For representative purposes.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images
“The new chap we’ve hired leaves home at 6:45 to be in time for work. He makes use of different transportations to get here. First,…”
“Not transportations. You have…”
“He takes the train, bus and….”
“I understand, but you cannot say ‘transportations’. Transportation is an uncountable noun. The plural is ‘transportation’ and not ‘transportations’.”
“I see. So, if someone uses a bus, an auto and a train to get to…”
“Then, you talk about the different modes of transportation the person uses. For example, Jai uses several modes of transportation to get to office. What mode of transportation do you use?”
“My scooter. It’s been my mode of transportation for over five years now.”
“In the past, when we went to my father’s village, we had to use several modes of transportation. Including a bullock cart.”
“Those were the days! By the way, how do you pronounce i…m…p…a…s…s…e?”
“There are several ways of pronouncing the word. One way is….”
“Let’s not get into that! What’s the simplest way?”
“The Americans pronounce the ‘i’ in the first syllable like the ‘i’ in ‘hit’, ‘bit’ and ‘kit’, and the ‘a’ in the second, like the ‘a’ in ‘ant’ and ‘apple’. They pronounce the word im-PASS with the stress on the second syllable. Do you know what impasse means?”
“Doesn’t it mean dead end?”
“Very good! When you say that your discussions have reached an impasse, you’re suggesting you have reached a dead end. No progress can be made because the two of you don’t agree on anything.”
“It’s a deadlock. There’s no point in discussing the matter further because no progress is possible. Moving forward just seems impossible.”
“That’s right! It’s a stalemate. Here’s an example. The rest of the world was stunned when the two countries found a way to end their impasse.”
“If we are to overcome this impasse, we both need to be willing to make certain concessions.”
“That’s a good example. Neither side was optimistic of an outcome. They expect the impasse to continue for another decade.”
“That doesn’t sound good! Anyway, what’s happening with your idea of buying an independent house? Are you making any progress?”
“Not really! I’m seriously considering dropping the idea. I’ll just stay here and…”
“But why? I heard that you saw a couple of houses. What happened? Didn’t you…”
“I saw three, actually! They were all pretty old, and in a state of disrepair.”
“Disrepair? You mean ‘repair’, don’t you? Does the word ‘disrepair’ even exist?”
“There’s a big difference between ‘repair’ and ‘disrepair’. When you say that the monument has fallen into disrepair, what you mean is that the monument is in bad shape.”
“The building probably looks shabby — with the paint peeling off, the walls crumbling, the roof leaking, and the…”
“Stop, stop! You get the picture. Here’s an example. Leaving the car in the garage for six months resulted in disrepair.”
“According to an article I read recently, many of the monuments in our city are in disrepair.”
“I’m sure that’s true of many monuments across the country. What I’m worried about are the old flyovers in our city. Many of them are in a state of disrepair. Yet the government is doing nothing about the problem.”
“Politicians don’t solve problems. They create them.”
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Published – August 18, 2025 08:30 am IST
