How many emails do you have to write every day?
Or you are too busy typing emails that you have no time for this question. Yet, there is one question for you. What is it?
Do you know why the following is wrong?
‘I will reply your email soon’
(Wrong!)
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A. Why It is Wrong
In English, it is weird, if not grammatically incorrect, to reply an email. That is,
reply + a thing ➡➡➡➡
Wrong + Wrong + Wrong
(Well, how many ‘wrong’ do you want?)
Read the two sentences and you’ll know why.
In the above two sentences,
the persons (the CEO or Mr. Big) make an effect on something
(the future direction or the marketing department).
Want a picture explanation?
Look at the picture above. Can you feel the power (or energy) of Mr. Big, the one you can't see his head? If you don't feel the power, check out the eyes of the two juniors. This is what I mean by 'make an effect on'.
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B. What 'make an effect on' is
In other words, 'make an effect on' has three meanings:
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C. An Extra Example
There is an extra example for you:
They are discussing a plan.
In the sentence, the three men have some control over their discussion.
Why?
It is a plan they proposed and they can talk about it, or change it the ways they like.
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D. The Sentence Pattern: SVO
If you remember, this is a sentence pattern you have learned at school. What pattern is it? SVO
Yet, your teacher might have forgotten to tell you one thing. There is a special relationship between a subject and an object. By special, I don’t mean they have an affair.
In other words, in this pattern one thing is bigger. What is it? The subject is bigger than the object. That is,
And do you want to give the relationship a name? What about MS? MS has nothing to do with any company. It means a Master-Servant relationship.
However, in the email, the word ‘I’ is not the master of ‘your email’.
What does that mean? It means: ‘I’ is not the one who wrote the email. In other words, 'I' write something, but not the email 'I' received.
So Mr. Big is the master (subject) of the servant (the email).
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E. The Rule
So, when using ‘reply’ as a verb, stick to the following rule:
That is, when there is no MS relationship, a preposition is needed. This is why when you use ‘wait’, you have to add a preposition:
| Persons | Verbs | Things |
| 1. The CEO | plans | the future direction (of our company). |
| 2. Mr. Big | leads | the marketing department. |
In the above two sentences,
the persons (the CEO or Mr. Big) make an effect on something
(the future direction or the marketing department).
Want a picture explanation?
Look at the picture above. Can you feel the power (or energy) of Mr. Big, the one you can't see his head? If you don't feel the power, check out the eyes of the two juniors. This is what I mean by 'make an effect on'.
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B. What 'make an effect on' is
a. that the CEO is ‘over’ the activities, and
b. that both (the CEO and Mr. Big) have some control over something.
c. that you may be scared of them.
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C. An Extra Example
There is an extra example for you:
Why?
It is a plan they proposed and they can talk about it, or change it the ways they like.
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D. The Sentence Pattern: SVO
If you remember, this is a sentence pattern you have learned at school. What pattern is it? SVO
| Subject | Verb | Object |
| Ms. Talk | made | a speech (at a meeting) |
Yet, your teacher might have forgotten to tell you one thing. There is a special relationship between a subject and an object. By special, I don’t mean they have an affair.
I mean a subject has some control over an object.
If a subject is a master, then an object is like a servant.
And do you want to give the relationship a name? What about MS? MS has nothing to do with any company. It means a Master-Servant relationship.
However, in the email, the word ‘I’ is not the master of ‘your email’.
What does that mean? It means: ‘I’ is not the one who wrote the email. In other words, 'I' write something, but not the email 'I' received.
It is Mr. Big, not 'I', who wrote the email.
So Mr. Big is the master (subject) of the servant (the email).
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E. The Rule
So, when using ‘reply’ as a verb, stick to the following rule:
| Person | Verb | + Preposition | Thing |
| I | will reply | to | your email (soon) |
That is, when there is no MS relationship, a preposition is needed. This is why when you use ‘wait’, you have to add a preposition:
Wait FOR me.
(Not ‘Wait me’)
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F. The Rule Applied
The same rule also applies to:
I will write to you.
(Not 'I will write you)
(Not 'I will write you)
I will talk to you.
(Not 'I will talk you.)
(Not 'I will talk you.)
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Pic Sources:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jesse/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/76029035@N02/6829524075/sizes/l/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/76029035@N02/6829510801/sizes/z/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hawken/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/eduardvkurganov/
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