سؤال وجواب

Welcome to Question and Answer on BBC Xtra English.

Today Finn and Khalid answer your questions on the English language.

Munneer in Sudan wants to know the difference between the words traditional and conventional.

These words are similar but they are not the same.

Example sentences:

Fish and chips is a traditional English food

It's a conventional radio programme.

Salah in Saudi Arabia has a question about grammar. He wants to know about collective nouns.

In British English some collective nouns can be followed by a singular or plural verb.

Examples with the word family:

Singular verb: My family is here.
Plural verb: My family are here.

Examples with the word government:

Singular verb: The British government is in London.
Plural verb: The British government are in London.

Look at this exception:

Correct: The police are here.
Incorrect: The police is here.

Hamza has written to us from Yemen. He wants to know about the word nevertheless.
It looks like 3 words pushed together.
Nevertheless can be in a sentence with a contradiction.

Example sentences:

I like films. Nevertheless, I have only seen one movie this year.
Khalid likes Beyonce. Nevertheless, he has none of her albums.

traditional
تقليدي

conventional
أمر مألوف و غير غريب / لا يخرج عن المتعارف عليه

collective nouns
الأسماء التي يمكن أن تستخدم كصيغة مفرد و صيغة جمع

singular
مُفرد

plural
جمع

a contradiction
تعارض - تناقض

Thank you for all your questions!
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