A BIG ORDER

Dear Dr English,

I have something to ask from you:
1) I want to know the vocabulary used in political news.
2) I want to know everything about the news agency.
Thank you very much if you could reply.

Kitsada Samuthsakorn

While I am very happy to answer questions in this column, our purpose is not really providing this type of comprehensive tuition in specialised fields of English. However, you might want to have a look at http://education@nationgroup.com. I will put a collection of political-vocabulary items on this site very soon.

Regarding your second question, I'm afraid this field is so broad that you might want to take a couple of semesters at one of the local universities that specialise in this field.

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"ARE YOU FINISHED?" - WHY?

Dear Dr English,

I have a question to ask you. I am confused with the way native English speakers use the verb "finish". In general, we say; "Do you understand?", "Do you believe me?" I have never heard native speakers of English saying "Do you finish?" Instead, they say; "Are you finished?". Why? I hope you could help me out. I think "finish" might be a special verb, but I am not quite sure about that. Thank you for your time and help.

Apichai
An English teacher in the Northeast.

"Are you finished with this book?" - "No, I still want to look at the pictures."
Finished in this sentence is used as an adjective meaning someone is no longer doing or dealing with something or is no longer interested in it. The speaker wants to know if you still want to do something with or want to deal with it.

It gives a different meaning from when it is a verb. To finish doing or dealing with something means you reach the end of it, so there is no more for you to do or to deal with. In this case you say; "I have finished reading Harry Potter." The present perfect tense is used to show that you have reached the end of the story and know what the story is about.

Or in the sentence: Thailand's first underground system was finished last year. This sentence tells us when the construction of the underground system reached its final construction process.

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