Discussion Groups / ESL Teaching / May 2005

Well, I went overboard again, but this one was rather fun.

First, here's some more self-help material.

http://dir.yahoo.com/Social_Science/Linguistics_and_Human_Languages/Languages/Sp
ecific_Languages/English/Grammar__Usage__and_Style/

A second point: dictionaries and usage manuals all have a life of about
ten years of real utility. Never, ever buy the expensive, ornate
versions of such books: they are marketed for ostentatious fools and
people looking for expensive gifts for their loved ones.

I am in complete agreement regarding all of Einde's comments, but I
would like to state that I believe you should, wherever possible, first
turn to Oxford/Cambridge University Press materials for answer to your
usage questions. There are many practical reasons for this, most of
which are obvious, some of which are not, but I don't think this is the
place to discuss them.

It is important, though, to once again state that I'm American and have
never set foot in the UK, so I'm not trying to market "my" variety of
English.

The vast majority of self-help sources on-line are US-based, so shop
around. A good rule of thumb: if three cheap or free manuals are in
*complete* agreement regarding a topic, you can base your job on their
answer to your question. Otherwise, keep looking.

Let's use your "loaned/lent" question as a model and find some online
sources, a mix of pay and free resources, but nothing out of the really
pricey usage manuals that would give you the best answers (while
putting you in the poorhouse).

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This is from the Oxford Guide to English Usage

loan      (verb) has some justification where a businesslike loan is
in question, e.g. The gas industry is using a major part of its profits
to benefit the PSBR by loaning money to Government (Observer).
Otherwise it is a needless variant for lend.

The Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style (this is a highly
questionable reference, as are all UK books on US usage. It's a pay
reference, and I've included it in this list to bolster my assertion
that you should never completely believe what UK authorities say about
US usage and widdershins likewise.)

loan; lend.   In formal usage, lend is the verb and loan the noun. The
verb loan is considered permissible, however, when used to denote the
lending of money (as distinguished from the lending of things).

Pocket Fowler's Modern English Usage (This costs less than thirty
dollars and is excellent value for your money.)

loan verb.  In 19c British English, loan was a standard alternative for
lend, but by the time Fowler wrote (1926) loan had been largely driven
out by lend, although it has continued in use in AmE. In current use
loan is mostly confined to non-British varieties of English:

Delaney told him he could loan him $50 a week-Thomas Keneally, 1985
(Australia) / The problem was how to stretch the small amount of money
he had been loaned by Herr Pfuehl-Anita Desai (India).

But it is used in BrE too in the context of making something valuable
(such as a work of art) available by a formal arrangement to an
institution for a period:

It is part of the Christ Church plate in the treasury showcase, which
also displays many items loaned by parishes within the diocese-Christ
Church Oxford: A Pitkin Guide, 1991

(an alternative, more pleasing to some, is on loan from). In normal
contexts, however, loan is a so-called 'needless variant' of lend.

The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. (This one's on-line
and free.)

lend (v.), loan (n., v.)

Lend (principal parts lend, lent, lent) and loan (principal parts loan,
loaned, loaned) are both clearly Standard in American English, although
the British still object to loan as a verb, and as a result several
American commentators reject or dislike it. Lend and loan are synonyms
in their literal senses as verbs (the transitive "to give someone the
use or temporary possession of something" and the intransitive "to
engage in the act or practice of doing so"), but only lend has
figurative uses: The morning sun lends a cheery air to the usually
gloomy library. The noun loan is also Standard: He made me a loan to
cover my outstanding tuition bills.

The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. (In my opinion, this is
the worst usage manual ever written, but many usage dilettantes adhere
to it because it's on-line and free, and several Usenet "grammar gurus"
swear by it.)

(no article on lent/loaned whatsover)

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Now, out of this group of 5 manuals, we do have some agreement, but
complete agreement? No. Pocket Fowler's did give you more explanation
than the others (which probably explains why it's not free), and the
Columbia Guide did mention the US/UK problem, so we got more and more
information as we went along. That's generally how it works with usage
manuals.

I would be willing to bet, Ching, that you know that occasionally,
non-native speakers with a smattering of UK/US language skills do their
best to advertise that fact to their advantage, often by putting down
fellow colleagues who have exclusively learned the language abroad.

This phenomenon is quite prevalent in Greece, I'm afraid, so I
understand why the answers to these questions are as important to you
as they are.

And finally, Ching, while your "problem" is usage, your English is
practically flawless. Despite the fact that I get caught up in the odd
post, I do have a job teaching English to non-native speakers and
people pay me money to make such decisions. Achieving that level of
written proficiency that you have while learning in a "non-immersion"
environment (you're not living in an English-speaking country) is a
worthy achievement and demands respect. You deserve all the help you
can get, even though you need very, very little at your level.

I am beginning to see that it is rather a senseless task, especially
in these days of globalisation and the influence this has on the
English language. More common differences in vocabulary and spelling
do not baffle me as much as usage such as lent/loaned and now (woe me)
learned/taught. The other day, a very good native-speaker friend said
"His teacher learned him to ..." I must remember to check this up on
google :-)

Thank you for your reply. It helps me to understand the complexities
of language learning.

Ching