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Author Archives: barnabyharward
How to translate “nie później niż w ciągu”
I often see the literal translation of this phrase – not later than within. This is always wrong. Here’s an example: POLISH Płatności należy dokonać nie później niż w ciągu pięciu dni od daty otrzymania niniejszego pisma. WRONG The payment … Continue reading
How to write dates
There is a difference between how dates are written in British and American English. In British English dates are usually written in the day-month-year format, for example: 6 October 2017 In American English dates are usually written in the month-day-year … Continue reading
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Tagged abbreviations, British/US English, Numbers, Useful everyday phrases
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How to use “since”
“Since” can be an expression of time, and it can mean “because”. “Since” as a time expression When used to express time, the word “since” means: — from a time in the past until the present — from a time … Continue reading
How to use hyphens and dashes
A hyphen is a short line used in compound words and double-barrelled names. There’s one there in “double-barrelled”, which is a compound word. Hyphens don’t usually have spaces before or after them. A dash is a long line used as a punctuation symbol. … Continue reading
How to translate “ujawnić”
“Ujawnić” seems to have various meanings and can be translated into numerous different words in English. Unfortunately most people regularly choose the wrong word. Here’s a typical example: POLISH W dziale I-Sp księgi wieczystej nr WA4M/00847639/5 ujawnione zostało prawo użytkowania … Continue reading
The difference between countable and uncountable nouns (unit and mass nouns)
Distinguishing between countable nouns (unit nouns) and uncountable nouns (mass nouns) can be very difficult. This area is the source of many mistakes. Unit nouns have two forms, singular and plural: e.g. a chair, chairs. You can say 1 chair, … Continue reading
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Tagged Articles, Countable and uncountable nouns, Nouns, Quantifiers, Singular or plural
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“Prepare for” or “prepare to”?
WRONG She spent three hours preparing to the court hearing. RIGHT She spent three hours preparing for the court hearing. This is a very common mistake. But “prepare” is not always followed by “for”. Sometimes “to” is correct. The rule … Continue reading
The “family is” or the “family are”?
Collective nouns are words that describe groups of people or things, e.g. “family” or “team”. Grammatically they are singular, but as they describe more than one individual, they may also take the plural form of a verb or use a … Continue reading
Communication fail :)
Conversation overheard in a lift: English businessman – So, what does your company do? Polish businessman – Boring. E – Excuse me?… P – Boring. E – [blank stare] P – It is mine company. E – Oh, I see … Continue reading
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Order of adjectives
Remember the film “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”? I didn’t see it either. But it doesn’t matter. The point I’m going to discuss here is why we can’t say “My Greek Fat Big Wedding”. In English there are rules about … Continue reading
Common Mistakes in Business English 