmother's kitchen or popcorn and think of theatre. Listening to a phrase can make you think of an old friend or acquaintance. You can associate a certain kind of garment with the clothes you had as a child. When you take a bite of pepperoni you are reminded of your youthful parties. Sensory information actually plays a major role in keeping the narrative alive.

Show, don’t tell

‘Show don’t tell’ is a crucial rule to learn when it involves describing something. So rather than writing: ‘There were numerous people in the market place buying and selling’, you may instead write: ‘The market was so busy that individuals were bumping into one another, amongst the vibrant colours and rich smells of the luscious fruit and vegetables.’

The picture in contextual terms

If the picture in question is a work of art, your paper should also describe the image contextually. You may want to write about the historical time of its creation, what life was like at that point and the way the artist conveyed this, how the artwork compares to others by the same artist etc. Don’t just consider describing the image itself – also describe it from a wider point of view.

If Writing an Essay - The form of the essay

Like any other essay, this paper will incorporate an introduction, body text and conclusion.

• The body text (chapters) should include the above information.
• The introduction should introduce the picture in question. You should also state your aims and objectives for your paper and say what conclusions you hope to attain.
• The conclusion should restate the aims, summarize the central points and conclude in an exceedingly poignant, professional and punchy manner.

4.3.          Grammar: Correction of Errors in Adjectives, Articles and Prepositions

Adjectives

An adjective is a word that describes the quality or quantity possessed by a noun. It answers the questions like which one, what kind or how many. It is a word used to modify or describe the noun or a pronoun.

Ex - Young boy, Pretty girl, Huge elephant, Onethousand sea shells.

Unlike other languages, the adjectives in English do not alter or change (agree) with the noun that they modify:

Example: All new foreign students are welcome to join the clubs and societies.

Not: All new foreigns students …

Example: Every room was painted in different colours.

Not: … in differents colours.

Identifying adjectives

There is no general rule for making adjectives. Adjectives are usually identified by what they do (their function) in a sentence. However, some suffixes are typical forms of adjectives.

• -able, -ible: comfortable, readable, incredible, invisible

• -al, -ial: comical, normal, musical, industrial, presidential

• -ful: beautiful, harmful, peaceful, wonderful

• -ic: classic, economic, heroic, romantic

• -ical: aeronautical, alphabetical, political

• -ish: British, childish, Irish, foolish

• -ive, -ative: active, alternative, creative, talkative

• -less: endless, motionless, priceless, timeless

• -eous, -ious, -ous: spontaneous, hideous, ambitious, anxious, dangerous, famous

• -y: angry, busy, wealthy, windy

Forming adjectives from other words

1. Suffixes

Adjectives can be formed by adding suffixes to a noun or a verb.

• Noun: Hero – Adjective: Heroic
• Noun: Wind – Adjective: Windy
• Noun: Child – Adjective: childish
• Noun: Beauty – Adjective: Beautiful

• Verb: Read – Adjective: Readable
• Verb: Talk – Adjective: Talkative
• Verb: Use – Adjective: Useful
• Verb: Like – Adjective: Likeable

Example: I hate windy days.

San Francisco is a veryhilly place.

Many words that end in '-ly' can be adjectives as well as adverbs. These include daily, early, monthly, weekly, nightly, yearly:

Adjective: She gets a monthly payment from her employers. (She gets money every week.)

Adverb: I pay my rent weekly. (I pay my rent every week.)

Many words that end in -ly are only adjectives and not adverbs. Some of these words are: costly, cowardly, deadly, friendly, likely, lonely, lovely, oily, orderly, scholarly, silly, smelly, timely, ugly, woolly.

Example: We enjoyed the trip to America but it was a costly holiday.

Fish is considered veryhealthy because it contains omega 3.

2.     Prefixes

Prefixes are certain letters added to the beginning of a word such as un-, in-, im-, il- and ir- which sometime change the meaning of adjectives.

Adding these prefixes makes the meaning negative:

• Un:  fair – unfair, happy – unhappy, sure – unsure

• In: active – inactive, complete – incomplete, appropriate – inappropriate

• Ir: responsible – irresponsible, reducible – irreducible, regular – irregular

• Im: balance – imbalance, possible – impossible, polite – impolite

• Il: legal – illegal, legible – illegible, logical – illogical

Types of adjectives

1. Attributive adjectives

Attribute adjectives are the adjectives that come before the nouns they modify. For example:

     She handed me a blue book.

     We sat down to a well-made breakfast.

     Looking back, it was a fantastic trip.

2.     Predicate adjectives

Unlike attributive adjectives, predicate adjectives come after the nouns they modify. They’re called predicate adjectives because they appear in the predicate section of the sentence (the part that includes the verb and its modifiers, objects and complements). In this way, predicate adjectives act alongside linking verbs or the verb to be. For example:

     Coffee is life-giving.

     I shouldn’t complain, but they really were slower than promised.

3.     Compound adjectives

A compound adjective contains two words or more. Usually, these words have hyphens between them — particularly if they’re placed before the noun. For example:

     It’s turn-of-the-century architecture.

     My mother loves home-made bread.

     The bill was bigger than anticipated.

4.     Coordinate adjectives

Multiple adjectives which are equal in rank and modify the same word are known as coordinate adjectives. Each coordinate adjective applies individually to the noun, and neither is more important or fundamental to the meaning of the noun than the other. Coordinate adjectives are usually separated by a comma or by the use of prepositions and conjunctions. For example:

     She is a knowledgeable and experienced instructor.

     She is a knowledgeable, experienced instructor.

     I have written a book that is long, dense, and convoluted.

     I have written a long, dense, convoluted book.

     I have written a long, dense and convoluted book.

5.     Non-coordinate adjectives

Adjectives which hare not equal in rank (although they do modify the same word) are known as Non-coordinate adjectives. Because of this, they are not separated by a comma or and. Simply put, each additional non-coordinate adjective modifies the existing adjective(s) and noun as a single unit. For example:

     They bought her a bright warehouse apartment. (Here, the first and most significant adjective 'warehouse' is joined with 'apartment', so that the adjective 'bright' modifies the single unit 'warehouse apartment').

     It was a complicated interview question. (Like the first example, complicated modifies interview question as one unit).

     It was a dusty old leather-bound diary. (It doesn’t matter how many adjectives you add — each one modifies the existing adjective or adjectives and noun as a single unit. So old modifies leather-bound diary as one unit, and dusty modifies old leather-bound diary).

6.     Proper adjectives

Proper adjectives are proper nouns turned into adjectives by the way they are used in a sentence. A proper noun is the name of a specific person, place or thing, like Benjamin or Australia or Pizza Hut. A proper adjective is that proper noun used as an adjective. For example:

     That’s how it was during Elizabethan times.

     I’ve been studying Australian history.

     How very Machiavellian of you.

Adjectives by Degree

1. Absolute adjectives

Absolute adjectives are descriptive adjectives which describe a noun without comparing it to anything else. They describe them because of their own qualities, and not because of their connection to anything else. For example:

     He was tall.

     The gathering was large.

     The room was messy.

2.     Comparative adjectives

Comparative adjectives are adjectives which compare two or more things. For example:

     The taller brother wasn’t there.

     The gathering was larger than last years.

     The room was messier than I’d expected.

3.     Superlative adjectives

Finally, superlative adjectives are like super-comparative adjectives: they describe nouns as being the most kind of something or having the greatest amount of a particular quality. For example:

     He was the tallest of all the brothers.

     The largest gathering was three years ago.

     It was the messiest room I’d ever seen.

Articles

Articles are words that precede a noun and define the specificity of that noun. In other words, they imply how specific a particular noun is.

There are two types of Articles in the English language, Definite and Indefinite Articles.

1. Definite Article

The definite article is the word ‘the’. This article is only used when a particular place, thing or activity is being referred to. It limits the meaning to one particular thing or activity.

For example, in the sentence “I won’t be attending the party this weekend.” ‘The’ is used before the noun party therefore it refers to a specific party which the subject is talking about. The definite article can be used with both singular and plural words.

Uses of “The”:

1. The definite article can be used to make general things specific, for example, “Please pass me a pen.” when changed to “Please pass me the pen.” Changes the meaning of the sentence entirely. In the former the subject requests for a pen in general whereas in the latter he refers to a specific pen.
2. ‘The’ is used by geographical areas such as rivers, mountains, seas, oceans etc.

“The Middle East”, “The Atlantic Ocean”, “The Himalayas”

c.      Unique things always requite the article ‘the’

“The Sun”, “The Moon”

d.     Musical instruments use ‘the’

“He plays the cello.”

e.     Countries generally don’t use articles in front but if their names are plural they use the article ‘the’

“The Netherlands”, “The United States of America”

f.        Abbreviations and classes of people always use the article ‘the’

“The U.N” “The Poor” “The British” “The IMF”

2.     Indefinite Article

The Indefinite Article is of two types, namely, ‘a’ and ‘an’. The word ‘a’ is used when it precedes a word that starts with a consonant and the word ‘an’ is used when it precedes a word that starts with a vowel. Unlike the Definite Article, the Indefinite Articles refer to a general idea and not a particular one. The Indefinite Article only appears with singular nouns. For example, in the sentences “I would like a good book to read.” Or “I am craving for an apple pie.” The subject talks about books or apple pies in general rather than a specific book or apple pie.

Uses of ‘a’ and ‘an’:

1. Uncountable nouns cannot use either ‘a’ or ‘an’. For example advice is an uncountable noun, therefore a sentence such as “Can you give me an advice.” Does not make sense. Rather “Can you give me some advice.” Is more appropriate.
2. Jobs use Indefinite Articles

“I want to become a teacher” “My dream is to become an actor”

c.      There are a couple of exceptions to the overall rule of employing ‘a’ before words that start with consonants and ‘an’ before words that begin with vowels. The first letter of the word honour, for instance, may be a consonant, but it’s unpronounced. In spite of the way it is spelled, the word honour begins with a vowel. Therefore, we use an. For example, consider the following sentences:
My mother is a honest woman.
My mother is an honest woman.

d.     When the first letter of a word is a vowel but is pronounced with a consonant sound, the article 'a' must be used. For example:

She is an United States senator.

She is a United States senator.

Use of Articles and Correction of Common Errors

     The use of A/An with plural Or uncountable noun:

a fact = OK (singular)

a facts = INCORRECT (plural)

An information = INCORRECT (uncountable)

An advice = INCORRECT (uncountable)

a piece of advice = OK (“piece” is countable)

a pants / a glasses / a scissors = INCORRECT (plural)

a pair of pants/glasses/scissors = OK (“pair” is countable)

a rice = INCORRECT (uncountable)

a grain of rice = OK (“grain” is countable)

a work = INCORRECT (uncountable)

a job / a task / a project = OK (countable)

     The articles ‘A’ and ‘An’ always follow the sound, not the letter

a university (pronounced like you – ni – ver – si – ty)

An umbrella (pronounced like um – brel – la)

a hat (h is not silent)

An hour (h is silent)

An X-ray (pronounced like ex – ray)

An NGO(pronounced like en – gee – oh)

a non-governmental organization(when we say the full words, they start with the N sound)

     The use of A and An without a noun following it.

I am a Japanese. = INCORRECT(“Japanese” is an adjective, not a noun)

I am Japanese. = OK

He is an intelligent. = INCORRECT(“intelligent” is an adjective, not a noun)

He is intelligent. = OK

He is an intelligent man. = OK(now it’s OK because we have the noun “man” after “an intelligent”)

     The use of "The" for Singular or Plural and for Countable or Uncountable nouns, when something specific is being talked about (Not General)

I love pasta.(general)

I love the pasta at that restaurant.(specific)

That store sells furniture.(general)

The furniture in my living room is all new.(specific)

Vegetables are good for you.(general)

The vegetables at the market are always fresh.(specific)

I need advice. (general)

The advice you gave me was very helpful. (specific)

     Use of the article "The" for proper nouns:

• NAMES OF CONTINENTS/COUNTRIES*/STATES/CITIES/STREETS:

We’re traveling around Asia for three months.

I’d like to visit Russia.

Paris is my favourite city in Europe.

Have you ever been to California?

They live on Rosewood Avenue.

*Exceptions: the United States (the U.S.), the United Kingdom (the U.K.), the Philippines, the Czech Republic, the Central African Republic, the Marshall Islands

• COMPANIES & UNIVERSITIES*

My uncle works at Samsung.

Microsoft reported high profits this quarter.

She graduated from Harvard.

New York University is very large.

*Exceptions: If the university’s name BEGINS with “university,” then use “the”:

The University of Pennsylvania, the University of Miami

• LANGUAGES & HOLIDAYS

I’m studying Spanish.

He speaks Italian.

My whole family gets together at Christmas.

The office will be closed on New Year’s Day.

     "The" can be used while referring for certain places:

• DO NOT USE THE WITH INDIVIDUAL LAKES OR MOUNTAINS:

Mount Everest is the highest mountain the world.

We went sailing on Lake Ontario.

• USE THE WITH OCEANS, RIVERS, VALLEYS, DESERTS, MOUNTAIN RANGES, POINTS ON GLOBE:

The Pacific Ocean

The Amazon River

The San Fernando Valley

The Sahara Desert

The Swiss Alps, the Rocky Mountains

The North/South Pole, the Equator

• DO NOT USE THE WITH THE FOLLOWING PLACES:

I’m going home.

She’s at work.

He’s in jail.

We attend church.

My kids went to bed.

My brother’s in high school.

My sister’s in college.

• USE THE WITH THE FOLLOWING PLACES:

I went to the bank.

Let’s go to the movies.

He gets home from the office around 7.

My grandfather’s in the hospital.

I’ll stop by the post office after lunch.

I caught a taxi to the airport.

I’ll pick you up at the train station.

We’re waiting at the bus stop.

We took my son to the doctor.

Prepositions

A preposition is a word that connects the noun/pronoun in a sentence to the other parts of the sentence such as the verbs and adjectives. It determines the relationship between the nouns, pronouns and the other words in a sentence.

They help one understand the relationships of logic, space and sequence between the different parts of a sentence.

Below are few examples of prepositions commonly used in the English language:

1. I just came back from the U.S.
2. The book is inside the drawer.
3. The kid threw a stone into the lake.

A preposition cannot be plural or possessive. Sometimes prepositions can also act as nouns, verbs and adverbs.

Types of Prepositions

1. Prepositions of Time:

These prepositions indicate when something happens, will happen or has happened in any point in time.

Prepositions of time include at, on, in, before, during, after.

Examples:

1. John was born on the 7th of August.
2. David left his job in 2012.
3. Amy ate lots of fruits during her pregnancy.

2.     Prepositions of Place:

These prepositions usually indicate the position of a particular thing or person. The three most common prepositions of time are on, at and in.

These prepositions may also indicate the time along with place but depending on their use it can be easily ascertained what they are referring to.

Examples:

1. The ball is in the court.
2. The clothes are on the top shelf.
3. I was at the supermarket just yesterday.

3.     Prepositions of Direction or Movement:

Prepositions of movement indicate the direction in which a person or an object is moving.

‘To’ is the most commonly used preposition of movement.

Examples:

1. I went to shop for groceries but all the shops were closed.
2. He took his dog to the park.

The other prepositions of direction or movement are across, though, over, down, up, past, around.

4.     Prepositions of Manner:

Prepositions of manner describe the way in which things take place or means by which things happen.

Prepositions of manner include by, in, like, with, on.

Examples:

1. I like travelling by car.
2. She went to the school in a taxi.
3. Jacob sings like a professional.
4. He reacted with pity when he saw the poor cat.

5.     Preposition of Agents or Instruments:

Preposition of Agents or Instruments describe the action conducted by a person or object on another person or object.

Most common prepositions of these types are by and with.

Examples:

1. The song was recorded by James.
2. He cuts his hair with a clipper.

6.     Prepositions of Possession:

Prepositions of Possession indicate the owing or owning of an object. It also can be used when something is own to someone. Prepositions of possession include of, with and to.

Examples:

1. This is the car of my niece.
2. He said he saw a man with a green umbrella.
3. This jacket belongs to my grandfather.

Use of Prepositions and Correction of Common Errors

The use of prepositions in sentences can be a difficult task. Propositions are sometimes short and very common (e.g., at, in and on), and may have several uses depending on the context, which can make it difficult to know which preposition to use.

Below are some common errors to avoid with prepositions:

1. Temporal Errors

The use of 'in' and 'at' depends on the time of the day. For example, in sentences we always use the preposition “in” with “morning,” “afternoon,” and “evening.” But the preposition 'at' is used when talking about the night:

• Helen goes running in the morning.
• Tim goes running in the afternoon.
• Shirley goes running in the evening.
• Bob goes running at night.

b.     Spatial Errors (In and at vs. To)

The preposition 'to' can be used to discuss journeys (e.g., “I’m going to Tasmania”). But if the word “arrive,” is present in a sentence we use “in” or “at” to describe reaching a destination. For instance:

• She arrived in Tasmania just after lunch.
• He arrived at the restaurant five minutes late.

The use of “in” or “at” typically depends on the destination:

The preposition “in” for cities, countries or other large areas. While the preposition “at” is used for specific places (e.g., a library, a bar, or someone’s house).

c.      Time, Days, Months, and Years (At, On, and In)

Different prepositions are used in different contexts while referring to time in days, months and years.

If a time of the day is being referred, the correct term is “at”:

• The party starts at 9pm.

If a specific day or date is being referred, we use “on”:

• The party is on Saturday.

While referring to a month or year, the correct preposition is “in”:

• We’re having a party in April.

d.     Helping verbs

With auxiliary verbs such as “should” or “must.”, the preposition "of" is used.

• Exception: I should of gone to bed earlier. ✗

However, this is an error. The correct word here isn’t even a preposition.

Rather, the verb “have,” must be used which sounds a bit like “of” when spoken (hence the confusion). Thus, it should say:

I should have gone to bed earlier. ✓

e.     Present Continuous Tense

If something has been happening from a long time, we use “for” when referring to a length of time (e.g., a period of hours, days, or months):

• I’ve been writing for six hours.

But if a specific time is used as a point of reference, we use “since”:

• I’ve been writing since breakfast.

The difference here is that the first refers to a measure of time, while the second refers to a fixed point in the past when the activity began.

f.        Talking About and Discussing

“Talking” and “discussing” are similar activities, so people often treat these words as interchangeable. However, only the preposition “about” must be used after “talking.” For example:

• We’re talking about extreme sports. ✓
• We’re discussing extreme sports. ✓
• We’re discussing about extreme sports. ✗

4.4.          Vocabulary Building: Root Words

English vocabulary has been enriched from time to time from other languages.New words are either borrowed or coined. Roughly 70% of the words in English are borrowed or coined. T.C. Baruah says "A word says "A word is the smallest meaningful unit of sound.Every language has its own distinct patterns of combining morphemes to get larger units.

A form to which a rule of word-formation applied is called a base or root. Once a root has undergone a rule of word-formation the derived word itself may become the base for another, deviation and by re-application.It is possible to derive words of considerable morphological and semantic complexity. There are three major processes by which the base is modified. They are:

1. Affixation
2. Conversion
3. Compounding

There are some other minor devices also called reduplication, clipping blending and acronym.

AFFIXATION: Prefixes and Suffixes
 

Change is the forte of any living language. Affixes are those used to form new words. These affixes are added either before or after the base form. It is of two types. Prefixation and suffixation.

Below are examples of some commonly used prefixes with their meanings:

Below are some examples of the most commonly used suffixes with the change in forms of words:

CONVERSION
 

Conversion is the derivational process whereby an item changes its word class without the addition of either a prefix or suffix. In this process the same word is made to serve different grammatical functions. Many English words belong to more than one part of speech Ex: hope, love, work may be nouns as well as verbs. In addition to this,there is a deliberate transfer of a word from one part of

Speech to another. He calls it a conversion.

i) Verb - Noun conversion:
a) State - State of mind/sensation/doubt, love etc.

Ii) Adjective - Noun conversion:
He seemed average (adjective)

The average was eighty (noun)

Iii) Noun - Verb conversion:

a)     To put in/on noun bottle (to put into a bottle) corner, floor.

b)    To give or to provide with somethingcoat - to give a coat of paint- mask.

Iv) Adjective Verb conversion:
They were very humble (adjective)

They humbled him (Verb)

v) Adjective - Adverb Conversion:
The poem reads well (adjective)

He reads the poem well (adverb)

Vi) Stress shift:
con ‘duct (n) – ‘conduct (n)

Pro’duce (v) – ‘produce (n)

COMPOUNDS

English has a genius pattern for the formation of very expressing compound words. A compound word is a unit that consists of two or more words. There are no formal criteria that can be used for a general definition of compounds.

Orthographically they are written as one-word (bedroom) sometimes they are hyphenated (tax-free) and sometimes as two words without a hyphen (reading room) compounds may be classified on the basis of their syntax.

A. Noun compounds:
i)Subject and verb compounds:
The sun rises: Sunrise
The day breaks Day break
The girl dances: Dancing girl.

Ii) Verb and object compounds:
x calls the girl: call girl
x chews gum: chewing gum
x pays taxes: Tax payer
xsee sights: sight seeing

Iii) Verb and Adverbial compounds:
x swims in the pool: swimming pool
x sits with the baby; baby sitter
xwork at home : Home work

Iv) Noun + Noun (Verb compound)
Wind mill, Toy factory, Blood stain, Oak tree, girl-friend, motor cycle,Ashtray

v) Other noun & noun
It names an entire thing by specifying some features.
Paper back - the book has a paper back
- blockhead - pot-belly, blue bell, bird brain, high brow, loudmouth
- pale face, fat head, etc.

B. Adjective compounds:
a) Verb+Object compounds
Man - Eating - x eats man
- heart breaking
- self-defeating
- breath taking

b) Verb+Adverb compounds:
x goes across oceans: Ocean going
x feel it in the heart :Heart felt
x  works hard : Hard working

Reduplicative

Re-duplicative are compounds which have two or more elements either identical or only slightly different.
eg: goody-goody (affectedly good)

The difference between the two elements may be in the initial consonants as in walkie-talkie or in the medial vowels e.g. Criss-cross Most of the re-duplicative are highly informal or familiar.

a)to imitate sounds:
tick-tack, bow-vow, ding-dong, ping-pong, flip-flap

b) to suggest alternative movements
see -saw

c) to identify
tip-top

d) to disparage by suggesting instability, nonsense, insincerity, vacillation, etc.
e.g:

• Humpty – dumpty
• Hurry – burry
• Hanky-panky                                                        
• Higgledy–piggledy
• Pell–mell
• Wishy - washy
• Zig – zag

CLIPPING
 

It is formed by the people who are fond of brevity - the term clipping notes the subtraction of one or more syllable from a word. This is used in informed style.

The shortening may occur at

a)   The beginning of the word:
Telephone – phone
Omnibus - bus
aeroplane– plane

b)  The end of the word :
Mike – Microphone
exam - examination
Movies - Moving pictures
add – advertisement
Photo – Photograph

c)   At both ends of the word:
flu –influenza

BLENDS

In a blend atleast one of the elements is fragmentary; words are coined by combining parts of words. Many blends have only a short life and are very informal.

e.g.
Motel from Motor + Hotel

Smog from smoke + Fog

Transistor from Transfer + Registor

Brunch from breakfast + lunch

Electrocute from Electro + Execute

Telecast from Television + Broadcast

ACRONYMS:

Acronyms are words formed from the initial letters of words. They are abbreviations of words. They are pronounced as a succession of Letters (alphabetisms) as in BBC, TV etc or as words in NATO, SEATO,etc.

a)Alphabetisms:
C.O.D - Cash on delivery
U.N - United Nations
G.H.Q - General head quarters

b) Words:
UNESCO - United Nations educational scientific and cultural organization
RADAR - Radio Detection and Ranging.

By the process of word formation, the original roots have acquired a variety of meaning.

Root Words from Other Languages

English is part of the German branch of the family of Indo-European language, so why is it so influenced in Latin and Greek? Although the origin of the English languages ​​was introduced in England at the beginning of the 5th century by people from Denmark and Germany, the language was not entirely different from what we speak today.

When the Normans, a number of French Catholics, invaded the British islands in 1066, they came with their two languages: Latin and French. Because they were a ruling party long after the invasion, English became the language of the weak, effectively forcing English speakers to accept Latin and French words in their own language to match. Since the Renaissance began, nearly 500 years later, many Latin words, as well as those of the Greeks, were included to make English a more '' learned 'language because of the Renaissance's emphasis on classics.

• Abacus:
  Abacus is derived from the Greek word - abax, meaning "sand tray."
   
• Allegory:
  Allegory is derived from Greek - allos meaning "other" and agora meaning gathering place (especially the market). Eventually words join and are linked to the verb to speak of one thing and another to mean another.
   
• Apricot:
  The term comes from the French -  abricot - and it was a bit confusing until the fifteenth century - it does not have a single simple etymology, but rather a mixture of many theories under consideration. But all these roads lead to Rome, from where that name - and fruit - began to spread throughout Europe.
   
• Addictive:
  Slaves agreed to allow Roman soldiers to pay for a concert in battle they were considered addicted to. Finally, a person who was addicted to anything called addiction.
   
• Alarm:
  From Italian, "All'arme" - "To arms!"
   
• Alcohol:
  Alcohol is taken from an Arabic al-kuhl, which has meant that there is a very good antimony powder used for eye makeup. It voiced the idea of ​​something so elegant and smooth, so the Arabic alchemists give the name of al-khul which brings in any insubstantial powder obtained by slow release (a direct conversion of a solid base into a vapor, or process of return), and thus for all computers available through the sanitization process.
   
• Algebra:
  The name means "the science of equations" in English comes from an article by one of al-Khowarizmi's (see "algorithm"), "Ab his AL-JAHR w'almuqaBAlah", meaning, "The Science of Transportation and Sanitation/ Cancellation."
   
• Algorithm:
  The name means "rules of computing" in English, which is based on al-Khowarizmi (Try saying it soon), an Arabic mathematician who lives around A.D. 825 who completed the best known numerical work using Arabic numerals.
   
• Appendix:
  In Latin it means "the hanging part." The human supplement hangs at the end of a large stomach; appendices given at the end of the book.
   
• Assassin:
  Assassin from the old Arabic word "hashshshin," means "person who loves hash," that is, marijuana. Earlier it was referring to a group of heroes who would smoke before the war.
   
• Asthma:
  Latin for asthma, "asthma," meaning "asthma" and "hypertension." The Latin word is derived from the Greek that feels the same.
   
• Avocado:
  Avocado from "awaguatl," the original American testicle name. The Spaniards got the word and used to refer to what we now call avocado.
   
• Ballot:
  Ballot, an Italian word meaning "small ball or pebble or stone." Italian citizens voted by placing a small stone or ball in one of the many boxes.
   
• Barbarian:
  Barbarian from "barbaroi" in Greek, meaning "babblers”.
   
• Bead:
  Bead from the Old English "gebed," which means, "prayer."
   
• Biscuit:
  Biscuit from mediaeval French 'Bis + cuit' which means 'double cooked'
   
• Boulevard:
  Boulevard from (French) Boulevard; and Bulwark
   
• Bucolic:
  From the Greek "boukolos," meaning "shepherd," from "bous," meaning "ox."
   
• Bulimia:
  Bulimia comes from the Greek "bous" meaning "ox" and "limos," which means "starvation," probably because a person with Bulimia is hungry for beef.
   
• Cab:
  Old Italian terminology for goat (cabra in Spanish).
   
• Calculate:
  The calculation comes from calculus, the Latin word pebble.
   
• Canter: (Spanish) Singing
  From the Latin "Cantare," which means, "to sing often." Latin "Canere" simply means "to sing."
   
• Carnival:
  Literal meaning: "Flesh, farewell." The end of "val" does not appear in the Latin "Vale." The modern Italian carnevale comes from the Old Italian "carnelevare"; levare = raise, place, remove. ) where people used to fast.
   
• Catharsis:
  In Early Modern English, it is used in the sense of "cleaning." The concept of this name was still used as recently as 1803.
   
• Candidate:
  From the Latin Candidus a word that means, "bright, shining, white, white." The ancient Roman members who were elected to this position wore bright white hats. The same name also spelled out the "firm", who are often not elected.
   
• Cell:
  Originally meant a monastery. It was Robert Hooke, who invented the first telescope. His first guess was the cork stem, which was made up of small columns. To him, the tiny fractions were like the little monasteries in which they lived, known as cells. Therefore, he called these microscopic building blocks "cells".
   
• Chapel:
  From the Cape "Italian" Capella, since the original Chapel was where the cape ("capella") of the St. Martin of Tour was kept.
   
• Vulture and Chasm:
  From the Greek "chainein," which means, "to soften"; So chaos was "just the beginning of the abyss" without the known universe we know.
   
• Champion; and Campus:
  Check out Kampf
   
• Charlatan: 
  From the Spanish "charlar” for discussion /to chat.
   
• Cheers:
  From the Greek "Kara" for "face," with Latin "Cara," and the French French "Chiere". So "Take courage," it means, "Put on a happy face."
   
• Chocolate:
  It comes from the Spanish word for the same name, which came from the Nahuatl word (Aztecs language) "tchocoatl."
   
• Cider:
  It comes from the Greek Greek sycamore, which came from an ancient Hebrew shekel, which means "any alcoholic beverage other than wine made to ferment fruit juice."
   
• Claim:
  From the Latin "clamor", which is a judicial or public appeal raised on the discovery of sin.
   
• Coward:
  From Old French "coe" which means "tail." The OED adds, "The exact indication of the tail is uncertain: it may be an animal that 'turns tail' on a plane, or a practice in frightened animals to draw the tail between the hind legs: cf. The use of Heraldic in theory B 2. It is noteworthy that in the Old French version of Reynard the Fox ,Coart is the name of a hare: this may be a descriptive adjective with regard to its zeal; it is closed, and that the word is then transferred to 'the heart of a hare.'
   
• Companion:

Compañero (Spanish); Copain (French) Partner
From the Latin "Companionem," which was, "breadwinner" - "Con" (also) and "Pan" (bread) - your "partner" may have been someone to break bread with. "Look again to the Lord and take care of it.
 

• Cretin:
  From the French "Crétin", which originally meant "Christian."
   
• The cup:
  See Kopf
   
• Currant:
  From the Corinthians
   
• Curfew:
  From the French "couvrir feu," literally, "Cover the Fire."
   
• Daisy:
  From "Eye of the Day." George Eddington writes, "Not special in itself, but Mata Hari also means" Eye of the day, "the young woman took the name because she lived in the Dutch East Indies and heard the natives so much in the sun. "
   
• Debonair:
  French "good spirit." In the Middle Ages, people's lives were judged in part by the way they smiled. The person giving out “a good spirit” was viewed as a healthier and happier person.
   
• Deer:
  From the Old English "deor," which means "animal."
   
• Demon: (German and English)
  From the Greek "Daimon" this supernatural force is somewhere between humans and gods, without undesirable touch. An example would be the daimon of Socrates. The daimonans had a genius that did not conform to our modern ideas of good or evil: it was a natural force that could give clues about the circumstances and the critical actions.
   
• Denim:
  The heavy cloth used for jeans was originally made in Nimes, France, as well as in Genoa, Italy (see jean). It was renamed Serge di Nimes - later reduced to di Nimes, which became denim.
   
• Derive:
  From the Latin "De Rivus," "From the broadcast."
   
• Deutsch: (German by German)
  "Deutsch" comes from the Old German word "diutisc" which means "human language" (as opposed to Latin). There are uncertain hints of the "Germanic" origins as the Celtic "Angry Men" or Old High German "Greedy Men"!
   
• Dexterity:
  From the Latin "dexter," meaning "right" (in the left sense).
   
• Dibbs:
  It is suggested that this phrase is based on an old children's play called dibstones. The game, which was played with sheep knuckle-bones or gemstones, dates back to at least the 17th century (that's right, that's when the name started being written). The goal was to catch his opponent's stones, and when a stone was hit, the winner would call "Dibbs!" with the meaning "I want [stone]". It was recently used out of the game but with the same meaning, and there you have it. Interestingly, the use of this outside of the game was not recorded until 1932 in the US. (Lee Quinn)
   
• Elite:
  From the Latin Latin, which means "to choose," from which we find a modern Spanish word that means the same, elegir.
   
• Escape:
  In Latin, escape means "out of the cape." The ancient Romans often avoided arresting the runaway population.
   
• Essay:
  The English noun phrase comes from the French verb "story", to try. The earliest scholars believed that their papers were a modest attempt to present their papers.
   
• Exchequer:
  The Moors introduced Abacus in Europe to expand the Europeans, and monks distributed the device throughout Europe. In Britain, it was used but in its simplicity: they used a checkbox and letters such as checks (instead of using standard rods and beads) - and this gave the British version an "exchequer" to the "Chancellor" of the Exchequer.
   
• Faro: (Spanish) Lighthouse
  An ancient island from Egypt, the Paroah Island, had a lighthouse.
   
• Forest:
  From the same French meaning, Forest comes directly from the Latin realm, meaning "outdoors," and took the concept of a place restricted or protected by an obstacle. The concept will later outline the legal barriers around areas reserved for royal hunting (as well as logging). Unfortunately, the English foreign word is taken in parallel, indicating a foreigner outside the royal realm, beyond the borders.
   
• Fowl:
  From the English "fugol," which means "bird."
   
• Freedom:
  This comes in German (a literal, modern translation, "Freiheit"), but is actually very close to taking the German word "Friede", which means "quiet"
   
• Fromage (French); Status (Medieval French); Formaggio cheese (Italian)
  From the Latin word for basket or wooden box where curds were cut to form cheese, forma, itself derived from the Greek word phormos (This is where the English word "form" comes from). According to them, the English word cheese, the Spanish word queso and the German word Kaese all come from the Latin word cortus, food too.
   
• Gohen :(Germany) To go
  From the beginning it means, "emptiness"
   
• Genuine:
  It originally meant "put on his knees." In Old Rome, a father formally admitted that his new child by sitting in front of his family put his son on his knees.
   
• Gift:
  From the Old English as "gift," which means, "to pay one's wife" for one meaning "marriage" in the plural. The Middle Dutch "gift", now labeled "gif," meant the same, but today it means "poison." Old High German "gift" turned into "poison". From the root "geb-", from which the English word "give." There is another German word, however, which includes the word "gift", but which retains the old meaning of "paying a wife". The name "Mitgift", which is a modern German word for "dowry".
   
• Gin; Ginebra (Spanish); Genievre (French):
  The English word "gin" comes from the French word genievre, meaning "juniper," a berry name that gives gin its unique, spicy flavor. Unfortunately, the word "juniper" comes from the Celtic word jenupus, which means "spicy." One final note: the name of the western city of Geneva and comes from the same source. Evidently, the countryside around Geneva was initially littered with juniper forests.
   
• Gorilla:
  New Latin from the Greek Gorillai, a tribe of hairy women, probably of African descent.
   
• Groggy:
  It comes from the description that many British sailors face when they are going to drink a lot of "grog", a mixture of rum and water. Grog is said to have taken the nickname "Old Grog" given to British Admiral Vernon by his sailors; much like Lord Mountbatten later, he was in the process of wearing a sort of heavy grogram coat, a soft weather cloth (the name comes from French gros-grain). Sailors began to use his nickname in an amusing way in their rum fragments, after he ordered in 1740 to be purified by water.
   
• Guapo :(Spanish) Handsome
  Guapo, and Chulo ("cool"), both originally had the meaning of "scoundrel", claiming to be "good-looking" perhaps in the form of "heroes." The despicable "Wop" comes from "guapo", in the form of the Italian language "guappo".
   
• Gymnasium:
  The Greek of the place where you train is naked.
   
• Hazard:
  The word came from Arabic "al zahr", which means "dice" and was used by people in Western Europe to name each of the various dice games they learned while in the Holy of Holies during the Crusades. The name eventually caught the attention of the danger, because from the very beginning, dice games were associated with gambling and cartoonists using corrupted dice.
   
• Heresy:
  The Greek is "Choice."
   
• Hierarchy:
  Previously it was the separation of angels from different periods into different stages.
   
• Home:
  From the old English "hum," which also comes with the words, such as Nottingham.
   
• Host, Hospital, Hostel, Hospitality, hospice:
  From the Latin for "nurses, patients," which means, "one who receives stacks in his home." In English, "Host" also means "edible bread eaten at the Hospital"; so the link between friendship and bread is also noteworthy; see Partner with the King.
   
• Husband:
  It comes from the old German words hus and bunda, meaning "house" and "owner," respectively. The word originally had little to do with marital status, except that the fact that home ownership made husbands more desirable to date.
   
• Idea, ideal, Idol:
  Everything from the Greek word "idein" to "seeing"; you see Sanskrit "vid" (knowing) and Latin "videre" (seeing) and English "intelligent." The W / V sound from the Indo-European root is lost in ancient Greek.
   
• Incentive:
  From the Latin word "delicate," meaning "to sing." The idea is "When playing music, one has to = dance."
   
• Jeans:
  Genoa - called "Gene" by the sixteenth-century Europeans - was the first city to make denim cloth (see Denim) used for jeans. The pants were named after the city.
   
• Ketchup:
  The Chinese invented the ke-tsiap - a drawing of spiced fish and spices (but no tomatoes) - in the 1690s. By the early 1700's its popularity had spread to Malaysia, where British explorers first encountered it. By 1740 the sausage - called ketchup - was a peculiar English phenomenon, and was beginning to become popular in American colonies. Tomato ketchup was not invented until the 1790s, when colonies in New England began mixing tomatoes in sauces. It took a long time to add tomatoes to the sauces because, most 18. For a century, people thought they were poisonous, because tomatoes are a close relative of belladonna poisonous plants and nearby plants.
   
• Kike - a shameful, offensive name for a Jew:
  Initially it was developed by German Jews to use against Russian Jews. It comes from the "k" sound at the end of many Russian Jewish words, such as "Lewinsky" or "Lemcoff."
   
• Knave:
  Dropped from the old English word "cnafa" which simply means, "youth."
   
• Knight:
  From the Old English "cniht," which means "boy, servant."
   
• Kopf (in German) Head:
  From the Latin "cup", meaning "cup"; The Romans used the cup as a metaphor for the upper part of the head. Similarly, another Latin word meaning "cup," "testa," has now become the French word "Tête," meaning "head,". Note that the Germans and Celts use "skullcap" "on top of one's head") as a drinking container; this has been part of the recognition of enemy culture. So it has to do with "chief" and "capital" (and "testicle").
   
• Lettuce; and Leche (Spanish) Milk:
  Latin lettuce was "lactuca sativa," which means "milky sap"; so it has to do with the Spanish "leche" of milk and "lactic" and other derivatives.
   
• Liberty:
  The Latin words "Liber," "Libera," and "Liberum" - by Long I - came from a source meaning, "to pour." In this case, we get the word "Freedom" (which is why it's pronounced I) short, from the freedom we feel when we get drunk. See Library (unrelated).
   
• Library:
  From the Latin word, Liber - whose name is I - meaning "divination," which would call for the inner sound of a tree. The earliest manuscripts were written on these bins, and from this bark we find the modern name "Library." See Liberals (unrelated).
   
• Liebe (German) Love:
  From the Latin for the word "Libido," from the Latin "Libere" (for free, as in "Liberals").
   
• Light; and Licht (German) Light:
  It is related to the Latin "Luna," which means, "the moon." "Moonlight" is therefore something like tautology.
   
• Lindo (Spanish) Beautiful:
  Related to "limpid" and "legal."
   
• Lobster:
  From the Latin "locusta," which means "locusts." The OED adds, "The Latin word for origin. It means the same lobster or crustacean, the locust application is suggested by a similarity of position."
   
• Lord:
  It comes from the Anglo-Saxon "hlaford," named after "hlaf" and "weard," and then, "loaf-ward"; likewise, "Lady" comes from the Anglo-Saxon "hlaefdige," or "bread-maid." See also partner and host.
   
• Lucifer:
  Lucifer is Latin for "Light Bringer". The same Hebrew, Haleal, means "antagonist." The passage in Isaiah (the only place in the Old Testament that mentions Lucifer) uses the Hebrew word for the Morning Star (ie planet Venus). The verse refers to the Babylonian king excessively, saying that he regarded himself as God, just as the Morning Star is a shining light in the sky, but pearls in comparison to the sun.
   
• Lukewarm:
  Tautology; "luke" Means warm or lukewarm [from ME lew, yes, luke, lewk and OE hleowand h hrr = lukvuarm]
   
• Madera (Spanish) Wood:
  From Latin materia, from PIE * mater-, meaning "mother"
   
• Malaria:
  From the medieval Italy "mal" "(bad) and" aria "(wind), which describes miasma from areas around Rome during the summer months, which are believed to be the cause of the downfall.
   
• Mayonnaise:
  The suffix spoken is French for "native" or "from within." Mahonnaise is said to have been created to celebrate the victory of the French war of 1756 by defeating the British on the Spanish island of Port Mahon.
   
• Marcher (French) To Walk:
  The OED states, "The etymology of Fr. March is obscure; the passing idea is that the ancient engraving concept of 'tread' was based on the concept of hammer ', and that the name stands for Gaulish Latin * marcare, f. L. Marcus hammer. "
   
• Mark (German) The German unit of currency (pre-Euro):
  Originally meant "Borderland," from medieval German border towns - that's why the English word "Mark," as it stands, "mark the border." So, the German place names, Finland, Dänemark, Ostmark, etc. From Mark German, we also find the "marshal" of French as well as Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and Catalan, "marca."
   
• Mistress:
  From the French "Maîtresse," which means "bride".
   
• Money:
  From the Latin word "moneta" which means "warning"
   
• Mound; and Monde (French),  Mundo (Spanish) World:
  From pre-Christian, the German word "mund" or protection, such as that given by a family or tribal leader to group members. This was also the name of the small garbage hills or "protection" used to bury deceased members of the nation. It is interesting to note that the name was introduced by the Germanic tribes (ie, Goths, Visigoths, Vandals, Alemani, Suevi) who invaded the Roman province of the late fifth century AD and where they derived the word "this monde" (in French) and "el mundo. "(Spanish) meaning" earth "(literally" mound of clay ").
   
• Muscle:
  From the Latin mus (mouse) and ele (dim.) - a small mouse that goes under the skin when flexed.
   
• Museum, Mosaic:
  Both from the Greek Muse (the Latin museum for "The Place of the Muses"; the mosaic is from the Greek logoios, "related to the Muses")
   
• Mustard (Eng.) / Moutarde (Fr.) / Mostrich (N. Ger. Dialect) / Mostarda (It.) / Mostaza (Sp.):
  As a courtesy, mustard has been enjoyed for thousands of years. It is made from the crushed seeds of a member of the Cruciferae family known as Sinapis. Originally, crushed seeds were mixed with vinegar - much as we enjoy it today - but vinegar was eventually replaced for some time in the Middle Ages with grapes "must" (which is the result of the win-win process). So, the word "must" ard. The botanical name Sinapis introduced the French name of the plant itself, seneve, and the German name of the mustard, Senf.
   
• Nacht (German) Night:
  Originally it meant “Day,” as the ancient Germans, like the ancient Jews, measured daily from sunset to sunset. See also Tag.
   
• Nemesis:
  From the same Greek, it originally meant, "the act of distributing or distributing others" and later "wrath and vengeance, righteous indignation for breaking the law."
  Nemesis was the god that restored balance. It would have been a mass of shipowners to introduce the ship without sacrificing to the gods, for example, this destructive act could provoke a counter-reaction, as we saw with the Titanic. There was no judgment or divine punishment involved, simply a response from another world to the loss that occurred in this country.
   
• Nice:
  From the Latin word "nescius," which means "ignorance," and, at various times before the appointment of the present meaning means "foolish" then "foolishly accurate" and "precisely accurate" and "correctly accurate" and then our current definition.
   
• Noon:
  It is derived from the Latin noun. The word "afternoon" originally meant nine o'clock after sunrise, or 3:00 p.m .-- usually the hottest part of the day and time when most people in the Roman Empire skipped lunch.
   
• Nostril:
  From Old English "nosthryl," they came from the OE words "nosu" (meaning "nose") and "thryl" (meaning "pit").
   
• Occasion:
  From the Latin place, which means, "an accident, or a great event."
   
• October:
  From the Latin octu (m), meaning "eighty," and imber, meaning "rain." The same "Imber" in September.
   
• Office:
  It originally meant, "Church Server." (Note the country of origin of that name.)
   
• Old; and Alt (German) Elder:
  "Alt" originally meant, "You've grown"; the "growth" role; related to "Alan," which means, "to grow" but is no longer available in modern German. In ancient English, the word "Alan" was also used in the same sense of growth or diet. Latin related "alt" which means "high."
   
• Omelette:
  Coming to English by using the French word for the same, the word is thought to come from the Latin word lamella, "small plate," referring to the longer, more omlette form, as well as to represent the gradual decomposition of allumelle first, then allumelette. Alomelette (The cuisinerfrancois of 1651 has aumelette). The modern name "omelette" first appears in the 1784 Chinese bourgeoise.
   
• Opportunity:
  From the Latin Ob-, meaning "in relation to," and portu (m), meaning "port."
   
• Orange (Eng.); Orange (Fr.); Naranja (Sp.); Arancia (It.):
  Interestingly, none of those terms come from the Latin word for orange, citrus aurentium; instead, all of them come from the traditional Sanskrit nagaranga, which accurately means "fatal indigestion for elephants." In certain traditions the orange, not the apple, is that the fruit liable for sin . There was an ancient Malay fable--which made its way into the Sanskrit tongue round the Seventh or Eighth Centuries B.C.--that links the orange to the sin of gluttony and has an elephant because the culprit. Apparently, at some point an elephant was passing through the forest, when he found a tree unknown to him during a clearing, bowed downward by its weight of lovely , tempting oranges; as a result, the elephant ate numerous that he burst. a few years later a person stumbled upon the scene and noticed the fossilized remains of the elephant with many orange trees growing from what had been its stomach. The person then exclaimed, "Amazing! What a nagaranga (fatal indigestion for elephants)!"
   
• Ostracize:
  "Ostron" may be a Greek word for pottery. Periodically the Greeks would hold an election to work out if someone was a danger to their community. Everyone would write their votes on broken pieces of pottery ("ostron") and if the vote was successful, the person was banished or "ostracized."
   
• Pagan:
  From the Latin paganu(m), for "someone who isn't from the town , rather from the country." In Late Latin , this became pagensis, "one who is from the country," and this utimately became the French pays and thus the Spanish País, both meaning "nation."
   
• Palaver:
  From the Spanish, "palabra," meaning, "word."
   
• Parlour (French) to talk :
  From the Latin "Parabolare," meaning, "to tell parables."
   
• Pavilion:
  Pavillion comes from the Latin "papilion-em," meaning, "butterfly." Pavillion meant a tent and therefore the allusion is to butterfly wings.
   
• Pay:
  Pay goes back ultimately to Latin, "pax" peace, by way of , appease, pacify. So "pay" originally meant "pay off," to stay the peace.
   
• Pedigree:
  From the French "Ped de gru," which suggests or meant, "Crane's foot," the /|\ symbol "used to denote succession during a genealogical table."
   
• Peach:
  When the peach first made its thanks to the Roman Empire from Persia, it had been called malum persicum, "Persian apple." The persicum then became pessicum, pessica and pesca (In modern Russian, it's still piersika.). The Italians have retained the term pesca, and it's become "peach" in English, peche in French, and Pfirsich in German. The Spanish differ from the remainder of Europe in calling it melocoton, literally "cotton-skinned apple"--from melum, "apple," and cotonium, meaning "quince" in Latin.
   
• Pecuniary:
  From the latin "pecunia," which originally meant, "wealth from livestock."
   
• Pearl:
  From from the Latin leg, because the bi-valve that produces pearls seems like a leg-of-mutton.
   
• Pineapple (Eng.); Piña (Sp.); Nana (Fr.); Ananas (Germ.):
  When Columbus landed in Guadeloupe in 1493, he found pineapples, which probably had originally come from Brazil. As Father de Acosta observed as early as 1589, the Spanish thought this new fruit resembled a pine cone; hence, the Spanish name of pinya, and therefore the English name of "pineapple" (the fruit was often just called a "pine" when it had been first introduced into Britain). The word nanais some of the Brazilian Guarani word meaning "perfumed" and was retained in both French and German.
   
• Pedestrian:
  Originally meant a lover (originally of Aristotle).
   
• Planet:
  From the Greek "Planasthai" for "to wander."
   
• Porcelain (French) Porcelaine:
  French porcelaine, from Old French pourcelaine, from Italian porcellana "of a sow," hence cowry shell, hence porcelain (from the resemblance of the cowry shell to the vulva of a sow), from porcella, diminutive of porca, sow, from Latin, feminine of porcus, swine.
   
• Potato (Eng.); Patata (Castilian Sp.); Papa (S. American Sp.); Cartoufle (16th.-cent. Fr.); Kartoffel (Germ.); Kartopfel (Russian; Pomme de terre (modern Fr.--"Earth apple"); Erdaepfel (Aust. Germ.--"Earth apple"):
  The South American Spanish term comes directly from the Incan word papa or bappa, which suggests "sweet potato." Apparently, the soldiers of the various Spanish expeditionary forces to America confused the potato with the sweet potato, as they began to use first the term bappa, then bappata (with the Spanish augmentative suffix -ata), to ask the whole Solanaceae (more than 100 differing types if you ask any Peruvian). It didn't take very long for bappata to become patata, which subsequently made its way into English as "potato." for his or her part, the French, German and Russian words stem from a mistake made by the Pope's botanist in 1588. Therein year, Pedro Cieca, an adjutant of Pizarro (the Spanish conqueror Peru), sent some potato tubers to the Spanish monarchs in 1588. They then gave them to the Pope, who had them examined by his botanist Clusius. Clusius planted the stems during a plot near the Vatican (the first potatoes planted in European soil). Not knowing what Latin name to offer his potatoes after they grew, he incorrectly categorized them as taratuflis, "little truffles." The Italian Pope, who had poor eyesight, then proceeded to read the word as tartufoli, which is that the source from which the word for potato in many European languages originated.
   
• Prom:
  From "promenade"
   
• Pseudo:
  From the Greek "Pseudos," meaning, "false."
   
• Queen:
  From the Gothic German "qino" then the Old English word "cwene" which was their common word for "woman." This gave rise to the early Middle English word "quean" which meant "woman," but was used as a "term of disparagement or abuse... a hussy, harlot" and used sometimes today to mean a male homosexual. Related to the modern Swedish word "kvinna," for woman.
   
• Regret:
  From the French "regretter," which originally meant, "lament over the dead."
   
• Rich:
  In Old French, "riche" meant "powerful"; it came to mean wealthy only by semantic extension. Originally from the German, Reich.
   
• Right:
  From the pre-Christian, Germanic term "riht", which was the sense of justice or balance that tribal elders attempted to achieve when determining the size of the "Bot." This is not to be confused with peace or "Friede," which could be achieved with differing amounts of "Bot" and was merely the cessation of fighting. "Riht" was that perfect amount of "Bot" that restored order within the universe and ensured the most long-lasting peace. (See the etymology of "Bot" at the end of the entry of freedom.)
   
• Robot:
  Robot comes from the Czech word "robot," which means "worker." In 1923, Karl Capek, a well-known, Czech, science-fiction writer at the time, wrote a futuristic thriller about a nightmarish scenario in which the machines have taken over (a la, the "Terminator") and implanted circuitry in humans to make them into mindless zombies willing to serve them as workers or "robots."
   
• Rodent:
  The word rodent comes from the Latin word rodere' meaning to gnaw (and "roedor" (rodent in spanish) is an animal who "roe" (gnaws) )
   
• Romance:
  The sense of "love" comes from the middle ages, when Latin was the language of the intellectuals but the languages of the people -- i.e., the Romance languages -- was the vulgar language love stories were written in.
   
• Rum:
  "Sugar wine" was not called rum until after 1688, and the word seems to have been an abbreviation of "rumbullion" or "rumbustion." The word may have been a term from the new pidgin English of Barbados and possibly derived from the distortion of a term in the Spanish dialect of Seville, combining Low Latin rheu, "stem," and bullion or bouillon, "boiling" (Similarly, "rhubarb" is a plant with edible stems originating from somewhere foreign--in other words, it is a "barbarous stem.").
   
• Saffron:
  The English word "saffron" comes from the Spanish word azafran, because it is in Spain where most of the world's highest quality crocus flowers (the plant whose stamens are the source of all saffron) are found. Azafran comes from the Arabic za'faran, meaning "yellow."
   
• Sanction:
  Originally meant, "imposition of penance." (Note the secularization of the term.)
   
• Salad; Salade (French); Ensalada (Spanish):
  This term first appeared within the Fifteenth Century because the Italian "zelada," a term meaning "salty," which was first applied to a dish that always appeared on festive tables in Milan. It had been actually a sort of ragout, very liquid and really salty (hence, its name), and it had been flavored with preserves, mustard and lemon and decorated with marzipan (Heinous!--editorial comment)(It was also served in cups, instead of directly on the most plate, a novelty at the time). The sauce for this soup-like dish, originally a hot one, came to incorporate various sorts of green stuff which had been pickled in vinegar or salt, then fresh cooked greens, or raw greens within the Roman manner. Finally, within the next century, the raw vegetables began to be sprinkled with oil and vinegar--also within the Roman manner--rather than being served with a spread of hot, broth-like sauces.
   
• Scapegoat:
  The results of a mistranslation of the Old Testament by Tyndale in 1530. He mistakenly confused the Hebrew word "azazal," the name of a Caanonite demon, with "ez-ozel," meaning, "the goat the departs." Leviticus 16:8 discusses how goats should be sacrificed to God as a sin-offering, and another should tend to Azazel and let loose within the wilderness, for the sins of the people.
   
• Scream:
  From the Anglo-Saxon "hcream", which was the tribal outcry, during this case, that resulted from the invention of a wrongdoing.
   
• Scruples:
  From the Latin "Scrupulus," meaning "pebble."
   
• Search; Circus:
  From "Circus," which is from the Greek "Krikos" or "Kirkos," which was a hawk or falcon which flies in a circle , and later just a circle or ring.
   
• Senator:
  From the Latin "senex," meaning "old"; thus associated with "senile."
   
• Second:
  The OED says: Fr. Seconde, ad. Med.L. Secunda, fem. Of L. Secundus second a., used ellipt. For secundaminuta, lit. second minute', i.e. the results of the second operation of sexagesimal division; the results of the primary such operation (now called minute' simply) being the first' or prime minute' or prime'.
   
• Silly:
  From 1550 to 1675 was "very extensively" utilized in the sense of deserving of pity and compassion, helpless. It's a derivative of the center English "seely," from the German "selig," meaning happy, blissful, blessed, also as punctual, observant of season.
   
• Sinister:
  From the Latin "sinister" for "left." Hence, left is evil.
   
• Sherry; and Jerez (Spanish):
  The word "sherry" is known as after "Jerez" in Spain, but the way the name was pronounced in 1600. "X" was utilized in Spanish and remains utilized in Catalan, to represent an "sh" sound. When the "sh" sound changed to an aspirate "h" sound the Spanish Academy changed the spellings to "j"--but today the "j" is pronounced more gutterally (the "archaic 'j'" (x) vs. The 'modern 'j'" (j)). So we still spell it "Mexico" while the Spaniards (but not the Mexicans) spell it "Mejico." This shift had occurred by the time Cervantes wrote Don Quixote de La Mancha. It's interesting to notice that at just one occasion almost every Spanish word that you simply can consider which contains the letter "j" used "x" in situ of "j" (ie., "Xerez", "Xuan", "Ximena", "Mexico", "Quixote", "trouxemos" and "baixo" became "Jerez", "Juan", "Jimena", "Mejico", "trajimos" (we are bringing) and "bajo" (low; short; beneath), with "Quixote" remaining unchanged because it may be a proper name .).
   
• Slave:
  After large parts of Slavonia (the current Yugoslavian Federation province of Serbia, also as portions of surrounding countries) were subjugated by the Holy Roman Empire within the Middle Ages, a Slav became synonymous with someone who lived in servitude. Eventually Slav became slave.
   
• Sleazy:
  The Eastern European region of Silesia was known for its fine cloth. Eventually, numerous low-quality imitations aroused on the market that Silesian became sleazy.
   
• Slogan:
  from 2 Celtic words: "slaugh" and "gheun" which mean, respectively, "battle" and "cry".
   
• Soleil (French) and Solell (Catalan) Sun:
  From the Latin "Soliculus", meaning, "a little sun"; "sol" meant just "sun."
   
• Soup; Soupe (French); Sopa (Spanish); Zuppa (Italian):
  From the Old Low Latin term suppa, meaning "soaked [in water or another liquid]." the first sense of this word survives in just Dutch (soppen, "to soak") and English (sop, as in "sopping wet"). The Old Low Latin for "soaked" originally came into use to explain a well-liked dish, which consisted of a bit of bread soaked in water or another liquid then flavored with whatever was handy.
   
• Starve:
  From the Old English "steorfan," meaning "die." associated with the German for "die," "sterben."
   
• Spill:
  From the Old English "spillan," meaning, "destroy."
   
• Stool:
  From the Old English "stol," meaning "throne."
   
• Strawberry (Eng.); Fraise (Fr.); Fresa (Sp.)/ Fragola (It.); Erdbeer (Germ.--"earth berry"); Eper (Hung.):
  The fruit's name differs within the various European languages, although those names deriving from Latin still suggest the exquisite fragrance that caused the tiny , scented berry to be termed wild strawberry , "fragrant berry," in Latin. English "strawberry" refers to the layer of straw placed round the plants to stay the fruit off the soil, a very good idea in damp climates, like that typically found in Great Britain and Ireland.
   
• Suede:
  Gants de Suede is French for "gloves of Sweden." it had been in Sweden that the primary leather was buffed to a fine softness, and therefore the French bought the gants de Suede. Suede now refers to the buffing process--not to any particular quite leather.
   
• Sugar; Candy; Caramel:
  All come from the Greek saccharon and therefore the Roman saccharum, which are both distortions of the Sanskrit sarkara. Round the year 1000, after conquering an honest portion of the southern Mediterranean, the Arabs installed the primary "industrial" refinery on the island of Crete, which they renamed Qandi, which in Arabic means "crystallized sugar." this is often how the word "candy" made its way into English. Shortly thereafter, the Arabs also invented "caramel," which comes from the Arabic phrase kurat al milh and means "ball of sweet salt."
   
• Sweet:
  From an equivalent Indo-European root because the Latin "suavis."
   
• Sycophant:
  From the Greek "sykon," meaning "fig"; a sycophant was thus originally someone who makes figs appear. There are a couple of suggested etymologies: fig smuggling was illegal in ancient Greece, so a sycophant could are a telltale for a reward; or, it might be from the shaking of a fig-tree, which moved the figs from the hidden heights to the bottom where all could see it; or, it might be from "the sign of the fig," which is that the gesture of creating a fist with the thumb in-between the index and middle fingers, which represented female genitalia;--this gesture was wont to indicate an accusation of wrong-doing.
   
• Tag (German) Day:
  Originally meant, "The time during which the sun burns." See also, Nacht
   
• Tennis:
  "Tennis," a sport which first developed in France, was originally "tenez" (pronounced tuh-nay) which is that the French verb "tenir" conjugated at the person of the plural as a polite imperative verb (translated during this case by something like "there you go"). They were saying "tenez" once they hit the ball so on say :"there, attempt to get this one". But tennis lost popularity in France and gained popularity in England at an equivalent time. So, English were still using the word "tenez" whenever they hit the ball, but saying it with English accent which sounded more like tennis, and which eventually took this new spelling. Then the game gained popularity world wide and got picked up by many languages, including French.
   
• Thermostat:
  "Therma" (hot) is from the Greek city of Therma, known for its hot springs.
   
• Thesis:
  From the Greek of an equivalent, meaning, "to put, place, set." From an equivalent Indo-European root as do, deed, doom, the -dom of kingdom and serfdom (etc.); fact, facility, the -fy of nullify and rectify (etc.).
   
• Threshold:
  "Threshold" originated within the middle ages when houses with stone floors were covered with threshings to stay the ground warm and to stop it from being slippery. As threshings were added during the winter, they might be scattered and thinned near the door, so people added a wooden board to carry the threshings in -- a threshold. The OED defines threshold originally as, "The piece of timber or stone which lies below rock bottom of a door, and has got to be crossed in entering a house; the sill of a doorway; hence, the doorway to a house or building.
   
• Tide and Time:
  See Zeit
   
• Tilde (The ~ mark in Spanish and Portuguese); Title:
  From the Spanish for an equivalent, an alteration of an obsolete Catalan title, which was from the Latin "titulus," meaning superscription -- from which we also get "title."
   
• Tomato (Eng.); Tomate (Sp.); Pomodoro (It.):
  The English and Spanish terms both stem from the Nahuatl (the language of the Aztecs) "tomatl," a vegetable (technically, a fruit) first introduced to Europe by the Spanish. For its part, the Italian term literally means pomo de oro, "golden apple." Incidentally, it had been first introduced into Italy by the Spaniards within the Sixteenth Century via Naples (not the island of Sicily, whose cuisine most heavily relies on tomato-based sauces). The rationale is that Naples was a Spanish possession during the reign of the Habsburg Emperor Charles V of Spain (I of Germany)(r. 1516-1556).
   
• Travel:
  From the French "travail," meaning, "work." Daniel Boorstin has argued that this happened because, at just one occasion, "traveling" entailed working: learning the language and native customs, etc. Boorstin contrasts this with "tourism" which doesn't entail any work on your (the tourist's) part.
   
• Trivia:
  The derivation of the word trivia comes from the Latin for "crossroads": "tri-" + "via", which suggests three streets. This is often because in past, at an intersection of three streeets in Rome (or another Italian place), they might have a kind of kiosk where ancillary information was listed. You would possibly have an interest in it, you would possibly not, hence they were bits of "trivia."
  From the Greek "tyrannos," for "usurper," without a necessary negative implication.
   
• Umpire:
  From French 'non partiere' (impartial, neutral). The first word was nunpire, but morphed from "a nunpire" to "an umpire". Approximately I've heard.
   
• Utopia:
  Greek for "nowhere."
   
• Victim:
  From the Latin "victima," meaning, "an animal destined to be sacrified."
   
• Villain:
  From "Villaneus," meaning, "inhabitant of a villa," i.e., a "peasant."
   
• Vinegar:
  Comes from the Latin vin aigre, meaning "sour wine.
   
• Walk:
  In Old English, "wealcan" meant "to roll"; by Middle English meant "to move about, travel"; and only in Modern English came to mean "walk" as we all know it.
   
• Wedding:
  From the pre-Christian, Germanic term "wed" or pledge.
   
• Weird:
  From the Proto-Indo-European *wer, meaning "to turn." From this same root, we also get English words: -ward (toward, inward), worth (from the Old German *werthaz, meaning "opposite," thus "equivalent"), pervert, extro/introvert, divert, controversy, invert, verse, versatile, revert, tergiversation, malversation, anniversary, vertex, vertigo, vertebra; wreath, wrath; worry (from the Old English wyrgan, to strangle), wrong (from the Old Scandanavian *vrang, for "crooked"); verge, converge, diverge; wry, wriggle, wrist, wrestle; warp; rhapsody; worm, vermin; the Latin prefix "re-".
   
• Welt (German) World:
  Welt may be a contraction of the Old German words, "Wer" and "alt," where "Wer" meant "Man" (From the Latin "Vir" for "Man"--think "virile") and "Alt," which in Old German, meant "time" but now means "old." So, Welt is Wer + alt, which is "the time of man."
   
• Werewolf (German and English):
  Wer + Wolf; "Wer," in Old German, was "man" (related to the Latin "Vir" for "Man"). Thus, literally, "Wolfman."
   
• Whiskey (Ireland); Whisky (Scotland):
  This term originally came from uisgebeatha (Scottish Gaelic) and uiscebeatha (Irish Gaelic), which both mean "water of life." The word entered English as "whiskey" or "whisky" when Henry II invaded Ireland.
   
• Window:
  From the Anglo-Saxon "vindr" eage," meaning the "wind's eye."
   
• Wine:
  Comes from the Greek word for wine, oinos (Cretan dialect), which itself was taken from the name of the Greek god who was alleged to have first revealed the key of wine to the traditional Cretans, Dionysus (Pronounce it without the "Di.").
   
• Wit:
  From the Old English "witan," aiming to know; intelligence.
   
• Witness:
  From the pre-Christian, Germanic term "witan", which suggests wise, tribal elders (literally, those that follow the way of the Norse god "Wodin" or "Odin").
   
• Woman:
  From the Old English "Wyfmon," meaning, "wife." See Queen.
   
• Work; and Werk (German) Work; Warm; Worm; and Wurst:
  Work is from the German "Werk" (meaning the same), which is etymologically associated with the "warm" and "wurst" (Sausage). "Worm," in turn, comes from "wurst."
   
• Worm:
  From the Old English "wyrm," meaning "dragon."
   
• Yankee:
  From the Dutch "Jan-Kees" etc. Jan= short for: Johannes (=John), Kees= short for Cornelis (=Cornelius). All three names were quite common in those days (and still are): Jan, Kees and Jan-Kees.
   
• Zeit (German) Time:
  Related to the German (and English) "Tide." In Old German, Zeit also meant "to divide, separate."
   
• Zero:
  The centrepiece of the Hindu-Arabic numerical system was the invention of zero--sunya because the Indians called it, and andcifr because it became in Arabic. The term has come right down to us in English as cipher, which suggests "empty" and refers to the zero column within the abacus or counting frame (see "abacus")(The term has also come right down to us as "decipher," which suggests "to determine the meaning of anything obscure"). The Arabic term survives even in Russian, where it appears as tsifra, which is that the word for number.