Expert: Debba Robinson - 4/1/2007

Question











dear sir
we are  a group of English teachers who are attending  a world links  course
we highly appreciate your answers to  our following questions   

1-what  is the difference between fair and blonde in the use ?
2-is the  right spelling of  this  word   
        (orang utan  or    orangutan)
3-which of the following sentence is righter
a-he is taller than me
b-he is taller than I am  

Answer
Dear Rasha,

Let's see what I can do for you.

1.  If someone is 'fair', it means they have very light skin and probably burn easily.  Red heads can be 'fair' (and usually are).  Blonds are almost always fair-skinned.  Since blond hair is light colored, and fair means light colored, they are often used interchangeably.

2.  orangutang, orang-outang, orangutan are all correct spellings for English ... and if you use the Indonesian spelling, you will use the two words - orang utan, which means 'man' (orang) 'of the forest' (utan).

3.  Your question here is incorrect ... we never say 'righter'.  We would say 'more right' or 'more correct' ... and I would choose 'more correct' as the preferred way to ask the question.

a. incorrect ... you never use 'me' as the direct object and you check by putting the 'me' at the beginning of the sentence ... you would not say 'Me is shorter than he is'

b. correct ... the 'am' at the end is actually implied more often than used.  We would say, "He is taller than I." ... and when you add the 'am', it shows you that you said it correctly.  You wouldn't say, "He is taller than me am."  And, you can turn this sentence around to check ... "I am shorter than he is."  

I hope this does the trick for you.

Debba