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“Fond”, “Keen”, and “Ought to”

This post is inspired by Anas’ comments on one of my last posts. Thanks for the comments Anas, and thanks for sharing the website with your classmates. We really appreciate it.

Your writing was quite good in the comment, but there are a few words I’d like to advise you on. The words “Fond”, “Keen”, and “Ought to” are words that I personally never use. They aren’t wrong but they sound very old to me. They are words that I often hear my grandparents using but no one younger. Maybe some people in other English speaking countries still use them, I’m not sure, but my personal opinion is to avoid using them.

You could say, “I’ve always been a fan of your posts”, “I’ve always really liked your posts”, or “I’ve always enjoyed reading your posts”. Those sentences sound less old fashioned than, “I’ve always been keen on your posts”.

The phrase “ought to” can always be replaced with “should”. It may sound boring to use “should” all the time, but that’s what we do.

The word “fond” can be replaced with, “like” or “enjoy”. “I really like your podcasts”, or “I enjoy listening to your podcasts” sound more natural than “I am fond of your podcasts”.

Thanks to everyone for sharing your thoughtful comments. I hope to read more soon.

Also, make sure you are practicing your writing on our discussion forum. There’s only one way to improve your writing and that is to practice. No excuses!

Andy

This entry was posted on Monday, October 1st, 2007 at 9:51 am and is filed under Learning and Improving English, Grammar and Word Usage. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

2 Responses to ““Fond”, “Keen”, and “Ought to””

  1. Anas Says:
    October 2nd, 2007 at 4:12 pm

    Thanks Andy so much!
    I was insecure about using those words in my writing , but I think I will not use them again. thanks again I really appreciate it!

  2. Soo Says:
    October 21st, 2007 at 12:25 pm

    hi Andy,
    I had read your writing about fond, keen and ought to a while ago.
    After that, I started attending British Council to learn business english.
    However I found that my English teacher from England, of course :), often uses the word “keen”.

    I think it can be difference between British & Amerian English :)

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