Common Mistakes in English Some Filipinos are not Aware of – Are They Really Wrong?

1. last but not least – Some Filipinos use the expression last but not the least, with the article the.

Questions:  Is it wrong to use it? Can we use it as our own, as a variety of English called Philippine English since nowadays, we  have world Englishes?  Are we not free to use our own version of the native English expression? Strict grammarians will say we cannot use our own wrong expression.

I learned that it’s wrong to put the in the expression last but not least when I was working in an institution that teaches English as a foreign language to Asian students. According to our boss, if you search this phrase on Google, no result will give you the expression last but not the least because it is an idiomatic expression. However, in a research I found on the Internet, last but not the least was used. I was not able to check though the nationality of the writer.

           Also, one time, I came across a game show in our country in which one of the guests is a half-Filipina, half-American who grew up in the United States. While introducing her teammates, she used the expression last but not least, while the host who is a pure Filipino used the phrase last but not the least to introduce other guests. This means that native speakers use the expression last but not least while some Filipinos use the one with the, last but not the least.

2. barking up the wrong tree –Even Filipino educators make this mistake. One time, I was sharing funny jokes with my co-workers and one of my colleagues said, “you are barking at the wrong tree.” I knew there was something wrong with the expression so I said probably it’s wrong to say it that way.

We tried to search it on Google and we found out that the expression really is barking up the wrong  tree. He could not believe it. We ended up analyzing the preposition used, even the way the dog may bark at a tree just to justify that the expression barking at is really wrong.  This expression is an idiomatic expression, it has its own history of usage no matter what forms and structure the idiom has. So it is really barking up the wrong tree.

3.Cope with – Some Filipinos use the expression cope up with. They add up. So where does up come from?

When I was in college, my professor in Development Communication had a habit of giving us a quiz about proper use of words and common grammar mistakes before discussing the lesson for the day. I learned from her that cope up with is wrong. Instead we should use cope with.

           It is true that some Filipinos are not aware of this mistake. Just recently, one of my friends on Facebook posted a status about how he was able to cope with all the challenges he faced. I was quick in correcting him through a private message that he posted a wrong phrase which was “cope up with”. Since he is really a close friend of mine, he thanked me for that.

4. requesting a letter- Some Filipinos write, “I am requesting for a letter”.

 The verb requesting is a transitive verb and a transitive verb needs a direct object. Therefore, after the verb requesting, the direct object which is “a letter”, should go after it.

There are actually other transitive verbs which Filipino use with the preposition for. For instance, I’mcraving for ice cream which should be I’m craving ice cream only. I asked my Australian friend about their usage of the verb craving in their country and he said, “I’m craving ice cream only, without the preposition for.

Another one is the verb order. Some Filipinos say I will order for three bottles of beer. Again with the preposition for. It should be I will  order three bottles of beer.

While discussing this in class, one student asked me, so how do you say we request for your attention? Do you say we request your attention? Yes, you just remove for and say, may I request your kind attention or simply say may I have your attention, please.

5. discuss the topic – Some Filipinos say discuss about the topic. The correct expression is without the preposition about. Again, this is because discuss is a transitive verb.

Conclusion

           The expressions above have fossilized in the system of some Filipinos. Is it wrong to say we should use them correctly because that is Philippine English, that is how we use it?

          For a sociolinguist point of view (my professor in grad school) related to understanding Filipinos’ mistakes (which she mentioned during her talk about the varying English reception posted on The Flame, The official student publication of the UST Faculty of Arts and Letters) we must understand the person’s weaknesses in the English language because we are people of different groups and cultures and our views and feelings toward English differ as well. There are great speakers of the language because they simply love the language. On the other hand, there are those who laugh when a person tries to speak English because of their aversion towards the language.

So which side are you on? Are you using the correct forms when you talk to your fellow Filipinos? What about when you talk to a native speaker? Are you going to cringe at a fellow Filipino who uses the Philippine English expressions above or accept the fact that we have our own political dispositions at the use of the English language?