Proofreading Service - Pain in the English
Proofreading Service - Pain in the English

Your Pain Is Our Pleasure

24-Hour Proofreading Service—We proofread your Google Docs or Microsoft Word files. We hate grammatical errors with a passion. Learn More

Proofreading Service - Pain in the English
Proofreading Service - Pain in the English

Your Pain Is Our Pleasure

24-Hour Proofreading Service—We proofread your Google Docs or Microsoft Word files. We hate grammatical errors with a passion. Learn More

Username

mdaniels

Member Since

March 13, 2005

Total number of comments

1

Total number of votes received

1

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Latest Comments

Indian English: “reach”

  • March 13, 2005, 6:17pm

It is indeed a literal translation. Pace Dave, I have no trouble calling such usages "incorrect." They stem mainly from unfamiliarity with prepositions, which Hindi usually avoids.

The verb "pahunchna" in Hindi is "to arrive at." A similar elision occurs with the verb "milna," or "to be available"; you may have heard people "availing lunch" when they're actually availing themselves of lunch.

Two differences I wouldn't call "incorrect" but which you'd never hear in American English:

1) "to gift." Hindi has this verb too. Could its appearance in British English be a back formation?

2) In Hindi, the world "means" works backwards, so Indians would likely say " 'reach' means 'milna' " rather than the other way around.

I could rant for hours, but...