Killing the Confusion: Fill Up, Fill Out, Fill In

Recently, I was surfing the web for random topics that I could read, and I came across a document from an Indian Government, which looks like a guideline for passport application. I was carefully scanning the document when I incidentally spotted some noticeable errors. I was shocked to read some grammatical errors , specifically on the use of the word fill up, from an official government document. Here are the sentences that were incorrectly written:

Please follow the instructions as given in Column 2.1 of Section B for filling up details in this column.

Leave one box blank after each complete word, while filling up the boxes.

Particulars given in the application form will be printed in the passport booklet. Therefore, you must be careful in filling up the Application Form and submit the form without mistakes. The applicant shall be held responsible for any mistake in the application

form submitted.

This incorrect-use-of-fill-up problem is common even among Filipinos. I remember myself hearing a lot of fill-up lines from different people. =)

“Sir, paki fill up-an na lang po ang form na ito.” [“Sir, please fill up this form.”]

...and the likes... :)

Because of this confusion that seems to be everywhere, I thought of discussing about when to use fill in, fill out, and fill up.


FILL UP:
It means to make full or fill a container (or anything) with something up.

Examples:

The gasoline boy filled up the tank with gasoline.

Mom said, “Don’t fill up your stomach with junk food!”

Note 1: Fill can also be used as a substitute for fill up. We can say “You fill up the container with water.” or “You fill the container with water.” The only difference is that when you say fill up, you really mean to say to make the container full, and when you say fill, you just mean to fill the container, not necessarily full.

Note 2: Saying “fill up the form” for the purpose of telling to write the needed information on the form is incorrect. When you said “fill up the form”, it means you’ve used all the available spaces on the form and you need to ask for another sheet of paper. :)


FILL IN:
It is used to mean these:

• supply something that’s missing.
• enter something (one field or a few fields only; not the whole form) on a form.
• substitute for an absent colleague at work.

Examples:

“Please fill in the name field on this form.”

“Please fill in the blanks on the Test A of your exam.”


FILL OUT:
It means to complete a form or a survey by supplying the needed information. To create a comparison between fill in and fill out, make a mental picture of a form with a few blank fields only (e.g. a document with name and date blank fields (only) on its top portion), we should say “Please fill in your name and the date today on that document.”, on the other hand, make a mental picture of a document full of blanks and fields, we should say “Please fill out the document and send to me after you are done with all the information being asked.”

I hope this has been helpful! :)

Nice to know!

1.)   When you address a woman in a cover letter, use:

a.    Miss for unmarried woman.

b.    Mrs. for married woman.

c.    Ms for woman who you aren’t sure of the marital status.

2.)   Many adjectives with two syllables can end in both –er and –est and more and most for their comparative and superlative forms.

Examples:

commoner/commonest                      more common/most common

politer/politest                                      more polite/most polite

3.) LOL, which means 'laugh out loud', is now an accepted English word for Oxford Dictionary.

4.) Google or to Google is an accepted verb, which means to search the internet using any search engines, not necessarily Google search engine only.

Prepositions for Transportation

Let’s talk about prepositions of transportations. =)

Let me share with you the prepositional rules for vehicles. I learned these from the American Institute for English Proficiency, when I took the Critical Writing & Intensive Grammar Course from there. I was surprised to learn from my instructor, Sir Victor, that there are rules like these that exist!

Preposition-use changes depending on the structure, size, and momentum of the transportation means that are being talked about.

Here are the basic rules to remember:

‘ON’ for unenclosed transportation means: We use ON when we talk about transportation means that are unenclosed and you can stand or sit on.

                I am on a bicycle.

                I am riding on a horse.

                I’ll go to the island on a jetski.

‘IN’ for vehicles that are small and enclosed: We use IN when we talk about enclosed vehicles that are small and limited, and you are constrained that you cannot get up and move around. These vehicles are usually for private transportation like car and taxi.

                I am in my car.

                I went to the school in a taxi.

‘ON’ for vehicles that are big and enclosed: We use ON when we talk about enclosed vehicles that are big enough for you to get up and move around as much as you like.

                I was on the bus when the rain poured so hard.

                I travelled to Recto on the train.

                I went to Palawan on the boat.

The rules above look pretty simple -- We use IN if you are constrained and you cannot freely get up and move around, and we use ON if it is the opposite or if you are riding on something like a bicycle. These rules always hold true for IN-vehicles and for the transportation means like bicycle, but the rules for big ON-vehicles change depending on the momentum.

For example, if you are on a moving bus, you should say “I’m on the bus.”, but if the bus is in a bus stop waiting for more people to get on board, you should say “I’m in the bus.”

Let me add some more. Please remember not to say ‘I travelled by foot.’, use ‘I travelled on foot.’

I hope you learned something new. =)

How to Properly Punctuate Salutations

Hello, fellas! :)

Let’s talk about writing a letter -- particularly the greeting or salutation part of the letter.

Did you know that the common practice of many when writing salutation of letters is incorrect?

We can commonly see these ways of writing the greetings of letters:

Hi,

Hello,

Hi Arvie,

Hello Nette,

Dear Yomi,

Sir Santos,

Mr. Reyes,

Are you one of those people who write like that?  =)

Did you know that the above ways of writing greetings are not grammatically correct?

Hi and hello are interjections*. Interjections are words that express emotions -- surprise, happiness, excitement, hurt, etc. -- and they are ‘sometimes’ considered as complete sentences* already, despite of being single-worded. Why? Simply because they are already complete in thought.

Help! → It may mean You help me!
Here! → It may mean I’m here! or It’s here!

Hello! → It may mean I say hello to you!
Great! → It may mean That is great!

The four interjections above have invisible (and understood) subjects and direct object.

There are interjections that are more likely a noise than a word, but they still express complete thought.

Ouch! (Someone is hurt.)

Eeew! (Someone is disgusted.)

Wow! (Someone is positively surprised.)

Interjections are commonly used in verbal communication, than in written. They are commonly uttered than written. Most of them are considered as stand-alone sentences, but not always. Interjection can also be followed by comma:

Yes, you are right.

Hello, Arvie. You look busy.

Great, Anne! You got a perfect score.

Hi and hello are interjections that we use in writing salutations. We have learned above that they are already complete sentences and should be punctuated properly.

instead of writing... we should write...

Hi, Hi. or Hi!**

Hello, Hello. or Hello!**

Hi Arvie, Hello, Arvie. or Hello, Arvie!**

Hello Nette, Hello, Nette. or Hello, Nette!**

How about if we want the greeting to start with Dear or with the name of the recipient?

‘Dear’ is not an interjection, but an adjective. It cannot stand alone, just like the names. They should be written like these:

Dear Yomi,

Dear Mr. Reyes,

Dear Ms Santos,

Sir Santos,

Mr. Reyes,

The problem is writing the greetings correctly may look weird given the widespread use of the incorrect alternative.

Use your own judgement. Use whatever way you feel is best for you. All I know is there is no better way than following and doing what is right. =)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

*REVIEW:

Interjection - The part of speech that usually expresses emotion and is capable of standing alone. Examples: Hi!, Ouch!, Hello!, Great!, etc. (source: Thefreedictionary.com)

Sentence - A grammatical unit of one or more words that expresses an independent statement, question, request, command, exclamation, etc., and that typically has a subject as well as a predicate, as in John is here.  or Is Johnhere? (source: Dictionary.com)

**Punctuations depend on how excited you feel about the greeting.