UNIT 2

Listening

2.1   Listening: Listening for Comprehension and Summarizing What is Listened to

Listening for Comprehension

Comprehension simply means the ability to understand something. It comprises of the multiple processes involved in hearing, understanding and making sense of the spoken language. This includes grasping various speech sounds and understanding the syntax of sentences. Comprehension can also include the process of understanding how the presentation of sentences changes meaning.

Listening comprehension comprises of the multiple processes involved in hearing, understanding and making sense of the spoken language. This includes grasping various speech sounds and understanding the syntax of sentences. Listening comprehension can also include the process of understanding how the presentation of sentences changes meaning.

It is often contested that speaking as a skill is more important than listening which is a common misconception. Listening is as important a skill as speaking if not more, as it is only by listening one can learn proper pronunciation and intonation of words which allows him to speak fluently.

Oral language skills including listening comprehension also are important for writing development. Although oral language skills aren't explicitly laid out in the developmental models of writing, they are essential component skills as writing requires generation of ideas, which then need to be translated into oral language.

There are two ways in which a person can listen to something being said to them – active and passive. Passive listening is listening without giving the speaker your full attention. Passive listening is like not listening at all therefore one must always give the speaker their full attention and practice active listening in order to fully grasp the meaning of what the speaker wants to say.

Importance of Listening Comprehension

It is often contested that speaking as a skill is more important than listening which is a common misconception. Listening is as important a skill as speaking if not more, as it is only by listening one can learn proper pronunciation and intonation of words which allows him to speak fluently.

Oral language skills including listening comprehension also are important for writing development. Although oral language skills aren't explicitly laid out in the developmental models of writing, they are essential component skills as writing requires generation of ideas, which then need to be translated into oral language.

Below are some areas where listening skills can prove to be extremely important:

Academic Importance

When one focuses on the material presented in a classroom, they will be able to identify not only the words used in a lecture but their emphasis and their more complex meanings. They will take better notes, and will more accurately remember the instructor’s claims, information, and conclusions. Many times, instructors provide oral cues about what is likely to appear in an examination, specific expectations for assignments and instructions on specific study material, hence active listening can be extremely beneficial.

Social Importance

In a social setting, if a person genuinely listens to other people, they are often considered to be a good friend. Most people prefer "good listeners" over people who won't stop giving advice without even listening to a word the speaker is saying. Many people just wait for their turn to speak instead of trying to understand what someone is saying to them. Therefore, listening skills also help with one's social relationships.

Perceptual Importance

A person who has the ability to listen properly is often considered an intelligent person. It is essential to let someone finish their thoughts before giving voice to one's own opinions. Listening silently while someone is speaking gives them a sign that they are being heard. This creates an image of a smart individual in the mind of the speaker.

Important for Public Speaking

When one listen's well to others without interrupting, they begin gathering up on more impressive ways to organize and present arguments. Which helps one understand how people think and what are the factors that influence them. While speaking publicly this can be helpful as one can assume how people will react to a certain argument. This also helps in connecting with people in general and potentially influencing them.

Types of Listening Comprehension

There are a few different methods of effective listening, and each one is suited to specific circumstances. Here are descriptions of the main types of listening and the scenarios in which you would be likely to use them:

1. Discriminative listening:

Discriminative listening is the first form of listening humans develop as babies. This type of listening does not focus on words but rather the tone of voice and other subtleties of sound to understand meaning and intention. Babies don’t understand words, but they rely on their discriminative listening to understand who is speaking and what mood is being communicated. As an adult, you may find yourself relying on discriminative listening when people around you are speaking a foreign language that you don’t understand. Though you may lack the language skills to understand the words being spoken, you can rely on the tone of voice and inflection to derive a vague meaning. When you can only rely on discriminative listening, you may turn to visual stimuli. The mannerisms, facial expressions, and body language of a speaker help clue you in to the speaker’s message.

Comprehensive listening is the next level of critical listening skills that humans usually develop in early childhood. Comprehensive listening requires language skills and a grasp of basic vocabulary to understand what is being communicated through by the speaker. Comprehensive listening covers most other forms of listening that critical listeners utilize. Through the course of their day-to-day lives, people use comprehensive listening paired with verbal cues to understand what messages are being communicated to them.

Informational listening (or informative listening) is the type of listening practices during the process of learning. Informational listening builds upon basic comprehensive listening and requires a high level of concentration and engagement to understand new concepts and comprehend technical jargon. Informational listening has less to do with the emotional content of what is being communicated and more to do with critical thinking and following a logical sequence as it is communicated. When you try to learn important skills that are being taught to you, it’s vital that you pay attention and use informational listening skills.

Critical listening is the style of listening people use when they are trying to analyse and judge complex information that is being communicated to them. You might use critical listening if you’re problem-solving on the job and trying to decide if you agree with a proposal being floated by one of your co-workers. The word “critical” has multiple meanings, but in this case it simply means that you are evaluating information—not necessarily passing judgment.

Biased listening (or selective listening) is a type of selective listening where the listener only tries to understand what they want to hear. Biased listening is different from critical listening because the listener is not actually listening to the speaker's opinions but instead trying to confirm their own opinions. People generally do not realize that they are using a biased listening process. Biased listening can lead to a falsification of facts in the mind of a listener who is not in harmony with to what a speaker intends to communicate.

Sympathetic listening is an emotionally-driven type of relationship listening, wherein a listener processes the feelings and emotions of a speaker and tries to provide support and understanding in return. You might use sympathetic listening when a child tells you about trouble they had at school. In this case sympathetic listening is used to make the child feel heard and provide them with comfort and support. Sympathetic is useful in trying to establish a deep connection with another person, especially when that person is experiencing adversity.

Therapeutic or empathetic listening is a listening process wherein a listener tries to understand the point of view of a speaker and imagines themselves directly in the speaker’s position. Empathetic listening (sometimes referred to as empathic listening) goes a step further than sympathetic listening in that an empathic listener will relate to the speaker’s experience as if it were their own.

Summarizing What is Listened To

One of the foremost important aspects of listening for educational study is listening so as to create use of the ideas of others. This is important as you need to point out that you have understood the materials you have heard which you'll use their ideas and findings in your own way. In fact, this can be a necessary skill for every student.

Spack has acknowledged that the most important skill a student can engage in is "the complex activity to jot down from other texts", which is "a major component of their educational experience." it's vital to employ your own words when you summarize, unless you're quoting. You must make it clear when the words or ideas that you are using are your own and once they are taken from another writer. You must not use another person's words or ideas as if they were your own: this is often Plagiarism and plagiarism is thought to be an awfully serious offence.

A summary typically, is a shortened version of a text. It contains the central points within the text and is written in your own words. It is a combination of reducing an extended text to a brief text and selecting relevant information. A good summary shows your grasp over the content and that you have understood the text.

The following stages may be useful:

1. Listen to and understand the text carefully.

2. Think about the purpose of the text.

• Ask what the author's purpose is in speaking the text?
• What is your purpose in writing your summary?
• Are you summarising to support your points?
• Or the reason for summarising is that you'll criticise the work before introducing your main points?

3. Select the relevant information. This depends on your purpose.

4. Find the central ideas - what is important.

• They may be found in topic sentences.
• Distinguish between main and subsidiary information.
• Get rid of most details and examples, unimportant information, anecdotes, examples, illustrations, data etc.
• Find alternative words/synonyms for these words/phrases - don't change specialised vocabulary and customary words.

5. Change the structure of the text.

• Identify and establish the meaning and relationships between the words/ideas - e.g. Cause/effect, generalisation, contrast. Look at Paragraphs: Signalling for more information. Express these relationships in a different way.
• Change the grammar of the text: rearrange words and sentences, change nouns to verbs, adjectives to adverbs, etc., divide long sentences, combine short sentences.
• Simplify the text. Convert complex sentences to simple sentences, simple sentences to phrases, phrases to single words.

6. Rewrite the main ideas in complete sentences. Combine your notes into a chunk of continuous writing. Use conjunctions and adverbs like 'therefore', 'however', 'although', 'since', to indicate the connections between the ideas.

7. Check your work.

• Make sure your purpose is clear.
• Make sure the meaning is the same.
• Make sure the style is your own.

2.2   Speaking: Group Discussion

Group Discussion Meaning

A group discussion is a communicative situation that consists of more than two participants who share their views and opinions with other participants. It is an organized way of exchanging information, views and opinions about a problem, issue or topic among the members of a group who share some common objectives.

A group discussion is less formal when compared to meetings as it may have no structured order or specific agenda depending upon the requirement. The leadership is also less directive in group discussions as compared to meetings.

Group discussions emphasize process over product. Meaning, the emphasis in a group discussion is on how the participants interact with each other rather than the ultimate outcome of the discussion.

Guidelines for Group Discussions

Below are the areas which are to be kept in mind for developing group discussion skills:

A)    Contents: What you say during a conversation is viewed from twoperspectives - complementary and holistic. The participant may have said a lot to GD, but he or she may have deviated from the topic too much, where the content was considered inappropriate without further scrutiny. If the content is relevant to the topic, the panel assesses whether your content management is excessive or in depth, a distinction that we will discuss in more detail in the next few posts.

B) Analytical skills: The panel is confident about your facts, but also likes to see if you can explore anything 'why' and 'how' about a subject matter. This is put to the strongest test in the case study article.

C) Consultation Skills: The panel looks at how you support your position, and how you respond to others, how you can 'strengthen or weaken' the debate, how reasonable you are in your handling of the topic.

D) Organizational Skills: You can have facts, supports, explanations, but are you able to present them in the right order to maximize the impact of your good content? The panel wants to explore this.

E) Communication Skills: You may be able to demonstrate all of the above-mentioned skills, but can you get your point across in a language that is simple (not simple) that they understand, with relevant images that they can understand?

F) Authorship: Are you able to bring to the table an idea of ​​a passage on a topic? Can you look at the problem differently from the other ten participants and suggest a solution? Can you translate a mysterious article in ways that others can? If yes, the panel considers you to be one of the rare personality symptoms.

Principles of Group Discussion

Given below are the principles of a group discussion:

1. All members of the group should get a chance to speak about the given topic freely. They must be allowed to express their thoughts, opinions and feelings without restraint and also should be allowed to peruse and finish their thoughts completely without interruptions.
2. All members of the group should be able to hear each other’s ideas and thoughts without any hindrance.
3. Group members should be allowed to test unformed ideas and explore new territories.
4. All members should be able to receive and provide constructive feedback. Feedback could be positive, negative or merely a correction of factual errors but must always be done respectfully.
5. Since the discussion is one a singular topic, there are bound to be arguments and disagreements. Therefore, it must be always kept in mind that the group discussion serves a common purpose that is to inform and educate.
6. A large number of thoughts and ideas should be discussed with different perceptions on them from all members instead of sticking to only facts.
7. No group discussion should be dominated by a single person, all members should be given an equal chance to speak.
8. Group discussions must be thought provoking and inspiring. Members must always feel like they are learning while involved in a group discussion.

Importance of Group Discussions

Below are the reasons why group discussions are considered important:

     Better understanding of the subject: GD offers a great opportunity to the discussants to take a deep dive into the subject, and understand it profoundly. It expands the horizon of knowledge and learning. In addition, it extends a chance to the participants to improve their abilities to think critically and develop their analytical skills.

     Solve problems: Since GD brings together a group of people holding diverse opinions, it also perceived as one of the sought after ways to arrive at solutions to problems. Because of the fact that people bring in a wide range of insights, GDs help in changing the thought process from a narrow to a wider view, thereby paving the way to solutions.

     Improve listening skills and confidence: Since GDs necessitate the contribution of ideas and thoughts, the participants are required to be listen keenly to others’ observations. In this sense, group discussions are a fantastic way to enhance listening skills, and also boost the confidence of speakers by engaging them and encouraging them to express their thoughts.

     Enhance communication and interpersonal skills: While one aspect of GDs is that it encourages people to share their knowledge, the other important aspect is that it gives an opportunity to people to build their communication skills. The participants, in the process, learn how to express their ideas while also respecting viewpoints of others. This in turn contributes to the development of interpersonal skills among the peer group.

     Team building exercise: GDs help in developing teamwork and leadership attributed in people, which are extremely important in the current context. Working in a group helps them increase tolerance and respect towards others, and also how to unanimously arrive at conclusions.

2.3  Reading: Identifying the Structure of the Text, Transition Words and Linkers

Identifying the Structure of the Text

Text structure is the way in which information is organized in a passage.  The structure of a text can change many times in a text and sometimes even within the passage itself. Readers are often asked to identify text structures or patterns of organization in a test or for checking understanding of the text. Also, grasping text structures can help readers make and interpret arguments. For the aforementioned reasons it is essential that readers are exposed to the various patterns of organization. 

Readers experience a variety of text structures. They select specific comprehension strategies that fit a specific text based on knowledge of how the data is organized. Readers can anticipate what information is going to be revealed in a selection after they understand text structure. Organizing ideas for synthesizing and summarizing becomes possible for the readers by understanding the pattern of the text.

Authors make decisions about how to present information. They make a choice from a range of structures to organize the information for readers:

Chronological/Sequence: (Time/Order)

Articles reveal events in a sequence from starting to end. There are some common terms that indicate a chronological structure of the text, they include: first, then, next, finally, and specific dates and times.

Cause/Effect:

Informational texts often describe cause and effect relationships. Causal factors are implied or identified in the text because of the way in which the various events are described.

Problem/Solution:

The text describes a problem and presents solutions.

Compare/Contrast:

Author uses comparisons to describe ideas. Similes, metaphors, and analogies are used.

Description:

Sensory details help readers visualize information.

Directions:

How-to-texts frame the data in a series of directions.

Guiding questions, one must ask in order to identify the structure of a text:

• Skim the text for titles, subtitles, headings, subheadings and key words or central themes. How is the information in the text organized?
• What is the framework used by the writer to organize the information? Chronological? Cause/Effect? Problem/Solution? Compare/Contrast? Description? Directions?
• Is there presence of a combination of structures?
• How did the author organize the text to be “reader-friendly”?
• Which features helped you collect information from the text?

Transition Words and Linkers

In simple terms, transition words are used to link words, phrases or sentences. They help the reader to progress from one idea expressed by the writer, to another idea in the same vein. Therefore, transition words and linkers are important as they help the reader to establish coherent relationships within the text.

Transition words can typically be found at the start of a new sentence or clause followed by a comma, thereby defining how the clause or sentence relates to the previous one. Linguists often emphasize that there is a lack of reliable data to establish a clear correlation between these variables. However, it has been debated that a relationship does exist. Transition words may also be found in the middle of a clause or sentence. To convey the intended meaning, it’s important to place them correctly in a passage.

Transition words and linkers perform a vital function in writing. They act as signals which allow the reader to understand the direction the writer is taking. They facilitate this by connecting or linking ideas or concepts within a paragraph and providing a bridge between passages. While reading, it is essential to remember to proofread the text in order to make sure transitions are used effectively.

Below are examples of commonly used transition words and linkers and their functions:

To show addition:

Additionally

Again

Also

And,

Another

Besides

Finally

First, second, etc.

Further

Furthermore

Incidentally

Lastly

Likewise

Moreover

Next

Nor

Too

Along with

As well

Equally important

For example

For instance

In addition

What’s more

To show temporality:

About

After

Afterward

At

Before

Currently

During

Eventually

Finally

First, etc.

Following

Formerly

Immediately

Later

Meanwhile

Next

Next week

Previously

Soon

Subsequently

Then

Thereafter

Till

Today, etc.

Until

When

After a few hours

As soon as

In the future

Soon after

To show location:

Above

Across

Adjacent

Against

Along

Among

Along

Among

Around

Behind

Below

Beneath

Beside

Between

Beyond

By

Down

Inside

Into

Here

Near

Nearby

Off

Onto

Outside

Over

There

Throughout

Under

Away from

At the side

In the back

In back of

In the background,

In the distance

In the front

In the foreground

On top of

To the right

To show comparison:

Also

As

Like

Likewise

Meanwhile

Similarly

Simultaneously

After all

At the same time

By and large

In comparison

In the same way

In the same manner

In the same way

To show contrast:

Although

But

Conversely

However

Nevertheless

Nonetheless

Notwithstanding

Otherwise

Still

True

Yet

Although this is

And yet

Even though

For all that

In contrast

On the contrary

On the other hand

While this is true

To emphasize a point:

Again

Obviously

Truly

Undoubtedly

As a matter of

Fact

For this reason

In fact

To emphasize

To repeat

To give examples:

Namely

Specifically

As an illustration

For example

For instance

To demonstrate

To illustrate

To introduce as a result:

Accordingly

Consequently

So

Therefore

Thus

As a result

Due to this

To introduce conclusions:

Accordingly

Consequently

Finally

Hence

So

Therefore

Thus

As a result

In brief

In conclusion

In short

In summary

On the whole

To conclude

To summarize:

Finally, by and large

In brief

In conclusion

In summary

On the whole

Summing up

To conclude

2.4  Writing: Punctuation, use of Phrases and Clauses in Sentences

Punctuation

Marks of punctuation play an extremely significant role in giving proper meaning to the language. Use of incorrect mark of punctuation or even wrong position of mark of punctuation can change the meaning of the sentence totally and sometimes even change the sentence to absolute nonsense.

Punctuation is essential for the following reasons:

• Punctuation separates sentences.
• Punctuation shows us when to pause.
• Punctuation shows us where to place emphasis.
• Punctuation clarifies the meaning of the sentence.

Ambiguous, unpunctuated sentences can change the meaning and confuse the reader.

The comma is considered a real villain among marks of punctuation. Incorrect position of comma can give different meaning to sentence depending upon where it is positioned.

Let us see the following sentences:

• Let us eat, daddy.
• Let us eat daddy.

In the primary sentence daddy is being called for dinner. On the other hand, in the next sentence, daddy himself has become a thing to be eaten. Slip of comma in this case has changed the primary sentence to absolute non-sense.

• Hang him, not let him free
• Hang him not, let him free.

In above sentences, just changing comma by one place has entirely misrepresented the meaning of the sentence.

In 1872, incorrect placement of comma cost millions of dollars in import duties to US government. In a tariff act approved in 1872, list of duty-free items added: “Fruit plants, tropical & semi tropical.”

A government officer put the mark of comma at wrong place, which made the sentence read: “Fruit, plants tropical & semi tropical.”

Importers productively contested in the courts that the course as written meant that all tropical & semitropical plants were free from expense of duty.

Next pairs of can also encourage anybody on the subject of right use of marks of punctuation sentences:

• The murderer protested his innocence an hour after he was hanged.
• The murderer protested his innocence. An hour after, he was hanged.

The primary sentence without comma is an absolute nonsense. It means that the murderer protested his innocence after he was hanged!

1. Private- No swimming allowed.
2. Private? No. Swimming allowed.

In the second sentence, addition of a question mark and full stop has transformed personal possessions to public possessions.

• I am sorry you cannot come with us.
• I am sorry. You cannot come with us.

• The butler stood by the door & called the guests’ names.
• The butler stood by the door & called the guests names.

• The criminal, says the judge, should be hanged.
• The criminal says, the judge should be hanged.

Changing the comma by just one place has entirely misrepresented the meaning of the sentence. In the next sentence, it is not the criminal but the judge who should be hanged.

& finally

• The inspector said, “The teacher is a fool.”
• “The inspector,” said the teacher “is a fool.” (Here the inspector is called a fool)

The above given sentences are to show the significance of use of not only correct mark of punctuation, but their right position also.

Use of Phrases in Sentences

Phrases are combinations of two or more words that form the component of a clause. They are meaningful grammatical constructions that expresses a concept and can be used within a sentence.

There are 5 basic types of phrases in the English language:

1. Noun Phrase:

A noun phrase is a type of phrase which consists of one noun and/or a group of words surrounding that noun. These nouns can be proper nouns, common nouns, abstract nouns etc.

Examples: There is a red box on the table.

I saw two lost puppies on the street yesterday.

He bought a new sports car on his birthday.

2.     Verb Phrase:

A verb phrase is a type of phrase which consists of a root verb and its auxiliaries. It is also known as a ‘verb group’.

Examples: They have been working since last night.

I have been waiting for the rain to stop for nearly an hour.

Jack lost the keys to his apartment when he was jogging.

3.     Adjective Phrase:

Adjective phrases are phrases constructed around a single adjective. It may be a single adjective or a group of words surrounding that adjective.

Examples: The film was very boring, wasn’t it?

I ate a very big meal for lunch.

The blue umbrella stood out in a crowd of all red umbrellas.

4.     Adverb phrase:

Adverb phrases consist of a single adverb and a group of supporting words surrounding that adverb.

Examples: They finished the task as fast as possible.

Please do it now, otherwise you’ll regret later.

He spoke very softly in front of his parents.

5.     Prepositional phrase:

A prepositional phrase is a type of phrase which consists of a preposition which is followed by its object which is usually a noun phrase.

Examples: They kept quarrellingover money of all things.

The coin was stuck inside a large black futon.

You shouldn’t go swimming after having a large meal.

Use of Clauses in Sentences

Adjective Clause

As the name suggests, it is a clause that acts as an adjective. These are always dependent. They can't stand on their own as sentences but are instead attached to independent clauses in order to modify nouns.

Take a complex sentence such as "The table that we bought last week is already broken." Here, the clause that we bought last week is an adjective clause that modifies table.

Adjective questions

How can you tell if a clause is an adjective one? It's pretty simple: once you have identified a dependent clause, try to identify the noun it's modifying. Adjective clauses can tell one of several things about that noun:

• What kind?
• How many?
• Which one?

Let us look at the previous example!

• The table that we bought last week is already broken.

In this particular sentence, "that we bought last week" is answering the question "which one?" by telling us which table we're talking about.

Here are a few examples where adjective clauses are in bold and the modified noun - in italics to tell you more about the topic.

• The student who gets the highest grade will receive a prize. (Which one?)
• She gave her extra ticket to the girl whose ticket never arrived. (Which one?)
• They drove by the house where he lives. (Which one?)
• We need to find a car that gets better gas mileage. (What kind?)
• This necklace, which is one of my favourites, will look great with that dress. (What kind?)
• All the cookies that we have are stale. (How many?)

Adjective clause signifiers

You'll notice that all these phrases start with the same few words. These fall into one of two groups: relative pronoun and relative adjective. Looking for these words in sentences can help you locate the needed clauses.

• Relative pronouns: who, whom, whose, that, which.
• Relative adverbs: when, where, why.
• Punctuating adjective clauses

You may also have noticed that in some examples above the adjective clause is set off by commas. How can you tell if it needs to be punctuated or if it can be left alone? The key is to look at what role the clause plays in the sentence. If it's necessary - that is, if the sentence doesn't make sense without it - then you don't need to use commas. By removing the adjective clause from the first example above, we lose a necessary piece of information that changes the meaning of the sentence:

• The student who gets the highest grade will receive a prize. - The student will receive a prize.

On the other hand, when we remove the adjective clause here, the main idea of the sentence remains intact:

• This necklace, which is one of my favourites, will look great with that dress. - This necklace will look great with that dress.

When the adjective clause isn't necessary to the sentence, it should be set apart by commas.

Generally, if the adjective clause is needed to clear up any ambiguity about which noun is being talked about. I.e., we need it in order to know which student will receive the prize - so it's essential. If we already know which specific noun we're talking about (i.e., this necklace), the adjective clause is just adding more information. Meaning it is not essential to the sentence. Often, this distinction is unclear. But, you could make a case either way, so don't worry too much if you have trouble identifying essential and inessential clauses.

Nominal or Noun Clauses

At this point, you can probably guess that a noun clause is a clause that acts as a noun.

Also called nominal clauses, these dependent clauses can function in a sentence just like any other noun. They can be a subject, subject complement, direct object, indirect object, the object of a preposition, or an appositive. I.e., "Why you ate all that cake is a mystery to me." Here, the clause why you ate all that cake is acting as a noun and is the subject of the sentence.

Because nominal clauses act like nouns, there's no set of particular questions they answer, since they're not modifying any other words in the sentence. Below are some examples with the nominal clauses in italics and the function of the noun in parentheses.

• Where you want to go is up to you. (subject)
• Whether you open the present now or later depends on when your parents get here. (subject)
• Your art project can be whatever you want. (subject complement)
• Give the ball to whomever asks for it first. (indirect object)
• Hand whatever papers you have over to the teacher. (direct object)

Noun clause signifiers

Noun clauses start with interrogatives (words that ask questions) or expletives (words that explain relationships).

Interrogatives: who, whom, what, which, why, when, where, whoever, whomever, whatever.

Expletives: that, whether, if.

Adverb Clauses

A close cousin of the adjective clause, the adverbial one, functions in much the same way, except it modifies nouns or adjectives. In the sentence, "I'll be working until we finish the project," the clause until we finish the project is an adverbial clause that modifies the verb phrase be working.

Adverb questions

Adverbial clauses can be identified by several specific questions they answer. They will tell you one of a few things about the verb of the main sentence:

• How?
• When?
• Why?
• Where?
• To what degree?

In the above example - I'll be working until we finish the project - the phrase until we finish the project tells us when we'll be working. Here are a few more examples with the adverbial phrase in bold and the word being modified in italics:

• My sister will come to the party even if she's tired. (How?)
• I'll wash the dishes after I eat dinner. (When?)
• She scrubbed the floor until it was spotless. (When?)
• Because you got here late, you'll need to fill out these forms. (Why?)
• Rather than buying a new car, she chose to have her old one fixed. (Why?)
• Wherever you go, I'll find you. (Where?)
• Alex will enjoy the movie more than his sister will. (To what degree?)
• The hostess wouldn't seat us because the restaurant was closed. (Why?)
• The seeds will take root wherever there is enough light. (Where?)

Adverbial clause signifiers

Adverbial phrases start with subordinate conjunctions. Those are words that join together an independent and dependent clause while indicating which is the subordinate (or secondary) clause.

Subordinate conjunctions:

• After
• Although
• As
• Because
• Before
• Even if
• Even
• Though
• If
• In order
• That
• Once
• Provided
• That
• Rather
• Than
• Since
• So that
• Then
• Though
• Unless
• Until
• When
• Whenever
• Where
• Whereas
• Wherever
• Whether
• While
• Why

Punctuating adverbial clauses

Like adjective clauses, adverbial ones are sometimes set off by commas. However, in this case, it's their placement in the sentence that determines how they're punctuated. Clauses that begin the sentence should be separated from the main clause with a comma. Those added at the end of the main clause do not need one:

• Rather than buying a new car, she chose to have her old one fixed.
• She chose to have her old car fixed rather than buying a new one.

2.5   Grammar: Articles, use of Prepositions

Articles

Articles are words that precede a noun and define the specificity of that noun. In other words, they imply how specific a particular noun is.

There are two types of Articles in the English language, Definite and Indefinite Articles.

1. Definite Article

The definite article is the word ‘the’. This article is only used when a particular place, thing or activity is being referred to. It limits the meaning to one particular thing or activity.

For example, in the sentence “I won’t be attending the party this weekend.” ‘The’ is used before the noun party therefore it refers to a specific party which the subject is talking about. The definite article can be used with both singular and plural words.

Uses of “The”:

1. The definite article can be used to make general things specific, for example, “Please pass me a pen.” when changed to “Please pass me the pen.” Changes the meaning of the sentence entirely. In the former the subject requests for a pen in general whereas in the latter he refers to a specific pen.
2. ‘The’ is used by geographical areas such as rivers, mountains, seas, oceans etc.

“The Middle East”, “The Atlantic Ocean”, “The Himalayas”

c.      Unique things always requite the article ‘the’

“The Sun”, “The Moon”

d.     Musical instruments use ‘the’

“He plays the cello.”

e.     Countries generally don’t use articles in front but if their names are plural they use the article ‘the’

“The Netherlands”, “The United States of America”

f.        Abbreviations and classes of people always use the article ‘the’

“The U.N” “The Poor” “The British” “The IMF”

2.     Indefinite Article

The Indefinite Article is of two types, namely, ‘a’ and ‘an’. The word ‘a’ is used when it precedes a word that starts with a consonant and the word ‘an’ is used when it precedes a word that starts with a vowel. Unlike the Definite Article, the Indefinite Articles refer to a general idea and not a particular one. The Indefinite Article only appears with singular nouns. For example, in the sentences “I would like a good book to read.” Or “I am craving for an apple pie.” The subject talks about books or apple pies in general rather than a specific book or apple pie.

Uses of ‘a’ and ‘an’:

1. Uncountable nouns cannot use either ‘a’ or ‘an’. For example advice is an uncountable noun, therefore a sentence such as “Can you give me an advice.” Does not make sense. Rather “Can you give me some advice.” Is more appropriate.
2. Jobs use Indefinite Articles

“I want to become a teacher” “My dream is to become an actor”

c.      There are a couple of exceptions to the overall rule of employing ‘a’ before words that start with consonants and ‘an’ before words that begin with vowels. The first letter of the word honour, for instance, may be a consonant, but it’s unpronounced. In spite of the way it is spelled, the word honour begins with a vowel. Therefore, we use an. For example, consider the following sentences:
My mother is a honest woman.
My mother is an honest woman.

d.     When the first letter of a word is a vowel but is pronounced with a consonant sound, the article 'a' must be used. For example:

She is a United States senator.

She is a United States senator.

Use of Articles

     The use of A/An with plural Or uncountable noun:

a fact = OK (singular)

a facts = INCORRECT (plural)

An information = INCORRECT (uncountable)

An advice = INCORRECT (uncountable)

a piece of advice = OK (“piece” is countable)

a pants / a glasses / a scissors = INCORRECT (plural)

a pair of pants/glasses/scissors = OK (“pair” is countable)

a rice = INCORRECT (uncountable)

a grain of rice = OK (“grain” is countable)

a work = INCORRECT (uncountable)

a job / a task / a project = OK (countable)

     The articles ‘A’ and ‘An’ always follow the sound, not the letter

a university (pronounced like you – ni – ver – si – ty)

An umbrella (pronounced like um – brel – la)

a hat (h is not silent)

An hour (h is silent)

An X-ray (pronounced like ex – ray)

An NGO(pronounced like en – gee – oh)

a non-governmental organization(when we say the full words, they start with the N sound)

     The use of A and An without a noun following it.

I am a Japanese. = INCORRECT(“Japanese” is an adjective, not a noun)

I am Japanese. = OK

He is an intelligent. = INCORRECT(“intelligent” is an adjective, not a noun)

He is intelligent. = OK

He is an intelligent man. = OK(now it’s OK because we have the noun “man” after “an intelligent”)

     The use of "The" for Singular or Plural and for Countable or Uncountable nouns, when something specific is being talked about (Not General)

I love pasta.(general)

I love the pasta at that restaurant.(specific)

That store sells furniture.(general)

The furniture in my living room is all new.(specific)

Vegetables are good for you.(general)

The vegetables at the market are always fresh.(specific)

I need advice. (general)

The advice you gave me was very helpful. (specific)

     Use of the article "The" for proper nouns:

• NAMES OF CONTINENTS/COUNTRIES*/STATES/CITIES/STREETS:

We’re traveling around Asia for three months.

I’d like to visit Russia.

Paris is my favourite city in Europe.

Have you ever been to California?

They live on Rosewood Avenue.

*Exceptions: the United States (the U.S.), the United Kingdom (the U.K.), the Philippines, the Czech Republic, the Central African Republic, the Marshall Islands

• COMPANIES & UNIVERSITIES*

My uncle works at Samsung.

Microsoft reported high profits this quarter.

She graduated from Harvard.

New York University is very large.

*Exceptions: If the university’s name BEGINS with “university,” then use “the”:

The University of Pennsylvania, the University of Miami

• LANGUAGES & HOLIDAYS

I’m studying Spanish.

He speaks Italian.

My whole family gets together at Christmas.

The office will be closed on New Year’s Day.

     "The" can be used while referring for certain places:

• DO NOT USE THE WITH INDIVIDUAL LAKES OR MOUNTAINS:

Mount Everest is the highest mountain the world.

We went sailing on Lake Ontario.

• USE THE WITH OCEANS, RIVERS, VALLEYS, DESERTS, MOUNTAIN RANGES, POINTS ON GLOBE:

The Pacific Ocean

The Amazon River

The San Fernando Valley

The Sahara Desert

The Swiss Alps, the Rocky Mountains

The North/South Pole, the Equator

• DO NOT USE THE WITH THE FOLLOWING PLACES:

I’m going home.

She’s at work.

He’s in jail.

We attend church.

My kids went to bed.

My brother’s in high school.

My sister’s in college.

• USE THE WITH THE FOLLOWING PLACES:

I went to the bank.

Let’s go to the movies.

He gets home from the office around 7.

My grandfather’s in the hospital.

I’ll stop by the post office after lunch.

I caught a taxi to the airport.

I’ll pick you up at the train station.

We’re waiting at the bus stop.

We took my son to the doctor.

Prepositions

A preposition is a word that connects the noun/pronoun in a sentence to the other parts of the sentence such as the verbs and adjectives. It determines the relationship between the nouns, pronouns and the other words in a sentence.

They help one understand the relationships of logic, space and sequence between the different parts of a sentence.

Below are few examples of prepositions commonly used in the English language:

1. I just came back from the U.S.
2. The book is inside the drawer.
3. The kid threw a stone into the lake.

A preposition cannot be plural or possessive. Sometimes prepositions can also act as nouns, verbs and adverbs.

Types of Prepositions

1. Prepositions of Time:

These prepositions indicate when something happens, will happen or has happened in any point in time.

Prepositions of time include at, on, in, before, during, after.

Examples:

1. John was born on the 7th of August.
2. David left his job in 2012.
3. Amy ate lots of fruits during her pregnancy.

2.     Prepositions of Place:

These prepositions usually indicate the position of a particular thing or person. The three most common prepositions of time are on, at and in.

These prepositions may also indicate the time along with place but depending on their use it can be easily ascertained what they are referring to.

Examples:

1. The ball is in the court.
2. The clothes are on the top shelf.
3. I was at the supermarket just yesterday.

3.     Prepositions of Direction or Movement:

Prepositions of movement indicate the direction in which a person or an object is moving.

‘To’ is the most commonly used preposition of movement.

Examples:

1. I went to shop for groceries but all the shops were closed.
2. He took his dog to the park.

The other prepositions of direction or movement are across, though, over, down, up, past, around.

4.     Prepositions of Manner:

Prepositions of manner describe the way in which things take place or means by which things happen.

Prepositions of manner include by, in, like, with, on.

Examples:

1. I like travelling by car.
2. She went to the school in a taxi.
3. Jacob sings like a professional.
4. He reacted with pity when he saw the poor cat.

5.     Preposition of Agents or Instruments:

Preposition of Agents or Instruments describe the action conducted by a person or object on another person or object.

Most common prepositions of these types are by and with.

Examples:

1. The song was recorded by James.
2. He cuts his hair with a clipper.

6.     Prepositions of Possession:

Prepositions of Possession indicate the owing or owning of an object. It also can be used when something is own to someone. Prepositions of possession include of, with and to.

Examples:

1. This is the car of my niece.
2. He said he saw a man with a green umbrella.
3. This jacket belongs to my grandfather.

Use of Prepositions

The use of prepositions in sentences can be a difficult task. Propositions are sometimes short and very common (e.g., at, in and on), and may have several uses depending on the context, which can make it difficult to know which preposition to use.

Below are some common errors to avoid with prepositions:

1. Temporal Errors

The use of 'in' and 'at' depends on the time of the day. For example, in sentences we always use the preposition “in” with “morning,” “afternoon,” and “evening.” But the preposition 'at' is used when talking about the night:

• Helen goes running in the morning.
• Tim goes running in the afternoon.
• Shirley goes running in the evening.
• Bob goes running at night.

b.     Spatial Errors (In and at vs. To)

The preposition 'to' can be used to discuss journeys (e.g., “I’m going to Tasmania”). But if the word “arrive,” is present in a sentence we use “in” or “at” to describe reaching a destination. For instance:

• She arrived in Tasmania just after lunch.
• He arrived at the restaurant five minutes late.

The use of “in” or “at” typically depends on the destination:

The preposition “in” for cities, countries or other large areas. While the preposition “at” is used for specific places (e.g., a library, a bar, or someone’s house).

c.      Time, Days, Months, and Years (At, On, and In)

Different prepositions are used in different contexts while referring to time in days, months and years.

If a time of the day is being referred, the correct term is “at”:

• The party starts at 9pm.

If a specific day or date is being referred, we use “on”:

• The party is on Saturday.

While referring to a month or year, the correct preposition is “in”:

• We’re having a party in April.

d.     Helping verbs

With auxiliary verbs such as “should” or “must.”, the preposition "of" is used.

• Exception: I should of gone to bed earlier. ✗

However, this is an error. The correct word here isn’t even a preposition.

Rather, the verb “have,” must be used which sounds a bit like “of” when spoken (hence the confusion). Thus, it should say:

I should have gone to bed earlier. ✓

e.     Present Continuous Tense

If something has been happening from a long time, we use “for” when referring to a length of time (e.g., a period of hours, days, or months):

• I’ve been writing for six hours.

But if a specific time is used as a point of reference, we use “since”:

• I’ve been writing since breakfast.

The difference here is that the first refers to a measure of time, while the second refers to a fixed point in the past when the activity began.

f.        Talking About and Discussing

“Talking” and “discussing” are similar activities, so people often treat these words as interchangeable. However, only the preposition “about” must be used after “talking.” For example:

• We’re talking about extreme sports. ✓
• We’re discussing extreme sports. ✓
• We’re discussing about extreme sports. ✗

2.6  Vocabulary: Root words from Other Languages

English is part of the German branch of the family of Indo-European language, so why is it so influenced in Latin and Greek? Although the origin of the English languages ​​was introduced in England at the beginning of the 5th century by people from Denmark and Germany, the language was not entirely different from what we speak today.

When the Normans, a number of French Catholics, invaded the British islands in 1066, they came with their two languages: Latin and French. Because they were a ruling party long after the invasion, English became the language of the weak, effectively forcing English speakers to accept Latin and French words in their own language to match. Since the Renaissance began, nearly 500 years later, many Latin words, as well as those of the Greeks, were included to make English a more '' learned 'language because of the Renaissance's emphasis on classics.

• Abacus:
  Abacus is derived from the Greek word - abax, meaning "sand tray."
   
• Allegory:
  Allegory is derived from Greek - allos meaning "other" and agora meaning gathering place (especially the market). Eventually words join and are linked to the verb to speak of one thing and another to mean another.
   
• Apricot:
  The term comes from the French -  abricot - and it was a bit confusing until the fifteenth century - it does not have a single simple etymology, but rather a mixture of many theories under consideration. But all these roads lead to Rome, from where that name - and fruit - began to spread throughout Europe.
   
• Addictive:
  Slaves agreed to allow Roman soldiers to pay for a concert in battle they were considered addicted to. Finally, a person who was addicted to anything called addiction.
   
• Alarm:
  From Italian, "All'arme" - "To arms!"
   
• Alcohol:
  Alcohol is taken from an Arabic al-kuhl, which has meant that there is a very good antimony powder used for eye makeup. It voiced the idea of ​​something so elegant and smooth, so the Arabic alchemists give the name of al-khul which brings in any insubstantial powder obtained by slow release (a direct conversion of a solid base into a vapor, or process of return), and thus for all computers available through the sanitization process.
   
• Algebra:
  The name means "the science of equations" in English comes from an article by one of al-Khowarizmi's (see "algorithm"), "Ab his AL-JAHR w'almuqaBAlah", meaning, "The Science of Transportation and Sanitation/ Cancellation."
   
• Algorithm:
  The name means "rules of computing" in English, which is based on al-Khowarizmi (Try saying it soon), an Arabic mathematician who lives around A.D. 825 who completed the best known numerical work using Arabic numerals.
   
• Appendix:
  In Latin it means "the hanging part." The human supplement hangs at the end of a large stomach; appendices given at the end of the book.
   
• Assassin:
  Assassin from the old Arabic word "hashshshin," means "person who loves hash," that is, marijuana. Earlier it was referring to a group of heroes who would smoke before the war.
   
• Asthma:
  Latin for asthma, "asthma," meaning "asthma" and "hypertension." The Latin word is derived from the Greek that feels the same.
   
• Avocado:
  Avocado from "awaguatl," the original American testicle name. The Spaniards got the word and used to refer to what we now call avocado.
   
• Ballot:
  Ballot, an Italian word meaning "small ball or pebble or stone." Italian citizens voted by placing a small stone or ball in one of the many boxes.
   
• Barbarian:
  Barbarian from "barbaroi" in Greek, meaning "babblers”.
   
• Bead:
  Bead from the Old English "gebed," which means, "prayer."
   
• Biscuit:
  Biscuit from mediaeval French 'Bis + cuit' which means 'double cooked'
   
• Boulevard:
  Boulevard from (French) Boulevard; and Bulwark
   
• Bucolic:
  From the Greek "boukolos," meaning "shepherd," from "bous," meaning "ox."
   
• Bulimia:
  Bulimia comes from the Greek "bous" meaning "ox" and "limos," which means "starvation," probably because a person with Bulimia is hungry for beef.
   
• Cab:
  Old Italian terminology for goat (cabra in Spanish).
   
• Calculate:
  The calculation comes from calculus, the Latin word pebble.
   
• Canter: (Spanish) Singing
  From the Latin "Cantare," which means, "to sing often." Latin "Canere" simply means "to sing."
   
• Carnival:
  Literal meaning: "Flesh, farewell." The end of "val" does not appear in the Latin "Vale." The modern Italian carnevale comes from the Old Italian "carnelevare"; levare = raise, place, remove. ) where people used to fast.
   
• Catharsis:
  In Early Modern English, it is used in the sense of "cleaning." The concept of this name was still used as recently as 1803.
   
• Candidate:
  From the Latin Candidus a word that means, "bright, shining, white, white." The ancient Roman members who were elected to this position wore bright white hats. The same name also spelled out the "firm", who are often not elected.
   
• Cell:
  Originally meant a monastery. It was Robert Hooke, who invented the first telescope. His first guess was the cork stem, which was made up of small columns. To him, the tiny fractions were like the little monasteries in which they lived, known as cells. Therefore, he called these microscopic building blocks "cells".
   
• Chapel:
  From the Cape "Italian" Capella, since the original Chapel was where the cape ("capella") of the St. Martin of Tour was kept.
   
• Vulture and Chasm:
  From the Greek "chainein," which means, "to soften"; So chaos was "just the beginning of the abyss" without the known universe we know.
   
• Champion; and Campus:
  Check out Kampf
   
• Charlatan: 
  From the Spanish "charlar” for discussion /to chat.
   
• Cheers:
  From the Greek "Kara" for "face," with Latin "Cara," and the French French "Chiere". So "Take courage," it means, "Put on a happy face."
   
• Chocolate:
  It comes from the Spanish word for the same name, which came from the Nahuatl word (Aztecs language) "tchocoatl."
   
• Cider:
  It comes from the Greek Greek sycamore, which came from an ancient Hebrew shekel, which means "any alcoholic beverage other than wine made to ferment fruit juice."
   
• Claim:
  From the Latin "clamor", which is a judicial or public appeal raised on the discovery of sin.
   
• Coward:
  From Old French "coe" which means "tail." The OED adds, "The exact indication of the tail is uncertain: it may be an animal that 'turns tail' on a plane, or a practice in frightened animals to draw the tail between the hind legs: cf. The use of Heraldic in theory B 2. It is noteworthy that in the Old French version of Reynard the Fox ,Coart is the name of a hare: this may be a descriptive adjective with regard to its zeal; it is closed, and that the word is then transferred to 'the heart of a hare.'
   
• Companion: Compañero (Spanish); Copain (French) Partner
  From the Latin "Companionem," which was, "breadwinner" - "Con" (also) and "Pan" (bread) - your "partner" may have been someone to break bread with. "Look again to the Lord and take care of it.
   
• Cretin:
  From the French "Crétin", which originally meant "Christian."
   
• The cup:
  See Kopf
   
• Currant:
  From the Corinthians
   
• Curfew:
  From the French "couvrir feu," literally, "Cover the Fire."
   
• Daisy:
  From "Eye of the Day." George Eddington writes, "Not special in itself, but Mata Hari also means" Eye of the day, "the young woman took the name because she lived in the Dutch East Indies and heard the natives so much in the sun. "
   
• Debonair:
  French "good spirit." In the Middle Ages, people's lives were judged in part by the way they smiled. The person giving out “a good spirit” was viewed as a healthier and happier person.
   
• Deer:
  From the Old English "deor," which means "animal."
   
• Demon: (German and English)
  From the Greek "Daimon" this supernatural force is somewhere between humans and gods, without undesirable touch. An example would be the daimon of Socrates. The daimonans had a genius that did not conform to our modern ideas of good or evil: it was a natural force that could give clues about the circumstances and the critical actions.
   
• Denim:
  The heavy cloth used for jeans was originally made in Nimes, France, as well as in Genoa, Italy (see jean). It was renamed Serge di Nimes - later reduced to di Nimes, which became denim.
   
• Derive:
  From the Latin "De Rivus," "From the broadcast."
   
• Deutsch: (German by German)
  "Deutsch" comes from the Old German word "diutisc" which means "human language" (as opposed to Latin). There are uncertain hints of the "Germanic" origins as the Celtic "Angry Men" or Old High German "Greedy Men"!
   
• Dexterity:
  From the Latin "dexter," meaning "right" (in the left sense).
   
• Dibbs:
  It is suggested that this phrase is based on an old children's play called dibstones. The game, which was played with sheep knuckle-bones or gemstones, dates back to at least the 17th century (that's right, that's when the name started being written). The goal was to catch his opponent's stones, and when a stone was hit, the winner would call "Dibbs!" with the meaning "I want [stone]". It was recently used out of the game but with the same meaning, and there you have it. Interestingly, the use of this outside of the game was not recorded until 1932 in the US. (Lee Quinn)
   
• Elite:
  From the Latin Latin, which means "to choose," from which we find a modern Spanish word that means the same, elegir.
   
• Escape:
  In Latin, escape means "out of the cape." The ancient Romans often avoided arresting the runaway population.
   
• Essay:
  The English noun phrase comes from the French verb "story", to try. The earliest scholars believed that their papers were a modest attempt to present their papers.
   
• Exchequer:
  The Moors introduced Abacus in Europe to expand the Europeans, and monks distributed the device throughout Europe. In Britain, it was used but in its simplicity: they used a checkbox and letters such as checks (instead of using standard rods and beads) - and this gave the British version an "exchequer" to the "Chancellor" of the Exchequer.
   
• Faro: (Spanish) Lighthouse
  An ancient island from Egypt, the Paroah Island, had a lighthouse.
   
• Forest:
  From the same French meaning, Forest comes directly from the Latin realm, meaning "outdoors," and took the concept of a place restricted or protected by an obstacle. The concept will later outline the legal barriers around areas reserved for royal hunting (as well as logging). Unfortunately, the English foreign word is taken in parallel, indicating a foreigner outside the royal realm, beyond the borders.
   
• Fowl:
  From the English "fugol," which means "bird."
   
• Freedom:
  This comes in German (a literal, modern translation, "Freiheit"), but is actually very close to taking the German word "Friede", which means "quiet"
   
• Fromage (French); Status (Medieval French); Formaggio cheese (Italian)
  From the Latin word for basket or wooden box where curds were cut to form cheese, forma, itself derived from the Greek word phormos (This is where the English word "form" comes from). According to them, the English word cheese, the Spanish word queso and the German word Kaese all come from the Latin word cortus, food too.
   
• Gohen :(Germany) To go
  From the beginning it means, "emptiness"
   
• Genuine:
  It originally meant "put on his knees." In Old Rome, a father formally admitted that his new child by sitting in front of his family put his son on his knees.
   
• Gift:
  From the Old English as "gift," which means, "to pay one's wife" for one meaning "marriage" in the plural. The Middle Dutch "gift", now labeled "gif," meant the same, but today it means "poison." Old High German "gift" turned into "poison". From the root "geb-", from which the English word "give." There is another German word, however, which includes the word "gift", but which retains the old meaning of "paying a wife". The name "Mitgift", which is a modern German word for "dowry".
   
• Gin; Ginebra (Spanish); Genievre (French):
  The English word "gin" comes from the French word genievre, meaning "juniper," a berry name that gives gin its unique, spicy flavor. Unfortunately, the word "juniper" comes from the Celtic word jenupus, which means "spicy." One final note: the name of the western city of Geneva and comes from the same source. Evidently, the countryside around Geneva was initially littered with juniper forests.
   
• Gorilla:
  New Latin from the Greek Gorillai, a tribe of hairy women, probably of African descent.
   
• Groggy:
  It comes from the description that many British sailors face when they are going to drink a lot of "grog", a mixture of rum and water. Grog is said to have taken the nickname "Old Grog" given to British Admiral Vernon by his sailors; much like Lord Mountbatten later, he was in the process of wearing a sort of heavy grogram coat, a soft weather cloth (the name comes from French gros-grain). Sailors began to use his nickname in an amusing way in their rum fragments, after he ordered in 1740 to be purified by water.
   
• Guapo :(Spanish) Handsome
  Guapo, and Chulo ("cool"), both originally had the meaning of "scoundrel", claiming to be "good-looking" perhaps in the form of "heroes." The despicable "Wop" comes from "guapo", in the form of the Italian language "guappo".
   
• Gymnasium:
  The Greek of the place where you train is naked.
   
• Hazard:
  The word came from Arabic "al zahr", which means "dice" and was used by people in Western Europe to name each of the various dice games they learned while in the Holy of Holies during the Crusades. The name eventually caught the attention of the danger, because from the very beginning, dice games were associated with gambling and cartoonists using corrupted dice.
   
• Heresy:
  The Greek is "Choice."
   
• Hierarchy:
  Previously it was the separation of angels from different periods into different stages.
   
• Home:
  From the old English "hum," which also comes with the words, such as Nottingham.
   
• Host, Hospital, Hostel, Hospitality, hospice:
  From the Latin for "nurses, patients," which means, "one who receives stacks in his home." In English, "Host" also means "edible bread eaten at the Hospital"; so the link between friendship and bread is also noteworthy; see Partner with the King.
   
• Husband:
  It comes from the old German words hus and bunda, meaning "house" and "owner," respectively. The word originally had little to do with marital status, except that the fact that home ownership made husbands more desirable to date.
   
• Idea, ideal, Idol:
  Everything from the Greek word "idein" to "seeing"; you see Sanskrit "vid" (knowing) and Latin "videre" (seeing) and English "intelligent." The W / V sound from the Indo-European root is lost in ancient Greek.
   
• Incentive:
  From the Latin word "delicate," meaning "to sing." The idea is "When playing music, one has to = dance."
   
• Jeans:
  Genoa - called "Gene" by the sixteenth-century Europeans - was the first city to make denim cloth (see Denim) used for jeans. The pants were named after the city.
   
• Ketchup:
  The Chinese invented the ke-tsiap - a drawing of spiced fish and spices (but no tomatoes) - in the 1690s. By the early 1700's its popularity had spread to Malaysia, where British explorers first encountered it. By 1740 the sausage - called ketchup - was a peculiar English phenomenon, and was beginning to become popular in American colonies. Tomato ketchup was not invented until the 1790s, when colonies in New England began mixing tomatoes in sauces. It took a long time to add tomatoes to the sauces because, most 18. For a century, people thought they were poisonous, because tomatoes are a close relative of belladonna poisonous plants and nearby plants.
   
• Kike - a shameful, offensive name for a Jew:
  Initially it was developed by German Jews to use against Russian Jews. It comes from the "k" sound at the end of many Russian Jewish words, such as "Lewinsky" or "Lemcoff."
   
• Knave:
  Dropped from the old English word "cnafa" which simply means, "youth."
   
• Knight:
  From the Old English "cniht," which means "boy, servant."
   
• Kopf (in German) Head:
  From the Latin "cup", meaning "cup"; The Romans used the cup as a metaphor for the upper part of the head. Similarly, another Latin word meaning "cup," "testa," has now become the French word "Tête," meaning "head,". Note that the Germans and Celts use "skullcap" "on top of one's head") as a drinking container; this has been part of the recognition of enemy culture. So it has to do with "chief" and "capital" (and "testicle").
   
• Lettuce; and Leche (Spanish) Milk:
  Latin lettuce was "lactuca sativa," which means "milky sap"; so it has to do with the Spanish "leche" of milk and "lactic" and other derivatives.
   
• Liberty:
  The Latin words "Liber," "Libera," and "Liberum" - by Long I - came from a source meaning, "to pour." In this case, we get the word "Freedom" (which is why it's pronounced I) short, from the freedom we feel when we get drunk. See Library (unrelated).
   
• Library:
  From the Latin word, Liber - whose name is I - meaning "divination," which would call for the inner sound of a tree. The earliest manuscripts were written on these bins, and from this bark we find the modern name "Library." See Liberals (unrelated).
   
• Liebe (German) Love:
  From the Latin for the word "Libido," from the Latin "Libere" (for free, as in "Liberals").
   
• Light; and Licht (German) Light:
  It is related to the Latin "Luna," which means, "the moon." "Moonlight" is therefore something like tautology.
   
• Lindo (Spanish) Beautiful:
  Related to "limpid" and "legal."
   
• Lobster:
  From the Latin "locusta," which means "locusts." The OED adds, "The Latin word for origin. It means the same lobster or crustacean, the locust application is suggested by a similarity of position."
   
• Lord:
  It comes from the Anglo-Saxon "hlaford," named after "hlaf" and "weard," and then, "loaf-ward"; likewise, "Lady" comes from the Anglo-Saxon "hlaefdige," or "bread-maid." See also partner and host.
   
• Lucifer:
  Lucifer is Latin for "Light Bringer". The same Hebrew, Haleal, means "antagonist." The passage in Isaiah (the only place in the Old Testament that mentions Lucifer) uses the Hebrew word for the Morning Star (ie planet Venus). The verse refers to the Babylonian king excessively, saying that he regarded himself as God, just as the Morning Star is a shining light in the sky, but pearls in comparison to the sun.
   
• Lukewarm:
  Tautology; "luke" Means warm or lukewarm [from ME lew, yes, luke, lewk and OE hleowand h hrr = lukvuarm]
   
• Madera (Spanish) Wood:
  From Latin materia, from PIE * mater-, meaning "mother"
   
• Malaria:
  From the medieval Italy "mal" "(bad) and" aria "(wind), which describes miasma from areas around Rome during the summer months, which are believed to be the cause of the downfall.
   
• Mayonnaise:
  The suffix spoken is French for "native" or "from within." Mahonnaise is said to have been created to celebrate the victory of the French war of 1756 by defeating the British on the Spanish island of Port Mahon.
   
• Marcher (French) To Walk:
  The OED states, "The etymology of Fr. March is obscure; the passing idea is that the ancient engraving concept of 'tread' was based on the concept of hammer ', and that the name stands for Gaulish Latin * marcare, f. L. Marcus hammer. "
   
• Mark (German) The German unit of currency (pre-Euro):
  Originally meant "Borderland," from medieval German border towns - that's why the English word "Mark," as it stands, "mark the border." So, the German place names, Finland, Dänemark, Ostmark, etc. From Mark German, we also find the "marshal" of French as well as Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and Catalan, "marca."
   
• Mistress:
  From the French "Maîtresse," which means "bride".
   
• Money:
  From the Latin word "moneta" which means "warning"
   
• Mound; and Monde (French),  Mundo (Spanish) World:
  From pre-Christian, the German word "mund" or protection, such as that given by a family or tribal leader to group members. This was also the name of the small garbage hills or "protection" used to bury deceased members of the nation. It is interesting to note that the name was introduced by the Germanic tribes (ie, Goths, Visigoths, Vandals, Alemani, Suevi) who invaded the Roman province of the late fifth century AD and where they derived the word "this monde" (in French) and "el mundo. "(Spanish) meaning" earth "(literally" mound of clay ").
   
• Muscle:
  From the Latin mus (mouse) and ele (dim.) - a small mouse that goes under the skin when flexed.
   
• Museum, Mosaic:
  Both from the Greek Muse (the Latin museum for "The Place of the Muses"; the mosaic is from the Greek logoios, "related to the Muses")
   
• Mustard (Eng.) / Moutarde (Fr.) / Mostrich (N. Ger. Dialect) / Mostarda (It.) / Mostaza (Sp.):
  As a courtesy, mustard has been enjoyed for thousands of years. It is made from the crushed seeds of a member of the Cruciferae family known as Sinapis. Originally, crushed seeds were mixed with vinegar - much as we enjoy it today - but vinegar was eventually replaced for some time in the Middle Ages with grapes "must" (which is the result of the win-win process). So, the word "must" ard. The botanical name Sinapis introduced the French name of the plant itself, seneve, and the German name of the mustard, Senf.
   
• Nacht (German) Night:
  Originally it meant “Day,” as the ancient Germans, like the ancient Jews, measured daily from sunset to sunset. See also Tag.
   
• Nemesis:
  From the same Greek, it originally meant, "the act of distributing or distributing others" and later "wrath and vengeance, righteous indignation for breaking the law."
  Nemesis was the god that restored balance. It would have been a mass of shipowners to introduce the ship without sacrificing to the gods, for example, this destructive act could provoke a counter-reaction, as we saw with the Titanic. There was no judgment or divine punishment involved, simply a response from another world to the loss that occurred in this country.
   
• Nice:
  From the Latin word "nescius," which means "ignorance," and, at various times before the appointment of the present meaning means "foolish" then "foolishly accurate" and "precisely accurate" and "correctly accurate" and then our current definition.
   
• Noon:
  It is derived from the Latin noun. The word "afternoon" originally meant nine o'clock after sunrise, or 3:00 p.m .-- usually the hottest part of the day and time when most people in the Roman Empire skipped lunch.
   
• Nostril:
  From Old English "nosthryl," they came from the OE words "nosu" (meaning "nose") and "thryl" (meaning "pit").
   
• Occasion:
  From the Latin place, which means, "an accident, or a great event."
   
• October:
  From the Latin octu (m), meaning "eighty," and imber, meaning "rain." The same "Imber" in September.
   
• Office:
  It originally meant, "Church Server." (Note the country of origin of that name.)
   
• Old; and Alt (German) Elder:
  "Alt" originally meant, "You've grown"; the "growth" role; related to "Alan," which means, "to grow" but is no longer available in modern German. In ancient English, the word "Alan" was also used in the same sense of growth or diet. Latin related "alt" which means "high."
   
• Omelette:
  Coming to English by using the French word for the same, the word is thought to come from the Latin word lamella, "small plate," referring to the longer, more omlette form, as well as to represent the gradual decomposition of allumelle first, then allumelette. Alomelette (The cuisinerfrancois of 1651 has aumelette). The modern name "omelette" first appears in the 1784 Chinese bourgeoise.
   
• Opportunity:
  From the Latin Ob-, meaning "in relation to," and portu (m), meaning "port."
   
• Orange (Eng.); Orange (Fr.); Naranja (Sp.); Arancia (It.):
  Interestingly, none of those terms come from the Latin word for orange, citrus aurentium; instead, all of them come from the traditional Sanskrit nagaranga, which accurately means "fatal indigestion for elephants." In certain traditions the orange, not the apple, is that the fruit liable for sin . There was an ancient Malay fable--which made its way into the Sanskrit tongue round the Seventh or Eighth Centuries B.C.--that links the orange to the sin of gluttony and has an elephant because the culprit. Apparently, at some point an elephant was passing through the forest, when he found a tree unknown to him during a clearing, bowed downward by its weight of lovely , tempting oranges; as a result, the elephant ate numerous that he burst. a few years later a person stumbled upon the scene and noticed the fossilized remains of the elephant with many orange trees growing from what had been its stomach. The person then exclaimed, "Amazing! What a nagaranga (fatal indigestion for elephants)!"
   
• Ostracize:
  "Ostron" may be a Greek word for pottery. Periodically the Greeks would hold an election to work out if someone was a danger to their community. Everyone would write their votes on broken pieces of pottery ("ostron") and if the vote was successful, the person was banished or "ostracized."
   
• Pagan:
  From the Latin paganu(m), for "someone who isn't from the town , rather from the country." In Late Latin , this became pagensis, "one who is from the country," and this utimately became the French pays and thus the Spanish País, both meaning "nation."
   
• Palaver:
  From the Spanish, "palabra," meaning, "word."
   
• Parlour (French) to talk :
  From the Latin "Parabolare," meaning, "to tell parables."
   
• Pavilion:
  Pavillion comes from the Latin "papilion-em," meaning, "butterfly." Pavillion meant a tent and therefore the allusion is to butterfly wings.
   
• Pay:
  Pay goes back ultimately to Latin, "pax" peace, by way of , appease, pacify. So "pay" originally meant "pay off," to stay the peace.
   
• Pedigree:
  From the French "Ped de gru," which suggests or meant, "Crane's foot," the /|\ symbol "used to denote succession during a genealogical table."
   
• Peach:
  When the peach first made its thanks to the Roman Empire from Persia, it had been called malum persicum, "Persian apple." The persicum then became pessicum, pessica and pesca (In modern Russian, it's still piersika.). The Italians have retained the term pesca, and it's become "peach" in English, peche in French, and Pfirsich in German. The Spanish differ from the remainder of Europe in calling it melocoton, literally "cotton-skinned apple"--from melum, "apple," and cotonium, meaning "quince" in Latin.
   
• Pecuniary:
  From the latin "pecunia," which originally meant, "wealth from livestock."
   
• Pearl:
  From from the Latin leg, because the bi-valve that produces pearls seems like a leg-of-mutton.
   
• Pineapple (Eng.); Piña (Sp.); Nana (Fr.); Ananas (Germ.):
  When Columbus landed in Guadeloupe in 1493, he found pineapples, which probably had originally come from Brazil. As Father de Acosta observed as early as 1589, the Spanish thought this new fruit resembled a pine cone; hence, the Spanish name of pinya, and therefore the English name of "pineapple" (the fruit was often just called a "pine" when it had been first introduced into Britain). The word nanais some of the Brazilian Guarani word meaning "perfumed" and was retained in both French and German.
   
• Pedestrian:
  Originally meant a lover (originally of Aristotle).
   
• Planet:
  From the Greek "Planasthai" for "to wander."
   
• Porcelain (French) Porcelaine:
  French porcelaine, from Old French pourcelaine, from Italian porcellana "of a sow," hence cowry shell, hence porcelain (from the resemblance of the cowry shell to the vulva of a sow), from porcella, diminutive of porca, sow, from Latin, feminine of porcus, swine.
   
• Potato (Eng.); Patata (Castilian Sp.); Papa (S. American Sp.); Cartoufle (16th.-cent. Fr.); Kartoffel (Germ.); Kartopfel (Russian; Pomme de terre (modern Fr.--"Earth apple"); Erdaepfel (Aust. Germ.--"Earth apple"):
  The South American Spanish term comes directly from the Incan word papa or bappa, which suggests "sweet potato." Apparently, the soldiers of the various Spanish expeditionary forces to America confused the potato with the sweet potato, as they began to use first the term bappa, then bappata (with the Spanish augmentative suffix -ata), to ask the whole Solanaceae (more than 100 differing types if you ask any Peruvian). It didn't take very long for bappata to become patata, which subsequently made its way into English as "potato." for his or her part, the French, German and Russian words stem from a mistake made by the Pope's botanist in 1588. Therein year, Pedro Cieca, an adjutant of Pizarro (the Spanish conqueror Peru), sent some potato tubers to the Spanish monarchs in 1588. They then gave them to the Pope, who had them examined by his botanist Clusius. Clusius planted the stems during a plot near the Vatican (the first potatoes planted in European soil). Not knowing what Latin name to offer his potatoes after they grew, he incorrectly categorized them as taratuflis, "little truffles." The Italian Pope, who had poor eyesight, then proceeded to read the word as tartufoli, which is that the source from which the word for potato in many European languages originated.
   
• Prom:
  From "promenade"
   
• Pseudo:
  From the Greek "Pseudos," meaning, "false."
   
• Queen:
  From the Gothic German "qino" then the Old English word "cwene" which was their common word for "woman." This gave rise to the early Middle English word "quean" which meant "woman," but was used as a "term of disparagement or abuse... a hussy, harlot" and used sometimes today to mean a male homosexual. Related to the modern Swedish word "kvinna," for woman.
   
• Regret:
  From the French "regretter," which originally meant, "lament over the dead."
   
• Rich:
  In Old French, "riche" meant "powerful"; it came to mean wealthy only by semantic extension. Originally from the German, Reich.
   
• Right:
  From the pre-Christian, Germanic term "riht", which was the sense of justice or balance that tribal elders attempted to achieve when determining the size of the "Bot." This is not to be confused with peace or "Friede," which could be achieved with differing amounts of "Bot" and was merely the cessation of fighting. "Riht" was that perfect amount of "Bot" that restored order within the universe and ensured the most long-lasting peace. (See the etymology of "Bot" at the end of the entry of freedom.)
   
• Robot:
  Robot comes from the Czech word "robot," which means "worker." In 1923, Karl Capek, a well-known, Czech, science-fiction writer at the time, wrote a futuristic thriller about a nightmarish scenario in which the machines have taken over (a la, the "Terminator") and implanted circuitry in humans to make them into mindless zombies willing to serve them as workers or "robots."
   
• Rodent:
  The word rodent comes from the Latin word rodere' meaning to gnaw (and "roedor" (rodent in spanish) is an animal who "roe" (gnaws) )
   
• Romance:
  The sense of "love" comes from the middle ages, when Latin was the language of the intellectuals but the languages of the people -- i.e., the Romance languages -- was the vulgar language love stories were written in.
   
• Rum:
  "Sugar wine" was not called rum until after 1688, and the word seems to have been an abbreviation of "rumbullion" or "rumbustion." The word may have been a term from the new pidgin English of Barbados and possibly derived from the distortion of a term in the Spanish dialect of Seville, combining Low Latin rheu, "stem," and bullion or bouillon, "boiling" (Similarly, "rhubarb" is a plant with edible stems originating from somewhere foreign--in other words, it is a "barbarous stem.").
   
• Saffron:
  The English word "saffron" comes from the Spanish word azafran, because it is in Spain where most of the world's highest quality crocus flowers (the plant whose stamens are the source of all saffron) are found. Azafran comes from the Arabic za'faran, meaning "yellow."
   
• Sanction:
  Originally meant, "imposition of penance." (Note the secularization of the term.)
   
• Salad; Salade (French); Ensalada (Spanish):
  This term first appeared within the Fifteenth Century because the Italian "zelada," a term meaning "salty," which was first applied to a dish that always appeared on festive tables in Milan. It had been actually a sort of ragout, very liquid and really salty (hence, its name), and it had been flavored with preserves, mustard and lemon and decorated with marzipan (Heinous!--editorial comment)(It was also served in cups, instead of directly on the most plate, a novelty at the time). The sauce for this soup-like dish, originally a hot one, came to incorporate various sorts of green stuff which had been pickled in vinegar or salt, then fresh cooked greens, or raw greens within the Roman manner. Finally, within the next century, the raw vegetables began to be sprinkled with oil and vinegar--also within the Roman manner--rather than being served with a spread of hot, broth-like sauces.
   
• Scapegoat:
  The results of a mistranslation of the Old Testament by Tyndale in 1530. He mistakenly confused the Hebrew word "azazal," the name of a Caanonite demon, with "ez-ozel," meaning, "the goat the departs." Leviticus 16:8 discusses how goats should be sacrificed to God as a sin-offering, and another should tend to Azazel and let loose within the wilderness, for the sins of the people.
   
• Scream:
  From the Anglo-Saxon "hcream", which was the tribal outcry, during this case, that resulted from the invention of a wrongdoing.
   
• Scruples:
  From the Latin "Scrupulus," meaning "pebble."
   
• Search; Circus:
  From "Circus," which is from the Greek "Krikos" or "Kirkos," which was a hawk or falcon which flies in a circle , and later just a circle or ring.
   
• Senator:
  From the Latin "senex," meaning "old"; thus associated with "senile."
   
• Second:
  The OED says: Fr. Seconde, ad. Med.L. Secunda, fem. Of L. Secundus second a., used ellipt. For secundaminuta, lit. second minute', i.e. the results of the second operation of sexagesimal division; the results of the primary such operation (now called minute' simply) being the first' or prime minute' or prime'.
   
• Silly:
  From 1550 to 1675 was "very extensively" utilized in the sense of deserving of pity and compassion, helpless. It's a derivative of the center English "seely," from the German "selig," meaning happy, blissful, blessed, also as punctual, observant of season.
   
• Sinister:
  From the Latin "sinister" for "left." Hence, left is evil.
   
• Sherry; and Jerez (Spanish):
  The word "sherry" is known as after "Jerez" in Spain, but the way the name was pronounced in 1600. "X" was utilized in Spanish and remains utilized in Catalan, to represent an "sh" sound. When the "sh" sound changed to an aspirate "h" sound the Spanish Academy changed the spellings to "j"--but today the "j" is pronounced more gutterally (the "archaic 'j'" (x) vs. The 'modern 'j'" (j)). So we still spell it "Mexico" while the Spaniards (but not the Mexicans) spell it "Mejico." This shift had occurred by the time Cervantes wrote Don Quixote de La Mancha. It's interesting to notice that at just one occasion almost every Spanish word that you simply can consider which contains the letter "j" used "x" in situ of "j" (ie., "Xerez", "Xuan", "Ximena", "Mexico", "Quixote", "trouxemos" and "baixo" became "Jerez", "Juan", "Jimena", "Mejico", "trajimos" (we are bringing) and "bajo" (low; short; beneath), with "Quixote" remaining unchanged because it may be a proper name .).
   
• Slave:
  After large parts of Slavonia (the current Yugoslavian Federation province of Serbia, also as portions of surrounding countries) were subjugated by the Holy Roman Empire within the Middle Ages, a Slav became synonymous with someone who lived in servitude. Eventually Slav became slave.
   
• Sleazy:
  The Eastern European region of Silesia was known for its fine cloth. Eventually, numerous low-quality imitations aroused on the market that Silesian became sleazy.
   
• Slogan:
  from 2 Celtic words: "slaugh" and "gheun" which mean, respectively, "battle" and "cry".
   
• Soleil (French) and Solell (Catalan) Sun:
  From the Latin "Soliculus", meaning, "a little sun"; "sol" meant just "sun."
   
• Soup; Soupe (French); Sopa (Spanish); Zuppa (Italian):
  From the Old Low Latin term suppa, meaning "soaked [in water or another liquid]." the first sense of this word survives in just Dutch (soppen, "to soak") and English (sop, as in "sopping wet"). The Old Low Latin for "soaked" originally came into use to explain a well-liked dish, which consisted of a bit of bread soaked in water or another liquid then flavored with whatever was handy.
   
• Starve:
  From the Old English "steorfan," meaning "die." associated with the German for "die," "sterben."
   
• Spill:
  From the Old English "spillan," meaning, "destroy."
   
• Stool:
  From the Old English "stol," meaning "throne."
   
• Strawberry (Eng.); Fraise (Fr.); Fresa (Sp.)/ Fragola (It.); Erdbeer (Germ.--"earth berry"); Eper (Hung.):
  The fruit's name differs within the various European languages, although those names deriving from Latin still suggest the exquisite fragrance that caused the tiny , scented berry to be termed wild strawberry , "fragrant berry," in Latin. English "strawberry" refers to the layer of straw placed round the plants to stay the fruit off the soil, a very good idea in damp climates, like that typically found in Great Britain and Ireland.
   
• Suede:
  Gants de Suede is French for "gloves of Sweden." it had been in Sweden that the primary leather was buffed to a fine softness, and therefore the French bought the gants de Suede. Suede now refers to the buffing process--not to any particular quite leather.
   
• Sugar; Candy; Caramel:
  All come from the Greek saccharon and therefore the Roman saccharum, which are both distortions of the Sanskrit sarkara. Round the year 1000, after conquering an honest portion of the southern Mediterranean, the Arabs installed the primary "industrial" refinery on the island of Crete, which they renamed Qandi, which in Arabic means "crystallized sugar." this is often how the word "candy" made its way into English. Shortly thereafter, the Arabs also invented "caramel," which comes from the Arabic phrase kurat al milh and means "ball of sweet salt."
   
• Sweet:
  From an equivalent Indo-European root because the Latin "suavis."
   
• Sycophant:
  From the Greek "sykon," meaning "fig"; a sycophant was thus originally someone who makes figs appear. There are a couple of suggested etymologies: fig smuggling was illegal in ancient Greece, so a sycophant could are a telltale for a reward; or, it might be from the shaking of a fig-tree, which moved the figs from the hidden heights to the bottom where all could see it; or, it might be from "the sign of the fig," which is that the gesture of creating a fist with the thumb in-between the index and middle fingers, which represented female genitalia;--this gesture was wont to indicate an accusation of wrong-doing.
   
• Tag (German) Day:
  Originally meant, "The time during which the sun burns." See also, Nacht
   
• Tennis:
  "Tennis," a sport which first developed in France, was originally "tenez" (pronounced tuh-nay) which is that the French verb "tenir" conjugated at the person of the plural as a polite imperative verb (translated during this case by something like "there you go"). They were saying "tenez" once they hit the ball so on say :"there, attempt to get this one". But tennis lost popularity in France and gained popularity in England at an equivalent time. So, English were still using the word "tenez" whenever they hit the ball, but saying it with English accent which sounded more like tennis, and which eventually took this new spelling. Then the game gained popularity world wide and got picked up by many languages, including French.
   
• Thermostat:
  "Therma" (hot) is from the Greek city of Therma, known for its hot springs.
   
• Thesis:
  From the Greek of an equivalent, meaning, "to put, place, set." From an equivalent Indo-European root as do, deed, doom, the -dom of kingdom and serfdom (etc.); fact, facility, the -fy of nullify and rectify (etc.).
   
• Threshold:
  "Threshold" originated within the middle ages when houses with stone floors were covered with threshings to stay the ground warm and to stop it from being slippery. As threshings were added during the winter, they might be scattered and thinned near the door, so people added a wooden board to carry the threshings in -- a threshold. The OED defines threshold originally as, "The piece of timber or stone which lies below rock bottom of a door, and has got to be crossed in entering a house; the sill of a doorway; hence, the doorway to a house or building.
   
• Tide and Time:
  See Zeit
   
• Tilde (The ~ mark in Spanish and Portuguese); Title:
  From the Spanish for an equivalent, an alteration of an obsolete Catalan title, which was from the Latin "titulus," meaning superscription -- from which we also get "title."
   
• Tomato (Eng.); Tomate (Sp.); Pomodoro (It.):
  The English and Spanish terms both stem from the Nahuatl (the language of the Aztecs) "tomatl," a vegetable (technically, a fruit) first introduced to Europe by the Spanish. For its part, the Italian term literally means pomo de oro, "golden apple." Incidentally, it had been first introduced into Italy by the Spaniards within the Sixteenth Century via Naples (not the island of Sicily, whose cuisine most heavily relies on tomato-based sauces). The rationale is that Naples was a Spanish possession during the reign of the Habsburg Emperor Charles V of Spain (I of Germany)(r. 1516-1556).
   
• Travel:
  From the French "travail," meaning, "work." Daniel Boorstin has argued that this happened because, at just one occasion, "traveling" entailed working: learning the language and native customs, etc. Boorstin contrasts this with "tourism" which doesn't entail any work on your (the tourist's) part.
   
• Trivia:
  The derivation of the word trivia comes from the Latin for "crossroads": "tri-" + "via", which suggests three streets. This is often because in past, at an intersection of three streeets in Rome (or another Italian place), they might have a kind of kiosk where ancillary information was listed. You would possibly have an interest in it, you would possibly not, hence they were bits of "trivia."
  From the Greek "tyrannos," for "usurper," without a necessary negative implication.
   
• Umpire:
  From French 'non partiere' (impartial, neutral). The first word was nunpire, but morphed from "a nunpire" to "an umpire". Approximately I've heard.
   
• Utopia:
  Greek for "nowhere."
   
• Victim:
  From the Latin "victima," meaning, "an animal destined to be sacrified."
   
• Villain:
  From "Villaneus," meaning, "inhabitant of a villa," i.e., a "peasant."
   
• Vinegar:
  Comes from the Latin vin aigre, meaning "sour wine.
   
• Walk:
  In Old English, "wealcan" meant "to roll"; by Middle English meant "to move about, travel"; and only in Modern English came to mean "walk" as we all know it.
   
• Wedding:
  From the pre-Christian, Germanic term "wed" or pledge.
   
• Weird:
  From the Proto-Indo-European *wer, meaning "to turn." From this same root, we also get English words: -ward (toward, inward), worth (from the Old German *werthaz, meaning "opposite," thus "equivalent"), pervert, extro/introvert, divert, controversy, invert, verse, versatile, revert, tergiversation, malversation, anniversary, vertex, vertigo, vertebra; wreath, wrath; worry (from the Old English wyrgan, to strangle), wrong (from the Old Scandanavian *vrang, for "crooked"); verge, converge, diverge; wry, wriggle, wrist, wrestle; warp; rhapsody; worm, vermin; the Latin prefix "re-".
   
• Welt (German) World:
  Welt may be a contraction of the Old German words, "Wer" and "alt," where "Wer" meant "Man" (From the Latin "Vir" for "Man"--think "virile") and "Alt," which in Old German, meant "time" but now means "old." So, Welt is Wer + alt, which is "the time of man."
   
• Werewolf (German and English):
  Wer + Wolf; "Wer," in Old German, was "man" (related to the Latin "Vir" for "Man"). Thus, literally, "Wolfman."
   
• Whiskey (Ireland); Whisky (Scotland):
  This term originally came from uisgebeatha (Scottish Gaelic) and uiscebeatha (Irish Gaelic), which both mean "water of life." The word entered English as "whiskey" or "whisky" when Henry II invaded Ireland.
   
• Window:
  From the Anglo-Saxon "vindr" eage," meaning the "wind's eye."
   
• Wine:
  Comes from the Greek word for wine, oinos (Cretan dialect), which itself was taken from the name of the Greek god who was alleged to have first revealed the key of wine to the traditional Cretans, Dionysus (Pronounce it without the "Di.").
   
• Wit:
  From the Old English "witan," aiming to know; intelligence.
   
• Witness:
  From the pre-Christian, Germanic term "witan", which suggests wise, tribal elders (literally, those that follow the way of the Norse god "Wodin" or "Odin").
   
• Woman:
  From the Old English "Wyfmon," meaning, "wife." See Queen.
   
• Work; and Werk (German) Work; Warm; Worm; and Wurst:
  Work is from the German "Werk" (meaning the same), which is etymologically associated with the "warm" and "wurst" (Sausage). "Worm," in turn, comes from "wurst."
   
• Worm:
  From the Old English "wyrm," meaning "dragon."
   
• Yankee:
  From the Dutch "Jan-Kees" etc. Jan= short for: Johannes (=John), Kees= short for Cornelis (=Cornelius). All three names were quite common in those days (and still are): Jan, Kees and Jan-Kees.
   
• Zeit (German) Time:
  Related to the German (and English) "Tide." In Old German, Zeit also meant "to divide, separate."
   
• Zero:
  The centrepiece of the Hindu-Arabic numerical system was the invention of zero--sunya because the Indians called it, and andcifr because it became in Arabic. The term has come right down to us in English as cipher, which suggests "empty" and refers to the zero column within the abacus or counting frame (see "abacus")(The term has also come right down to us as "decipher," which suggests "to determine the meaning of anything obscure"). The Arabic term survives even in Russian, where it appears as tsifra, which is that the word for number.