Language Tips

INTRODUCTION

2012-08-06T06:05:00.000-07:00

This attempt is made at meeting the greatest need of those who want to learn English language for speaking purpose in various contexts. This site comprises hundreds of dialogues, explanations of different idiomatic expressions, vocabulary items, pairs of words, contracted forms, linguistics situations etc. As far as possible efforts have been made to make the language easy and understand able for the learners. Consequently the language has tended to be simple and idiomatic. It is hoped that this site will serve the purpose for those who want to obtain communicative ability in the real situations, for the interviewees who want to get speaking confidence in interviews or examinations viva voce, and for those who want to learn English as a second language. For the convenience of the learners pictures, cartoons, diagrams and flow charts have also been included in the site. Language teachers would hopefully find this site a great help and linguistic asset in their teaching process. Whatever I felt lacking in other sites of this sort during my language teaching process, I have done my level best to include in this site in hand.
Suggestions for the improvement of this site will always be a source of inspiration to me and addition to my knowledge.
Learning any new language is always a long and hard process. But there are little tips and tricks that can help along the way. With a little effort and dedication, learning a new language can become fun and exciting. Here are a few hints that will help a beginner in learning English.
1: Use what you learn. This, more than anything else, is going to help a person learn English quickly and with accuracy. It also helps to learn first those words you can use often. A student should start to notice which words they use most often and learn how to say them in English.
2: Work with others. Learning English by oneself can be a trying ordeal. Learning English with a friend can be fun and exciting. Two friends learning together can remind each other to use what they have learned and correct each other when they make mistakes.
3: Learn songs. If someone were asked to remember what their mother said to them at their childhood bedside, they probably wouldn’t be able to say. However, if someone were asked to sing a song that their mother sang to them at that same bedside, they could sing it back without missing a word. The human brain remembers song a lot better than it remembers straight words. Singing English songs can help with improving accent and remembering how words go together.
4: Write down new words. If a person can put new information into their brain in several different ways, they will remember it better. Writing down new words lets your mind remember the way it looks, the way it feels to write it. Even better, say the word aloud as you write it.
5: Write down what you hear. As a person learns English, he will hear new words every time he talks with someone in English. If these new words are not written down, they will be forgotten by the time the person makes it back to a dictionary where they can look the word up. One of the best investments a new English student can make is to buy a small notebook and pen that they can carry with them everywhere they go. Students are often shy about asking people about some word they just said. The truth is most people are more than happy to help, even spelling out words when asked. Everyone likes to feel like they have been helpful.
6: Read a book. In schools, the smartest kids and quickest learners are those that take the time to read. Reading will supply a student with new vocabulary and lots of valuable practice. For those who are just starting, Dr. Seuss books provide a quick and fun way to absorb basic vocabulary.
As in everything else in life, the true key to success is very simple.

M. Shaheen

Simple, Compound, Complex Sentences

2010-09-29T11:36:00.000-07:00

Experienced writers use a variety of sentences to make their writing interesting and lively. Too many simple sentences, for example, will sound choppy and immature while too many long sentences will be difficult to read and hard to understand.

This page contains definitions of simple, compound, and complex sentences with many simple examples. The purpose of these examples is to help the ESL/EFL learner to identify sentence basics including identification of sentences in the short quizzes that follow. After that, it will be possible to analyze more complex sentences varieties.

SIMPLE SENTENCE

A simple sentence, also called an independent clause, contains a subject and a verb, and it expresses a complete thought. In the following simple sentences, subjects are in yellow, and verbs are in green.

A. Some students like to study in the mornings.
B. Juan and Arturo play football every afternoon.
C. Alicia goes to the library and studies every day.

The three examples above are all simple sentences. Note that sentence B contains a compound subject, and sentence C contains a compound verb. Simple sentences, therefore, contain a subject and verb and express a complete thought, but they can also contain a compound subjects or verbs.

COMPOUND SENTENCE

A compound sentence contains two independent clauses joined by a coordinator. The coordinators are as follows: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so. (Helpful hint: The first letter of each of the coordinators spells FANBOYS.) Except for very short sentences, coordinators are always preceded by a comma. In the following compound sentences, subjects are in yellow, verbs are in green, and the coordinators and the commas that precede them are in red.

A. I tried to speak Spanish, and my friend tried to speak English.
B. Alejandro played football, so Maria went shopping.
C. Alejandro played football, for Maria went shopping.

The above three sentences are compound sentences. Each sentence contains two independent clauses, and they are joined by a coordinator with a comma preceding it. Note how the conscious use of coordinators can change the relationship between the clauses. Sentences B and C, for example, are identical except for the coordinators. In sentence B, which action occurred first? Obviously, "Alejandro played football" first, and as a consequence, "Maria went shopping. In sentence C, "Maria went shopping" first. In sentence C, "Alejandro played football" because, possibly, he didn't have anything else to do, for or because "Maria went shopping." How can the use of other coordinators change the relationship between the two clauses? What implications would the use of "yet" or "but" have on the meaning of the sentence?

COMPLEX SENTENCE

A complex sentence has an independent clause joined by one or more dependent clauses. A complex sentence always has a subordinator such as because, since, after, although, or when or a relative pronoun such as that, who, or which. In the following complex sentences, subjects are in yellow, verbs are in green, and the subordinators and their commas (when required) are in red.

A. When he handed in his homework, he forgot to give the teacher the last page.
B. The teacher returned the homework after she noticed the error.
C. The students are studying because they have a test tomorrow.
D. After they finished studying, Juan and Maria went to the movies.
E. Juan and Maria went to the movies after they finished studying.

When a complex sentence begins with a subordinator such as sentences A and D, a comma is required at the end of the dependent clause. When the independent clause begins the sentence with subordinators in the middle as in sentences B, C, and E, no comma is required. If a comma is placed before the subordinators in sentences B, C, and E, it is wrong.

Note that sentences D and E are the same except sentence D begins with the dependent clause which is followed by a comma, and sentence E begins with the independent clause which contains no comma. The comma after the dependent clause in sentence D is required, and experienced listeners of English will often hear a slight pause there. In sentence E, however, there will be no pause when the independent clause begins the sentence.

COMPLEX SENTENCES / ADJECTIVE CLAUSES

Finally, sentences containing adjective clauses (or dependent clauses) are also complex because they contain an independent clause and a dependent clause. The subjects, verbs, and subordinators are marked the same as in the previous sentences, and in these sentences, the independent clauses are also underlined.

A. The woman who(m) my mom talked to sells cosmetics.
B. The book that Jonathan read is on the shelf.
C. The house which AbrahAM Lincoln was born in is still standing.
D. The town where I grew up is in the United States.

Adjective Clauses are studied in this site separately, but for now it is important to know that sentences containing adjective clauses are complex.

CONCLUSION

Are sure you now know the differences between simple, compound, and complex sentences? Click QUICK QUIZ to find out. This quiz is just six sentences. The key is to look for the subjects and verbs first.

Another quiz, this one about Helen Keller contains ten sentences.

These quiz sentences based on the short story, The Americanization of Shadrach Cohen, by Bruno Lessing.
Quick Quiz: Shadrach

After each quiz, click GRADE QUIZ to see your score immediately.

Remember that with the skill to write good simple, compound, and complex sentences, you will have the flexibility to (1) convey your ideas precisely and (2) entertain with sentence variety at the same time! Good luck with these exercises!

Happy Canada Day! - Here is a little history (article)

2010-07-01T07:37:00.000-07:00

Canada on July 1, 1867 a lot like Canada today

Millions of people are gathering all over Canada to celebrate the country's 143rd birthday, but the Canada of today in many ways is similar to the one of July 1, 1867.

People celebrated, world leaders worked toward a global economy, Canadians felt attached to British traditions and a new technology was changing how people communicated.

Queen Elizabeth II is even here with us to celebrate this year.

In 1867, Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth's great-great-grandmother wrote in her proclamation, "We do ordain, declare, and command, that on and after the first day of July one thousand, eight hundred and sixty-seven, the Provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick shall form and be one Dominion under the name Canada."

With those words Canada became a nation.

(RIC'S NOTE: Way back then, Ontario was known as 'Upper Canada' and Quebec was known as 'Lower Canada', and that is what is meant by 'the provinces of Canada' in the above speech by the queen. Yes, Canada was formed with just 4 provinces!)

To read the rest of this article on Yahoo!, please visit this link now:
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/yahoocanada/canada_on_july1__1867_a_lot_like_canada_today

Grammarway1 كتاب قواعد اللغة الإنجليزية

2010-06-29T23:10:00.000-07:00

Contents
Unit1 Plurals / Countable Nouns - Vocabulary Nouns
Unit2 Subject Personal Pronouns / The Verb "To be"
Unit3 Articles (A/An - The) / This - That - These - Those
Unit4 The Verbs "Have Got" - "Can"
Unit5 Possessives (Possessive case/Possessive adjectives - pronouns)
Unit6 Present Continuous
Unit7 Object Pronouns / The Imperative
Unit8 There Is - Are / Some - Any - No
Unit9 Present

The A-Z of Correct English كتاب اللغة الإنجليزية الصحيحة

2010-06-26T22:06:00.000-07:00

WANT TO CHECK A SPELLING?

Cross-referencing will help you locate words with tricky initialletters.
aquaint Wrong spelling.See ACQUAINT.

Plural words are given along side singular nouns, with cross-
referencing to relevant rules and patterns.
knife (singular) knives (plural)

abandon
abandoned,abandoning,abandonment
(not -bb-)

abattoir (not -bb-)
abbreviate
abbreviated,

21 Accents

2010-06-26T09:38:00.000-07:00

This is entertaining. Good job Amy. I don't agree with your Toronto accent - too fast - but thanks for the laughs!

Hugh Laurie: the British accent vs the American

2010-06-26T09:31:00.000-07:00

Hugh Laurie and Ellen teach each other slang.

How Culture and ESL Can Affect Managing Others

2010-06-25T08:56:00.000-07:00

I recently had an email from an old Chinese friend (really nice sweet guy) who was asking for advice on how to manage foreign English teachers in China at his company. Apparently whenever they didn’t agree to some term of employment, they simply ‘played the foreigner card’ and claimed that they don’t have to do that because things are different in their own country. Smells like arrogance to me. The funny thing is, this nice guy who was asking me for help really wanted me to give him advice on understanding Westerner’s employment standards and practices.

That is a good thing to do, since he is managing them. However I reminded him that they are guests in China and are employees of his company, and that the main way to avoid some confusion is to have a clearly written ‘rules and conditions of employment’ contract which everyone must read and sign. That way both sides are clear on what is expected from the beginning. If the teachers find these rules too difficult then he should invite them to seek employment elsewhere!
Of course rules can be bent and terms can be negotiated and re-written, but it cannot be done through bullying or ultimatum-giving, and that is what I wanted my friend to understand. He was being a push-over and they were taking advantage of his hospitality, as I understood. As a manager he needed to learn how to deal with facts (i.e. terms of employment as set out by the company) and be firm but fair in his dealings with his teachers.

Similar things happen all over the world. Here in multi-cultural Toronto, I come across stories all the time of people who are either being too strong or too shy. How many Russian immigrants have I told to “soften your language” and to “not be so direct”? Almost as many Chinese immigrants I have told to “be more confident in your speech” and to “not be so indirect”! Funny right? And that is just a small sample from my world of being a professional Communication Coach!

(For more info on effective people management tips, please visit the latest article on my website by following this link directly to the Article Page:
http://www.communicationcoach.ca/pb/wp_925208bb.html?0.28339810437679436)

Sentence Structure & Voice - Active vs. Passive

2010-06-11T01:38:00.000-07:00

Passive: The bread was sliced by Jackie.
Active: Jackie sliced the bread.

Students are often mystified when teachers tell them that they write too much in the passive voice. What does this mean? When a teacher refers to "voice" in a sentence, it has to do with verb placement in the sentence. More specifically, a passive voice sentence either puts the action (the verb) first and the actor (the subject) second, or leaves the actor out altogether, making it hard for a reader to understand who is doing what to whom. Basically, if you use the passive voice, it means that you are structuring your sentence so that the subject is being acted upon instead of acting.

For example:

Passive: Herman's space was invaded.
Active: The big bully invaded Herman's space.

The action is "invading Herman's space," but who is performing the action? The passive voice sentence does not tell us who or what is invading his space, so what is happening is not clear to the reader. Notice the difference in the active voice version when you identify the actor and re-order actor and action to state directly who is doing what.

In addition to being unclear, using the passive voice often makes your sentences wordy and dull:

Passive: It is believed by the president that the changing of the by-laws should be placed on the agenda.
Active: The president believes that the secretary must place the by-law changes on the agenda.

Passive: We were cheered by the news that the faculty meeting was canceled by the winter storm.
Active: We were cheered by the news that the storm canceled the faculty meeting.

Try to write in clear, active voice sentences in which you identify an actor performing an action. This will make your writing vigorous and concise.

Note: As in everything in English, there are exceptions. You can use the passive voice effectively in three cases:

1. when the actor is unknown or unimportant
Every year millions of people are led to believe they will win the sweepstakes. 2. when you want to draw attention to the person, place, or thing being acted upon
John Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and Robert Kennedy were all assassinated in the same decade. 3. in writing which requires an impersonal voice, such as scientific writing, which often describes procedures--and not the individual who carries them out
The beakers must be filled with the chemical solutions and monitored for three-hour intervals.

Note: The instances in which you use the passive voice are infrequent; use the active voice unless you consciously decide that the passive voice is the most appropriate.

Conjunctions

2010-06-09T13:51:00.000-07:00

According to Carter and McCarthy, "Conjunctions express a variety of logical relations between phrases, clauses and sentences." There are two kinds of conjunctions: coordinating conjunctions and subordinating conjunctions.

Coordinating
Coordinating conjunctions link "elements of equal grammatical status." The elements in questions may vary from a prefix to an entire sentence. Examples:

* (prefixes): "The doctor must provide facilities for pre- and post test conselling and have his own strict procedures for the storing of that confidential information."
* (words): "'No, I'll never love anybody but you, Tom, and I'll never marry anybody but you--and you ain't to ever marry anybody but me, either."
* (phrases): "Can storied urn or animated bust back to its mansion call the fleeting breath?"
* (subordinate clauses): "Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.
* (independent clauses): "Well, I think you're here, plain enough, but I think you're a tangle-headed old fool, Jim."
* (sentences): "He said we were neither of us much to look at and we were as sour as we looked. But I don't feel as sour as I used to before I knew robin and Dickon."

A correlative conjunction is a pair of constituent elements, each of which is associated with the grammatical unit to be coordinated. The common correlatives in English are:

* "either ... or":
o "The clergyman stayed to exchange a few sentences, either of admonition or reproof, with his haughty parishioner ...."
o "...; for I could not divest myself of a misgiving that something might happen to London in the meanwhile, and that, when I got there, it would be either greatly deteriorated or clean gone."
* "neither ... nor":
o "Buck made no effort. He lay quietly where he had fallen. The lash bit into him again and again, but he neither whined nor struggled."
o "For I have neither wit, nor words, nor worth, action, nor utterance, nor the power of speech, to stir men's blood: I only speak right on; ..."
* "both ... and"
o "There was no mistaking her sincerity—it breathed in every tone of her voice. Both Marilla and Mrs. Lynde recognized its unmistakable ring."
o "There messages have both ethical and pragmatic overtones, urging women to recognize that even if they do suffer from physical and social disadvantages, their lives are far from being determined by their biology."
* "Not only ... but also"
o "The director of A Doll's House, the brilliant Zhang Min, ..., was impressed with Lin not only professionally but also personally."
o "... she attempted to persuade her husband to give up his affair. Not only did he refuse, but he also told her he loved them both ...."

Subordinating conjunctions

Subordinating conjunction relate only clauses to one another. They make the clause associated with them into a subordinate clause. Some common subordinating conjunctions in English are: (of time) after, before, since, until, when, while; (cause and effect): because, since, now that, as, in order that, so; (opposition): although, though, even though, whereas, while; (condition): if, unless, only if, whether or not, whether or no, even if, in case (that), and so forth. Examples:

* (time: "before"): "Perhaps Homo erectus had already died out before Homo sapiens arrived.
* (cause and effect: "in order that"): "In order that feelings, representations, ideas and the like should attain a certain degree of memorability, it is important that they should not remain isolated ..."
* (opposition: "although"): "Ultimately there were seven more sessions, in which, although she remained talkative, she increasingly clearly conveyed a sense that she did not wish to come any more."
* (condition: "even if"): "Even if Sethe could deal with the return of the spirit, Stamp didn't believe her daughter could."

Prepositional phrases

2010-06-09T13:48:00.000-07:00

A prepositional phrase is formed when a preposition combines with its complement.. In the above examples, the prepositional phrases are:

1. prepositional phrase: "after six pleasant weeks"
2. prepositional phrase: "after one glance"
3. prepositional phrases: "to the seas" and "to the vagrant gypsy life"
4. prepositional phrases: "Between two golden tufts of summer grass," "through hot air" and "as through glass."
5. prepositional phrase: "During these years at Florence."
6. prepositional phrases "of sweet silent thought" and "of things past."

Prepositions

2010-06-09T13:45:00.000-07:00

Prepositions relate two events in time or two people or things in space. They form a closed class. They also represent abstract relations between two entities: Examples:

1. ("after":) "We came home from Mr. Boythorn's after six pleasant weeks."
2. ("after":) "The body of a little wizened Gond lay with its feet in the ashes, and Bagheera looked inquiringly at Mowgli. "That was done with a bamboo," said the boy, after one glance.
3. ("to":) "I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life, ..."
4. ("between" and "through":) "Between two golden tufts of summer grass, I see the world through hot air as through glass, ..."
5. ("during":) "During these years at Florence, Leonardo's history is the history of his art; he himself is lost in the bright cloud of it."
6. ("of":) "When to the sessions of sweet silent thought I summon up remembrances of things past."

Prepositions are accompanied by prepositional complements; these are usually noun phrases.[128] In the above examples, the prepositional complements are:

1. preposition: "after"; prepositional complement: "six pleasant weeks"
2. preposition: "after"; prepositional complement: "one glance"
3. preposition: "to"; prepositional complement: "the seas"; preposition: "to"; prepositional complement: "the vagrant gypsy life";
4. preposition: "Between"; prepositional complement: "two golden tufts of summer grass,"; preposition: "through"; prepositional complement: "hot air"; preposition: "as through"; prepositional complement: "glass."
5. preposition: "during"; prepositional complement: "these years at Florence."
6. preposition: "of"; prepositional complement: "sweet silent thought"; preposition: "of"; prepositional complement: "things past."

Adverb phrases

2010-06-09T13:42:00.000-07:00

Forms
An adverb phrase is a phrase that collectively acts as an adverb within a sentence; in other words, it modifies a verb (or verb phrase), an adjective (or adjective phrase), or another adverb. The head of an adverb phrase (roman boldface), which is an adverb, may be modified by another adverb (italics boldface) or followed by a complement (italics boldface):

* "Yet all too suddenly Rosy popped back into the conversation, ...."
* "Oddly enough, that very shudder did the business."
* "The Stoics said, perhaps shockingly for us, that a father ceases to be a father when his child dies."

An adverb phrase can be part of the complement of the verb "be." It then usually indicates location (adverbe phrase in boldface; form of "be" in italics):

* "'... it is underneath the pink slip that I wore on Wednesday with my Mechlin.'"
* "... north-by-northeast was Rich Mountain, ..."

Adverb phrases are frequently modifiers of verbs:

* "They plow through a heavy fog, and Enrique sleeps soundly—too soundly."
* "Sleepily, very sleepily, you stagger to your feet and collapse into the nearest chair."

Adverb phrases are also frequently modifiers of adjectives and other adverbs (modifier in boldface; modified in italics):

* (adjectives) "Then to the swish of waters as the sailors sluice the decks all around and under you, you fall into a really deep sleep."
* (adverbs) "'My grandma's kinda deaf and she sleeps like really heavily."

Adverb phrases can also be modifiers of noun phrases (or pronoun phrases) and prepositional phrases (adverb phrases in boldface; modified phrases in italics):

* (noun phrase): "She stayed out in the middle of the wild sea, and told them that was quite the loveliest place, you could see for many miles all round you, ...."
* (pronoun phrase): "... the typical structure of glioma is that of spherical and cylindrical lobules, almost each and everyone of which has a centrally located blood vessel."
* (prepositional phrase): "About halfway through the movie, I decided to ..."

Adverb phrases also modify determiners (modifier in boldface; modified in italics):

* "The devil knows best what he said, but at least she became his tool and was in the habit of seeing him nearly every evening."
* "Nearly if not quite all civilized peoples and ourselves above almost all others, are heavily burdened with the interest upon their public debt."

Functions
According to Carter and McCarthy, "As well as giving information on the time, place, manner and degree of an action, event, or process, adverb phrases can also have a commenting function, indicating the attitude and point of view of the speaker or writer towards a whole sentence or utterance." Examples:

* "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."
* "Astonishingly, she'd shelled every nut, leaving me only the inner skin to remove."

Adverb phrases also indicate the relation between two clauses in a sentence. Such adverbs are usually called "linking adverbs." Example:

* "... they concluded from the similarities of their bodies, that mine must contain at least 1724 of theirs, and consequently would require as much food as was necessary to support that number of Lilliputians."

Adverbs

2010-06-09T13:39:00.000-07:00

Adverbs, according to Carter and McCarthy, are a class of words "which perform a wide range of functions. Adverbs are especially important for indicating time, manner, place, degree, and frequency of an event, action, or process." They typically modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. Adjectives and adverbs are often derived from the same word. A majority of adverbs are formed by adding to "-ly" ending to their corresponding adjective form. Recall the adjectives, "habitual", "pitiful", "impish", We can use them to form the adverbs:

* "habitually": "... shining out of the New England reserve with which Holgrave habitually masked whatever lay near his heart."
* "pitifully": "The lamb tottered along far behind, near exhaustion, bleating pitifully."
* "impishly": "Well, and he grinned impishly, "it was one doggone good party while it lasted!"

Some suffixes that are commonly found in adverbs are "-ward(s)" and "-wise":

* "homeward": "The plougman homeward plods his weary way."
* "downward": "In tumbling turning, clustering loops, straight downward falling, ..."
* "lengthwise": "2 to 3 medium carrots, peeled, halved lengthwise, and cut into 1-inch pieces."

Some adverbs have the same form as the adjectives:

* "outside":
o Adverb: "'You'd best begin, or you'll be sorry—it's raining outside."
o Adjective: "It would be possible to winter the colonies in the barn if each colony is provided with a separate outside entrance; ..."
* "straight"
o Adverb: "Five cigars, very dry, smoked straight except where wrapper loosened, as it did in two cases."
o Adjective: "Numbering among the ranks of the "young and evil" in this text are ... straight women who fall in love with gay men, ..."

Some adverbs are not related to adjectives:

* "quite": "Mr. Bingley was obliged to be in town the following day, and ... Mrs. Bennet was quite disconcerted."
* "too": "... like a child that, having devoured its plumcake too hastily, sits sucking its fingers, ...."
* "so": "... oh! ... would she heave one little sigh to see a bright young life so rudely blighted, ...?"

Some adverbs inflect for comparative and superlative forms:

* "soon"
o "O error, soon conceived, Thou never comest unto a happy birth, ..."
o "Nerissa: 'superfluity comes sooner by white hairs, but competency lives longer."
o "'Least said, soonest mended!' "
* "well"
o "Valrosa well deserved its name, for in that climate of perpetual summer roses blossomed everywhere."
o "'I'm afraid your appearance in the Phycological Quarterly was better deserved,' said Mrs. Arkwright, without removing her eyes from the microscope ..."
o "Who among the typical Victorians best deserved his hate?"

Adjective phrases

2010-06-09T13:36:00.000-07:00

Forms
An adjective phrase may consist of just one adjective, or a single adjective which has been modified or complemented.

Adjectives are usually modified by adverb phrases (adverb in boldface; adjective in italics):

* "... placing himself in a dignified and truly imposing attitude, began to draw from his mouth yard after yard of red tape ..."
* "Families did certainly come, beguiled by representations of impossibly cheap provisions, though the place was in reality very expensive, for every tradesman was a monopolist at heart."
* "... of anger frequent but generally silent, ..."

An adjective phrase can also consist of an adjective followed by a complement, usually a prepositional phrase, or by a "that" clause. Different adjectives require different patterns of complementation (adjective in italics; complement in bold face):

* "... during that brief time I was proud of myself, and I grew to love the heave and roll of the Ghost ..."
* "... her bosom angry at his intrusion, ..."
* "Dr. Drew is especially keen on good congregational singing."

Examples of "that" clause in the adjective phrase (adjective in italics; clause in boldface):

* "Was sure that the shrill voice was that of a man—a Frenchman."
* "The longest day that ever was; so she raves, restless and impatient."

An adjective phrase can combine pre-modification by an adverb phrase and post-modification by a complement, as in (adjective in italics; adverb phrase and complement in boldface):

* "Few people were ever more proud of civic honours than the Thane of Fife."

Attributive and predicative
An adjective phrase is attributive when it modifies a noun or a pronoun (adjective phrase in boldface; noun in italics):

* "Truly selfish genes do arise, in the sense that they reproduce themselves at a cost to the other genes in the genome."
* "Luisa Rosado: a woman proud of being a midwife"

An adjective phrase is predicative when it occurs in the predicate of a sentence (adjective phrase in boldface):

* "No, no, I didn't really think so," returned Dora; "but I am a little tired, and it made me silly for a moment ..."
* "She was ill at ease, and looked more than usually stern and forbidding as she entered the Hales' little drawing room."

Adjectives

2010-06-09T13:34:00.000-07:00

According to Carter and McCarthy, "Adjectives describe properties, qualities, and states attributed to a noun or a pronoun." As was the case with nouns and verbs, the class of adjectives cannot be identified by the forms of its constituents. However, adjectives are commonly formed by adding the some suffixes to nouns. Examples: "-al" ("habitual," "multidimensional," "visceral"), "-ful" ("blissful," "pitiful," "woeful"), "-ic" ("atomic," "gigantic," "pedantic"), "-ish" ("impish," "peckish," "youngish"), "-ous" ("fabulous," "hazardous"). As with nouns and verbs, there are exceptions: "homosexual" can be a noun, "earful" is a noun, "anesthetic" can be a noun, "brandish" is a verb. Adjectives can also be formed from other adjectives through the addition of a suffix or more commonly a prefix:[65] weakish, implacable, disloyal, irredeemable, unforeseen. A number of adjectives are formed by adding "a" as a prefix to a verb: "adrift," "astride," "awry."

Gradability
Adjectives come in two varieties: gradable and non-gradable. In a gradable adjective, the properties or qualities associated with it, exist along a scale. In the case of the adjective "hot," for example, we can speak of: not at all hot, ever so slightly hot, only just hot, quite hot, very hot, extremely hot, dangerously hot, and so forth. Consequently, "hot" is a gradable adjective. Gradable adjectives usually have antonyms: hot/cold, hard/soft, smart/dumb, light/heavy. Some adjectives do not have room for qualification or modification. These are the non-gradable adjectives, such as: pregnant, married, incarcerated, condemned, adolescent (as adjective), dead, and so forth.

In figurative or literary language, a non-gradable adjective can sometimes be treated as gradable, especially in order to emphasize some aspect:

* "When a man's verses cannot be understood, nor a man's good wit seconded with a forward child, understanding, it strikes a man more dead than a great reckoning in a little room."

A non-gradable adjective might have another connotation in which it is gradable. For example, "dead" when applied to sounds can mean dull, or not vibrant. In this meaning, it has been used as a gradable adjective:

* "... the bell seemed to sound more dead than it did when just before it sounded in open air."

Gradable adjectives can occur in comparative and superlative forms. For many common adjectives, these are formed by adding "-er" and "-est" to the base form: cold, colder, coldest; hot, hotter, hottest; dry, drier, driest, and so forth; however, for other adjectives, "more" and "most" are needed to provide the necessary qualification: more apparent, most apparent; more iconic, most iconic; more hazardous, most hazardous. Some gradable adjectives change forms atypically: good, better, best; bad, worse, worst; little, less, least; some/many, more, most.

Mood

2010-06-09T13:31:00.000-07:00

A verb phrase can also express mood, which refers to the "factual or non-factual status of events." There are three moods in English: indicative, imperative, and subjunctive.

Indicative mood
The indicative is the most common mood in English. It is a factual mood, and most constructions involving the various choices of person, tense, number, aspect, modality are in the indicative mood. Examples:

* "She will have a hangover tomorrow morning."
* "The Prime Minister and his cabinet were discussing the matter on that fateful day in 1939."

Imperative mood
The imperative mood is a non-factual mood and is employed for issuing directives:

* "Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on"
* "'Your father's urn is on the backseat. Just leave the keys in the cup holder."

Subjunctive mood
The subjunctive mood is also a non-factual mood which refers to demands, desires, etc.[49] It uses the base form of the verb without inflections.[49] It is rare in English and is used after only a handful of words such as "demand," "request," "suggest," "ask," "plead," "pray," "insist," and so forth. Examples:

* "I demanded that Sheriff Jeanfreau stay. I even wanted worthless and annoying Ugly Henderson to stay."
* "'I suggest that you not exercise your temper overmuch,' Mayne said, and the French tinge in his voice sounded truly dangerous now."

Properties:

* Subjunctives can be used after conditional subordinators.
o "I accepted on the condition that I not be given a starring role."
* Subjunctives can also be used after expressions of necessity.
o "Two nuns are asked to paint a room in the convent, and the last instruction of Mother Superior is that they not get even a drop of paint on their habits."
* The subjunctive form of the verb "be" can occur as the base form "be".
o "Whenever a prisoner alleges physical abuse, it is imperative that the prisoner be seen by an officer at the earliest possible opportunity."
* In its "were" form the subjunctive is used to express a hypothetical situation.
o "'Lin said, turning toward Pei, "I'm afraid she's excited at seeing me home again." Pei smiled. "I would be too, if I were she."

Voice

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The passive voice, which provides information about the roles of different participants in an event, is formed with the auxiliary "be" and the "-ed" participle form of the lexical verb. Examples:

* (Sentence) "The older critics slammed the play with vituperation inexplicable unless one attributes it to homophobia."[50]
* (passive voice) "Ever notice how she was (past of "be") slammed (-ed participle) by the critics until the actors started doing it themselves?"

Properties:

* Modal verbs can occur in passive voice.
o "And if they couldn't get a handle on it soon, cities and towns all up and down the Eastern Seaboard could (modal) be slammed (passive) by the biggest storm of the year ...."
* Passive voice can be combined with non-tensed verbs such as "-ing" form and the "to-" infinitive.
o "There he was—getting slammed by the critics—and still taking the high road."
o "We were about to be slammed by an 80-foot breaking wave."
* Passive voice can combine with both the progressive and the perfect aspects.
o (passive, progressive): "The wind had picked up. The boat was being slammed by the swells, and floundering."
o (passive, perfect): "Although, alas, it's not such an exclusive club. I've sent them to everyone who has been slammed by that dreadful woman."

Verb phrases

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Forms

Verb phrases are formed entirely of verbs. The verbs can be lexical, auxiliary, and modal. The head is the first verb in the verb phrase. Example:

* "I didn't notice Rowen around tonight," remarked Don, as they began to prepare for bed. "Might have been sulking in his tent," grinned Terry." Here, the verb phrase "might have been sulking" has the form "modal-auxiliary-auxiliary-lexical."

In a verb phrase, the modal comes first, then the auxiliary or several auxiliaries, and finally the lexical (main) verb. When a verb phrase has a combination of modal and auxiliaries, it is constituted usually in the following order: modal verb >> perfect have >> progressive be >> passive be >> Lexical verb. Examples:

* "He might have been being used by the CIA as part of their debriefing procedure, but he might just as easily have been part of the Russians' plans to use Oswald in America." Here, the verb phrase is: might (modal) have (perfect) been (progressive) being (passive) used (lexical).
* The modal expression "be able to" is an exception: "It is best to know that she has (perfect) been (progressive) able to (modal expression) balance (lexical verb) these qualities and quantities with a grace which has not fallen short of greatness ...."

Tense
Verb phrases can vary with tense, in which case they are called "tensed verb phrases." Example:

* "They have accomplished a lot this year, but they had accomplished even more last year."

There are many non-tensed forms as well:

1. base form of a lexical verb used as an imperative. Example: "Halt!"
2. base form of the lexical verb occurring as a subjunctive. Example: "'If he is a spy,' said Gorgik, 'I would rather he not know who I am."
3. the infinitive with "to." Examples:
1. "Did you see her, chief—did you get a glimpse of her pleasant countenance, or come close enough to her ear, to sing in it the song she loves to hear?'"
2. "She got so she could tell big stories herself from listening to the rest. Because she loved to hear it, and the men loved to hear themselves, they would 'woof' and 'boogerboo' around the games to the limit."
4. the "-ing" form, shared between the gerund and present participle.
Examples:
1. "Biological diversity is plummeting, mainly due to habitat degradation and loss, pollution, overexploitation, competition from alien species, disease, and changing climates."
2. "Then it was swooping downward, and in the next second, a huge metal magpie, with wings outstretched in full flight, was plummeting toward them."
5. the "-ed" participle. Examples:
1. "I also know that the painter has dined twice with the Prince Regent."
2. "Which in all probability means that you had dined together," replied Monte Cristo, laughing, "I am glad to see you are more sober than he was."

The time frame of a non-tensed verb phrase is determined by examining that of the main clause verb. Examples:

* "From the very beginning, Coltrane was an indefatigable worker at his saxophone spending hours upon hours practicing every day."
* "By assuming a good position and by practicing every day he will in time acquire a feeling and an appearance of ease before people."

In the first case, the time frame (past) of "practicing" is determined by "was" in the main clause; in the second, the time frame (present and future) of "practicing" is determined by "will in time," also in the main clause.

Aspect
Verb phrases can also express two aspects: progressive and perfect. Aspect provides additional information on the speaker's perception of time.

Progressive aspect
The progressive aspect consists of the auxiliary be form and the -ing form of the lexical verb. Examples:

* "Landlord, chambermaid, waiter rush to the door; but just as some distinguished guests are arriving, the curtains close, and the invisible theatrical manager cries out, 'Second syllable!' "
* "She made her curtsy, and was departing when the wretched young captain sprang up, looked at her, and sank back on the sofa with another wild laugh."

Properties:

* Progressive aspect may be found in verb phrases containing modals.
o "Restless, exciting and witty, he cannot resist a fantastic theory ..., so that one might be meeting Synge, Fielding, and Aldous Huxley, and on the same page."
* Non-tensed -ing forms, however, do not have the progressive aspect.
o "By working every day, he had learned the peculiarities, the weaknesses and strengths, of opposing batters ..." It cannot be changed to "By being working every day, ...."
* Progressive aspect can be combined with "to"-infinitive forms in a verb phrase.
o "He loved to sit by the open window when the wind was east, and seemed to be dreaming of faraway scenes."

Perfect aspect
The perfect aspect is created by the auxiliary "have" and the "-ed" participle form of the lexical verb. It refers to a time period that includes the present moment. Contrast "The flowers didn't bloom this summer" with "The flowers haven't bloomed this summer." The latter sentence suggests that the summer is not over yet.

Properties:

* The perfect aspect can pair with modal verbs.
o "You might (modal) have invited (perfect) the Mad Hatter to the tea-party."
* The perfect aspect can be combined with the -ing and the to-infinitive forms.
o "Having turned the TV on, he now mindlessly flicked through the channels."
o "To have run the marathon, she would have needed to be in good shape."

Finally, the two aspects, progressive and perfect, can be combined in a verb phrase: "They've been laughing so hard that their sides hurt."

Verbs

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Verbs form the second largest word class after nouns. According to Carter and McCarthy, verbs denote "actions, events, processes, and states." Consequently, "smile," "stab," "climb," "confront," "liquefy," "wake," "reflect" are all verbs. Some examples of verb endings, which while not dead giveaways, are often associated, include: "-ate" ("formulate"), "-iate" ("inebriate"), "-ify" ("electrify"), and "-ize" ("sermonize"). There are exceptions, of course: "chocolate" is a noun, "immediate" is an adjective, "prize" can be a noun, and "maize" is a noun. Prefixes can also be used to create new verbs. Examples are: "un-" ("unmask"), "out-" ("outlast"), "over-" ("overtake"), and "under-" ("undervalue").[16] Just as nouns can be formed from verbs by conversion, the reverse is also possible:

* "so are the sons of men snared in an evil time"
* "[a national convention] nosed parliament in the very seat of its authority"

Verbs can also be formed from adjectives:

* "To dry the old oak's sap, and cherish springs."
* "Time's glory is to calm contending kings"

Regular and irregular verbs

A verb is said to be regular if its base form does not change when inflections are added to create new forms. An example is: base form: climb; present form: climb; -s form: climbs; -ing form: climbing; past form: climbed; -ed participle: climbed. Irregular verbs are ones in which the base form changes; the endings corresponding to each form are not always unique. Examples:

* base form: catch; present form: catch; -s form: catches; -ing form: catching; past form: caught; -ed participle: caught.
* base form: choose; present form: choose; -s form: chooses; -ing form: choosing; past form: chose; -ed participle: chosen.

The verb "be" is the only verb in English which has distinct inflectional forms for each of the categories of grammatical forms: base form: be; present form: am, are; -s form: is; -ing form: being; past form: was, were; -ed participle: been.[20]

Type and characteristics

Verbs come in three grammatical types: lexical, auxiliary, and modal. Lexical verbs form an open class which includes most verbs (state, action, processes, and events). For example, "dive," "soar," "swoon," "revive," "breathe," "choke," "lament," "celebrate," "consider," "ignore" are all lexical verbs. Auxiliary verbs form a closed class consisting of only three members: be, do, and have. Although auxiliary verbs are lexical verbs as well, their main function is to add information to other lexical verbs. This information indicates (a) aspect (progressive, perfect), (b) passive voice, and (c) clause type (interrogative, negative). In the following examples, the auxiliary is in boldface and the lexical verb is italicized.

1. aspect (progressive): "'She is breathing Granny; we've got to make her keep it up, that's all—just keep her breathing."
2. aspect (perfect): "'Yes, I want a coach,' said Maurice, and bade the coachman draw up to the stone where the poor man who had swooned was sitting."
3. passive voice: "When she was admitted into the house Beautiful, care was taken to inquire into the religious knowledge of her children."
4. clause type (interrogative): (Old joke) Boy: "Excuse me sir, How do I get to Carnegie Hall?" Man on street: "Practice, Practice, Practice."
5. clause type (negative): Wasn't she monstrously surprised?"

Modal verbs also form a closed class which consists of the core modals ("can," "could," "shall," "should," "will," "would," "may," "might," "must"), semi-modals ("dare," "need," "ought to," "used to"), and modal expressions ("be able to," "have to").[21] Modals add information to lexical verbs about degrees of certainty and necessity. Examples:

* less certain: "Before the snow could melt for good, an ice storm covered the lowcountry and we learned the deeper treachery of ice."
* more certain: "Eat your eggs in Lent and the snow will melt. That's what I say to our people when they get noisy over their cups at San Gallo ..."
* expressing necessity: "But I should think there must be some stream somewhere about. The snow must melt; besides, these great herds of deer must drink somewhere."

Modal verbs do not inflect for person, number or tense. Examples:

* person: "I/you/she might consider it."
* number: "I/We/She/They might consider it"
* tense: "They might have considered/be considering/have been considering it."

Verbs too have features that aid in their recognition:

1. they follow the (grammatical) subject noun phrase (in italics): "The real raw-knuckle boys who know what fighting means enter the arena without fanfare."
2. they agree with the subject noun phrase in number: "The real raw-knuckle boy/boys who knows/know what fighting means enters/enter the arena without fanfare."
3. they agree with the subject noun phrase in person: "I/He, the real raw-knuckle boy who knows what fighting means, enter/enters the arena without fanfare", and
4. with the exception of modal verbs, they can express tense:"The boys ... had been entering the arena without fanfare."

Noun phrases

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Noun phrases are phrases that function grammatically as nouns within sentences. In addition, nouns serve as "heads," or main words of noun phrases. Examples (the heads are in boldface):

1. "The burnt-out ends of smoky days."
2. "The real raw-knuckle boys who know what fighting means, ..."
3. "The idle spear and shield ..."

The head can have modifiers, a complement, or both. Modifiers can occur before the head ("The real raw-knuckle boys ...," or "The burnt-out ends ..." and they are then called pre-modifiers; or, they can occur after the head ("who know what fighting means ...") and are called post-modifiers. Example: "The rough, seamy-faced, raw-boned College Servitor ..." The pre-modifying phrase, for example, is composed of determiners ("The"), adjectives ("rough," "seamy-faced," ...) and other nouns ("College").

Complements occur after the head as well; however, they are essential for completing the meaning of the noun phrase in a way that post-modifiers are not.[9] Examples (complements are italicized; heads are in boldface):

1. "The burnt-out ends of smoky days."
2. "The suggestion that Mr. Touchett should invite me appeared to have come from Miss Stackpole."
3. "The ancient pulse of germ and birth was shrunken hard and dry."

Within a sentence, a noun phrase can be a part of the grammatical subject, the object, or the complement. Examples (the noun phrase is italicized, and the head boldfaced):

1. grammatical subject: "Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest."
2. object: "Dr. Pavlov ... delivered many long propaganda harangues ...")
3. complement: "'All they see is some frumpy, wrinkled-up person passing by in a carriage waving at a crowd."

Nouns and determiners

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Nouns form the largest word class. According to Carter and McCarthy, they denote "classes and categories of things in the world, including people, animals, inanimate things, places, events, qualities and states."[2] Consequently, the words, "Mandela," "jaguar," "mansion," "volcano," "Timbuktoo," "blockade," "mercy," and "liquid" are all nouns. Nouns are not commonly identified by their form; however, some common suffixes such as "-age" ("shrinkage"), "-hood" ("sisterhood"), "-ism" ("journalism"), "-ist" ("lyricist"), "-ment" ("adornment"), "-ship" ("companionship"), "-tude" ("latitude"), and so forth, are usually identifiers of nouns.[2] There are exceptions, of course: "assuage" and "disparage" are verbs; "augment" is a verb, "lament" can be a verb; and "worship" is a verb. Nouns can also be created by conversion of verbs or adjectives. Examples include the nouns in: "a boring talk," "a five-week run," "the long caress," "the utter disdain," and so forth.

Number, gender, type, and syntactic features.

Nouns have singular and plural forms.[3] Many plural forms have -s or -es endings (dog/dogs, referee/referees, bush/bushes), but by no means all (woman/women, axis/axes, medium/media). Unlike some other languages, in English, nouns do not have grammatical gender.[3] However, many nouns can refer to masculine or feminine animate objects (mother/father, tiger/tigress, alumnus/alumna, male/female).[3] Nouns can be classified semantically, i.e. by their meanings: common nouns ("sugar," "maple," "syrup," "wood"), proper nouns ("Cyrus," "China"), concrete nouns ("book," "laptop"), and abstract nouns ("heat," "prejudice").[3] Alternatively, they can be distinguished grammatically: count nouns ("clock," "city," "colour") and non-count nouns ("milk," "decor," "foliage").[4] Nouns have several syntactic features that can aid in their identification.[4] Nouns (example: common noun "cat") may be

1. modified by adjectives ("the beautiful Angora cat"),
2. preceded by determiners ("the beautiful Angora cat"), or
3. pre-modified by other nouns ("the beautiful Angora cat").[

Word classes and phrase classes

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Seven major word classes are described here. These are: noun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and determiner. The first six are traditionally referred to as "parts of speech." There are minor word classes, such as interjections, but these do not fit into the clause and sentence structure of English.

Open and closed classes

Open word classes allow new members; closed word classes seldom do. Nouns such as "celebutante," (a celebrity who frequents the fashion circles)" and "mentee," (a person advised by a mentor) and adverbs such as "24/7" ("I am working on it 24/7") are relatively new words; nouns and adverbs are therefore open classes. However, invented pronouns, such as the "Spivak pronouns," as a gender-neutral singular replacement for the "his or her" (as in: "The student should bring eir books.") have gained only niche acceptance during their existence; pronouns, in consequence, form a closed class.

Word classes and grammatical forms

A word can sometimes belong to several word classes. The class version of a word is called a "lexeme." For example, the word "run" is usually a verb, but it can also be a noun ("It is a ten mile run to Tipperary."); these are two different lexemes. Further, the same lexeme may be inflected to express different grammatical categories: for example, as a verb lexeme, "run" has several forms such as "runs," "ran," and "running." Words in one class can sometimes be derived from those in another and new words be created. The noun "aerobics," for example, has recently given rise to the adjective "aerobicized" ("the aerobicized bodies of Beverly Hills celebutantes.")

Phrase classes

Words combine to form phrases which themselves can take on the attributes of a word class. These classes are called phrase classes.[2] The phrase: "The ancient pulse of germ and birth" functions as a noun in the sentence: "The ancient pulse of germ and birth was shrunken hard and dry." (Thomas Hardy, The Darkling Thrush) It is therefore a noun phrase. Other phrase classes are: verb phrases, adjective phrases, adverb phrases, prepositional phrases, and determiner phrases.[

English grammar

2010-06-09T11:33:00.001-07:00

English grammar is the body of rules describing the properties of the English language. A language is such that its elements must be combined according to certain patterns. This article is concerned with (and restricted to) morphology, the building blocks of language; and syntax, the construction of meaningful phrases, clauses and sentences with the use of morphemes and words.

The grammar of any language is commonly approached in two different ways: descriptive, usually based on a systematic analysis of a large text corpus and describing grammatical structures thereupon; and prescriptive, which attempts to use the identified rules of a given language as a tool to govern the linguistic behaviour of speakers (see Descriptive linguistics and Linguistic prescription). Prescriptive grammar further concerns itself with several open disputes in English grammar, often representing changes in usage over time. This article predominantly concerns itself with descriptive grammar.

There are a number of historical, social and regional variations of the English language. For example, British English and American English have several lexical differences; however, the grammatical differences are not equally conspicuous, and will be mentioned only when appropriate. Further, the many dialects of English have divergences from the grammar described here; they are only cursorily mentioned. This article describes a generalized present-day Standard English, the form of speech found in types of public discourse including broadcasting, education, entertainment, government, and news reporting. Standard English includes both formal and informal speech.

Story Map

2010-06-08T10:21:00.000-07:00

Name of book
Author
Setting:
Time________________________
Place_______________________
________________________
Main Characters:
__________________________________
__________________________________
_________________________________
Problem:_____________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
Solution:
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________

Necessary Links For Learning English

2010-06-08T09:31:00.001-07:00

American English pronunciation
http://eleaston.com/pronunciation/

Canadian English phonetics
http://www.ic.arizona.edu/~lsp/Canadian/canphon2.html

Australian English phonetics
http://www.ling.mq.edu.au/

Estuary English (the English spoken in London, along the Thames estuary and in the southeast of England): http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/estuary/

Voices - a fascinating survey of the dialects and languages of the UK
http://www.bbc.co.uk/voices/

Online English language courses
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/
http://virtulanguage.com
http://www.zozanga.com
http://www.learn-english.co.il
http://www.learnenglish-a-z.com
http://www.eslcafe.com/search/Online_English_Courses/

English England | Learn English abroad

English Language Guide
http://www.englishlanguageguide.com

Free English Practice Exercises and Typical mistakes
http://www.languageproject.co.uk/free_exercises/introduction.htm
http://www.languageproject.co.uk/learn_english/typical_mistakes/typical_mistakes.htm

Online English dictionaries
http://dictionary.cambridge.org
http://www.m-w.com
http://dictionary.reference.com
http://www.alphadictionary.com
http://www.infovisual.info
http://www.BeginnersEnglishDictionary.com
http://www.my-english-dictionary.com/

English Electronic talking dictionaries
http://www.ectaco.com

Teach English overseas
http://www.onlinetefl.com

202 Useful Exercises for IELTS - Book & Audio

2010-06-07T00:42:00.000-07:00

202 Useful Exercises for IELTS Exam (book and audio)
Practice Exercises for Listening, Reading, and Writing,PDF | MP3 | Side 1&2

Description: 202 Useful Exercises for IELTS - International Edition" is the same book as the Australasian version, but includes references mainly to Britain and the region, and the voices on the tape are recognisably British. The 5 sections are: '

Idioms Organiser

2010-06-05T23:48:00.001-07:00

Idioms Organiser
Publisher: Global ELTL Christopher Wenger
Pages: 294

Contents
Section 1 : Areas of Metaphor
Introductory Unit
Time is Money
Business is War
Seeing is Understanding
Life is a Journey
Life is Gambling
A Company is a Ship
Moods are Weather
The Office is a Battlefield
A Project is a race
Economics is Flying
Organisations are Gardens
People are liquid
Review

Idioms Organiser

2010-06-05T23:48:00.000-07:00

Phonetic Symbols with sounds

2010-06-04T23:19:00.000-07:00

The Phonetic Chart

This web page is for people interested in learning the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) symbols. This is a useful skill for learners and teachers of English who may want to check the pronunciation of a word in a dictionary. Use the phonetic chart to learn the sounds of English. Then do a quiz to see how well you have learnt them.

Click here for more English practice activities including the diphthong calculator.

Do you need to install this test software on your own or your school's computers?

Specifications
Windows 98/2000/XP/Vista
128 mb Ram

Purchasing options
The software is available as a single user or site network license. Click on one of the 'Buy Now' links below. You will be directed to a secure payment page. You can pay by paypal or credit card. Once your payment is processed you will be sent an email with the download site and registration code if applicable. The download file is a 2.5mb zipped file. You will need winzip or some other software necessary to unzip files. You can then install the software. You could have this software installed on your computer in 5 minutes.

FEEL GOOD ABOUT TEACHING

2010-06-02T10:30:00.000-07:00

FEEL GOOD ABOUT TEACHING
Good Teaching	Why do students learn more from some teachers than others? Check out these "Good Teaching" resources.
Love and the Cabby	One person's goodwill can make a difference.
A True Teacher Accepts All ..	The characteristics of a real teacher.
Three Letters from Teddy	Teddy's letter came today...

DEALING WITH STRESS

2010-06-02T10:28:00.000-07:00

DEALING WITH STRESS
101 Ways to Cope With Stress	101 simple, easy-to-use ideas.
Life Stresses	Causes, values, and management.
Life Stress Scale	24 items to help you figure your stress level.
Stress and Anxiety	Everyone feels stress from time to time.
Top 10 Stress Busters	Students face multiple and challenging stressors.
Time to Reenergize?	Keep your energy levels high.

DEALING WITH DIFFICULT BEHAVIORS

2010-06-02T10:24:00.000-07:00

DEALING WITH DIFFICULT BEHAVIORS
Difficult Behaviors in the Classroom	Behaviors and Possible Responses
Campus Student Conduct Policies

PAYING ATTENTION TO CORE ACADEMIC AND WORKPLACE SKILLS

2010-06-02T10:21:00.000-07:00

PAYING ATTENTION TO CORE ACADEMIC AND WORKPLACE SKILLS
The Contemporary Work Environ	Traditional classroom vs. today's work environment.
Core Abilities	Seven core abilities in the national limelight.
SCANS Skills	Popular SCANS Report: workplace skills.
Workplace Habits Rating Scale	Model ABRP scale adaptable to other disciplines.
Workplace Skills Assessments	Another model form adaptable to various disciplines.

HOW PEOPLE LEARN

2010-06-02T10:19:00.000-07:00

HOW PEOPLE LEARN
30 Things About Teaching Adults	30 Cornerstone Things to Know.
Achieving Success with Adult Learners	As more mature adults pursue career changes, educators must be ready!
Adult Learning	The differences between adult and child learners.
Active Learning	A model for better engaging students.
How Students Learn/How We Teach	Studies can teach us how to teach.
The Keirsey Tests	Online temperament and character questionnaires.
Using the Keirsey Test Data	Interpreting and applying data from the Keirsey tests.
Learning Assumptions	Fundamental assumptions to make about learning.
Learning Domains	Understanding cognitive and psychomotor domains.
Theories of Learning	This is the index of learning theorie.
Principles of Adult Learners	Understanding the adult learner.
Principles of Adult Learning	What to know about teaching adults.
Learning Style Inventory	Understand how you prefer to learn and process information.
The VARK Inventory	"How Do I Learn Best?"

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

2010-06-02T10:18:00.000-07:00

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
Erikson's Developmental Stages	Developmental stages infant through older adult.
Knowles: The Adult Learner	Applies Piaget and Erikson to adult learners.
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs	Basic human needs and their educational import.
Piaget's Cognitive Stages	From "sensorimotor" to abstract reasoning.
Perry on Cognitive Development	Intellectual, psychosocial and moral development in College.
Returning Adults	Understanding adults returning to school.

GETTING ORGANIZED AS A TEACHER

2010-06-02T10:15:00.000-07:00

GETTING ORGANIZED AS A TEACHER
STW Series: Organize Yourself	Saving time and finding time.
The Teacher as an Organizer	The why and how of organization for teaching.
Tips for Getting Organized	Tips from fellow teachers to help you get organized.
How to Be an Organized Teacher	There is no better time saver than being organized.
Getting Organized	Organized teachers find that getting their work completed becomes much easier.
15 Ways for Teachers to Get Organized	Plan and develop a system of organization.

ASSESSMENT

2010-06-02T10:14:00.000-07:00

ASSESSMENT
HCC Assessment Website	Information on HCC assessment endeavors.
Classroom Assessment Techniques	Techniques for better teaching and learning.
Classroom Assessment Examples	Five examples from the previous article.
Quizzes, Tests, and Exams	Types, Bloom bases, guidelines, construction.
Assessment is More than Keeping Score	Moving from inquiry, through interpretatin, to action.
Test Item Bias Review	When decisions are made based on test scores, it is critical to avoid bias.
The Knowledge Survey	A Tool for All Reasons.
Portfolio Assessment	Using a collection of student work representing a selection of performance.
Student Passports	A formal document presenting student mastery of skills.
A Mid-Semester Survey	Use this simple survey to get feedback from your students.
Rubrics	A scoring guide used in subjective assessments.

TOOLS FOR STUDENTS

2010-06-02T10:11:00.000-07:00

TOOLS FOR STUDENTS
HCC College Skills Center	Information about the HCC College Skills Center.
Services for Students	Support Links provided for current HCC students.
Student Tools and Resources	A collection of helpful student resources.
Career Kokua	The Hawaii Career Information Delivery System.
Top Web Tools for College Students	Ten tools recommended for every college student.
The Secrets to Study Success	True study secrets needed to succeed in your college/university studies.
Educational Resources	Guide to online schools and much more.
Free Online Mandarin Chinese Course with English!	Learn Mandarin Chinese free with English and pinyin! .
College Scholarships and more	College Scholarships, Colleges, and Online Degrees .
WorldWideLearn	The world's premier only directory of education.
Online Degrees and more	Online Degrees, Financial Aid, and Scholarships.
Online PhD Degree programs	Free guides and advice from University academics about Online courseware.
College Scholarships	Find free financial aid.
ScholarshipLink	Educational search website to help you find degree programs with scholarships.
Education Encyclopedia	Resource for students in an education program.
Career Access	A comprehensive, online, interactive job readiness instructional tool.

USING QUESTIONS EFFECTIVELY IN TEACHING

2010-06-02T10:10:00.000-07:00

USING QUESTIONS EFFECTIVELY IN TEACHING
Answering and Asking Questions	Types and examples for different responses.
Effective Techniques of Questioning	Plan key questions to teach around.
Socratic Questioning	Challenge accuracy and completeness of thinking.
Five basic types of questions	Asking questions is one of the basic skills of good teaching.
Types of Questions	Question types based on Bloom's taxonomy.
Three Kinds of Questions	It is useful to figure out what type of question it is.
Questioning Questions	Reshaping the model students have for questioning.

CRITICAL THINKING

2010-06-02T10:08:00.000-07:00

CRITICAL THINKING
The Foundation for Critical Thinking	Cultivation of fair-minded critical thinking.
The Miniature Guide Critical Thinking	A mini guide which focuese on the essence of critical thinking concepts.
The Critical Thinking Community	A range of articles on critical thinking.
Professional Development Module on Critical Thinking	A series of annotated web sites for educators interested in critical thinking.
Critical Thinking on the Web.	A directory of quality online resources.
CriticalThinking.net.	Critical thinking is reflective thinking focused on deciding what to believe or do.
An Introduction to Critical Thinking	Critical thinking is an important and vital topic in modern education.
What is Critical Thinking?	Critical thinking includes a complex combination of skills..
The Elements of Critical Thinking	There are two essential dimensions of thinking that students need to master.

PLAGIARISM

2010-06-02T10:07:00.000-07:00

PLAGIARISM
Academic Dishonesty	Cheating and plagiarism from the HCC Student Conduct Code.
The Ultimate Plagiarism Resource	Detecting Plagiarism and Preventing it.
Plagiarism Issues Patchwork	A "Web Scrapbook" on Sticky Plagiarism Issues.
Defining and Avoiding Plagiarism	The Writing Progam Administrators Statement of best ractices.
Plagiarism.org	Website to help educators develop a sense of what plagiarism means.
Preventing Plagiarism	Steps you can use to help students avoiding plagiarism.
Avoiding Plagiarism	Resource offering advice on how to avoid plagiarism.
Detecting Plagiarism	How to use Google and other Web resources to detect plagiarism.
More Detecting Plagiarism	Using AltaVista and AllTheWeb to detect plagiarism.
Even More Detecting Plagiarism	Additional software for detecting plagiarism.

PROFESSIONAL ETHICS FOR TEACHERS

2010-06-02T10:05:00.000-07:00

PROFESSIONAL ETHICS FOR TEACHERS
UHCC Statement on Professional Ethics (Faculty)	Academic integrity is essential to the mission of the UHCC System.
Code of Ethics	New York State Code of Ethics for Educators.
Professional Ethics In Teaching	The training and development challenge.

COURSE DESIGN

2010-06-02T10:00:00.000-07:00

COURSE DESIGN
Fink's Five Principles	Five concise principles of good course design.
Preparing or Revising a Course	Strategies, recommendations, and more.

TEACHING TECHNIQUES

2010-06-02T09:56:00.000-07:00

TEACHING TECHNIQUES
7 Principles of Good Practice	Essentials of effective teaching and learning.
Coaching Mathematics and Other Academic Sports	Our colleagues in music, drams and athletics did not just teach - they coach.
Common Teaching Methods	Strengths and limitations of 14 teaching methods.
Common Visual Aids	Advantages and disadvantages of four types.
Encouraging Student Retention	63 ideas for dealing with retention/attrition.
Enhancing Teaching Effectiveness	Practical tips on improving your teaching.
Evaluate Your Own Teaching	Reasons, guidelines, and resources.
Good Teaching	Personal qualities that make for good teaching.
Good Teaching: The Top Ten...	Award-winning article about good teaching.
Grading Practices	Strategies, minimizing complaints, etc.
A Dozen Teaching Tips for Diverse Classrooms	Community college studens face a particular set of challenges.
Selecting a Delivery Strategy	Choosing lecture, demonstration, or discussion.

PREPARING A LESSON PLAN

2010-06-02T09:54:00.000-07:00

PREPARING A LESSON PLAN
Lesson Planning Procedures	Lesson planning for effective teaching.
Sample Lesson Plan Form (A)	A simple fill-in-the-blank form.
Sample Lesson Plan Form (B)	Another form.
Sample Lesson Plan Form (C)	Another form.

PREPARING A COURSE SYLLABUS

2010-06-02T09:52:00.000-07:00

PREPARING A COURSE SYLLABUS
Developing a Syllabus	The purposes and content of a syllabus.
Syllabus Example -- Classroom	A sample syllabus for an occupational course.
Syllabus Example -- Internet	Sample syllabus for an occupational course on the Internet.
Syllabus Suggested Form	An outline of a syllabus that covers all bases.
Syllabus Checklist	Creating a course syllabus including a checklist.
American Studies Syllabi Resources	A link to a large variety of online syllabi.
Writing Performance Objectives	What they are and how to write them.
Death to the Syllabus!	It is time to declare war on the trditional course syllabus.
Writing a Syllabus	More about what should be included.

The First Day

2010-06-02T09:48:00.000-07:00

FOR BACKGROUND MUSIC, CLICK ON THE ICON WHENEVER IT APPEARS AT A PAGE LINK.

THE FIRST DAY
101 Things the First Three Weeks	Ways to create the best learning environment.
40 Successes	Inviting and disinviting comments, etc.
The Most Important Day	Thorough discussion, checklist, references
The First Day of Class	Nine tasks for getting a class off on the right foot.
10 Things to Make the First Day a Success	Ten Things to Make the First Day (and the Rest) of the Semeter Successful .
Checklists for a Smooth Course Startup	Make sure you have completed a specific list of course startup tasks.
Icebreakers	Examples of getting acquainted techniques.
Index of Icebreakers, Games and Activities	Several tested, high quality icebreakers, games, and team building activities..
Icebreakers and Group Games	Fun group games and ice breakers useful for classrooms
Learn the Students' Names	How to learn names and faces quickly.
Magically "Learn" Names in Minutes	A tongue-in-cheek idea for amazing your students
The Name Game	Make learning names a game.
What Influences Student Attitudes toward a Course?	Research based factors influencing student attitudes
Tom's Essential Survival Tips	A reality check for the first day of class.

Download Teaching Tips

2010-06-02T09:42:00.001-07:00

CLICK ON THE TOPIC OF YOUR CHOICE


ASSESSMENT	HOW PEOPLE LEARN
COMMUNICATION - MILLENNIAL STUDENTS	HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
CORE ABILITIES	MOTIVATING STUDENTS
CRITICAL THINKING	COURSE DESIGN
PREPARING A LESSON PLAN	DEALING WITH STRESS
PREPARING A COURSE SYLLABUS	DIFFICULT BEHAVIORS
GETTING ORGANIZED AS A TEACHER	FEEL GOOD ABOUT TEACHING
TEACHING TECHNIQUES	THE FIRST DAY
USING QUESTIONS EFFECTIVELY	TOOLS FOR STUDENTS
PROFESSIONAL ETHICS FOR TEACHERS	PLAGIARISM
HCC CURRICULUM ACTION FORM	RICHARD LYONS' ONLINE RESOURCES
LANGEVIN LEARNING SERVICES	SKIP DOWNING ON COURSE RESOURCE
WO LEARNING CHAMPION WEBSITE	THE RANDOM THOUGHTS OF LOUIS SCHMIER

Idioms (a daredevil - a dog's breakfast )

2010-05-28T10:39:00.000-07:00

Idiom Meaning Example
a daredevil a daring person, bodacious, take a chance What a daredevil! She jumped across a ten-foot chasm!
a dead giveaway a clear signal, an obvious sign The smile on her face was a dead giveaway that she got the job.
a dead heat a race that finishes in a tie for first, dead even A photograph of the finish line proved that it was a dead heat.
a dead loss a

Idioms (a caution - a close call)

2010-05-28T10:32:00.000-07:00

Idiom Meaning Example
a caution a bold or shocking person, no shrinking violet She is a caution! She told the judge he was all wrong.
a cheap drunk a person who gets drunk on one or two drinks Jo admits she's a cheap drunk. Her limit is two drinks.
a checkup a doctor's examination, a medical examination If you aren't feeling well, go to the doctor for a checkup.
a chicken in every pot

Grammar in Use: Reference and Practice for Intermediate Students of English

2010-05-24T08:49:00.000-07:00

DescriptionThis American English edition of English Grammar in Use can be used both as a classroom text and as a grammar reference for students. Each unit deals with a particular grammar point (or points), providing clear explanations and examples on the left-hand page, with exercises to check understanding on the facing right-hand page. The book covers many of the problems intermediate

Focus On IELTS - Teacher`s Book (TB)

2010-05-24T07:57:00.000-07:00

Paperback: 80 pages
Publisher: Longman (17 July 2002)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0582447720
Description
Exam Briefings and Task Approach boxes tell students what they need to know about each task type and how to tackle it
Extra grammar, vocabulary and writing practice in the end section can be used for class work or self-study
Key Language Bank provides essential reinforcement of

The Alphabet

2010-05-23T09:42:00.000-07:00

The Alphabet

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n

o p q r s t u v w x y z

Basic sentence patterns

2010-05-22T13:39:00.000-07:00

Subject + verb. The simplest of sentence patterns is composed of a subject and verb without a direct object or subject complement. It uses an intransitive verb, that is, a verb requiring no direct object:

Control rods remain inside the fuel assembly of the reactor.

The development of wind power practically ceased until the early 1970s.

All amplitude-modulation (AM) receivers work in the same way.

The cross-member exposed to abnormal stress eventually broke.

Only two types of charge exist in nature.

Subject + linking verb + subject complement. Another simple pattern uses the linking verb, any form of the to be verb without an action verb:

The chain reaction is the basis of nuclear power.

The debate over nuclear power has often been bitter.

Folding and faulting of the earth's surface are important geologic

processes.

Windspeed seems to be highest during the middle of the day.

The silicon solar cell can be difficult and expensive to manufacture.

Subject + verb + direct object. Another common sentence pattern uses the direct object:

Silicon conducts electricity in an unusual way.

The anti-reflective coating on the the silicon cell reduces reflection

from 32 to 22 percent.

Prestressing of the concrete increases the load-carrying capacity of

the members.

Subject + verb + indirect object + direct object. The sentence pattern with the indirect object and direct object is similar to the preceding pattern:

We are sending you the balance of the payment in this letter.

I am writing her about a number of problems that I have had

with my Execucomp wordprocessor.

The supervisor mailed the applicant a description of the job.

I am writing you about a number of problems...

Austin, Texas, has recently built its citizens a system

of bikelanes.

Subject + verb + direct object + object complement. The sentence pattern using the [direct object] and object complement is not common but worth knowing):

The walls are usually painted black.

The plant shutdown left the entire area an economic disaster.

The committee declared the new design a breakthrough in

energy efficiency.

The low cost of the new computer made competition much too

difficult for some of the other companies.

Passive voice pattern. The passive voice is not ordinarily considered a "pattern," but it is an important and often controversial construction. It reverses the subject and object and, in some cases, deletes the subject. (See the section on problems with the weak use of the passive.) Compare these example active and passive voice sentences:

Passive voice                     Active voice

Saccharin is now permitted as     The FDA now permits saccharin

an additive in food.              as an additive in food.

This report is divided into       I have divided this report into

three main sections.              three main sections.

Windmills are classified as       Scientists classify windmills

either lift or drag types.        as either lift or drag types.

The valves used in engine         A computer usually controls the

start are controlled by a         valves used in an engine start.

computer.

The remains of Troy were des-     Later builders on the site of

troyed by later builders on       Troy destroyed the remains of

the the site.                     citadel.

Some restaurant locations can     You can lease some restaurant

be leased                         locations.

Simple sentences. A simple sentence is one that contains subject and a verb and no other independent or dependent clause.

To measure blood pressure, a device known as a

sphygmomanometer and a stethoscope are needed.

There are basically two types of stethoscopes.

The sphygmomanometer is usually covered with cloth and has two

rubber tubes attached to it.

One of the tubes is attached to the manometer part of the

instrument indicating the pressure of the air within the cuff.

Compound sentences. A compound sentence is made up of two or more independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction (and, or, nor, but, yet, for) and a comma, an adverbial conjunction and a semicolon, or a semicolon. The independent clauses must be simple sentences.

In sphygmomanometers, too narrow a cuff can result in

erroneously high readings, and too wide a cuff can result in

erroneously low readings.

Some cuff hook together; others wrap or snap into place.

Complex sentences. A complex sentence contains at least one dependent clause (a noun, adjective, or adverb clause) and no more than one independent clause:

A part of the stethoscope is the cuff, a rubber bag that can

be filled with air.

Inflate the cuff to about 40 mm Hg above the level at which

the radial pulse disappears.

That point at which you stop hearing heart sounds through the

stethoscope is the most reliable measure of diastolic

pressure, although it is usually somewhat above that found by

intra-arterial meaurements.

Because the blood moves in waves, there are two blood pressure

measures: the systolic pressure, which is the pressure of the

blood as a result of the contraction of the ventricles, and

the diastolic pressure, which is the pressure when the

ventricles are at rest.

Compound-complex sentences. A compound-complex sentence is made of two or more independent clauses and contains at least one dependent clause — in other words, a compound sentence with at least one dependent clause.

The systolic pressure is the pressure of the blood as a result

of the contraction of the ventricles, and the diastolic

pressure is the pressure when the ventricles are at rest.

The upper two chambers of the heart, which are called atria,

are thin-walled reservoirs; they readily distend to collect

blood that pours in from the veins between beats.

Basic parts of the sentence

Subject. The subject of a sentence is that noun, pronoun, or phrase or clause about which the sentence makes a statement.

Einstein's general theory of relativity has been subjected to

many tests of validity over the years.

Although a majority of caffeine drinkers think of it as a

stimulant, heavy users of caffeine say the substance relaxes

them.

Surrounding the secure landfill on all sides are impremeable

barrier walls. (Inverted sentence pattern)

In a secure lanfill, the soil on top and the cover block storm

water intrusion into the landfill. (Compound subject)

Verb phrase. The main verb, or verb phrase, of a sentence is a word or words that express an action, event, or a state of existence. It sets up a relationship between the subject and the rest of the sentence.

The first high-level language to be widely accepted, FORTRAN,

was implemented on an IBM 704 computer.

Instruction in the source program must be translated into

machine language.

The operating system controls the translation of the source

program and carries out supervisory functions. (Compound verb)

Predicate. The predicate is the rest of the sentence coming after the subject. It can include the main verb, subject complement, direct object, indirect object, or object complement.

The pressure in a pressuried water reactor varies from system

to system.

The pressure is maintained at about 2250 pounds per square

inch to prevent steam from forming.

The pressure is then lowered to form steam at about 600 pounds

per square inch.

In contrast, a boiling water reactor operates at constant

pressure.

Subject complement. The subject complement is that noun, pronoun, adjective, phrase, or clause that comes after a linking verb (some form of the be verb):

The maximum allowable concentration is ten parts H2S per

million parts breathable air.

The deadening of the sense of smell caused by H2S is the

result of the effects of H2S on the olfactory nerves of the

brain.

Continuous exposure to toxic concentrations of H2S can be

fatal.

Direct object. A direct object — a noun, pronoun, phrase, or clause acting as a noun — takes the action of the main verb. A direct object can be identified by putting what?, which?, or whom? in its place.

The housing assembly of a mechanical pencil contains the

mechanical workings of the pencil.

Lavoisier used curved glass discs fastened together at their

rims, with wine filling the space between, to focus the sun's

rays to attain temperatures of 3000ø F.

The dust and smoke lofted into the air by nuclear explosions

might cool the earth's atmosphere some number of degrees.

A 20 percent fluctuation in average global temperature could

reduce biological activity, shift weather patterns, and ruin

agriculture.

The cooler temperatures brought about by nuclear war might end

all life on earth.

On Mariners 6 and 7, the two-axis scan platforms provided much

more capability and flexibility for the scientific payload

than that of Mariner 4.

Indirect Object. An indirect object — a noun, pronoun, phrase, or clause acting as a noun — receives the action expressed in the sentence. It can be identified by inserting to or for.

In the application letter, tell [to] the potential employer

that a resume accompanies the letter.

The company is designing [for] senior citizens a new walkway

to the park area.

Do not send [to] the personnel office a resume unless someone

there specifically requests it.

Object complement. An object complement — a noun or adjective coming after a direct object — adds detail to the direct object. To identify object complements, insert [to be] between the direct object and object complement.

The superviser found the program [to be] faulty.

The company considers the new computer [to be] a major

breakthrough.

Most people think the space shuttle [to be] a major step in

space exploration.

Parts of speech and other sentence elements

Nouns. A noun is the name of a person (Dr. Sanders), place (Lawrence, Kansas, factory, home), thing (scissors, saw, book), action (operation, irrigation), or idea (love, truth, beauty, intelligence). Remember that, while a word may look like a noun, it must function in the sentence as a noun:

The one experiment that has been given the most attention in

the debate on saccharin is the 1977 Canadian study done on

rats.

The Calorie Control Council, a group of Japanese and American

manufacturers of saccharin, spent $890,000 in the first three

months of the 1977 ban on saccharin on lobbying,

advertisements, and public relations.

A flat-plate collector located on a sloping roof heats water

which circulates through a coil and is pumped back to the

collector.

The blades start turning when the windspeed reaches 10 mph,

and an anemometer is attached to the shaft to measure

windspeed.

The multifuel capacity of the Stirling engine gives it a

versatility not possible in the internal combustion engine.

The regenerative cooling cycle in the engines of the Space

Shuttle is made up of high pressure hydrogen that flows in

tubes connecting the nozzle and the combustion chamber.

Pronouns. A pronoun stands in the place of a noun. There are several types: personal pronouns, demonstrative and indefinite pronouns, and relative and interrogative pronouns. Pronouns have antecedents, a reference to a word they take the place of.

Personal pronouns.

Personal pronouns include nominative case, objective case, and possessive case pronouns.

Nominative case pronouns are used in the positions of subjects or subjective complements; they include:

I                   we

you                 you

he, she, it         they

Objective case pronouns are used as direct objects, indirect objects, and objects of prepositions; they include:

me                us

you               you

him, her, it      them

Possessive case pronouns show possession; they include:

my, mine           our, ours

your, yours        your, yours

his                their, theirs

her, hers

its

Demonstrative and indefinite pronouns.

Demonstrative pronouns substitute for things being pointed out; indefinite pronouns substitute for unknown or unspecified things:

Demonstrative pronouns          Indefinite pronouns

this         these              each        either

that         those              any         neither

                                anybody     some

                                every       somebody

                                everybody   someone

Relative and interrogative pronouns.

Relative pronouns link dependent to independent clauses; they link to adjective or noun clauses to simple sentences. Relative pronouns include

who                  when            which

whom                 where           whether

whose                why             that

Here are some examples of relative pronouns in use:

Until the early 1960s, desk calculators, which performed only

the basic arithmetic operations, were essentially mechanical

in operation.

The invention of the transistor in 1948 and the integrated

circuit in 1964 were two events that formed the basis of the

electronic calculator revolution.

The form in which memory is presented to the software is

sometimes called local address space.

George Boole, who was a self-taught man, is famous for his

pioneering efforts to express logical concepts in mathematical

form.

In 1855, Boole married Mary Everest, a niece of Sir George

Everest after whom Mount Everest was named.

Lemaitre proposed that all the matter in the Universe was con-

centrated into what he termed the primeval atom, whose

explosion scattered material into space to form galaxies,

which have been flying outward ever since.

Interrogative pronouns, similar to relative pronouns, are used in question sentences:

What is the fundamental unit of storage in a computer?

When did the first exhibit of computer graphics occur?

Who were the mathmaticians that arranged that first

exhibit?

Where was the first computer graphics exhibit held?

Why is computer-aided art not considered art by some?

Verbs. Traditionally, verbs are divided into four groups: active verbs, linking verbs, auxiliary verbs, and modals.

Active verbs.

Active verbs express some sort of action and can be subdivided into intransitive and transitive verbs. Intransitive verbs do not take direct objects while transitive verbs do, as these two sets of examples show:

                Intransitive Verbs

The rearrangement or division of a heavy nucleus may take

place naturally (spontaneous fission) or under bombardment

with neutrons.

The probability of an accident leading to the melting of the

fuel core was estimated to be one chance in 20,000

reactor-years of operation.

The fuels used in ramjet engines burn in only a narrow range

of fuel-air ratios.

                Transitive Verbs

The generation of electric energy by a nuclear power plant

requires the use of heat to produce steam or to heat gases in

order to drive turbogenerators.

In an auxiliary relay,  when the applied current or voltage

exceeds a threshold value, the coil activates the armature,

which either closes the open contacts or opens the closed

contacts.

The solar power satellite absorbs the solar energy in

geosynchronous orbit.

In the photovoltaic solar power system, solar cells convert

the light energy into electricity.

Linking verbs.

A linking verb is any form of the verb to be without an action verb; it sets up something like an equal sign between the items it links. Linking verbs of a sentence can be longer than one word:

had been                would have been

was being               might have been

had to have been        will have been

A few linking verbs do not use to be but function like it:

That word processing program seems adequate for our needs.

This calculus problem looks difficult.

Since the oil spill, the beach has smelled bad.

He quickly grew weary of computer games.

Auxiliary verbs.

Auxiliary verbs "help" the main part of the verb. Here are some auxiliary verbs:

By 1967, about 500 U.S. citizens had received heart

transplants.

Better immunosuppression management in transplant operations

has yielded better results.

Researchers have found propranolol to effective in the

treatment of heartbeat irregularities.

Modals.

Modal verbs change the meaning of the verb in a variety of ways as illustrated in the examples below:

Cracks in the welding can only be detected by x-rays.

Liquid oxygen could have leaked into the turbine and caused

the fire.

The light metal fast-breeder reactor must be operated under

extreme safety precautions.

Verbs are used together in a complex variety of tenses. In the chart below, keep in mind that "continuous" tenses are those that use -ing and "perfect" tenses are those that use some form of the auxiliary verb have.

Simple Present      works           Simple Past      worked

Present Continuous  is working      Past Continuous  was working

Present Perfect     has worked      Past Perfect     had worked

              Simple Future       will work

              Future Continuous   will be working

              Future Perfect      will have worked

              Present Perfect Continuous   has been working

              Past Perfect Continuous      had been working

              Future Perfect Continuous    will have been working

Adjectives. An adjective provides more detail about a noun; that is, it modifies a noun. Adjectives occur just before the nouns they modify, or after a linking verb:

The armature is a rectangular ring about which another coil of

wire is wound.

The generator is used to convert mechanical energy into

electrical energy.

The steel pipes contain a protective sacrificial annode and

are surrounded by packing material.

Adverbs. An adverb provides more information about a verb, adjective, or another adverb; that is, it "qualifies" the verb, adjective, or adverb:

The desk is made of an especially corrosion-resistant

industrial steel.

The drilling bit actually tears rock apart to get at the oil.

The power company uses huge generators which are generally

turned by steam turbines.

The debate over nuclear power has often been bitter.

Conjunctions. Conjunctions link words, phrases, and whole clauses to each other and are divided into coordinating, adverbial, and subordinating conjunctions. In this list, only the coordinating conjunctions are complete:

   Coordinating          Subordinating        Adverbial

   conjunctions          conjunctions         conjunctions

     and                   although             therefore

     or                    since                however

     nor                   because              in other words

     but                   when                 thus

     yet                   while                then

     for                   if                   otherwise

     whereas               as if                nevertheless

                           as                   on the other hand

Coordinating conjunctions

link words, phrases, and clauses. Here are some examples:

Nuclear-powered artificial hearts proved to be complicated,

bulky, and expensive.

In the 1960s, artificial heart devices did not fit well and

tended to obstruct the flow of venous blood into the right

atrium.

The blood vessels leading to the device tended to kink,

obstructing the filling of the chambers and resulting in

inadequate output.

The small clots that formed throughout the circulatory system

used up so much of the clotting factor that uncontrolled

bleeding from external or internal injury became a risk.

Current from the storage batteries can power lights, but the

current for appliances must be modified within an inverter.

Adverbial conjunctions

link two separate sentences, but require a semicolon or colon:

The Kedeco produces 1200 watts in 17 mph winds using a 16-foot

rotor; on the other hand, the Dunlite produces 2000 watts in

25 mph winds.

The first artificial hearts were made of smooth silicone

rubber which apparently caused excessive clotting and,

therefore, uncontrolled bleeding.  (This example does not

contain two sentences; no semicolon, therefore, is needed.)

For short periods, the fibers were beneficial; however, the

eventual buildup of fibrin on the inner surface of the device

would impair its function.

The atria of the heart contribute a neglible amount of energy;

in fact, the total power output of the heart is only about 2.5

watts.

Subordinating conjunctions

combine separate sentences in a different way: they turn one of the sentences into an adverb clause. Here are some examples of subordinating conjunctions:

The heart undergoes two cardiac cycle periods: a diastole, when

blood enters the ventricles, and systole, when the ventricles

contract and blood is pumped out of the heart.

Whenever an electron acquires enough energy to leave its orbit,

the atom is positively charged.

If the wire is broken, electrons will cease to flow and current

is zero.

Phrases and clauses

Phrases and clauses are groups of words that act as a unit and perform a single function within a sentence. A phrase may have a partial subject or verb but not both; a dependent clause has both a subject and a verb (but is not a complete sentence). Here are a few examples (not all phrases are highlighted because some are embedded in others):

                        Phrases

Electricity has to do with those physical phenomena involving

electrical charges and their effects when in motion and when at

rest.

Electricity manifests itself as a force of attraction, inde-

pendent of gravitational and short-range nuclear attraction,

when two oppositely charged bodies are brought close to one

another.

In 1800, A. Volta constructed and experimented with the

voltaic pile, the predecessor of modern batteries.

In 1833, Faraday's experimentation with electrolysis

indicated a natural unit of electrical charge, thus pointing

to a discrete rather than continuous charge.

The symbol that denotes a connection to the grounding

conductor is three parallel horizontal lines, each of the

lower ones being shorter than the one above it.

                        Clauses

Electricity manifests itself as a force of attraction,

independent of gravitational and short-range nuclear

attraction, when two oppositely charged bodies are brought

close to one another.

The symbol that denotes a connection to the grounding

conductor is three parallel horizontal lines, each of the

lower ones being shorter than the one above it.

These studies led Planck to postulate that electromagnetic

radiation is emitted in discrete amounts, called quanta.

Since the frequency is the speed of sound divided by the

wavelength, a shorter wavelength means a higher wavelength.

Nuclear units planned or in construction have a total capacity

of 186,998 KW, which, if current plans hold, will bring

nuclear  capacity to about 22 % of all electrical capacity by

1995. (A clause within a clause)

Prepositional phrases. A prepositional phrase, composed of a preposition and its object, shows relationships involving time, direction, or space:

An artificial heart was installed in a human subject for the

first time in 1969.

The current leads to the field coils and into an external

circuit.

Alternators are not compatible with wind systems because of

their high rpm requirements.

The operation of a wind generator is based upon Faraday's law

of induced voltage which states that the voltage between the

ends of a loop of wire is proportional to the rate of change

in the magnetic field lines within the loop. (Four prepositional

phrases in the last one highlighted.)

Appositives. An appositive, a word or phrase that renames a noun or pronoun, adds information about a noun but in a way different than do adjectives:

In 1972, Richard Nixon, president of the U.S.,  approved the

development of a reusable space vehicle, the Space Shuttle.

Broad principles about space flight were laid down by the

Austrian astronautical pioneer, Dr. Eugen Sanger.

The external tank of the Space Shuttle's main engines is

composed of two tanks — a large hydrogen tank and a smaller

oxygen tank.

An upper air inversion, a layer of stable air, is usually

present over large areas of the tradewinds as a hurricane

develops.

Participial phrases. A participial phrase is a group of words acting as an adjective and modifying a noun or pronoun. A participle is the -ed or -ing form of a verb:

The Eagle Generator uses a 6-pole, shunt-wound generator

designed to reach maximum power at 20 mph.

Because of the design created by Kwan-Gett, endothelial cells

could grow on the fibrin layer, making the interior surfaces

of the artificial heart similar to those of the natural heart.

The wire is wrapped around field cores made of steel lamina-

tions.

Gerunds and gerund phrases. Similar in appearance to a participial phrase, the gerund plays the role of noun. A gerund is a single word with -ing used as a noun. A gerund phrase is a single word with -ing accompanied by its objects, complements, and modifiers; it is a group of words acting as noun:

In the iron-core type transformer, the winding is wrapped

around an iron bar.

The splitting of an atom produces a great amount of energy.

The cloning of a cell produces an identical cell.

Jarvik changed his artificial heart design in 1974 by

fitting his model with a highly flexible three-layer diaphragm

made of smooth polyurethane.

The Jarvik-7 design then in 1979 achieved a record time of

sustaining life in a calf for 221 days.

Reversing the rotation of the electrohydraulic heart pump

reverses the direction of the hydraulic flow.

Adjective clauses. An adjective clause is almost a complete sentence — but not quite. It functions the same way a single-word adjective does: both modify, that is, add more information to our understanding of a noun. Adjective clauses contain (1) a relative pronoun, (2) in some cases, a subject, (3) a complete verb, and (4) any other accompanying predicates or objects:

Typically, one portable drilling rig, which requires two tug

boats to bring it to the site, and several other boats are

used in the exploratory drilling phase.

The company holds many patents on its wind energy systems,

such as the flyball governor which varies the pitch of the

blades in high winds and the slow-speed generator whose

performance curve matches that of the propeller.

The idea of the artificial heart arose in part from the need

to treat people who cannot receive a donor heart.

Nose designed a "biolized" heart in which the surfaces that

came into contact with blood were made from natural tissues

treated with chemical fixatives to make them tougher and

immunologically inert. (An adjective clause within another

adjective clause)

The regular CPR class people are taking everywhere now only

lasts an evening.

Adverb clauses. An adverb clause is also nearly a complete sentence; it functions like an adverb does by explaining the how, when, where, and why of the discussion. The adverb clause usually contains a subordinating conjunction, a subject, a complete verb, and any other related phrases or clauses:

Because the shortage in donor hearts is so severe, transplant

surgery is limited to people with the best chances of

surviving.

As long as the wind speed is sufficient, the electrical energy

will be continuously generated.

If an oil spill occurs away from shore, it is unlikely to

affect many birds, unless they are directly in a major

migratory path at a migrating season.

Noun clauses. A noun clause is a group of words used as a noun. Introduced by a relative pronoun, a noun clause can play any of the functions a noun plays: subject, direct object, object of preposition, subjective or object complement. Here are example noun clauses, with their functions labelled:

Estimates indicate that 20 million Americans owned hand-held

calculators by 1974. (direct object)

Computer systems are often measured by how much main memory

their architectures allow and by how fast that memory can

be accessed. (object of preposition - two of them!)

Lemaitre proposed that all matter in the Universe was once

concentrated into what he termed the primeval atom. (direct object;

in this sentence, "what he termed the primeval atom" is also a noun

clause.)

The choice of furnace wall construction depends on how

sophisticated the gas-cleaning equipment to be used is and on

whether a large amount of waste is to be recovered.

(object of preposition - two of them)

Most microcomputers use what are called flexible diskettes for

program and data storage. (direct object)

The major disadvantage of sequential files is that they are

slow. (subject complement)

Coordinated elements. Many of the sentence elements described above can be "coordinated"; that is, they can be doubled, tripled, or even quadrupled and linked with coordinating conjunctions like and and or. For example, in the phrase "a black and white Datsun 240Z," two adjectives are are coordinated. Here are some examples of coordinated sentence elements and their coordinating conjunctions:

In 1800, A. Volta constructed and experimented with the

voltaic pile, the predecessor of the modern battery. (two verb phrases)

Maxwell's theory not only synthesized theories about

electricity and magnetism, but also showed optics to be a

branch of electromagnetism. (two nouns and verb phrases)

Heat exchangers may be so designed that chemical reactions or

energy-generation processes can be carried out in them. (two noun phrases)

Heat exchangers find wide applications in the chemical process

industries, in the food industry, in the generation of steam

for production of power and electricity, in aircraft and space

vehicles, and in the field of cryogenics for low-temperature

separation of gases. (five prepositional phrases; two pairs of nouns)

Denominalizing

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You can make sentences shorter, snappier, and more direct by turning some nouns into verbs. The nouns you want to change into verbs have been called "smothered" nouns and "controverted" nouns; some writers call them "nominalizations." If we use this last term, then the act of liberating the noun in question is "denominalizing"; <>

Why would you want to do this? Because you want your sentences to be lively, forceful, interesting, and concise. When the real action of a sentence is trapped in noun's clothing, you don't very often get those effects. When your sentence could display an active, vigorous, working verb, then by George, GRAB that verb.

A common tip-off for recognizing a nominalization is a noun combined with a "fluff" verb. For example,

Researchers conducted an investigation into the problem.

The fluff verb is "conducted"; it sets up the idea of "investigation" as a noun. But since the idea of investigation really is the main idea of the sentence, why not express it as a vigorous, active verb? This change will also make the sentence more concise:

Researchers investigated the problem.

In fact, your original prose may have combined passive voice and nominalization:

An investigation into the problem was conducted by researchers.

As it often happens, denominalizing and switching from passive to active voice work together to create more direct, vigorous, readable sentences. Here's another example, one burdened with three nominalizations and passive voice:

There was a review of the proposal and a ruling by the committee, but no explanation was offered for their decision.

Here the fluff elements are the "There was" opening and the "was offered" verb. Passive construction blurs the sentence even further. You should be able to see a good rewrite in a flash:

The committee reviewed and ruled on the proposal but did not explain its decision.

Like passives, nominalizations are sometimes appropriate, but scientists, engineers, and other professionals tend to overuse them. Unless you need a nominalization to make a transition or for some other legitimate reason, switch it to verb form. The switch will improve your style.

Everyday English for Managers

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Everyday English for Managers

You have now reached a stage in this course where, it is hoped, you are learning to speak and
write in a more fluent, interesting and lucid way. You have learnt how sentences are constructed,
how to use the correct tense in verbs and how to place words in their correct order so that your
reader is not confused. You have done numerous exercises on all these different aspects of the
English Language and maybe you have done all your exercises correctly. But, are you making
sure that you are not only taking care with your exercises and tests but are also applying your
knowledge to your everyday speaking and writing? If you are continuing to speak to your friends
or to write to them without bothering about correct grammar and spelling you will gain no benefit
from this course. The only way you will gain any benefit is to apply all you have learnt to your
everyday life. In your job your boss is not going to be interested in whether you can find the finite
verb in a predicate or the principal clause in a complex sentence. He is going to take all that for
granted. What he wants you to do is to speak and write in an intelligible and interesting way. From
now on, bear in mind that all the exercises which you do on the various parts of English grammar
are merely tests to see whether you have understood each party. Thereafter your new knowledge
must become a natural part of everyday speaking and writing.
We are now going to learn another method of making our speaking and writing more interesting
and varied.
ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICE
You know that the verb in a sentence tells us something about the subject of the sentence. It often
tells us what the subject does. The following sentences are examples of this:
a. The lion killed the antelope.
b. The maid brushed the carpet.
c. The snow covered the ground.
In each case, the verb, "killed", "brushed" and "covered" tells us what the subject did, and in
each case there is also an object, which forms part of the predicate. Now, when a sentence
tells us what the subject did, it is said to be in the ACTIVE VOICE.
Sometimes, however, the verb in a sentence tells us what is done to the subject, for example:

The antelope was killed by the lion.
The antelope is now the subject of the sentence because it is the thing the sentence is telling
us about, and the verb "was killed" tells us what happened to the subject. The noun, "lion" is
now in the phrase, "by the lion" which explains how, or by what means, the antelope was killed.
When a sentence says what is done to the subject, it is said to be in the PASSIVE VOICE.
The other two sentences which we have used above, can be turned into the passive voice in
the same way by taking the present object and making it the subject of the passive voice
sentence, eg.
The maid brushed the carpet. (Active voice)
The carpet was brushed by the maid. (Passive voice)
The snow covered the ground. (Active voice)
The ground was covered by the snow. (Passive voice)
We often also use the passive voice when we report a rumour, or want to use rather vague
language. For example, if we have heard that there might not be an Agricultural Show this year,
we would probably put it vaguely in this way:
"They say there will be no Show this year".
The "they" used in this sentence does not apply to any particular people. It is used in a vague way
because the person reporting the rumour is not sure of his facts.
However, if we were writing a business letter and wanted to report this same rumour, it is more
correct to use the pronoun impersonally, together with the passive voice, and say:
"It is said that there will be no Show this year".
SELF-HELP EXERCISE 1
1. Write the following sentences in the passive voice.

a. The mother told her child a story.
b. The children weeded the garden.
c. The clerk wrote the letter.
d. My employer praised my work.
e. Some birds build their nests in trees.
2. Change the following sentences to the active voice.
a. The baby was nursed by her mother.
b. Songs were sung by the concert party.
c. The road was badly damaged by heavy traffic.
d. The people on the beach were trapped by the tide.
e. The long walk was completed by only half of the competitors.
THE PARAGRAPH
Have you noticed how the writing of a book, the newspaper or ever, of these lessons is laid out? The
writing does not start at the top of the page and carry on without a break to the end of the book, the
newspaper or the lesson, does it? No, what you should have noticed
is that a number of sentences are grouped together in one "block" and then a line is left free
before another "block" of sentences is started. These "blocks" or the grouping together of a
number of sentences are called paragraphs.
Before we study the best way to group sentences together, let us first understand why we do it.
You could say that we use paragraphs for the same reason that we use punctuation marks. If
you remember our first lesson, we said that we use punctuation marks to help our readers to
understand what we are saying. Paragraphs also help the reader because he can read about one
idea or piece of information at a time, understand it and pause before going on to the next
paragraph and the next idea. If he was not given time to pause and understand the different
ideas one at a time, he could become very confused.

Look at the following passage taken from H E Pegg's "History of Southern Africa", first written
without paragraphs and then re-written using paragraphs.
"One of the excitements of life in Cape Town was the wreck of ships in Table Bay. When the
north-west gales blew, the bay was feeling the full fury of them and disaster overtook ships at
anchor. In 1937, out of eight homeward bound ships in the bay-seven were driven ashore. 207
men were drowned on this occasion and of those who reached the shore, several had
remarkable escapes. One floated ashore on a six-pounder cannon which had not come adrift
from its wooden carriage, while another held fast to the tail of a Chinese pig and was dragged
ashore that way. There were no other towns and not many villages. The villages were laid out
on the same sort of plan as Cape Town, often with tree-lined streets and water furrows to take
the water into the gardens. The houses were more spread out than in Cape Town and, at
least in the wine-growing districts, were just as good. If education was difficult in Cape Town,
it was doubly so on the farms. Sometimes soldiers in the Company's service were lent to
farmers as school-masters or overseers; they would drift from farm to farm teaching the
children all they knew of reading, writing, arithmetic and catechism".
Did you enjoy reading that interesting account about life in Cape Town in the early days?
This was not a very difficult passage to follow, but you are sure to agree that it would be
even easier to follow if it was broken up into three paragraphs. Why three paragraphs?
Because he is talking about three different ideas, ie. ship wrecks, towns and houses and
education.
Here is the passage again written with paragraphs.
"One of the excitements of life in Cape Town was the wreck of ships in Table Bay. When
the north-west gales blew, the bay was open to the full fury of them and disaster overtook
ships at anchor. In 1737, out of eight homeward bound ships in the bay, seven were driven
ashore. 207 men were drowned on this occasion and of those who reached the shore,
several had remarkable escapes. One floated ashore on a six-pounder cannon which had
not come adrift from its wooden carriage, while another held fast to the tail of a Chinese pig
and was dragged ashore that way.
There were no other towns and not many villages. The villages were laid out on the same
sort of plan as Cape Town, often with tree-lined streets and water furrows to take the water
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into the gardens. The houses were more spread out than in Cape Town and, at least in the
wine-growing districts, were just as good.
If education was difficult in Cape Town, it was doubly so on the fares. Sometimes soldiers
in the Company's service were lent to farmers as school-masters or overseers; they would
drift from farm to farm teaching the children all they knew of reading, writing, arithmetic and
the catechism".
(Do you remember why we need to use inverted commas at the beginning and end of this
passage? Look back to Lesson 1 and you will see that they must be used when you quote
from a book.)
Now let us study more closely how a paragraph should be made up. As you have already
seen, a paragraph is composed (made up) of sentences, which relate (belong) to one
subject or "topic". In the passage we have just studied there were three topics that were
being talked about and so the passage had to be divided up into three paragraphs.
Now look at the following sentences:
By the time he is twenty, he hopes to pass the National Certificate in Commerce. David
goes to the technical college each Friday. At the end of the session he will be examined in
those subjects. He studies English, Mathematics, Commerce, Geography and
Bookkeeping. Next year he hopes to start a National Certificate Course.
All these sentences, except the first one are simple sentences. They are all short and they
will relate to one TOPIC although they are not placed in any sort of logical order.
Because they relate to one topic they can all be placed in one paragraph. To rewrite these
sentences to make an interesting paragraph we must find the topic sentence. This is the
sentence which makes it clear what topic the paragraph will talk about. If we read the
sentences carefully, we see that the first sentence, "By the time he is twenty, he hopes to
pass the National Certificate in Commerce", is the one which states the main idea or topic
of the paragraph. All the other sentences deal with the preparations he is making to help
him achieve that aim.
The topic sentence is the most important sentence in any paragraph and we can use it in a

number of ways. It might be used to introduce the paragraph as is shown below:
David's great ambition is to obtain the National Certificate in Commerce by the time he is
twenty. At present, he attends the Technical College every Friday to study English,
Mathematics, Commerce, Geography and Bookkeeping. At the end of the session, he will
be examined in these subjects. If he is successful in the examination, he will be able to
start a National Certificate course next year.
Or it might be used in this way:
At present, David attends the Technical College each Friday to study English, Mathematics,
Commerce, Geography and Bookkeeping. At the end of the session he will be examined in
those subjects and, if he is successful, he will be able to start a National Certificate Course
next year. He might then be able to achieve his ambition to pass the National Certificate in
Commerce by the time he is twenty.
The way the paragraph was first written gives the most important and interesting sentence first.
The remaining sentences are less interesting because they deal with less important details of
the ways and means by which the main aim is to be achieved. Thus, the most exciting thing is
told first and as the paragraph goes on it becomes less interesting and holds the reader's
attention less well.
In the way the paragraph is written the second time you are told what David is doing at the
present time without being given any reason why he should be doing it. You are taken step by
step along the path which he intends to follow until you come to a more exciting sentence
which mentions possible success. The second version increases the reader's interest as it goes
along.
As you can see, the topic sentence can be used in different ways: it may be used to arouse
interest at the beginning of the paragraph, or it may be kept until the end of the paragraph to
provide an interesting conclusion.
SELF-HELP EXRCISE 2

The following paragraph has been taken from H E Pegg's "History of Southern Africa", but we
have changed the order of the sentences and also made them simple sentences. Rewrite the
paragraph using flowing Complex sentences and put, what you consider to be the "topic"
sentence at the beginning of the paragraph.
The Hottentots kept cattle and sheep. The Bushmen never did. The Hottentots also smelted
iron and copper and made good wooden pets, mats and baskets. The Bushmen
manufactures(1) were very crude(2). The Hottentots were definitely a more advanced people
than the Bushmen The Hottentots were rather like the Bushmen in their general build. The
Hottentots were taller than the Bushmen. They had the same yellow-skin, prominent cheek
bones, flat noses and narrow slanting eyes.
ADVERBS
We have already learnt that no sentence can exist unless it contains, in its predicate, a finite
verb. Every sentence must express a complete thought and it is the verb which tells us
something about the subject, either what it does or what is done to it. By itself, however, the
verb can only state a simple fact. It generally requires a helper to give it more meaning or to tell
us more completely what the sentence is intended to say. Look at the following examples:
In the sentence "The man dressed", we have very little information, although we know what the
subject "man" did: he dressed. But if the word "hurriedly" is added, we then have: "The man
dressed hurriedly", and we know a good deal more than we were told in the first sentence. We
do not know anything more about the "man" but we do know more about what he did. That is,
we know more about the verb, "dressed". Therefore the new word, "hurriedly", has helped to fill
out the meaning of the verb. We now know how he dressed.
(1) Manufactures: what they made
(2) Crude: rough
A word which gives more information about the action expressed the verb is called an
ADVERB. In the case we are considering, adverb "hurriedly" tells us how he dressed, that is,
the manner which he dressed. We could think of other adverbs which might used with the verb,
"dressed". We might say:
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The man dressed carelessly.
The man dressed slowly.
The man dressed absent-mindedly.
All the adverbs, underlined, tell us how the man dressed so they are all adverbs of manner,
but each one gives a quite different meaning to each sentence.
Now read the following sentence:
The man dressed early.
Early must be an adverb because it also tells us more about the verb, "dressed", but in this
case, it does not tell us how he dressed, it tells us when he dressed. "Early" is therefore an
adverb of time.
Adverbs can tell us more than how or when an action takes place. They can also tell us
"where" and "to what degree". Look at these examples.
a. We shall meet here tomorrow.
Both "here" and "tomorrow" are adverbs because they tell us more about the verb, "shall
meet". While the adverb "tomorrow" is an adverb of time, similar to the adverb "early" used
in the previous example, the adverb "here" tells us where we shall meet. It is then, an
adverb of "place".
b. I scarcely felt the pain.
"Scarcely" helps the verb "felt", so it is an adverb. It tell us the "degree" of pain, or, in other
words "how much" pair.
From these examples, you can see that adverbs are used to extend the meaning of verbs in
various ways.
Besides helping verbs, adverbs can also help other kinds of words, that is, other parts of
speech. They can, for example, help adjectives.
We can say: A cold day: Here the noun, "day" is described by the adjective "cold". Then we
can say: A very cold day. Here the verb "very" describes the degree of coldness. "Very" is an
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adverb relating an adjective to be more exact in its meaning.
Here are other examples showing how an adverb can be used:
He is a highly sensitive person.
Adverb "highly" helps adjective "sensitive".
The picture is hardly beautiful.
Adverb "hardly" helps adjective "beautiful".
Adverbs are also often used to assist other adverbs as is shown in this example:
We can say: He does his work conscientiously.
"Conscientiously" says how he does his work. It is therefore an helping the verb, "does".
Then we could say: He does his work extremely conscientiously. Extremely" is an adverb
telling us how conscientiously the work is done. It therefore makes clearer the meaning
of conscient. Thus the adverb, "extremely" helps another adverb, "conscientiously".
Before the dawn broke, the campers, still tired from their exercise and lack of sleep, prepared to
move on.
"Before the dawn broke" is an adverbial clause, assisting the verb, "prepared", and as you
can see they are widely separated in the sentence. However, no misunderstanding is
likely to arise because "prepared" is the only verb to which the adverbial clause could
apply.
SELF-HELP EXERCISE 3
In each of the following sentences, an adverb has been underlined. Rewrite the sentence
replacing each adverb by an adverbial phrase having the same meaning. (Remember a
phrase does not have a verb). You will find that most of the adverbial phrases will sound
better if you move them to the end of the sentences.
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1. The boy had recently joined the school.
2. The principal had been newly appointed.
3. All his work was neatly done.
4. The men were ordered to stand still.
5. The deputation arrived punctually.
6. The crops were greatly damaged by the drought.
7. The work was quickly carried out.
8. The stranger walked hesitatingly up the garden path.
9. Previously, there had been some strong earth tremors.
Derivation of Adverbs
A very large number of adverbs have been formed (derived) from adjectives by the addition of
the suffix, "-ly". (A suffix is a letter or letters added onto a word).
For example, the adjective "beautiful" is changed into an adverb by adding "-ly": "beautifully".
We can therefore say: "He did beautiful work", or, "He worked beautifully". In the first case,
"beautiful" is an adjective describing the noun, "work", and in the second case, the adverb,
"beautifully" is an adverb helping the verb, "worked".
However there are exceptions to the "-ly" rule for forming adverbs.
For example, "He did good work", would be changed to, "He worked well". In cases like this
the adverb corresponding to the adjective is an entirely different word. When "-ly" is added to
the adjective, "good", it does not form an adverb but a new adjective, "goodly". This adjective
might be used as in the following sentence. He received a good income: In this way it
describes the noun, "income", and means "fair", or "of good size", or "of good appearance".
Other adjectives do not take the suffix "-ly" when they become adverbs, but remain
unchanged, We say: A fast race. Here "fast" is an adjective describing the noun, "race". But
we can also say: He ran fast. In this sentence, "fast" is an adverb helping the verb, "ran".
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SELF-HELP EXERCISE 4
1. Using the example below as a pattern, change the sentences containing the adjectives to
other sentences containing adverbs which have come from the adjectives.
Example:
He spoke in a gracious manner. He spoke graciously.
a. He gave a wrong decision.
b. She wrote a correct letter.
c. He ran a fast race.
d. The men had a fierce argument.
e. He was an early riser.
f. He kept his room tidy.
g. He had a good rest.
h. We received a cheerful welcome.
i. The speaker used forcible language.
j. The enemies fought a relentless battle.
k. The lady was dressed in fashionable clothes.
l. The captive gave us a stony stare.
m. The party spent a gay evening.
2. In the sentences which follow, words which are not adverbs have
been placed where adverbs are required. Rewrite the sentences
correctly using suitable adverbs.
a. He did his work very quick.
b. He looked angry at us.
c. The mother spoke very sharp with her daughter.
d. He does his arithmetic extremely accurate.
e. The apprentice satisfied his employer very good.
f. We shall stay indefinite on the farm.
g. Those who do not arrive punctual for their work will lose their jobs
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h. All day, the sun shone bright.
i. Fortunate, I arrived in time to see him fall into the well.
j. He was injured very serious in the accident.
IDIOMS
A vast number of words, phrases and turns of expression are recognised as correct English by all
who speak the language: other words, phrases and turns of expression which are equally correct
from the grammatical point of view are not recognised. If you were to ask an English-speaker why a
certain grammatically correct phrase or sentence cannot be used, he would say, "We just don't talk
like that". In other words, "he phrase or sentence which we do not use is not a recognised word ie. it
is not "idiomatic", or the accepted way of speaking.
Here are some examples of idiomatic expressions.
a. We say, "The leaves of the tree", or "The legs of the -able". We do not say, "The tree's leaves",
or, "The table's legs". The apostrophe s or s apostrophe ('s, s') is used when we speak of
persons or animals, but usually is not used when we speak. The apostrophe s ('s) IS, however,
used in certain incident expressions like "a stone's throw" and "the heart's desire". What you
must remember is, that you cannot INVENT idioms. You have to use idioms that Englishspeaking
people themselves USE in normal speech.
b. Most idiomatic phrases have a set form,, which cannot be changed. You can use the phrase "to
beat about the bush", but you cannot say, "To beat about a bush" or "To beat about a shrub".
Again, you can say, "He arrived in time", but to express the same idea, you cannot say, "He
arrived in the time" or "He arrived at the time". The last two sentences happen to be good
English, but they -ear. something different.
c. Adverbs of time like "always", "seldom", "never", "often", "sometimes" always
occur in a sentence IN ONE PARTICULAR POSITION that is, between the subject
and the verb. Thus you have to say,
"I always read the newspaper in the morning", or
Everyday English for Managers
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"I sometimes read the newspaper in the morning". or
"I seldom read the newspaper in the morning".
It is wrong to put the adverb of time (when it consists of one wore) in other position.
If you use an adverb of manner you can put it in three places in the sentence:
i. At the beginning : "Cautiously he opened the door".
ii. After the subject: "He cautiously opened the door".
iii. After the object : "He opened the door cautiously".
d. You must be particularly careful to use correctly phrases which include prepositions.
You may say, "What are you looking at?" It is unidiomatic to say "At what are you looking?"
Similarly, you may say, "What is he looking for?" It is unidiomatic to say, "For what is he
looking?"
e. Sometimes idiomatic phrases arise because "they sound right". Thus we say, "For goodness'
sake because in sounds better (and is easier to say than "For goodness's sake".
For the same reason, we avoid adverbs that end in "-lily". We say, for example, "He sang in
a lively manner": We avoid saying, "He sang livelily" (or 'lovelily', or 'jollily', or 'sillily').
f. Sometimes idiom and grammar do not agree and when this happens we follow idiom. We
say, for instance, "They spoke to each other": we do not say, "They spoke each to the other".
VOCABULARY AND SPELLING
Throughout these lessons we have stressed the importance of using your dictionary to look up
any words which you do not know. Only in this way can you possibly learn to speak, write and
understand the language. In the vocabulary and spelling section of this lesson, therefore, you
are going to be tested to see whether you have understood all the words which have been
used in the lessons so far.
If you have been studying the lessons properly, you should have no difficulty in finding the
Everyday English for Managers
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meanings of the words. If you have been lazy and have not used your dictionary, make a fresh
start now; learn the meanings of all the words which have already been used in the lessons,
and in future lessons take the trouble to look up any new words which you come across. If you
have not already made your own Vocabulary Book, make one now and write down in it all the
words which you have difficulty in remembering what they mean or how to spell them. (A
vocabulary book can be made from any old exercise book or even loose sheets of paper, but
whatever you use, keep it for vocabulary only. Once a week read through all the words in your
book and you will soon find that they become easier and easier to remember).
SELF-HELP EXERCISE 5
1. The following words have been used in these lessons. What do they mean?
classified to convey to distinguish
to govern rarely precisely
to establish annually to analyse
constantly similarly to visualise
origin to enlarge sparse
convenience complicated fluently
individual to denote to consist of
quality familiar to construct
respectively to indicate to combine
to relate ridiculous absurd
oysters procession to recount
incident prospects aspects wreck
lucid passive logical
gales anchor conscientiously
to achieve ambition
2. For each word in List A which appears below you will find a word or phrase in List 3 of similar
meaning. Place next to each word in List A the word or phrase of similar meaning which you
have found in List B.
List A List B
Everyday English for Managers
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Equipment someone suffering injury or pain
vessel keep away from
feature a great misfortune
proud made less strict
victim any part of the face
similar supplies for a special purpose
avoid hollow thing for holding something
surface to show unwillingness
disaster an undertaking of something dangerous
relaxed the outside of anything
venture alike
hesitate showing pride
ANSWERS TO SELF-HELP EXERCISES
Exercise 1
1. These sentences have been changed into the passive voice.
a. The child was told a story by her mother.
b. The garden was weeded by the children.
c. The letter was written by the clerk.
d. My work was praised by my employer.
e. Nests are built in trees by some birds.
2. These sentences have been changed into the active voice.
a. The mother nursed the baby.
b. The concert party sang songs.
c. Heavy traffic badly damaged the road.
c. The tide trapped the people on the beach.
e. Only half of the competitors completed the long walk.
Exercise 2
Everyday English for Managers
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This is how H Pegg wrote the paragraph in his book "History of Southern Africa".
"The Hottentots were definitely a more advanced people than the Bushmen (Topic Sentence). In
the first place they kept cattle and sheer, which the Bushmen never did; they also smelted iron
and copper and made good wooden pots, mats and baskets, while the Bushmen manufactures
were crude. The Hottentots were rather like the Bushmen in their general build, but they were
taller; they had the same yellow skin prominent cheekbones, flat noses and narrow slanting
eyes".
Exercise 3
The adverbs have been replaced by adverbial phrases.
1. The boy had joined the school only a short time before.
2. The principal had been appointed only recently.
3. All his work was done in a neat manner.
4. The men were ordered to stand without moving at all.
5. The deputation arrived at the correct time.
6. The crops were damaged to a great extent by the drought.
7. The work was carried out without loss of time.
8. The stranger advanced up the garden path in a hesitant manner.
9. On previous occasions, there had been some strong earth tremors.
Exercise 4
1. a. He decided wrongly.
b. She wrote a letter correctly.
c. He ran the race fast.
d. The men argued fiercely.
e. He rose early.
f. His room was tidily kept.
g. He rested well.
h. We were cheerfully welcomed.
i. The speaker spoke forcibly.
Everyday English for Managers
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j. The enemies relentlessly fought a battle.
k. The lady was fashionably dressed.
l. The captive stared stonily at us.
m. The party spent the evening gaily.
2. a. He did his work very quickly.
b. He looked angrily at us.
c. The mother spoke very sharply to her daughter,
d. He does his arithmetic extremely accurately.
e. The apprentice satisfied his employer very well.
f. We shall stay indefinitely on the farm.
g. Those who do not arrive punctually for their work will lose their jobs.
h. All day, the sun shone brightly.
i. Fortunately, I arrived in time to see him fall into the well.
j. He was injured very seriously in the accident.
Exercise 5
1. Here are the meanings of some of the words used in these lesser which you may have had
difficulty in understanding. Compare meanings given here with the meanings you have found in
your dictionary.
Classified : arranged in classes
To govern: in control or influence
To establish: to fix firmly
Constantly: frequently
Origin: the beginning or source
Convenience: suitableness or ease
Individual: single, or only one
Quality: nature or character of something
Respectively: as each belongs to each
To convey: to carry or import (tell)
Rarely: seldom
Annual: once a year
Similarly: in the same way
To enlarge: so make larger or give more detail
Everyday English for Managers
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Complicated: difficult instead of easy
To denote: to show
Familiar: to know well
To indicate: to point out or show
To distinguish: to show the difference between different things
Precisely: in a definite or exact manner
To analyse: to examine each part
To visualize: to see in your mind or imagination
Sparse: thinly scattered (or used)
Fluently: in a flowing, easy manner
to consist of: to be made up of
to construct: to build or form to unite
to combine: to unite
to relate: to repeat a story or show how something refers something else
oysters: a kind of shell-fish which can be eaten
incident: an event or happening
lucid: clear or easily understood
gales: strong winds
to achieve: to perform or finish
ridiculous: silly
procession: a number of people in a formal march
prospects: something which can be expected
passive: not acting or active
anchor: a heavy piece of iron which holds a ship in place
ambition: the desire to do something, or an aim
absurd: not sensible or reasonable to report or
to recount: tell again views
aspect: something,
wreck: usually a ship which is destroyed or broken up
logical: reasonable
conscientiously: according to your conscience, or in a strict way
2. List A List B
Equipment supplies for a special purpose
Vessel hollow thing for holding something
Feature any part of the face
Everyday English for Managers
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Proud showing pride
Victim someone suffering injury or pain
Similar alike
avoid keep away from
Surface the outside of anything
Disaster a great misfortune
Relaxed made less strict
Venture an undertaking of something dangerous
Hesitate to show unwillingness

Preferring Active Voice

2010-05-22T13:19:00.000-07:00

This sentence is written in active voice:
Smith surfs the Internet.

Here’s that sentence cast in passive voice:
The Internet is surfed by Smith.

In English grammar, “voice” is a quality of verbs that lets you know whether the word or phrase falling immediately before a verb construction is a true subject (actor) or really an object (something acted upon). If the verb is expressed in active voice, (“surfs,” as in the first example sentence above), then the noun (“Bob”) falling before the verb is the agent carrying out that verb action. But if we express the verb in passive voice (“is surfed”), the noun or noun phrase (“The Internet”) falling before the verb is not the true agent carrying out the verb action, even though it has appropriated the sentence’s “subject slot” and will be called the subject by many grammar handbooks. In reality, it remains the recipient, or object, of the verb’s action.

We use the term passive to describe the verb construction that achieves this flip-flop of subject and object because it causes the true, active agent (the subject) of the sentence to take, as it were, a passive role, placing itself out at the end of the sentence where it looks (if you’re not alert) like the passive recipient of action--simply because it occupies the “object slot” in the sentence.

Let’s step back for a brief grammar lesson that will put the concept of grammatical voice into perspective. Every verb you see in an English sentence carries with it five grammatical attributes:

Person
Number
Tense
Mood
Voice

Consider again:
Bob surfs the Internet.

The verb, surfs, is in:

Third person
Singular (Number)
Present tense
Indicative mood
Active voice

English verbs can be expressed in two different voices: Active and Passive. The active voice shows up in the subject-verb-object pattern you’ve been familiar with all you life, if you’re a native speaker of English. Consider once again:

Bob surfs the Internet.

This is the simplest, most direct pattern for English sentences. Bob (subject) surfs (active voice verb) the Internet (direct object of the verb). When a transitive verb (that is, a verb that transmits any kind of action or influence) is in its active voice form, that means it’s doing its usual job of funneling some action from the actor (subject) to the thing acted upon (the object of the verb).

Passive voice is a bit more complex. To express our sentence Bob surfs the Internet in passive voice, we must recast the verb into its past participial form (surfed), preface it with a form of the verb “to be” in the appropriate number and tense (in this case “is,” because the verb in our model sentence is singular, present tense), and we must flip-flop the order of subject and object. That is, subject and object trade places in our passive voice sentence. What’s more, we must preface the subject with the word “by,” just so we don’t get confused! We end up with a longer sentence:

The Internet is surfed by Bob.

Once again: the passive voice uses an auxiliary verb (any form of the verb to be) placed before the past participle of the main verb:

Form of to be	Past participle
is	seen
were	checked
was	made
will be	computed

Here are some more sentences, expressed first in active voice, then in passive:

Active: We checked the printouts.
Passive: The printouts were checked by us.

Active: The managers see the problem.
Passive: The problem is seen by the managers.

Active: He bought a stock.
Passive: A stock was bought by him.

Active: The engineers will compute the tolerances.
Passive: The tolerances will be computed by the engineers.

Of course, it’s also possible to form passive constructions that omit the subject entirely. Just leave off the “by” phrase:

The printouts were checked.
A problem is seen.
A stock was bought.
The tolerances will be computed.

This leaves it to the reader to figure out who checked the printouts, who sees a problem, who bought a stock, who will compute the tolerances.

Passive voice makes us “think backwards,” and it often leaves us wondering who is responsible for things (since it often omits the subject). It takes the zip out of sentences. When a passive construction does include the subject, we see that the sentence is considerably longer than it could be in active voice--and it still didn’t get its zip back. Why then do so many people overuse passive voice? For many reasons:

• They are trying to avoid using personal pronouns (“I,” “We,”, etc.)

• They have seen a lifetime of poor models.

• They have become convinced that passive constructions sound more dignified, scientific, or “professional.”

• They are trying to hide responsibility (by not identifying agents).

• They are lazy (they don’t want exert themselves to discover the agents of actions).

• Their minds land on actions or objects first, and they don’t make the effort to flip their sentences around into active voice order.

Common journalistic style has also led people astray:
The president’s immorality is deplored by the entire nation.
The official story has been rejected by local citizens.
The dying woman was abandoned by the senator from Massachusetts.

But one can read the sentences more quickly and easily in the active form:
The entire nation deplores the president’s immorality.
Local citizens have rejected the official story.
The senator from Massachusetts abandoned the dying woman.

Note again: the active versions are all shorter than their passive originals. But we read them more quickly not simply because they are shorter, but because our brains integrate the information more readily in the actor/action/object format (cause and effect relationship). This is the order we learned in our youth, and we still do better with this structure than with the passive construction. (I never say to my children, “Your feet must now be wiped by you.” I generally shout, “Wipe your feet!” (understood “you” or “y’all”).

Consider the following nursery rhymes and note how much more communicative they are in the active voice:
There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.
She had so many children, she didn't know what to do.
She gave them some broth, without any bread,
Whipped them all soundly, and sent them to bed.

Now listen to it in passive voice:
A shoe was lived in by an old woman there was.
What to do was not known, so many children were had by her.
Some broth without bread was given to them,
They were all whipped soundly and sent to their beds by her.

Sounds to me like her kids were using too much passive voice, and she got upset with them.

Comp;lex Active And Passive Voice

2010-05-22T13:09:00.000-07:00

Passive:

The bread was sliced by Jackie.

Active:

Jackie sliced the bread.

Students are often mystified when teachers tell them that they write too much in the passive voice. What does this mean? When a teacher refers to "voice" in a sentence, it has to do with verb placement in the sentence. More specifically, a passive voice sentence either puts the action (the verb) first and the actor (the subject) second, or leaves the actor out altogether, making it hard for a reader to understand who is doing what to whom. Basically, if you use the passive voice, it means that you are structuring your sentence so that the subject is being acted upon instead of acting.

For example:

Passive:

Herman's space was invaded.

Active:

The big bully invaded Herman's space.

The action is "invading Herman's space," but who is performing the action? The passive voice sentence does not tell us who or what is invading his space, so what is happening is not clear to the reader. Notice the difference in the active voice version when you identify the actor and re-order actor and action to state directly who is doing what.

In addition to being unclear, using the passive voice often makes your sentences wordy and dull:

Passive:

It is believed by the president that the changing of the by-laws should be placed on the agenda.

Active:

The president believes that the secretary must place the by-law changes on the agenda.

Passive:

We were cheered by the news that the faculty meeting was canceled by the winter storm.

Active:

We were cheered by the news that the storm canceled the faculty meeting.

Try to write in clear, active voice sentences in which you identify an actor performing an action. This will make your writing vigorous and concise.

Note: As in everything in English, there are exceptions. You can use the passive voice effectively in three cases:

when the actor is unknown or unimportant

Every year millions of people are led to believe they will win the sweepstakes.

when you want to draw attention to the person, place, or thing being acted upon

John Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and Robert Kennedy were all assassinated in the same decade.

in writing which requires an impersonal voice, such as scientific writing, which often describes procedures--and not the individual who carries them out

The beakers must be filled with the chemical solutions and monitored for three-hour intervals.

Note: The instances in which you use the passive voice are infrequent; use the active voice unless you consciously decide that the passive voice is the most appropriate.

Cambridge English Advanced Grammar in Use

2010-05-22T02:00:00.002-07:00

Cambridge English Advance Grammar in Use
A self-study
reference and practice book for advanced learners of english
With Answers

Book - 4.01 MB http://ul.to/wqde67
http://ifile.it/gkcn48y

Audio -30.08 MB
http://ul.to/l33ksv

http://ifile.it/xplqkm8

passwd: english--org.blogspot.com

Cambridge English Advanced Grammar in Use

2010-05-22T02:00:00.001-07:00

Cambridge English Advanced Grammar in Use

2010-05-22T02:00:00.000-07:00

TimeSaver Grammar Activities Elementary

2010-05-18T12:02:00.000-07:00

TimeSaver Grammar Activities ElementaryPages : 94 |Type : PDF |Size

Contenets:

Have you got the Basketball?
    Have got
English Families
    Have got
Wild Animals in North America
    Present Simple
Present Simple (negative)
    After School
Getting to know Someone
    present simple (questions)
In Britain
    Short Answers : Yes, I do| No,you don't
Get Fit!
    present simple | present

English Step by step 1 - Pupil's Book

2010-05-18T11:20:00.000-07:00

English Step by step 1 - Pupil's Book
Publisher: Koolibri |Number of pages: 143| Format: PDF
Size: 11 MB

Lesson 1 : I can see...
    What can you see?
    Who can see?
Lesson 2 : I cannot see...
    Can you see...?
    Yes, I can.
    No, I cannot.
Lesson 3 : I have got...
    What have you got?
Lesson 4 : What has Jojn/Sal got?
    He has got...
    She has got...
    Have you got...?

(Idioms) a brick short - a case of

2010-05-16T23:07:00.000-07:00

Idiom Meaning Example
a brick short mentally slow, not all there He is a brick short of a full load.
a budding genius a child who appears to be very intelligent The newspaper described Pam as "a budding genius" on the violin.
a bull in a China shop a big, reckless person in a room full of fragile things; cramp your style Imagine a 300-pound football player at a tea party, and you have a

Idioms: a blank look -- a brick

2010-05-14T22:38:00.000-07:00

Idiom Meaning Example
a blank look eyes show that a person does not understand, the lights are on but... When I called her name, she gave me a blank look, as though she didn't know me.
a blast a great time, a lot of fun The students were having a blast until the teacher walked in.
a blessing in disguise a problem that becomes a benefit or advantage The rainstorm was a blessing in

Idioms: a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush -- a blackout (war)

2010-05-14T22:12:00.000-07:00

Idiom Meaning Example
a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush having one is better than seeing many When searching for a better job, remember A bird in the hand... .
a bit at sea a bit unsure, uncertain He seems a bit at sea since his brother died. They were close.
a bit dense not smart, slow at thinking, stupid, not too swift She knows the answers to these questions. She's just

Idiom: a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush -- a blackout (war)

2010-05-10T08:39:00.000-07:00

Idiom Meaning Example
a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush having one is better than seeing many When searching for a better job, remember A bird in the hand... .
a bit at sea a bit unsure, uncertain He seems a bit at sea since his brother died. They were close.
a bit dense (See dense)

a bit off/a bit mental not rational, unbalanced, one brick short Kate talks to the birds. Do

Idiom: a basket case -- a bimbo

2010-05-10T08:35:00.000-07:00

Idiom Meaning Example
a basket case a person who is very nervous, in bad shape If Gloria has one more crisis, she'll be a basket case.
a bawling out a scolding, a lecture, an earful, catch it When I forgot to do my chores Dad gave me a bawling out.
a bed of roses an easy life, a pleasant place to work or stay Who said that retirement is a bed of roses?
a bee in her bonnet upset, a bit

Idiom: a babe in arms -- a barrel of laughs

2010-05-10T08:33:00.000-07:00

Idiom Meaning Example
a babe in arms a baby, a child who is still wet behind the ears Dar was just a babe in arms when we emigrated to Canada.
a babe in the woods a defenseless person; a naive, young person He's just a babe in the woods. He needs someone to protect him.
a bad taste in my mouth a feeling that something is false or unfair, a feeling of ill will I left the meeting with a

Russian Hookers and Cougars?

2010-05-09T07:12:00.000-07:00

Today's post is a bit dangerous and risque (risky). I don't want to offend anyone, but the fact is stereotypes are out there. We shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, but , we do. Everyone does. We cannot ignore it, and as we all move towards a more global world with multicultural societies, we must at least stop and have a laugh at stereotypes, even if that means laughing at ourselves.

Watch this video (unless you have no sense of humour) and laugh a little.

Idioms: 'at a boy (that a boy) -- 'at a girl (that a girl)

2010-05-08T00:47:00.000-07:00

Idiom Meaning Example
'at a boy (that a boy) good work, well done Whenever I win, Don says, " 'at a boy! Good game!"
'at a girl (that a girl) good work, well done When Judy gets good grades, her mom says, " 'at a girl, Judy!"

The Oxford Dictionary of Slang

2010-05-08T00:29:00.001-07:00

The Oxford Dictionary of SlangOxford University Press | 1999 | 480 pages | PDF | 17 MB
Slang is language with its sleeves rolled up, colorful, pointed, brash, bristling with humor and sometimes with hostility. Here, John Ayto has brought together over 10,000 slang words and phrases common to 20th-century English, to provide a comprehensive and highly engaging guide to the most outspoken

The Oxford Dictionary of Slang

2010-05-08T00:29:00.000-07:00

Dictionary of Contemporary Slang

2010-05-08T00:25:00.001-07:00

Dictionary of Contemporary SlangA & C Black Publishers Ltd | 2006-12-20 | 512 pages | PDF | 13 Mb
This book is absolutely the best about "slang" that I have ever seen. Every "slang" word that I can think of is in here.If you need books for an interesting read or to help with teaching English then this is one of those you must have.
http://depositfiles.com/en/files/7ud1shu96

Dictionary of Contemporary Slang

2010-05-08T00:25:00.000-07:00

English for Work Business Presentations (Book and Audio CD)

2010-04-30T10:05:00.000-07:00

English for Work: Business Presentations: Book and Audio CD (General Professional English)

Publisher: Longman 2003-06-13 | ISBN: 0582539625 | Language English | MP3 + PDF (62 Pages) | 21 MB
Suitable for anyone who needs to give presentations in business world. This book will help you to prepare yourself for excellent presentations.

*Essential vocabulary and phrases are presented through

Phrasal Verb (B)2 الافعال اواشباه الجمل في اللغة الإنجليزية

2010-04-22T16:29:00.000-07:00

Phrasal Verb Definition التعريف Example
bear down on + To effect in a harmful or adverse wayتوثر بطريقة مؤذية او سلبية Financial pressures are bearing down on them.الضغوط المالية هي التي تفرض نفسها عليهم.
bear down To apply maximum effort and concentrationتعطي كل طاقتك و تركز If you really bear down, you will finish the task. إذا ركزت فعلا ، سوف تنهي عملك.

Phrasal Verb (B)1 الافعال اواشباه الجمل في اللغة الإنجليزية

2010-04-22T16:05:00.000-07:00

Phrasal Verb Definition التعريف Example
back down To withdraw from a position, opinion, or commitment.تنسحب من مناقشة أو تتراجع عن رأيك أو التزامك Jane never backs down. She always wins arguments.جين لم تتراجع أبدا لذالك دائما تفوز في المناقشات.
back out To withdraw from something before completion أن تنسحب أو تترك شيء قبل اكتماله Sam backed out at the

Is Spelling Really Important?

2010-04-19T12:26:00.000-07:00

Yes and No. Proper spelling is important for written reports, essays and school assignments, as well as any and all business documents (including emails). BUT proper spelling is not important for understanding words and meaning in the sentence.

Most people can read the sentences below and still understand the correct meaning (i.e. words) without much effort. Try it. I hope you are a clever one too! ;)

"I cdnuolt blveiee that I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd what I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in what oerdr the ltteres in a word are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is that the frsit and last ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can still raed it whotuit a pboerlm. This is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the word as a wlohe. Azanmig eh? Yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!"

P.S. - as an English teacher, I strive for and demand proper spelling!

Origin of the word Sergeant

2010-04-17T08:59:00.000-07:00

For all of you out there interested in a career in the Military or Police Force, Listen up!

English - Dicas IV - portuguese English

2010-04-14T07:31:00.000-07:00

Glossario
Estamos usamdo a seguinte ordem de apresentacao
palavras em cada aula:
Expressoes
Substantivos
Verbos
Adverbios
Adjetivos
Pronomes
Artigos
Preposicoes etc.

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Learn English - Dicas II

2010-04-11T13:35:00.000-07:00

English - Dicas II .doc

Spelling
Words + -s and -es (birds/watches,etc.)
Words ending in -y (baby -> babies/ study->studied, etc.)
-ing / -ed / -er / -estTwo-Word Verbs ( look out / take off, etc.)
Two-Word Verbs + Object ( put out a fire / try
on clothes, etc.)

Irregular Verbs in Groups
Old/Older and expensive / more expensive
Older than ... and more expensive than ...
Not as ... as
The

English - Dicas I

2010-04-11T12:49:00.000-07:00

Dias da semana
domingo
segunda
terca
quarta
quinta
sabadoDays of the week
dhe deiz ov dhe uik
Meses do ano

Months of the year
Dhe manths ov dhe iar
Estacoes do ano
Cores
Kalarz
Conversao geral
Perguntando e Respondendo
Apresentando
Situacoes e Lugares
Comprando
Direcoes e Viagens
Preposicoes de movimento
Preposicoes de lugar
Como telefonar
Falsos amigos
Expressoes numericas
Expressoes

English in Mind 2

2010-04-03T14:45:00.002-07:00

English in Mind 2 (SB +SB CDs +
WB + WB CD)

Cambridge University Press |
2005 |PDF+MP3 | 296 MB

English in Mind is a six-level course for teenagers. Each level of the course provides 80-90 hours of class work with extra photo copyable activities and tests in the Teacher's Resource Pack. The course can be used with mixed-ability classes. The Starter level is for complete

English in Mind 2

2010-04-03T14:45:00.001-07:00

English in Mind 2

2010-04-03T14:45:00.000-07:00

English in Mind 1

2010-04-03T14:36:00.001-07:00

English in Mind 1
Cambridge University Press | 2005 | PDF+MP3

1. Student's book PDF
2. SB class CD 1 OGG
3. SB class CD 2 OGG

4. Workbook PDF
5. Teacher's book PDF
6. Teacher's resource pack PDF

Down-Herehttp://rapidshare.com/files/371680472/english_in_mind1-links.txt

English in Mind 1

2010-04-03T14:36:00.000-07:00

Verb Tenses - Say it Right!

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Verb Tenses

SIMPLE PRESENT
I study English everyday.

SIMPLE PAST [verb + ed]
Two years ago, I studied English in Canada.

SIMPLE FUTURE
1. [am/is/are] + [going to] + [verb]
2. [will] + [verb]
I am going to study English next year in Canada.
I will help you study English tomorrow.

PRESENT CONTINUOUS [am / is / are] + [verb + ing]
I am studying English now.

PAST CONTINUOUS [was /were] + [verb + ing]
I was studying English when you called this morning.

FUTURE CONTINUOUS
1. [will be] + [verb + ing]
2. [am /is /are] + [going to be] + [verb + ing]
I will be studying English when you arrive today.
We are going to be studying English next year in Canada.

PRESENT PERFECT [has /have] + [past participle]
I have studied English in several Canadian cities.

PAST PERFECT [had] + [past participle]
I had studied English before I moved to Canada.

FUTURE PERFECT 1. [will have] + [past participle]
2. [am/is/are] + [going to have] + [past participle]
I will have studied all the verb tenses by the end of today.
We are going to have studied all the chapters by five o'clock.

PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS [has/have] + [been] + [verb + ing]
I have been studying English for two years.

PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS [had been] + [verb + ing]
I had been studying English for two years before I moved to Canada.

FUTURE PERFECT CONTINUOUS
1. [will have been] + [verb + ing]
2. [am/is/are] + [going to have been] + [verb + ing]
I will have been studying English for one hour by the time you arrive.
We are going to have been studying for three hours.

Verbals

Participle or verbal adjectives are words with a value of an adjective and a verb.

Gerunds or verbal nouns have the value of a noun and a verb. They usually end with the "ing" ending.

Infinitives act like gerunds . They have the value of a noun and a verb. Verb forms "to see, to study" are infinitives, can be a subject of a verb, object of a verb, or a subjective completion, take an object or have an adverbial modifier.

Modal Verbs are irregular verbs which behave very differently from normal verbs.
Here are some important differences:
1. Modal Verbs do not take "-s" in the third person.
2. You use "not" to make Modal Verbs negative, even in Simple Present and Simple Past.
3. Many Modal Verbs cannot be used in the past or future tenses.
Conditionals - Formats for Specific Purposes

A conditional format is used when the writer expresses an action or an idea that is dependent on a condition, on something that is only imagined in the present, in the past or the future.

Present Real Conditional
If I have money, I travel. (Sometimes I have money.)

Present Unreal Conditional
If I had money, I would travel. (I don't have money.)

Past Real Conditional
If I had money, I traveled. (Sometimes I had money.)

Past Unreal Conditional
If I had had money, I would have traveled . (I didn't have money.)

Future Real Conditional
If I have money, I will travel.

Future Unreal Conditional
If I have money, I am going to travel. (I don't know if I will have money or not.)
If I had money, I would travel. (I won't have money.)

Thanks to Ross McBride from ESL in Canada for the above.
Link = http://www.eslincanada.com/englishlesson4.html

Listening Situations

2010-03-24T03:56:00.000-07:00

Speaking Situations - Low Beginning	Speaking Situations - Low Beginning
Greetings (NEW!) Introducing yourself (NEW!) Introducing people (NEW!) Identifying people, things (NEW!) Classroom questions (NEW!) Asking for information (NEW!) Giving information (NEW!) Simple sentences (NEW!) Simple questions (NEW!) Numbers and counting (NEW!) Talking about family (NEW!) Talking about favorite things (NEW!) Talking about here and now (NEW!) Describing People (NEW!)	Telling Time (NEW!) Talking about past actions (NEW!) Talking about the future (NEW!) Talking about feelings/health (NEW!) Talking about life events (NEW!) Expressing likes and dislikes (NEW!) Simple shopping (NEW!) Contractions (NEW!) Short questions and answers Closing a conversation (NEW!) Expressing thanks (NEW!) Situation: At the Store Describing a Picture (NEW!) Talking about Occupations


Speaking Situations - High Beginning	Speaking Situations - High Beginning
Introducing others (NEW!) Encouraging words (NEW!) Buying and selling American numbers and prices Making suggestions (NEW!) Making plans for the weekend (NEW!) Asking for favors (NEW!) Asking for repetition (NEW!) Requesting (NEW!) Inviting (NEW!) Offering (NEW!) Talking about abilities (NEW!) Expressing possibility	Talking about locations (NEW!) Asking for directions Giving directions Asking about place/location Talking about travel (NEW!) Descriptions Like / would like / look like / be like Comparing things Questions and expressions with time Count and non-count nouns in context Using measure words (NEW!) Telephone talk (NEW!) Narrating


Phrases for Conversation - Low Intermediate	Phrases for Conversation - Low Intermediate
Conversation starters Rejoinders Giving opinions Agreeing/disagreeing (NEW!) Asking for details Asking permission Asking for and Giving Advice	Sequencing Speaking hypothetically Discussing Sensitive Topics Accepting and Refusing Expressions for Description Indirect Requests Tag Questions


Phrases for Conversation - High Intermediate	Phrases for Conversation - High Intermediate
Supporting opinions Exploring options Contrasting Classifying Discussion techniques Elaborating Clarifying	Interrupting Giving instructions Simple presentations Checking for Understanding Conceding to Make a Point Analyzing Problems

What America Will Look Like If The White House Gets Its Way | The Foundry: Conservative Policy News.

2010-03-21T00:35:00.000-07:00

What America Will Look Like If The White House Gets Its Way | The Foundry: Conservative Policy News.

A picture of America’s future under Obamacare can be revealed, though, after peeling away the pages and digging through the dirt. Here’s 10 things you can expect:

Building Grammar Skills for TOEFL IBT

2010-03-18T18:44:00.000-07:00

Building Grammar Skills for TOEFL IBTPublisher Adam Worcester | Pages 220 PDF | 8 MB
A complete guide to English Grammar, which covers every part of speech, and is presented with people who are planning to take the iBT TOEFL exam in mind. Over 50 key grammar points which feature: clear, detailed explanations, over 115 exercises, and thousands of questions

Download
uploading

http://

New Matrix Intermediate (Workbook + Answer keys)

2010-03-18T18:01:00.000-07:00

New Matrix Intermediate (Workbook + Answer keys)
Oxford University Press | 2006 | PDF | ISBN-10: 0194766152 | Pages : 73 +7 | 72.3 MB
New Matrix follows the principles of the previous edition, with emphasis on maximizing performance in the school-leaving exam through a focus on exam tasks and techniques and thought-provoking, demanding material.

Download Links (75 Mb)

http://hotfile.com/

Check Your Vocabulary for PET-Vocabulary Workbook

2010-03-18T17:28:00.000-07:00

Check Your Vocabulary for PET (Vocabulary Workbook)
A&C Black | 128 pages | English | 2008 | ISBN: 1408104547 | PDF | 44,3 MB
A workbook to assist lower intermediate students prepare for the popular Preliminary English Test.
This workbook has been designed to help students at lower-intermediate level improve and build their English vocabulary, and is particularly appropriate for those