Discuss; talk about (not discuss about)

 

“People discuss my art and pretend to understand as if it were necessary to understand, when it's simply necessary to love.” 

This is a beautiful quote by the artist, Claude Monet. It’s also a perfect example of the correct use of discuss in English. 

Discuss and talk about are equal in meaning. In conversations with English learners, I often hear “discuss about,” which is a common mistake. 

Discuss = talk about

You can say this: 

• Ron will discuss the options with his business partner. 
• Can we discuss this tomorrow?
• The lawyer couldn’t discuss his case with reporters. 

….or you can say it this way:

• Ron will talk about the options with his business partner. 
• Can we talk about this tomorrow?
• The lawyer couldn’t talk about his case with reporters.

You can’t say discuss about: 

• Ron will discuss about the options with his business partner.  - wrong
• Can we discuss about this tomorrow? - wrong
• The lawyer couldn’t discuss about his case with reporters. - wrong

Discuss about is a common mistake to avoid. 

"I" as a subject

Everyone likes to talk about themselves and when you are the subject, it couldn't be easier to express. We talk about ourselves using "I" at the beginning of the sentence, not "me".

- I have always been attracted to bonsai trees.
- I saw a bonsai tree for the first time at a garden show in New York City.
- I was on a trip to Japan and got hooked on (became captivated by) bonsai creations.

Now add more people to your group and where does "I" go?

- I and Lisa have ...?
- Lisa and me have ...?
- Lisa and I have ...? CORRECT!

So remember that "I" is always the last item in a subject list when you have more than one in a group of people.

- Elisabeth, Jason, and I have always been attracted to bonsai trees.
- Jason and I saw a bonsai tree for the first time at a garden show in New York City.
- Elisabeth, Jason, Kate, Todd, and I were on a trip to Japan and got hooked on (became captivated by) bonsai creations.

Embarrassment Prevention

This post is going to prevent you from making a little mistake that could embarrass yourself and it's just a matter of using adjectives in the correct way.


An adjective is formed one way when you describe something/someone, and another way when you describe how you feel.
Let's look at boring and bored: Use 'boring' when you describe something/someone and use 'bored' to describe how you feel.
I was 'bored' because the movie was 'boring' (I felt bored; boring movie). Ok, it seems simple, right? Well, if you're not careful when you speak, you might say that you are boring instead of bored, and it sounds like you're insulting yourself.

In my conversations I often hear, "I am exciting." or "I am interesting." when it should be "I am excited." and "I am interested."

boring bored
exciting excited
annoying annoyed
frightening frightened
interesting interested
confusing confused
tiring tired

Remember, when using adjectives that end in -ing, think before you speak because you don't want to describe yourself as a boring, annoying person when you really feel bored and annoyed.

*By the way, this is my 100th post for improving-english.com and I'm excited!