Book Title: 168 Feng Shui Ways to Energise your Life
Author: Lillian Too
Year written/published: 2007
Book Source: Library
My Comments: My first reading on Feng Shui… very interesting take on objects and surroundings and how they affect the chi (energy) around us.
Some extracts:
Killing cycle of the elements:

wood kills earth
earth kills water
water kills fire
fire kills metal
metal kills wood

hostile images bring [...]

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Watching Moujan in Popsiren for this episode reminds me of another Guide for Women - Good Wife’s Guide from the 1950s. How times have changed! The extract goes something like this… 

Have dinner ready: 
Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal ready for your husband. This is a way of letting him know [...]

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Book Title: The art of war
Author: Sun Tzu
Year written: 5th BC
Book Source: Google Books, Library
Summary: Millitary strategies
My Comments: Excellent book. I love books that transcend time and generations to hold deep meaning and significance even till today and this is definitely one of them. Although i am not enagaged in any millitary executions, I have [...]

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I found this really funny and strangely truely…
In the wide world of dating, there are many options. Do you go for the flashy guy with the smooth smile, or the dude in the corner typing away on his laptop? The following are reasons why I think my fellow females should pay more attention to the [...]

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In Grammar, Parallelism is a balance of 2 or more similar words, phrases and structures. For example : 

Unbalanced - The hurricane not only destroyed the fishing fleet but also the homes of the fishermen.
Parallel - The hurricane destroyed not only the fishing fleet but also the homes of the fishermen.

Common connectors to use with parallel structures include:

and
or
both [...]

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Ever wondered why some countries have left hand driving and others have right hand driving?? Here’s an interesting peak at the history and origin…
In the past, almost everybody travelled on the left side of the road because that was the most sensible option for feudal, violent societies. Since most people are right-handed, swordsmen preferred to [...]

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Happy Independance Day to India… 51 Years of Independance since 1947. I love these kind of videos of India… it really shows how diverse this country is - bustling with vibrancy!

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Some words are superfluous and redundant in english…

Advance forward / proceed forward / progress forward return back 
revert back 
sufficient enough 
complete together 
reason … because 
join together 
repeat again 
new innovations 
same identical 
two twins 
the time when / the place where 
extremely critical 
both of them 
consensus of opinion 
fewer in number 
discussed about 
estimated at about 
sum total 
exact [...]

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Some phrases of Parallelism in english:

Both… and
Not only… but also
Either… or
Neither … nor
Whether … or

ot … but …
to compare … is to compare …
Unlike … which …

gmat

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Active Voice is usually preferred.
Passive Voice - the subject receives the action and it might have the phrase “by the…”. Passive Voice is usually avoided except in 2 cases:

Subject of the sentence is indefinite/general.
E.g. Rice is not grown in these fields (good). They do not grow rice in these fields (poor)
Depends on what the writer emphasises.
E.g. America [...]

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This is an interesting one i thought. I am not conscious when to use ‘whether’ and when to use ‘if’

Whether - for a choice/alternatives
If - for a condition

Note: ‘whether or not’ is a redundant phrase and saying ‘whether’ is enough!
Some links on ‘whether’ vs ‘if’:

Grammar girl
GMAT Grammar
grammar tip of the day

gmat

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Account for / Account to… when to use what?

Account for – explain something 
E.g. We had to account for the delay.
Account to – receive blame or credit
E.g. You will have to account to the the teacher for your naughtiness

gmat

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Types of tenses in English Language:

Present Tense
Present Continuous Tense
Present Perfect Tense - The action started in the past and it continues upto now.
Present Perfect Continuous Tense - The action has just stopped or an action continuing up to now

Past Tense
Past Continuous Tense
Past Perfect Tense - The action in the past before another action in the past.
Past Perfect [...]

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Accept versus Except

Accept means “to agree to” or “to receive.”
E.g. We will accept (receive) your manuscript for review.
Except means “to object to” or “to leave out.”
e.g. No parking is allowed, except (leave out) on holidays. 

gmat

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What is a modifier? In grammar, a modifier (or qualifier) is a word or sentence element that limits or qualifies another word, a phrase, or a clause.  There are 2 kinds of modifiers are:

adjectives - modify nouns and pronouns
adverbs - modify verbs, adjectives, and adverbs

2 common types of modifier grammar errors are :

misplaced modifiers: results in illogical sentences [...]

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Subjunctive is a special rare verb in English. The structure is extremely simple:

be (past)  - I were, you were, he/ she/it were, we were, they were
be (present) - I be, you be, he/ she/ it be, we be, they be
all other verbs (past & present) - I play, you play, he/ she/it play, we play, they play

The subjunctive is typically used after 3 structures:

the verbs: ask, command, demand, insist, propose, recommend, request, suggest [...]

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So when should we use ‘different from’ and ‘different than’ ?
different from is used to compare 2 nouns. E.g. The curtains in this room are different from the ones in my room.
different than is often used in American English to compare a noun and a clause. E.g. Elaine’s painting was veyr different than i has expected!
Some related [...]

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I’m in love with this little podast from the QDT network - Grammar Girl by Mignon Fogarty. SO who’s she in real life?

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I have been wanting to find such a list for a long time. A lot of Christian names are very similar with Muslim/Arab names and they are still used in the world till today! I found a really great list of examples…

Aaron / Harun
Abel / Habil
Abraham / Ibrahim
Adam (pronounced eh-duhm) / Adam (pronounced ah-dumb)
Adel / [...]

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Ivy League is a group of 8 colleges in North-Western United States that has come to represent academic excellence as well as prestige…

Brown University
Columbia University
Cornell University
Dartmouth College
Harvard University
Princeton University
University of Pennsylvania
Yale University

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