Modal Verbs of Deduction or Speculation

Posted on May 7, 2017 by

Modal Verbs are very useful words. The most common are: will, can, could, would, should, must, might, and may. The rules for using them are easy:

♦ The negative is ‘not’ or ‘never’: You should not be late for work. I will never leave you!
♦ Modals are always followed by a Base Infinitive: be, go, have, live etc: Could you help me?  I might play football this weekend. Would you be quiet please?

PEANUTS by Charles Schultz

If I asked you the meaning of ‘must’, you would probably talk about obligation. Yet, this is not how we usually use this word. In fact, we more often use the Modal Verb ‘must’ (as well as other Modal Verbs) for Deduction or Speculation.

I have found a fabulous English blog called My English Blog which is written by aliciateacher2.wordpress.com  To read her excellent post on Modal Verbs of Deduction or Speculation, click on the link below.

Source: Modal Verbs of Deduction or Speculation
∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗

Advertisements
Posted in Grammar, Intermediate (Level 4), Pre-Intermediate (Level 3) | Leave a comment

Pictures of Idioms #2

Posted on April 27, 2017 by

WRITTEN ALL OVER YOUR FACE

Click on the picture below to find out the meaning of the idiom written all over your face. Once on the site, you can click on Follow at the bottom of the page to receive  more pictures and explanations of idioms FREE.

 

Posted in Advanced (Level 6+), Intermediate (Level 4), Pre-Intermediate (Level 3), Upper Intermediate (Level 5), Vocabulary | Tagged | Leave a comment

3 mistakes that ruin your sentences

Posted on April 14, 2017 by

Native speakers are not perfect speakers.

Their speech is often unclear and their grammar can be sloppy. However, there are mistakes which they don’t make, and if you make them, you will sound like an English student, not the fluent English speaker you would like to sound like.  

If you want to immediately sound better when speaking English, you need to avoid the following mistakes:

1. Not using a SUBJECT
2. Using the wrong SUFFIX
3. Forgetting to use the letter ‘S’

charlie-brown

‘Charlie Brown’ by CHARLES SCHULTZ

1. Not using a SUBJECT

Every English Sentence must have a SUBJECT. It must also have a verb. Think of the subject and verb as best friends who always need each other. Do you always include a subject or do you write things like:

“In Spain have a lot of beautiful beaches.”

“Have a lot of beautiful beaches in Spain.”

Where is the subject? “In Spain“ is an adverb because it tells you where the beautiful beaches are. Q. Where are beautiful beaches?  A. In Spain.

Look carefully at those two words: In Spain. In is a preposition. Spain is a noun. Preposition + noun = adverb.

An adverb is not a subject! A subject is a noun: something or someone. Remember that a noun can be replaced by a pronoun: I, he, she, it, we,  they, this, that, these, those, etc.

A subject is a noun or pronoun. (A noun can be more than one word. It can be a noun phrase or a noun clause. Let’s keep it simple for now and just look at one-word nouns.)

Spain has a lot of beautiful beaches.
  It      has a lot of beautiful beaches.

If you want to start a sentence with an adverb, that’s okay. Just make sure you use a subject before the verb:

In Spain, we have a lot of beautiful beaches.
In Spain, there are a lot of beautiful beaches. OR
There are a lot of beautiful beaches in Spain.

* We can use ‘There’ as a ‘dummy’ subject. We can also use ‘it’ as a dummy subject:

There he is!
It‘s cold.
It was a dark and stormy night.

* Imperative sentences do not need a written or spoken subject. The subject is always understood as you. For example:

Think of the subject and verb as best friends. = (You) think of the subject and verb as best friends.

Look at the cartoon below. = (You) look at the cartoon below.

Don’t give up! = (You) don’t give up!

snoopydarkstormy

2. Using the wrong SUFFIX

I constantly see writing mistakes that could be avoided if English students remembered a few basic suffixes. Suffixes are the letters we place at the end of a word to change it from, for example,  a verb to a noun , or a noun to an adjective. Students know the meanings of words but use the wrong form. This really messes up their sentences. For example:

Don’t listen to rudely people and your life will be more peace.
Correction:
Don’t listen to rude people and your life will be more peaceful.

My homestay mother is very kindness.
Correction:
My homestay mother is very kind.

According to Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 2nd edition

“Words often come in families. You can expand your vocabulary by becoming familiar with these word families and this can also enable you to become a more fluent speaker and writer of English. If you know all the possible words within a word family, you can express yourself in a wider range of ways.” .

Suffixes are very useful! Think of a verb you know and see how you can change it with suffixes:

verb:   (to) argue                            verb: (to) sleep

noun: argument                              noun: sleep, sleeplessness

adjective: argumentative             adjective: sleepless, sleepy

                                                               adverb: sleepily

You don’t learn just one word whenever you learn new vocabulary. If you know a few common suffixes, you learn four or five or more words. You learn a Word Family. Isn’t that good news!  The suffixes I have added above to the verbs argue and  sleep are very common and don’t take long to learn. Let’s see how many suffixes we can add to the following nouns: 

charlie-brown-imagesm4x6

charlie-brown-imagesm4x6

noun: peace 

adjective: peaceful

adverb: peacefully

noun: critic, criticism

verb: criticize

adjective: critical

adverb: critically

Click here for examples of common word suffixes –ment, and –ion, used in vocabulary which you need to know if you are studying for the TOEIC Test.

Click here for Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary for an extensive list of common words and other words in the same family. Suffixes and prefixes are included.

∗ TIP: When you learn a new word, check the meaning in http://learnersdictionary.com/. Then, check the Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary for the word family.

3. Forgetting to use the letter ‘S’

There are four  important ways we use the letter ‘S‘.

1.  ‘S’ Plural     

2.  ‘S’ Contraction

3.  ‘S’ Possessive       

4.  ‘S’ 3rd person singular

Continue reading →

Posted in Advanced (Level 6+), Cambridge, Grammar, IELTS, Intermediate (Level 4), Speaking & Pronunciation, Upper Intermediate (Level 5), Writing | Tagged | Leave a comment

Think before you speak

Posted on March 30, 2017 by

Jamie-Lee Dwyer

I would like to introduce you to a friend of mine, Jamie-Lee Dwyer  who is 26 years old. When she was eleven, and her sister Samantha was ten, they were both diagnosed with Friedreich Ataxia.

This has not prevented Jamie-Lee from excelling at University, travelling overseas, jumping out of planes, and among other things, becoming an accomplished writer.

I thought that you might be interested in reading what she has to say about her life. When you read her articles, it seems like she is talking to you (an impressive and rare writing skill) and you may even hear yourself talking back. I know that I do! I have even felt compelled to write comments back. Here is her latest contribution:

THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK

I decided to write this story because I want to show people that sometimes nice intentions are not so nice, they can be f∗∗∗∗∗ !  annoying. I don’t know how to say it in a more polite way, but let’s just say when you have people coming up to you every day just because you’re disabled it is beyond annoying. I hope this story helps people understand ‘our’ point of view a little more.

I was sitting opposite a friend from uni, sipping coffee and concentrating really hard on lifting the coffee cup up to my mouth. I was wearing one of my favourite dresses today and I’d be damned if I spilt it all over myself while I was out. We had just finished eating a delicious lunch at one of my local cafes and now we were catching up over coffee.

I’d forgotten how well I got on with this particular friend and I had just finished laughing like a lunatic when we were interrupted by a random middle-aged man.

The man knelt on one knee next to me and got right up close to me in my face. He looked at me through his square glasses with concerned eyes. ‘Darling, what’s happened to you then?’

∗Before you read more, please note that Jamie-Lee uses swearwords which may not be appreciated by all readers.

Continue reading →

 

Posted in Advanced (Level 6+), Intermediate (Level 4), Reading, Upper Intermediate (Level 5), Writing | Tagged | Leave a comment

A Song with Relative Clauses #10 & Noun Clauses

Posted on March 18, 2017 by

There is a lovely new song called Something just like this by The Chainsmokers & Coldplay. It has two verses and a chorus. The first verse is one long Compound Sentence. The chorus is a series of Noun Clauses, some of which contain Relative Clauses. The second verse is one long Complex Sentence.

Song: Something just like this

Verse #1:
I’ve been reading books of old,      
The legends and the myths,
Achilles and his gold,
Hercules and his gifts,
Spiderman’s control
And Batman with his fists,
And clearly, I don’t see myself upon that list.   

Chorus:
She said *”Where’d you wanna go?        * (Where do you want to go?)
*How much you wanna risk?                  * (How much do you want to risk?)
I’m not looking for somebody
With some superhuman gifts,
Some superhero, some fairytale bliss;
Just something I can turn to;
Somebody I can kiss.
I want something just like this.”            

Verse #2:
I’ve been reading books of old:
The legends and the myths,
The testaments they told,
The moon and its eclipse,
And Superman unrolls
*A suit before he lifts,                                 * (a superman suit ….. he flies)
But I’m not the kind of person that it fits.

** Many thanks to Rachael Crowe for the use of this photograph.** http://www.rachaelcrowe.com

Verse #1:
I’ve been reading books of old:
The legends and the myths,
Achilles and his gold,
Hercules and his gifts,
Spiderman’s control
And Batman with his fists, 
and clearly,
I don’t see myself upon that list.  

Verse #1:
A Compound Sentence has two or more Independent Clauses joined by a Co-ordinating Conjunction.

1st Independent Clause: I’ve been reading books of old: the legends and the myths, Achilles and his gold, Hercules and his gifts, Spiderman’s control and Batman with his fists

Co-ordinating Conjunction: and

2nd Independent Clause: clearly, I don’t see myself upon that list
Chorus:
She said “Where’d you want to go?   
How much do you want to risk?
I’m not looking for somebody
With some superhuman gifts,
Some superhero,
Some fairytale bliss;
Just something I can turn to; Somebody I can kiss.
I want something just like this.”		 The Chorus is a series of Noun Clauses introduced by, She said.

Noun Clauses:
She said,

“Where’d you want to go?
How much do you want to risk?
I’m not looking for somebody
With some superhuman gifts,
Some superhero,
Some fairytale bliss;
Just something I can turn to; Somebody I can kiss.
I want something just like this.”
Chorus:
She said “Where’d you want to go?   
How much do you want to risk?                   
I’m not looking for somebody
With some superhuman gifts,
Some superhero,
Some fairytale bliss;
Just something I can turn to;
Somebody I can kiss”.
I want something just like this.”  

 

 

 


Verse #2:
I’ve been reading books of old:
The legends and the myths,
The testaments they told,
The moon and its eclipse,
And Superman unrolls
A suit before he lifts
But I’m not the kind of person that it fits.

♥ To watch the Youtube video with handy subtitles, click here.

Because Noun Clauses can be whole sentences and questions, we can find Adverb Clauses and Relative Clauses inside Noun Clauses. Inside the Noun Clauses in this song, we find the following Relative Clauses:

1. …  (which/that) I can turn to;
2. …  (who/that) I can kiss.
3. … (which/that is) just like this.”

In the examples of Relative Clauses 1. and 2. we can omit the Relative Clause marker: who/that. In example 3. we have omitted the Relative Clause marker ‘which/that’ as well as the BE verb ‘is’, so we call this a Reduced Relative Clause.

 

Verse #2:
A Complex Sentence contains at least one Independent Clause and at least one Dependent Clause. Relative Clauses are Dependent Clauses and there are two in Verse #2:

1 … (which/that) they told,

2 …  that it fits.

There is also an Adverb Clause in Verse #2:

… before he lifts (Adverb Clause of Time.)
Adverb Clauses are always Dependent Clauses:

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Posted in Grammar, Intermediate (Level 4), Songs | Tagged | Leave a comment

Pictures of Idioms and Phrasal Verbs

Posted on March 11, 2017 by

I have recently come across (phrasal verb: come across = found by accident) a very helpful website called idiomic.com which helps you understand and remember idioms and phrasal verbs by using amusing pictures. I have featured just one idiom below: BIG CHEESE

If you would like to see more of this wonderful website, just click on the picture of the BIG CHEESE. Once on the site, you can click on Follow at the bottom of the page to receive lots more pictures of idioms and phrasal verbs FREE.

BIG CHEESE

big cheese

Definition: The most important person/ the boss.

Example:

Sir Bigglesworth-Smythe was a big cheese in the world of moustache grooming products, having created the world’s best-selling tash wax.

Origin:

Continue reading →

Posted in Advanced (Level 6+), Intermediate (Level 4), Pre-Intermediate (Level 3), Upper Intermediate (Level 5), Vocabulary | Tagged ,

Phrasal Verbs: 3 Easy Rules

Posted on March 4, 2017 by
Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal Verbs: come back, run off with, go around, wear out, ………. http://www.anglonautes.eu/learning%20english

There are just 3 things to know if you want to understand and remember Phrasal Verbs:

1. Phrasal Verbs are Vocabulary.

2. There are two types: a)Separable and
b)Non-separable.

3. When they are Separable, the pronoun must always go in the middle.

Phrasal Verb: get up ..................... https://www.google.com.au/search?q=peanuts+cartoons

Phrasal Verb: get up ………………… https://www.google.com.au/search?q=peanuts+cartoons

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com

Phrasal Verb: give up ………………….. https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com

 

1. Phrasal Verbs are Vocabulary.

Phrasal Verbs are verbs plus one or more words which change the meaning of the verb. Think of them as one vocabulary unit with one meaning. 

You know the meaning of the verb give.

1. Please give me that football.

 You also know the meaning of give up.

2. I’m not a great football player but I’m never going to give up!

Sentences 1. and 2. both use the word give, but the meaning is different.

It’s important to learn and remember that the Phrasal Verb give up means *to stop an activity or effort : to admit that you cannot do something and stop trying It has no connection with the word give or the word up. No-one is giving anything. No-one is looking up.

*This is a link to the definition of give up in the online dictionary www.learnersdictionary.com You will need to scroll down, down, down to the phrasal verb section to find the definition that I’ve included above. You may have to click on give verb first.

How can you learn all these Phrasal Verbs? Well, how do you learn other vocabulary? Here are my suggestions. Check:

♦  www.learnersdictionary.com

♦  Google – Images

♦  Google.com

♦  http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com

Don’t worry if it takes you a long time to work out the meanings of the Phrasal Verbs. While you are trying to work out the meanings (using my suggestions), you are learning much more than you realise. You are learning how to use the new vocabulary in context.

When you look up Phrasal Verbs like give up, you will see how the word give has multiple meanings. You will see that give up is not the only Phrasal Verb that starts with the word give. The two minutes you spend looking up give up will be a mini lesson; you will learn so much more than just one phrasal verb.

∗ For a list from http://www.englishclub.com of the 200 most common Phrasal Verbs, with explanations and example sentences, click here.

2. There are two types: a)Separable and
b)Non-separable.

Sometimes you can separate the words that make up a Phrasal Verb:

I really need to give up smoking.

Everyone tells me that I need to give smoking up.

Everyone tells me that I need to give it up.

Sometimes, you cannot separate the words that make up a Phrasal Verb. (‘Non-separable’ means that you must not separate the words.)

You should stick to your exercise routine.

I can’t go around like this! (go around = to go here and there; move from place to place)

Charlie Brown looks after his dog Snoopy.

Non-separable Phrasal Verbs are not hard to remember and students don’t make the mistake of separating them. I have never heard a student separate a non-separable Phrasal Verb. I have never, ever, ever heard anything like:

You should stick your exercise routine to .

I can’t go like this  around.

I look my dog after.

There is a good reason why English learners don’t make the mistake of separating Non-separable Phrasal Verbs. They sound really bad if you separate them! This is an easy rule to remember. However, you need to know it because of rule #3.

3. When  Phrasal Verbs are Separable, the pronoun must always go in the middle.

cheers-me-up

I’ll wear out my sock!

I’ll wear my sock out!

I’ll wear it out.                                      

Buying records cheers up my friends.

Buying records cheers  my friends up.

Buying records cheers them up.

You should give up smoking.

You should give smoking up.

You should give it up.

Phrasal Verbs like wear out, cheer up, and give up can be separated. If you use a pronoun, you must, must, must, put it in the middle. You cannot put it after the Phrasal Verb. You cannot say:

I’ll wear out it .   

Buying records cheers up them.

You should give up it .

Have a look at the 200 examples of common Phrasal Verbs with explanations and example sentences at English Club. Take note of the Non-separable Phrasal Verbs. They are the ones  with pronouns after the Phrasal Verbs. For example:

We called on you last night but you weren’t home.

I am counting on you to make dinner while I am out.

Now, take note of the Separable Phrasal Verbs. They are the ones  with pronouns in the middle of the Phrasal Verbs.

For example:

My wife backed me up over my decision to quit my job.

This sad music is bringing me down.

His wife gave him away to the police.

So, there you have it. Remember the three rules and don’t worry. You already know a lot of phrasal verbs. They are just more vocabulary. Look at the list of 200 Phrasal Verbs. Read the explanations and examples. It won’t take long to learn the meanings. The main thing to remember is: do not put the pronoun after a separable Phrasal Verb! If you can put it in the middle, you must put it there!

Have fun and just think of how much you are improving your English knowledge every time you learn a new Phrasal Verb!

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

Posted in Grammar, Intermediate (Level 4), Upper Intermediate (Level 5), Vocabulary, Writing | Tagged | Leave a comment

How to Write a Sentence #6: A Summary

Posted on January 29, 2017 by

In posts How to Write a Sentence #1, 2, 3, 4, & 5, I explained how to put words together to make a sentence.

In this post, I’m going to break it all down in a different way. This will be a summary so if necessary, click on the grammar terms for explanations. I will be using sentences/clauses/phrases/words from Taylor Swift’s song Blank Space as examples.

SENTENCES

A sentence is made up of (at least one) clause and sometimes phrases.
♦  So, it’s *gonna be forever or it’s *gonna go down in flames. (*gonna = going to)

♦ You can tell me when it’s over if the high was worth the pain.

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=taylor+swift “So, it’s gonna be forever or it’s gonna go down in flames.”

CLAUSES

A clause is a group of words with a subject (usually) and a finite verb:
♦ it’s going to be forever
♦ it’s going to go down in flames
♦ because we’re young

PHRASES

A phrase is a group of words that does not have a finite verb:
♦ in flames
♦ to be forever
♦ to go down
♦ dressed like a daydream

Anything that is not part of a clause or phrase is usually a conjunction, a transition,  or a one-word adverb:

♦ or
♦ however
♦ yesterday
 

INDEPENDENT & DEPENDENT CLAUSES

There are 2 types of clauses: Independent and Dependent.

◊ The first thing to do when you examine a sentence is find the Main Clause (the Independent Clause).  Simple sentences have just one Main Clause:

        ♦ I’ve got a long list of ex-lovers.

Compound Sentences have two or more Main/Independent Clauses and are joined by a Co-ordinating Conjunction.

         ♦ (So) it’s *gonna be forever or it’s *gonna go down in flames.

Complex Sentences have at least one Independent Clause and at least one Dependent Clause.

♦ ‘Cause we’re young and we’re reckless, we’ll take this way too far.

◊ After you have found the Independent Clause/s, everything else is just extra “stuff” which does not affect the grammar in the Independent Clause. This stuff is almost always one or both of the following: #1. DEPENDENT CLAUSES  #2. PHRASES


◊◊ #1. DEPENDENT CLAUSES. The following sentence has an Independent Clause (in bold) and a Dependent Clause (in blue):

♦ Because we’re young and we’re reckless, we’ll take this way too far.

The following sentence has two Independent Clauses joined by a co-ordinating conjunction and two Dependent Clauses.

♦ I get drunk on jealousy but you’ll come back (1) each time you leave (2) ’cause darling I’m a nightmare dressed like a daydream.

There are only 3 types of Dependent Clauses:

         ♦ Relative  (Adjective) Clauses
         ♦ Adverb Clauses
         ♦ Noun Clauses

 

I can’t see any Relative Clauses in the song Blank Space so let’s look at the Adverb Clauses first and then the Noun Clauses. (For songs with Relative Clauses, click here.)

ADVERB CLAUSES

        ♦ Adverbs answer how, where, when, & why. If the answer does not include a finite verb, it’s just an Adverb: with a nasty scar, down in flames. 

If the answer includes a subject and a finite verb, it’s an Adverb Clause: Because we’re young.
Adverb Clauses answer how, where, when, & why. They can also give other information about the verb in the Independent Clause: conditions and contrasts.

Here are the Adverb Clauses (in blue) in the chorus :

So, it’s gonna be forever
Or it’s gonna go down in flames.
You can tell me when it’s over                   When?
If the high was worth the pain.                  Condition?
(I’ve) Got a long list of ex-lovers.
They’ll tell you (that) I’m insane
‘Cause you know *(that) I love the players           Why insane?
And you love the game.

NOUN CLAUSES

♦ Nouns answer who and what. If the answer does not include a finite verb, it’s just a Noun: love, game, my next mistake, the bad guys. 

If the answer includes a subject and a finite verb, it’s a Noun Clause: (that) I’m insane.
*(that) I love the players = a Noun Clause as part of an Adverb Clause!

Noun Clauses, like any noun, can be the subject, object or complement in a sentence. This means that a Noun Clause (which is always a Dependent Clause) can be inside an Independent Clause. In the following sentences, the Noun Clause is the object of the verb and is part of the Independent Clause. You know the Noun Clause is part of the Independent Clause because if you take it out, there is no Independent Clause left.

I know *(that) you heard about me.          I know what?

I’m dying to see how this one ends.            to see what?

They’ll tell you *(that) I’m insane.              tell you what?

* Note that the Noun Clause marker ‘that’ is the only  Noun Clause marker that can be left out of a sentence (unless it is the first word in the sentence).

◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊

◊◊ # 2 PHRASES. You’ve probably realised that phrases are often part of  clauses. In the following sentence, the Independent Clauses are bold, the Dependent Clauses are blue, and the phrase is underlined.

♦ I get drunk on jealousy but you’ll come back (1) each time you leave (2) ’cause darling I’m a nightmare dressed like a daydream.

You could point out that ‘a long list’, ‘a blank space’, ‘your name’ are also phrases because they are more than one word and there is no verb. It’s  better just to think of them as  nouns and adjectives in the Independent Clauses and focus on the extra stuff in the Dependent Clauses. 

◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊

I hope that you can see how to identify the different parts of a sentence.

♦ First, find the Independent Clause.
♦ Then, ask yourself if there are any more clauses. If there are,
♦ what kind of clauses are they? They can only be either more Independent Clauses or Dependent Clauses.
♦ The Dependent Clauses can only be Relative, Adverb, or Noun Clauses. You can often identify them by their Clause Markers.
♦ Anything else will be phrases and single words like conjunctions or one-word adverbs like ‘below’, ‘there’, ‘yesterday’.

You can find the lyrics to the song Blank Space below. The Independent Clauses are in bold, the Dependent Clauses are blue, and the Noun Clauses are underlined.

Continue reading →

Posted in Advanced (Level 6+), Cambridge, Grammar, Intermediate (Level 4), Upper Intermediate (Level 5) | Tagged | 2 Comments

How to Write a Sentence: #5 Adjectives & Adverbs

Posted on January 15, 2017 by

There are nine parts of speech in English. This means that every word in an English sentence belongs to one of the nine parts (or groups). Remember that words can often belong to more than one group; for example: verb – to demand, to guide, to order;  noun – a demand,  a guide, an order. Click on the parts of speech headings for more information.

NOUNS students, difficulty, Indonesia, happiness, music, Pedro
PRONOUNS I, me, they, them, mine, hers, everybody, these, who
ADJECTIVES difficult, easy, Indonesian, careful, extreme, my, your 
ARTICLES the, a, an
VERBS runs, is, has, wanted, (modals: can, would, might etc.)
ADVERBS easily, quickly, soon, already
CONJUNCTIONS and, but, because, while, although, after
PREPOSITIONS for, in, at, with, beside, on, below, near
INTERJECTIONS Wow! Hi!

I have listed examples for the parts of speech above. However, what you cannot see is that adjectives, and adverbs can be more than one word. They can be clauses (a group of words with a subject – usually – and a finite verb). A clause gives important  or extra information. Have a look at this sentence:

1. The beautiful tree that was damaged in the storm is gradually recovering.

You know that beautiful is an adjective, but what about damaged? It is a damaged tree, isn’t it? What do you think of the following sentence?

2. The beautiful, damaged tree is gradually recovering.

Sentence #2  uses obvious adjectives: beautiful and damaged, but sentence #1 provides more information about the tree by using an adjective clause: that was damaged in the storm. Think of the adjective clause (also called a relative clause) as just a long adjective which has a subject (the pronoun that) and a verb (was). Adjectives usually go before the noun they are modifying (describing) while adjective clauses always go after the noun they are modifying. For more information on adjective/relative clauses, click here.

The poinciana tree was damaged in the storm.

http://bdavidcathell.com

The tree is gradually recovering. http://bdavidcathell.com

Adverb clauses are just long adverbs with a subject – usually – and a finite verb. Have a look at this sentence:

1. Our poinciana tree was badly damaged in 2015 when we had a fierce storm, but it’s gradually recovering.

Can you see the adverbs in the above sentence? Remember that adverbs give information about verbs (add + verb). They tell us how, why, where, and when.

Q. How was the tree damaged? A. Badly – adverb

Q. How is the tree recovering?  A. Gradually – adverb

Q. When was the tree damaged?  A. In 2010 – adverb
                                                              A. When we had a fierce storm – adverb clause

2. The tree was damaged because we were not prepared for the storm.

Q. Why was the tree damaged?  A. Because we were not prepared for the storm – adverb clause

Adjective clauses and adverb clauses are always dependent clauses and when you use them, you are using complex sentences. For more information on complex sentences, click here.


ghandi

Adverb clause: If we want to reach real peace in this world

 

 

 

Posted in Grammar, Intermediate (Level 4), Upper Intermediate (Level 5), Writing | Tagged | Leave a comment

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Posted on January 2, 2017 by

It’s that time again! The world has welcomed in 2017 and we all have high hopes for this New Year. At least the optimists among us have high hopes. What do you hope to achieve this year? What can you do better in 2017?

Do you need a little inspiration? Hmmm? I thought you might, so I decided to share some quotes from Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)  American essayist, lecturer, poet, and an inspirational speaker long before it became fashionable.

Here are a few of my favourites. For more, click here.

♣ Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.

♣ What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you.

♣ Shallow people believe in luck. Strong people believe in cause and effect.

♣ To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.

♣ Science does not know its debt to imagination.

Many thanks to Darius Soodmand for the use of his photograph… darius.soodmand@gmail.com Site: http://www.dariussoodmand.com/

♣ Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you.

♣ You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.
 
♣ All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.

♣ Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow.
 
♣ Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.

♣ Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.

Many thanks to Kalen Emsley for the use of this photograph.
https://unsplash.com/@kalenemsley

 

♣ We aim above the mark to hit the mark.
 
♣ Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.

♣ Every artist was first an amateur.

♣ People only see what they are prepared to see. 

♣ Fear defeats more people than any other one thing in the world.
 
♣ We are wiser than we know.

♣ No one can cheat you out of ultimate success but yourself.

♣ Self-trust is the first secret to success.

♣ Speech is power: speech is to persuade, to convert, to compel.

∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗

A lot of the above quotes may sound familiar yet they were written more than one hundred years ago! There’s a saying we have in English “There’s nothing new under the sun”. People have always wanted to be successful and the formula hasn’t changed at all, has it?

I hope you have a wonderful 2017 full of fun and adventures and I wish you continued success in your English studies.

∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗

Posted in Advanced (Level 6+), Intermediate (Level 4), Pre-Intermediate (Level 3), Reading, Upper Intermediate (Level 5) | Tagged , | 2 Comments