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GRAMMAR PILLS: OTHER OR ANOTHER? – OTHERS, THE OTHER AND THE OTHERS

💡 Quick answer:
  • ANOTHER (otro/otra) + singular countable noun ⇒ There is another book in my bag. (Hay otro libro en mi bolso.)
  • OTHER (otros/otras) + plural countable noun ⇒ There are other books in my bag. (Hay otros libros en mi bolso.)
  • OTHER (otro/otra) + uncountable noun ⇒ The embassy website has general information about visas. Other travel information can be obtained by calling the freephone number. (From Cambridge English Grammar Today)
🔺WARNING: ANOTHER + NUMBER / 'a couple of' / 'few' etc. + PLURAL NOUN.
➧'ANOTHER' se utiliza con nombres contables en plural cuando incluimos un NÚMERO o frases como 'a couple of', 'few', etc.
  • Another 2,000 nurses are needed in NHS hospitals. (Macmillan Dictionary)
  • For another £30 (= for £30 more) you can buy the model with a touchscreen. (Cambridge Dictionary)
  • My passport is valid for another two years. (Cambridge Dictionary)
  • We’ll have to wait another three weeks for the results. (Longman Dictionary)
  • We'll have to wait for another two weeks / another couple of weeks.
  • I've decided to stay in the UK another few weeks after I finish my course.
    💡 EXTENDED ANSWER:
    We can use OTHER and ANOTHER as ADJECTIVES and PRONOUNS.
    ➧Al igual que en español, podemos usar ‘otro/otra’ y ‘otros/otras’ como adjetivos y como pronombres.

    As an ADJECTIVE, they describe a noun.
    Como ADJETIVO, describen un nombre (sustantivo).
    As a PRONOUN, they replace a noun.
    Como PRONOMBRE, reemplazan un nombre (sustantivo).

    COUNTABLE SINGULAR NOUN
    As an ADJECTIVE
    As a PRONOUN
    I need another book.
    (Necesito otro libro.)
    I don’t need this book; I need another.
    (No necesito este libro; necesito otro.)
    I don’t need this book; I need the other book.
    (No necesito este libro; necesito el otro libro.)
    I don’t need this book; I need the other.
    (No necesito este libro; necesito el otro.)

    COUNTABLE PLURAL NOUN
    As an ADJECTIVE
    As a PRONOUN
    I need other books.
    (Necesito otros libros.)
    I don’t need these books; I need others.
    (No necesito estos libros; necesito otros.)
    I don’t need these books; I need the other books.
    (No necesito estos libros; necesito los otros libros.)
    I don’t need these books; I need the others.
    (No necesito estos libros; necesito los otros.)

    🔺 WARNING: ‘OTHERS’ is always a PLURAL PRONOUN, meaning ‘other people or other things’
    ➧‘OTHERS’ en plural con -s es siempre PRONOMBRE ⇒ Some people think that Tom is a great teacher, but others think just the opposite.

    🎬 From Learn English with Adam [EngVid]

    🔗 Read more:
    🔗 Free online exercises:
    🔗 SEE ALSO:
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    WEEKLY PICKS - 9

    This post offers you a selection of recommended free online exercises, games, videos and resources so that you can improve your English language skills while having fun! ENJOY!

    📜READING PICKS – Articles, blog posts, quizzes and more:

    Article from BBC CAPITAL: Your vocal quirks could be costing you jobs, Video by Kat Sud, Maeve Burke and Bowen Li, research by Debbi McCullough. These vocal tendencies can cost you at a job interview, but is it fair to judge people based on these vocal habits? (Continue reading)

     Article from BBC FUTURE: The dangerous diseases hidden in caves, by Zaria Gorvett. The rescued Thai boys faced infectious organisms underground and are now in quarantine – but which diseases could they have been exposed to, and how serious are they? (Continue reading)

     🎬 VIDEO PICKS – Short and fun videos:

    LESS-THAN-5-MINUTE VIDEOS:
    5-TO-10-MINUTE VIDEOS:
    A LITTLE LONGER BUT WORTH IT!
    💡 GRAMMAR PICKS – Assorted exercises and games:


    MORE PICKS NEXT WEEK!
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    The language of mental or physical disability (from OXFORD Living Dictionaries)

    Read full article: Avoid using dated or offensive words with these guidelines for use of specific terminology.
    The language that is now considered suitable to refer to people with physical and mental disabilities is very different from that used a few decades ago. The changes are due partly to campaigns by organizations that promote the interests of particular groups of disabled people and partly to the public's increased sensitivity to the issues. People are now keen to avoid using terms that might reinforce any negative stereotypes of people with disabilities, in the same way that they try to avoid the racist or sexist terms that were once commonly used.

    The word disabled itself came to be used as the standard term for referring to people with physical and mental disabilities from the 1960s onwards. It's still the most generally accepted term in both British and American English and has replaced terms that are now seen as offensive, such as crippled, handicapped, or mentally defective.

    If you want to use appropriate language you not only need to avoid words which have been superseded, such as mongolism or backward. You should also try to do the following:
    • avoid using the + an adjective to refer to an entire group of people, such as ‘the blind’, ‘the deaf’, or ‘the disabled’. This type of collective term is seen as dehumanizing: in essence, it reduces the people with a disability to the disability itself. It also ignores the individuality of those people by lumping them together in an undifferentiated group. The preferred forms are now ‘a person with …’ or ‘people with ……’ wherever possible, i.e. ‘people with sight problems’, ‘people with disabilities’, etc. If that isn't suitable, use ‘blind people’, ‘disabled people’, and so on.
    • avoid using terms such as victim, suffer from, be afflicted with, or wheelchair-bound which suggest that the person concerned is the helpless object of the disability. Instead of suffer from, you can just say have:
    Their youngest child has cystic fibrosis.

    Another alternative is ‘be diagnosed with’:

    In 1984, he was diagnosed with autism.

    Rather than describing someone as wheelchair-bound, you can just say that they ‘use a wheelchair’.
    • avoid using words which once related to disabilities, but which are now generally used as insults, such as mongol, cretin, spastic, schizo, dumb, etc.
    GO TO FULL ARTICLE for Specific terms relating to disability
    See also: OXFORD DICTIONARIES BLOG
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    WEEKLY PICKS - 8

    This post offers you a selection of recommended free online exercises, games, videos and resources so that you can improve your English language skills while having fun! ENJOY!

    📜READING PICKS – Articles, blog posts, quizzes and more:

    Article from BBC CULTURE: The world’s most beautiful libraries, Cameron Laux. If like the writer Jorge Luis Borges you believe that Paradise is a library, fasten your seatbelt and prepare to be transported to heaven on earth. (Continue reading)

     Article from BBC FUTURE: The ‘quiet eye’ of elite concentration, by David Robson. The way in which athletes can maintain their focus even under high pressure can help doctors, and it is of increasing interest to the military. (Continue reading)

    🎬 VIDEO PICKS – Short and fun videos:

    LESS-THAN-5-MINUTE VIDEOS:
    5-TO-10-MINUTE VIDEOS:
    💬 VOCABULARY PICKS:

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    GRAMMAR PILLS: GOOD OR WELL?

    What's the difference between GOOD and WELL?

    💡 Quick answer ⇒ GOOD = ADJECTIVE / WELL = ADVERB

    GOOD is an ADJECTIVE ⇒ (bueno/a) i.e. it describes a noun or pronoun.
    Ejemplo: That is (a good book) / That book is good.
                                           noun           noun

    WELL is an ADVERB ⇒ (bien) i.e. it describes a verb.
    Ejemplo: Mary speaks English well. / I did well in the exam.
                             verb                          verb

     🔺 WARNING: WELL may also be an ADJECTIVE, BUT only when it means

    1) In good health; free or recovered from illness.
    → ‘I don't feel very well’
    → ‘it would be some time before Sarah was completely well’
    → ‘It has also correctly labelled as disease free most, but not all, of the well people.’

    1.1) In a satisfactory state or position.
    → ‘I do hope all is well with you and your family’

    2) Sensible; advisable.
    → ‘it would be well to know just what this suggestion entails’
    → ‘Only--if we decide to buy, it would be well to be moved in and settled before winter.’ (From Oxford Dictionaries)

     ❓ So, which one is correct? ⇒ I'm good or I'm well?

    💡 You may also want to watch this video!
    🔗 Read more and practice:
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    The cost of ditching plastic, by Richard Gray (from BBC Capital)

    What's the real price of getting rid of plastic packaging?

    How much would it cost to switch to plastic alternatives? Richard Gray crunches the numbers.

    Walking along a short section of stony beach, Claire Waluda stoops briefly to pick up something from between the rocks. It is a brightly coloured plastic bottle top – just one of hundreds of bits of plastic that she finds washed ashore on the remote, windswept island of South Georgia.

    Located in the south Atlantic, on the fringes of the Antarctic, it is nearly 1,000 miles (1,500km) from the nearest major human settlement. Yet even here Waluda, an ecologist with the British Antarctic Survey, is finding worrying signs of our throw-away attitude towards plastic. Regularly she finds seals entangled in this debris or albatross chicks coughing up bits of plastic film.

    These are just a few examples of the damage our throw-away relationship with plastics is inflicting on the environment. More than 78 million tonnes of plastic packaging is produced worldwide every year by an industry worth nearly $198 billion. Just a fraction of that is recycled while the vast majority is thrown away. Plastic litter now clutters every part of our planet, from remote parts of the Antarctic to the deepest ocean trenches.
    Read more »
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    WEEKLY PICKS - 7

    This post offers you a selection of recommended free online exercises, games, videos and resources so that you can improve your English language skills while having fun! ENJOY!

    📜READING PICKS – Articles, blog posts, quizzes and more:

    Article from BBC TRAVEL: A country that doesn’t want to be happy, by Kate Leaver,
    Finland came out on top in the 2018 World Happiness Report, but what if its people don’t agree? (Continue reading)

     Article from BBC CAPITAL: The secret advantage of aiming low, by David Robson
    Sports stars show us that it can sometimes pay to be a big fish in a small pond.
    Watching nail-biting sports dramas play out this summer, you may struggle to see any parallel with your own career. What could a teacher, lawyer or engineer possibly learn from elite sports stars like a Raheem Stirling or a Simona Halep?
    Yet some organisational scientists believe the rise of certain athletes – and footballers in particular – can offer success strategies for everyone, with some particular insights into a phenomenon known as the “Big-Fish-Little-Pond effect”. (Continue reading)

    Article from BBC     CULTURE: Five countries that set world culture, by Lindsey Galloway
    Global influence is often measured by military, political or economic might. But for these countries, it’s their food, fashion or entertainment that most strongly impacts the wider world. (Continue reading)

     🎬 VIDEO PICKS – Short and fun videos:

    LESS-THAN-5-MINUTE VIDEOS
    5-TO-10-MINUTE VIDEOS:
    A LITTLE LONGER BUT WORTH IT!
    💬 VOCABULARY PICKS:
    💡 GRAMMAR PICKS – Assorted exercises and games:
    • Random Phrasal Verb Quiz (Test your understanding of phrasal verbs with these random phrasal verb quizzes. Each time you 'start again', it will show you a new quiz generated from a phrasal verbs database.)


    MORE PICKS NEXT WEEK!
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    INTERVIEWS: How to answer the "TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF" interview question

    Interviewers will sometimes start an interview with an open-ended question like, "Tell me about yourself." The question is a way to break the ice and make you feel more comfortable during the interview process. It's also a way for the hiring manager to get insight into your personality to help determine if you're a good fit for the job. This is one of several interview questions about you that you might hear during your interview.

    Sharing too much or too little information isn't a good idea. The interviewer doesn't want to know everything about you, but disclosing too little can make him or her wonder why you aren't more open. Read on for advice on how to respond to this question — and, perhaps more importantly, what not to say in your answer. (GO TO FULL ARTICLE, by ALISON DOYLE)
    (More on YouTube ⇒ Linda Raynier)

    💡 Similar question ⇒ "Tell me something about yourself that's not on your resume"

     Your resume states the facts, but the interviewer wants to know about the person behind the work history to determine whether you’re a good match for the job and the organization.

    To uncover this information, interviewers ask different questions to get an in-depth view of your qualifications for the job, as well as of your personality. Ultimately, they want to know that you’re not only able to carry out the duties of the job, but that you’ll fit in well with the team and the corporate culture. (GO TO FULL ARTICLE, by ALISON DOYLE)

    (Related videos on YouTube ⇒ Work It Daily)

    💡 How to Nail “Tell Me About Yourself” (by Pamela Skillings)

    Think of it as your elevator pitch. An elevator pitch is a short summary used to quickly and simply define a product, service, or business and its value proposition. It answers the question: “Why should I buy/invest?” It should be concise enough to be delivered during a short elevator ride (to the 5th floor, not to the 105th floor).

    You need an elevator pitch for yourself as a job candidate — and it should be customized for different opportunities. Keep it focused and short, ideally less than a minute, and no more than 2 minutes.

    You won’t be able to fit all of your great qualities and resume high points into 2 minutes, so you’ll have to spend some time thinking about how to present yourself in a way that starts the interview on the right note.

    A great answer will address the following:
    • What are your primary selling points for this job? This could be number of years of experience in a particular industry or area of specialization. You might also highlight special training and technical skills here. Focus on the qualifications in the job description and how you meet and exceed the requirements.
    • Why are you interested in this position right now? You can wrap up your answer by indicating why you are looking for a new challenge and why you feel this role is the best next step. (GO TO FULL ARTICLE)

    MORE ON THIS TOPIC:

     🔗 Tell Me About Yourself Internship Interview Question (Students who are in the final stages of their summer internship interviews face one dreaded question: Tell me about yourself. Here is how to answer it.)

    🔗 How to Answer Interview Questions About You (Here are common questions an interviewer will ask you about you; including, sample answers, and tips for the best way to respond.)

    🔗 How to Introduce Yourself at a Job Interview (How to introduce yourself at a job interview, including how to greet the receptionist, and what to say and what to do when you meet the interviewer.)

     🔗 Avoid These Worst Interview Answers (Answers you should not give at a job interview, along with tips on what you can say instead to impress the interviewer.)


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