You may speak English eight days a week, but does this language love you to the moon and back? Or does the universal language wish and pray that you just let it be?
Although many call center jobs in the Philippines are being offered, career advancement in this sphere goes hand in hand with English proficiency. This does not only delve in adapting the accent of an array of foreign languages supported by the booming BPO industry in Manila and other key cities in the Philippines. Proficiency means years of expertise and being able to solve and resolve consumer concerns – the one and only thrust that separates a good call center from a top notch BPO.
Nowadays, to ace your call center interview and progress in your BPO career, you need to show consistent competency coupled with English fluency both in the oral and written form. One of the call center qualifications to help you be on top is to have highly favorable communication skills, which largely point to politically sound and eternally polished grammar.
To help you up your game and to help you achieve career growth, we give you 15 of the most common grammar mistakes of newbie and experienced call center agents alike and how to fix them.
1. Repeat again
To repeat means to do something again. So if you ever want someone to repeat what he/she has said, do not say “Repeat that again” because it is redundant. You should either say, “Will you repeat that?” or “I beg your pardon” or “Would you mind saying it again?”
2. Irregardless
The word “irregardless” is used by many people that we don’t even notice that it is incorrect. You might have even heard many of your colleagues use this word. However, “irregardless” is nonexistent and is mistakenly used in place of its correct form “regardless.” So if ever you hear a colleague utter the word irregardless, correct him/her about its correct form regardless if he/she will hate you for it.
3. With regards to and In regards to
You may sometimes hear people say “With regards to your query” or “In regards to your question.” However, even though they sound good to the ears, the phrases “with regards to” and “in regards to” are incorrect phrases for the terms “with regard,” “regarding,” and “in regard to.”
4. Stuffs/Evidences/Furnitures/Equipments
This is one of the favorite pet peeves of grammar enthusiasts in the Philippines. These words are already in the collective plural form. Hence, we no longer need to add an “s” to them.
5. Lose versus Loose
“Lose” and “loose” are two entirely different words, but most call center agents interchange them – probably because they sound the same. Once in your life, you may have heard someone say the words, “I don’t want to loose my job.” This is an incorrect usage of the word “loose” because according to Merriam Webster, “loose” means not tightly fastened. On the other hand, “lose” means unable to win or unable to find.
Therefore, the correct term should be “I don’t want to lose my job” and not the other way around.
6. Few and Less
Contrary to popular belief, these two words are not interchangeable. “Less” is used with mass nouns. For example, less water, less sand, less oil, less problems, less rice, etc.
Meanwhile, “few” or “fewer” is used with countable nouns. For example, few people, few cats, few dogs, few bags, few computers, etc.
7. It’s versus Its
This grammar mistake is not discernable when spoken because “it’s” and “its” are homophones, which means that they sound alike. As an experienced call center agent, it is still important to know the difference between the two.
“It’s” is the shortened form of “it is” or “it has.”
For example, “It’s (It is) a good day.”
On the other hand, “its” is used to denote possession. “Its” expresses that a thing owns or possesses something.
For example, “Its recruitment office is open from Mondays through Fridays at 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.”
A good tip here is that if you could substitute “it is” or “it has” to the sentence, then the word you are probably looking for is “it’s.”
8. PIN number
This mistake usually comes up during payday. Many call center agents say PIN number instead of PIN alone. PIN means Personal Identification Number so saying PIN number is redundant. PIN alone will suffice.
So the next time you are taking too long in the ATM queue and your colleague asks you if you have entered your PIN number incorrectly, educate him or her. You know better!
9. You’re versus Your
The misuse of “you’re” and “your” is very common, especially on Facebook. Many people mistakenly use “you’re” when they mean “your” and vice versa. So when do we exactly use “you’re” and “your?”
We use “you’re” when we mean you are or you were. For example, “You’re (You are) a promising colleague.” On the other hand, we use “your” to indicate possession.
For example, “Your handbag looks expensive.”
A lot of people make this mistake probably because they do not proofread their posts on Facebook. So before hitting that “post status” button, make sure first that you are correctly using these two words.
10. Their versus They’re versus There
This is another common grammar error of not only call center agents but also by most people.
“There” means in that place.
Example:
I will immediately take in calls once I get there.
“They’re” is the contraction of the words “They are.”
Example: They’re the top agents this month.
“Their,” on the other hand, denotes possession. It signifies that something belongs to a group of people/animals.
Example: “Their” clients have commended them for their excellent service.
11. To versus Too versus Two
These homophones may look simple enough, but most call center agents incorrectly use these terms.
To, too, and two are distinct words with different meanings.
“To” can be used as a preposition. For example, “She went to Boracay during her vacation leave.”
Meanwhile, “too” means “also” or “in excess.” For example, “He was hailed the top-performing call center agent for this month, too.”
“Two,” on the other hand, simply means the number two. For example, “In total, he has received two awards.”
12. Literally
According to Boston.com, “literally” is the most misused word today. Many people seem to add the word “literally” all of the time to their sentences without even knowing that they are using it incorrectly. “Literally” means “in a literal or strict sense.”
Here are some examples where “literally” is incorrectly used:
“I literally died laughing there.” (Do not use literally here not unless you really died laughing.)
“She literally blew my mind.” (“Literally” is incorrectly used here not unless she really blew up your mind using dynamites.)
13. ATM machine
Similar to PIN number, ATM machine is also a redundant term. ATM stands for Automated Teller Machine. So the next time you wanted to withdraw cash, look for an ATM and not an ATM machine.
14. Confusing then with than
“Then” is used to describe time and means “afterward” or “later,” while “than” is used to compare two things, persons, or animals.
She entered the call center premises and then accepted calls.
His performance for this month is better than hers.
15. And, last but not the least, incorrect subject–verb agreement
Not knowing when to use singular and plural verbs may really make someone look less knowledgeable. Therefore, to avoid this error, remember to use a singular verb when you are using a singular subject and use a plural verb when you are using a plural subject.
For example, “Mary is our top performer for this month.”
In this example, “Mary” is a singular subject. Therefore, a singular verb (i.e., “is”) should be used.
On the other hand, let’s use the following example: “Mary and John are call center agents.”
In this example, “Mary and John” are the subjects. Therefore, a plural verb (i.e., “are”) should be used.
If the expressions together with, along with, and as well as are used, the first noun will determine whether a singular or plural verb will be used.
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For example, Joey, together with the rest of the team, has received an excellence award for performing well.
In this example, the subject is “Joey.” Thus, a singular verb (i.e., “has received”) should be used.
According to research, learning good grammar is an essential skill needed by people to be promoted. Thus, this skill is a must for call center agents to enable them to shine in the BPO field.
Obtaining good grammar may be difficult at first, but it is not impossible. Just practice using these common grammar fixes and you are on your way to becoming the best call center agent you can be!
Now’s your turn to bring your grammar pet peeves out in the open. What’s your “No, You Didn’t” grammar horror story?
