Some clarifications needed on certain words
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Can some English experts enlightened me on the following English words and their usage, please?
These are words commonly seen in forums.
Advise Needed
Shouldn't it be Advice Needed instead? I have always thought of advise as a verb. Or is this another British English vs American English? :?
At a lost
Thought it should be \"At a loss\" ?
TIA!
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chamonix:
Yes and yes.Can some English experts enlightened me on the following English words and their usage, please?
These are words commonly seen in forums.
Advise Needed
Shouldn't it be Advice Needed instead? I have always thought advise as a verb. Or is this another British English vs American English? :?
At a lost
Thought it should be \"At a loss\" ?
TIA!
Btw, its enlighten, not enlightened.
Not expert hor, just did my homework as a kid...... -
3Boys:
:oops: Thanks for pointing out[
Btw, its enlighten, not enlightened.
Not expert hor, just did my homework as a kid......
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Hello Chamonix
I’m not an expert but here’s the answer to your questions.
Advise versus Advice
It’s the British English vs American English again. British English uses advise while American English uses advice.
As for using lost and loss, it depends on the context of the sentence constructed.
At a lost - missing, not knowing, not used to one’s advantage
At a loss - the antonym (opposite) of profit -
I go with 3Boys on this.
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EN:
I'm not familiar with the first case. Guess I'll check with friends/relatives in USA first.Hello Chamonix
I'm not an expert but here's the answer to your questions.
Advise versus Advice
It's the British English vs American English again. British English uses advise while American English uses advice.
As for using lost and loss, it depends on the context of the sentence constructed.
At a lost - missing, not knowing, not used to one's advantage
At a loss - the antonym (opposite) of profit
As for the second case, for both, it should be \"at a loss\". Never heard of \"at a lost\". (Loss = noun; Lost = Verb/Adjective) -
Advice = the actual advice given. I.e. it's a noun.
\"I offer you my advice.\" = \"I offer to advise you.\"
Advise = the act of giving advice. I.e. it's a verb.
\"I'm at a loss for words\" = don't know what to say, in a state of helplessness.
I'm pretty sure there is no such phrase as \"at a lost\" - I'm afraid that's a Singlish corruption of \"at a loss\"!
But yes \"at a loss\" can also refer to negative profit, eg. \"I sold my car at a loss (of $15000).\" -
[quote]I'm not familiar with the first case. Guess I'll check with friends/relatives in USA first. [/quote]
I work with US MNC. Orientation needs to sit for English class. I remember the trainer touch on advise / advice, hence my reply. My laptop is set by IT to use American English. It will not recognize advise & will self correct it as advice. But.... there's always room for improvement. Everyday is a learning experience. So with Sashimi answer, it sets me thinking, is the company trainer not teaching the right stuff?
As for \"at a loss for words\" Shashimi is correct. I was a business student, so when I see the word loss, I always think of dollars and cent. keke. -
EN:
me too!
I work with US MNC.EN:
For advice and advise, I concur with Sashimi, it's a noun and verb thingy.My laptop is set by IT to use American English. It will not recognize advise & will self correct it as advice. But.... there's always room for improvement. Everyday is a learning experience. So with Sashimi answer, it sets me thinking, is the company trainer not teaching the right stuff?
However, there are other US vs UK English
e.g., prioritise vs prioritize ;
standardise vs standardize;
that's just the spelling...pronounciation confuses me tremendously too:
- route (pronounced \"RAU-T\" vs \"ROOT\") ;
- processes (pronounced \"PRO-CESS-SEAS\" vs \"PRO-SES-CERS\")
Then there's this date thingy MMDDYY vs DDMMYY that we grew up with (previous UK territory mah!) :stupid: -
Andaiz! You and EN cud be colleagues
for all you know! :shock:
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