Correct Usage (Part 1)

Dalam bahasa Inggris sering kita terjebak penggunaan kata yang tidak tepat. Correct usage atau penggunaan kata yang tepat meliputi banyak kata-kata tertentu, verba transitif maupun intransitif, kata sandang ‘a’ dan ‘an’, nomina terhitung atau tak terhitung, preposisi, kata yang mirip, dan lain sebagainya. Bila anda ikut test TOEFL, correct usage ini seringkali ditanyakan. Selain menghafalkannya, perlulah kita memperkaya dengan kamus-kamus idiom dan kamus verbal. Berikut, correct usage yang seringkali muncul.

·         A, AN. Sebelum bunyi konsonan gunakanlah ‘a’. Sebelum bunyi vokal, gunakan ‘an’. Yang pelu diingat adalah ‘bunyi’ huruf pertama kata bersangkutan, bukan yang tertulis.

Contoh:

They left an hour ago

I will attend a university next year.

·         ACCEPT (v), EXCEPT (prep)

They accepted my invitation   (menerima)

Everyone except me attended the meeting (kecuali)

·         ADIVICE (n),  ADVISE (v)

·         His advice was very useful

I advised him to buy a car

·         AFFECT (V),  EFFECT (n,v). Kata kerja affect berarti to influence; kata kerja effect berarti to cause to happen, dan kata benda affect berarti result.

Pollution affects everyone.

Arbitrations have effected a settlement of the dispute.

·         ALMOST (adv), MOST (adj, pron). Kata kerja almost digunakan dengan kata kerja, kata sifat, dan kata keterangan lain yang berarti nearly but not completely. Most berarti the majoriy or greatest part.

Almost all students work very hard.

Most students work very hard.

·         ALREADY (adv),  ALL READY (adj). Already berarti before the time specified; all ready berarti completely prepared.

The movie had already begun by the time we arrived

He president was all ready to go an vacation

·         AMOUNT, NUMBER (n). Amount merujuk pada benda yang tak bisa dihitung; number merujuk pada benda yang bisa dihitung

The amount of money you have is not enough

The number of students in the program is increasing.

·         BARELY, HARDLY, SCARCELY (adv). Kata-kata ini punya konotasi negatif, tidak bisa digunakan dengan kata negatif lainnya.

I could barely see him

Scarcely had the picnic begun when the rain started

·         BESIDE, BESIDES (prep). Beside berarti next to; besides berarti in addition to.

He sat beside the pretty girl

He has a bicycle besides a car

·         BETWEEN, AMONG (prep).  Between mengacu pada dua orang atau dua hal; among mengacu pada tiga atau lebih  orang atau banyak hal.

There is little difference between the two ideas

There is little difference among the three ideas.

·         CAPITAL, CAPITOL (n,adj). Capital bisa berarti a person’s wealth or the city which houses the government. Capitol merujuk kepada gedung khusus yang merupakan pusat pemerintahan.

He invested a lot of his capital in the prospect

The capitol building is near the downtown shopping area.

·         CLOTHES (n), CLOTHE (v)

The man was wearing old, dirty clothes

The lawyer clothed his arguments in pompeus phraseology

·         COMPARED TO, COMPARED WITH. Compared to digunakan untuk menjelaskan kesamaan, sedangkan compared with digunakan untuk menunjukkan perbedaan.

He compared the crowd to a swarm of angry bees

He compared the crowd with the larger crowds of previous years

·         COMPLEMENT, COMPLIMENT (v,n). Complement adalah sesuatu yang melengkapi suatu hal lainnya. Compliment merupakan pernyataan menyetujui atau ucapan selamat/ pujian

A subject complements follows the verb ‘to be’

The brown walls complements the generally dark effect of the room

She got many compliments on her new ring

She complimented him on his cooking

·         COSTUME, CUSTOM, CUSTOMS (n). Costume mengacu pada pakaian, custom mengacu pada praktek tradisional atau kebiasaan, sedangkan customs berarti agen/ pabean yang mengumpulkan pajak yang dikenakan  oleh suatu negara atas barang import atau eksport.

She wore a beautiful costume to the party

Customs differ from country to country

You must pass through customs when you enter a country.

·         COUNCIL (n), COUNSEL (v,n).  Council merupakan kelompok resmi, Counsel berarti memberi nasehat. Kata benda dari counsel adalah advice

The city council meets every week

His counsel was useful to us

His doctor counseled him to stop smoking

·         DESERT (n,v) DESSERT (n)

It is very hot and dry in the desert

The camp was deserted

Her favorite dessert is chocolate ice cream

·         FARTHER, FURTHER (adj, adv). Farther mengacu kepada jarak; sedangkan further mengacu kepada waktu, tingkatan, atau kuantitas

Chicago is farther north than Austin

I will give you further information later.

·         FEWER, LESS (adj, adj/adv). Fewer digunakan bersama benda yang bisa dihitung, less digunakan untuk benda yang tak bisa dihitung.

He spent fewer hours studying for the exam

He spent less time studying for the exam

·         FORMER, FIRST (n,adj) Former mengacu pada yang pertama dari dua orang atau benda yang disebutkan. First mengacu pada yang pertama, orang atau benda yang disebutkan

Both Mary and Jane were invited, but only the former actually came

Ann, Jane, and Amy are sisters, but the first was adopted

·         FORMERLY, FORMALLY (adj). Formerly berarti previously or earlier; formally berarti in a formal manner

Elizabeth was formerly called Betty

You are too formally dressed for an outdoor picnic

·         FORTH (adv) FOURTH (adj). Forth berarti in a forward direction; fourth mengacu urutan/ susunan penomoran.

She rocked the baby back and forth until he fell asleep

You are the fourth person to ask that question.

·         HAD BETTER, WOULD RATHER (v). Had better menyatakan advisability; would rather menyatakan preference

I had better study tonight

I would rather watch television than study.

Nah, sekian dulu pelajaran bahasa Inggris tentang correct usage. Nanti di sambung lagi di Part 2  karena masih ada beberapa kata lagi  yang mirip tapi mempunyai arti dan penggunaan yang berbeda. Semoga bermanfaat.