I sometimes hear members of my family say this at dinner:

• “The food is very saltish.”

I used to think that “saltish” sounds weird, but after learning (and teaching) English, I discovered that both could be used, but in different contexts.

• salty (adj.) = containing salt, or tastes of salt
• saltish (adj.) = somewhat salty

Let’s compare these two sentences:

1. Sea water is salty. = it contains salt; it tastes of salt
2. The fish that you cooked was saltish. = quite salty

So, use “salty” when you want to tell people that the food or beverage you taste contains salt. On the other hand, use “saltish” if the food you taste contains more salt than necessary.

Take note that some dictionaries do not recognise the word “saltish” (e.g.: Cambridge Online Dictionaries).

I was waiting for the elevator this morning when I heard a conversation between these two students:

Sareen: Hi, morning. You drove here today?
Chong: No, my mother fetched me here.

At a glance, nothing appears to be incorrect. However, the word “fetch” is not suitable; it means “pick up” from a place.

fetch (v.): go somewhere, and bring that person back

Therefore, Chong should have said: No, my mother sent me here.

As an analogy, when you throw a stick and you want your canine to go pick it up and bring it back to you, what do you say? “Fetch!” You could also use “take” instead of “send“, and “pick up” instead of “fetch“.

Examples:

1. I’m waiting for my parents to fetch me. = pick you up from somewhere
2. Could you please send me to school? = take you from one place to your destination – school)
3. I’ll get a taxi to take (not fetch) me to your house.
4. Could you take (not fetch) me to the nearest hospital, please?
5. I’m late. I’ve to pick my son up (fetch) from school.
6. Dad’s picking mom up (fetching); she’s already waiting at the station.

These two words are often use; therefore, we take them for granted. Since they’re common and easy to use, it shouldn’t be a problem, right? Wrong! It is easy words like these that give us headaches, and cost students precious marks in their essays.

• because: used for giving reasons
• although: used for expressions that are different from what is expected, or opposite
  

Examples:

1. They are so excited (why?) because they are going bowling tonight.
2. Because they are going bowling tonight, they are so excited.
3. He is smiling although he is sad.
4. Although Yasmin is sad, she is smiling (an opposite reaction – if she is sad, she should be crying, not smiling.)

Things to remember:

• Never begin a sentence with “because” unless it’s used as an adverb clause as in Sentence #2. Similarly, do not begin a sentence with “although” unless it’s an adverb clause as in Sentence #4.
• “Although” and “but” can never appear in the same sentence. The reason is, both words are used for expressing opposite or unexpected results.

Note:
An adverb clause is a group of words that answers the questions where, when and why.

That means, the following sentences are wrong:

1. Because you are late. (X)
2. Although many people have died of passive smoking. (X)
3. Although the H1N1 virus is deadly, but we are still not bothered about it. (X)

• Sentence #1 is wrong because it’s not a complete sentence. A complete sentence must begin with a subject and followed by a verb.
• Sentence #2 is wrong for the same reason.
• Sentence #3 is wrong because “although” and “but” are mutual enemies. They cannot exist in the same sentence. Use only one of them.

Those of you who have paid attention in grammar class know that “money” is an uncountable noun. It cannot be pluralised. However, in some instances, you might have come across the word “monies“. How is that possible?

Well, “monies” is not the plural for “money“, though related to it.

money (n.) = the coins and notes that we use for buying things, or a sum that we receive for our goods and services

monies (n.) = the amounts of money received from various sources to help an organisation finance a project

Examples:

1. A million dollars is not a lot of money nowadays.
2. The monies received (from various establishments) will be channelled to different departments fairly.

Take note that “monies” is generally used in business and finance. Here are some other nouns that share similar anomalies.

• water – waters
• food – foods
• work – works

Both phrases are used in describing the quantity of something.

Let’s get straight to the point. Use “amount of” followed by an uncountable noun, and “number of” with a countable noun.

Examples:

(a) amount of

• money
• water
• time
• interest
• information

1. We have to acknowledge that the amount of false information on the Internet has caused lots of problems.
2. The amount of time spent on playing should be spent on studying instead.

(b) number of

• people
• times
• words
• issues
• episodes

1. I’ve asked a number of people about it, but no one seems to know what had occurred.
2. They’ve been to Malaysia a number of times, so they’re familiar with some places on interest.

Note:
When you use “number of“, the nouns are always in the plural form.