Object Compliment

An object complement is an noun, pronoun, or adjective which follows a direct object and renames it or tells what the direct object has become. It is most often used with verbs of creating or nominating such as make, name, elect, paint, call, etc.

Example:

SUBJECT        VERB                          OBJECT                      OBJECT COMPLIMENT

She                   appointed                          her                                 deputy captain.

The object compliment can be:

·        A Noun:

I appointed him captain.

·        An adjective or adjective phrase:

Surya made him uneasy.

·        A noun phrase:

Both the universities made him honorary doctor.

·        A noun clause:

He made it what it is today.

Examples of Object Compliments from literature:

·         "I paint the plaster walls white, except for the little nook under the sloping roof where my bed fits just perfectly. There, I paint the walls and sloping ceiling black."
(Meredith Hall, Without a Map. Beacon, 2007)

·         "The widow she cried over me, and called me a poor lost lamb, and she called me a lot of other names, too."
(Mark Twain, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, 1885)

·         "Bheema joined Gandhi in his struggle for India's independence and called his father a traitor."
(Anita Rau Badami, Tamarind Mem. Viking Penguin, 1996)

This post is a part of the APRIL A-Z Challenge 

Neither / nor

Neither / nor is used in a sentence, in the negative sense, when you want to state that two or more things are not true simultaneously. When these two conjunctions are used as a pair, the two expressions that are linked should be of same grammatical status:

·         Two words:

Example: Neither muggles nor witches visited the house again.

·         Two phrases:

Example: The weather in Bengaluru is neither too hot nor too cold.

·         Two clauses:

Example: My sister is a person who questions neither what she sees nor what she hears.

Now for some exercise.

Combine the following sentences using neither…nor…

1.       Rema is not beautiful. She is not intelligent.

2.       Ravi does not attend the class regularly. He does not learn his lessons either.

3.       This book is not interesting. It is not useful either.

4.       Saran did not pass the test. Abhinav did not pass the test.

5.       Mohan does not play cricket. His brother also does not play cricket.

Answers

1.       Rema is neither beautiful nor intelligent.

2.       Ravi neither attends the class regularly nor learns his lessons.

3.       This book is neither interesting nor useful.

4.       Neither Saran nor Abhinav passed the test.

5.       Neither Mohan nor his brother plays cricket.

 This post is a part of the APRIL A-Z Challenge  

May/ Might

Confused as to how to use may/ might in a situation?

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Both May/Might are modal auxiliary verbs ( a verb that is used with a main verb to form a verb phrase) that refer to possible situations. Let us look at them individually.

May:

May has two meanings.

It indicates:

1.       Permission.

Example: Thank you, you may leave us now.

Example: May I go now?

2.       Possibility:

Example: It may come in handy.

Here the writer/ speaker can clearly imagine it taking place. It is a possible situation now and in the future.

Might is used to indicate a possibility. But here the writer is treating it as purely hypothetical, it could happen but then could a lot of other things. It implies a smaller possibility than the sentence using ‘may’ suggests.

Eg: It might snow today.

To refer to a situation which happened in the past, we use might have.

Example: I might have dropped it in the classroom.

 This post is a part of the APRIL A-Z Challenge  

Line Editing

Line editing means to consider each individual sentence as a unit and to check it for clarity, efficiency and logic.

How is this done?

The steps:

1.     Eliminate unnecessary modifiers.

Kick out the modifier words that decrease the strength of prose.

Eg: Simply, lovingly, soothingly, ( hint: words that end with –ly)

2.     Eliminate clichés

Read my post about kicking out the clichés here.

3.     Eliminate repeated words and phrases

Read the passages and find repeated words and replace them with their synonym. Look out for character descriptions, or actions  that are repeated. Try replacing them with different phrases or words.

4.     Delete the  extra thats, hads and buts.

Many people tend to use a lot of buts, had and that in their prose. Try to eliminate some of them, without effecting the meaning of the sentences.

5.     Look up words whose exact meaning you don’t know:

Some people try to show off their verbosity by relying on thesaurus and use words that is not at all suitable or grammatically correct. If you have used an unfamiliar word, look up their meaning in a dictionary and make sure it conveys the meaning you want to convey.

6.     Use online tools to find synonyms to replace repeated words.

There are many online thesaurus that helps us find words that will sound apt and make the sentences more effective and concise. Use the online tools while doing line editing so that you end up with a clean and correct prose.

7.     Read it aloud and rephrase.

Some sentences when we read out aloud loses its charm. Find words and rephrase the sentence to make it more effective and soothing to the ears.

This post is a part of the APRIL A-Z Challenge  

Look Up and Wait for the magic

Good old days

I love changes. I always see changes as challenges that I need to face. When I look back, changes has always been for the good.

There was a time when I was happy with a nine to five job that gave me plenty of free time. I was working in a government job and there was no work pressure. Then I joined a job abroad where there was no prescribed time for my duties and I had to be at the beck and call of my manager at all times. This transition was hard for me initially. More than that sometimes, the duty time changed to night shifts and it was very tough to adjust.

I had my wife with me and we were in a different country and away from both of our near and dear ones. It was tough for us both. But we became each other’s strength and sometimes we used to meet each other on the road and would be able to say just a bye. I would be on the way to my job and she would be returning from hers.

It was difficult. But love is indeed a magical thing. In spite of all the difficulties, we bonded well with time and life treated us well. With both of us earning nicely, we could indulge ourselves in luxuries and do things that we always wanted to do.

We could go on impromptu trips on weekends and visit places we always wanted to visit. We were able to find moments of happiness amidst all the chaos our jobs were throwing our way. It was tough but we managed despite being desolate with the sudden changes.

As always, times change and so do we. I managed to find a different job that gave me more financial stability and free time. From then on, life treated us good. She pursued her own field of interest and I was also able to be tension free and satisfied with the way my career was progressing. Time again changed as recession set in and I had to shift back to my native country again. But then again the change was for the good.

I found a new stable job in a place where the climate and conditions were better than all the places that I worked. A new member entered our family and my son made all the changes seem welcome. From then on, whatever came our way, brought new changes, but happy ones at that. It was life’[s way of testing us and we were happy with every change that came our way.

As wise people say, the only thing that is constant about life is change. It can be difficult, but it can be also the best thing that happened to you. A single change can catapult you into an unknown arena where you might find yourself as the expert. So always #lookup.

This topic is about Housing.com.

This post is a part of https://housing.com/lookup.

Kick out the clichés

12 cliches to avoid: Source: Writers digest

 A Cliché is a phrase or opinion that has been repeatedly used over the years.

A writer should edit out clichés as much as possible.

Why should we not use Clichés?

The reasons are:

1. Clichés are attributed to lazy writing, hesitation, and inconsistency.

2. Their presence make writing boring, the readers might have read these very lines many times before.

3. Clichés leave nothing new to remember for the readers. They are often familiar with these phrases.

4. The readers will label the writer as insincere and lazy.

How to Avoid Clichés:

1. Try to rephrase a cliché.

Example:

Instead of saying avoid it like plague; use a phrase of your own like: avoid it like a hot shower in the peak of summer.

2. Find another sentence that means the same

Example:

Dead as a doornail

Instead use: Dead as a fish in the frying pan? Use your imagination and give something new that the reader is familiar with.

Microsoft word has options that you can turn on that identifies clichés in a document. This helps you eliminate them easily.

Happy writing folks.

This post is a part of the APRIL A-Z Challenge 

Memorable Moments

My mother

Often there comes a moment when nothing seems to work. Everything that you do starts to become a failure. In those moments, if you are lucky enough, you will have someone enter your life who will change your whole perspective about life as a whole. For me, that person is my mother.

In my life too, I have had moments when I was desperate and down in the pits of failure. Even after passing out from a good institute with very good marks, I had a tough time finding a good job. But then I guess, that happens to everyone who doesn’t have a god father in their lives to push them up the corporate ladder.

When I call and talk with my mother my every worry evaporates into thin air. I am the youngest of her kids and hence the most pampered one. She would take time to prepare my favourite food whenever I am home and would always give me preference. I took full advantage of being the youngest.

Hence, the worst time came when she was down with a liver problem and couldn’t even talk to me properly. I was working miles away in Dubai while she was in Kerala. I rushed to her all the way from Dubai and just being near her calmed me down. I took her to the best hospital possible and told her to be strong and that I needed her. My siblings gave me courage and we all together made her come out from the ordeal. The doctor was surprised at her change and he attributed it to our dedication to her, our love.

After she was discharged from hospital, we came home and I spent the rest of the week talking to her and fulfilling all her wishes. It was such a relief to be able to see her back in complete health. I thanked every moment to God for bringing her out of the situation.

Those were the moments when I found how much I loved her. How much a mother means to her son. It is always difficult to express one’s true feelings towards the ones we love. But often love is the only thing that is capable of working miracles. Most of the diseases according to science are created due to the feeling of not being loved.

Our parents gives us the world sacrificing their precious moments and energy. But do we spend time with them once we become busy with our own lives?

Often it happens that we neglect our parents after we settle in life and get married to the person we love. But do we not have an equal or more responsibility towards the person who were responsible to bring us into this world?

I believe that moments with our loved ones are what makes us live by giving us a push forward in life. May we be able to love and protect them always!

#together

#lookUp

This post is written for https://housing.com/