Direct questions - yes / no questions in English.
1. He likes swimming.
2. He can swim long distances.
3. He is a good swimmer.
To make sentence 1 into a question, you need to add does. The does goes before he.
Does is only used if the subject is he, she or it - in all other cases, use do.
The verb like goes after the subject, but it doesn't have an 's' on the end.
Remember: after auxiliary verbs (like do, does, have, can, etc.) the verb is in the infinitive, without 'to'.
"Does he like swimming?" Not "Does he likes swimming?" or "Do he like swimming?"
If the sentence is in the past tense (he liked swimming), we use the past form of 'do' or 'does', which is did. The verb 'like' is still in the infinitive without 'to'.
For example, "Did he like swimming?" Not "Did he liked swimming?"
To make sentence 2 into a question, you don't need to use 'does' because you already have an auxiliary verb - can. So you put the can before he.
"Can he swim long distances?" Not "Can swim he long distances?" or "Does he can swim long distances?"
To make sentence 3 into a question, use is as the auxiliary.
"Is he a good swimmer?" Not "Does he is a good swimmer?" or "Does he be a good swimmer?"
Direct questions - "wh" questions
What is your name?
Why do you want this job?
How much do you earn?
How soon can you start?
When did you see the advertisement?
Where do you live?
Which newspaper did you see the advertisement in?
Who gave you my name?
After the "wh word" (what, why, how, when, etc) comes the auxiliary (do, does, did or can), then the subject (you) , then the rest of the question.
Note: if 'who', 'which' or 'what' are the subject of the question, you don't need an auxiliary.
For example, "What happened?" Not "What did happen?" The thing that happened is what - the subject of the question.
"Who saw you?" Someone saw you - who was it?
Compare with "Who did you see?" You saw someone - who was it?)
"Which company made a profit?" A company made a profit - which company was it?
Compare with "Which company did you work for?" You worked for a company - which one was it?
Indirect questions in English
If you want to ask a question that is quite sensitive, try using one of the indirect phrases below:
Can you tell me…
Could you tell me…
I'd be interested to hear…
I'd like to know…
Would you mind telling me…
These questions are followed by either about, a "wh word" or if. Then you add the subject, then the sentence.
You don't need an 'auxiliary', such as 'do', 'does', 'did', or 'can'.
"Can you tell me what you like most about your present job?" Not "Can you tell me what do you like?"
"I'd be interested to hear about your experiences."
"Would you mind telling me if you have applied for a similar position before?"
paltalk
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Direct and Indirect Questions in English
Frequency
Here are some ways to say how often you do something.
always
often / frequently
usually / generally
sometimes / occasionally
hardly ever / rarely
never
For example, "I always drink coffee in the morning" means I drink coffee every morning.
Be careful of the pronunciation of "rarely". The "are" part of the word is spoken like the word air. The word has two syllables - 'rare' and 'ly'.
Putting these expressions into a sentence
These words go before the main verb.
"She often goes to the beach in summer."
They go after the verb 'to be'.
"He is occasionally late for meetings."
They go after 'modal' or 'auxiliary' verbs.
"It can sometimes get cold in the UK."
"I have never been to the USA."
'From time to time' is an expression that means the same as 'sometimes'. It normally goes at the end of a sentence.
For example, "I go to restaurants from time to time."
Adjectives
Knowing what is an adjective and what is an adverb is very important in English grammar. For example, the following sentences are typical mistakes, caused by confusion over the difference between adjectives and adverbs.
"He works hardly." ("He works hard.")
"She writes good." ("He writes well.")
"It's a really problem." ("It's a real problem.")
Adjectives describe nouns.
"A good student."
"A nice day."
"He is interesting."
Adverbs describe verbs or adjectives.
"He eats well."
"She learns quickly."
"A well-known book."
"I'm really tired."
Problems
1. Some adjectives and adverbs have the same form.
"She's a fast driver." (adj)
"She drives fast." (adv)
"TOEFL is a hard exam." (adj)
"The students work hard." (adv)
"She has straight hair." (adj)
"He went straight home." (adv)
2. Not all adverbs end in -ly.
"He is a good student."
"She works well with others."
3. Some adverbs have two meanings.
Hard
"He works hard."
"I hardly know him." (barely)
Close
"She sat close to the conductor on the bus." (next to)
"I listened closely to what he said." (paying attention)
Dead
"You're dead right!" (completely right)
"This snake is deadly - watch out for it." (fatal)
Fair
"He was fairly treated by the Immigration authorities." (justly)
"It's fairly cold today." (quite)
Fine
"How do you feel? Fine." (well)
"Finely chop the tomatoes." (in small pieces)
Free
"The english-at-home.com website is free of charge." (no money needed)
"Children can play freely in this park." (no limits to their freedom)
High
"We'll need to raise prices high in order to survive." (high prices)
"I think highly of him." (a high opinion)
"He's highly paid." (very well paid)
Late
"He arrived late for the meeting." (not on time)
"There have been a few complaints lately." (recently)
Right
"She walked right up to him and demanded to see the manager." (didn't stop until she got close to him)
"He rightly thought that he was going to lose his job." (correctly thought)
Wrong
"He wrongly told her that he had been promoted." (incorrectly)
"This is spelt wrong." (incorrect)
(You can only use 'wrong' when it's after the verb.)
4. Some words that end in -ly are not adverbs, but are adjectives.
For example, lovely, friendly, silly, lonely.
"She is silly."
"She behaves in a silly way."
"Her children are lovely."
"He treated her in a lovely way."
5. Some verbs are followed by adjectives.
"You look good today!"
"This soup tastes nice."
"He seems pleasant."
"I don't feel very happy at the moment."
In these examples, you are describing the subject (such as 'the soup') rather than the verb ('tastes').
Making generalisations
English speakers often prefer to make generalisations, rather than saying something is a fact. When you make generalisations, you will sound less direct and sure of yourself and therefore more open to other people's suggestions and ideas. People will think you're friendly!
To show that something is generally true
tend to
"I tend to agree with you."
(I agree with most of what you say.)
"I tend to go to bed early in winter."
(I normally go to bed early in winter.)
have a tendency to
"The English have a tendency to drink tea, not coffee."
Note: have a tendency to is used more in written than in spoken English.
To show how common something is
Generally speaking
"Generally speaking, more men than women use the internet."
In most cases
"In most cases, wars are caused by land disputes."
In some cases
"In some cases, English beaches are unsafe for swimming."
In a large number of cases
"In a large number of cases, obesity is caused by over-eating."
Mostly, often, sometimes
(These words go before the main verb, or after the verb to be)
"We are mostly concerned with costs."
"They mostly go to the cinema at weekends."
"Eating chocolate sometimes causes migraines."
"He is sometimes difficult to work with."
"English people often complain about the weather."
Speaking Tip
Although you may find it strange to avoid saying exactly what you mean, being able to make generalisations is a speaking skill that will make you sound much more like a native English speaker.
Talking about likes and dislikes in English
There's a whole range of English expressions you can use to talk about how much you like or dislike something.
If you love something
"I love eating ice-cream."
"I adore sun-bathing."
If you like something a lot
"She's fond of chocolate."
"I like swimming very much."
If you like something
"He quite likes going to the cinema."
"I like cooking."
If you neither like nor dislike something
"I don't mind doing the housework."
If you don't like something
"She doesn't like cooking very much."
"He's not very fond of doing the gardening."
"I dislike wasting time."
If you really dislike something
"I don't like sport at all."
"He can't stand his boss."
"She can't bear cooking in a dirty kitchen."
"I hate crowded supermarkets."
"He detests being late."
"She loathes celery."
Things to remember…
Dislike is quite formal.
Fond of is normally used to talk about food or people.
The 'oa' in loathe rhymes with the 'oa' in boat.
Grammar Note
To talk about your general likes or dislikes, follow this pattern: like something or like doing something.
Common mistake
Be careful where you put very much or a lot. These words should go after the thing that you like.
For example, "I like reading very much." NOT "I like very much reading."
Giving your opinions
There are many ways to give your opinions when speaking English. The exact English expression you use depends on how strong your opinion is.
Giving your opinion neutrally
"I think…"
"I feel that…"
"In my opinion…"
"As far as I'm concerned…"
"As I see it…"
"In my view…"
"I tend to think that…"
Giving a strong opinion
"I'm absolutely convinced that…"
"I'm sure that…"
"I strongly believe that…"
"I have no doubt that…"
English expressions for asking someone's opinion
"What do you think?"
"What's your view?"
"How do you see the situation?"
Speaking Tip
Try to practise using these expressions, so that your speech sounds more varied!
English greetings
First impressions are important, so here's a guide to using the right expression.
Greetings
Two friends meeting
Friends often say "Hi" to each other. Then they often ask a general question, such as "How are you?" or "How are things?" or "How's life?"
The reply to this question is normally positive.
"Fine thanks, and you?"
"Fine thanks, what about yourself?"
"Not bad." Or "Can't complain."
Greeting people you don't know
You can use "Hello" with people you don't know, but a more formal greeting is "Good morning / afternoon / evening."
The other person normally replies with the same greeting as you have used and then makes polite conversation, such as "How was your trip?" or "Did you find our office easily?"
Introducing yourself
At an informal party
"Hello, I'm Maria." Or "Hello, my name's Maria."
The reply could be:
"Hi, I'm Sarah." Or "Hello Maria, I'm Sarah." Or "Nice to meet you, I'm Sarah."
At work-related events
"I'd like to introduce myself. I'm Maria, from english@home."
Or, "Let me introduce myself. I'm Maria from english@home."
The reply could be:
"Nice to meet you. I'm Peter Mitchell, from Mitchell Creations."
"Pleased to meet you. I'm Peter Mitchell, from Mitchell Creations."
"How do you do? I'm Peter Mitchell from Mitchell Creations."
Introducing other people
Introducing a friend to a work colleague
"Sarah, have you met my colleague John?"
"Sarah, I'd like you to meet my colleague John."
Sarah says:
"Pleased to meet you, John." Or "Nice to meet you, John."
John could say:
"Nice to meet you too, Sarah." Or "Hello, Sarah."
Introducing clients
"Mr Mitchell, I'd like to introduce you to my manager, Henry Lewis."
Mr Mitchell could then say:
"How do you do?" and Henry Lewis also says "How do you do?"
Or Mr Mitchell could say:
"Pleased to meet you." Or "Good to meet you."
Speaking Tip
"How do you do?" is quite formal for British English speakers and the reply to this question is to repeat the phrase, "How do you do?" (as strange as that may sound!)
At a more informal party
When you introduce two of your friends to each other, you can simply say, "John, this is Sarah."
Cultural considerations
At work, one person may have higher status - your boss, or a client, for example. It's polite to address them as Mr / Ms until the situation becomes more informal.
If someone says, "Please call me (Henry)", you know you can use first names. If someone uses your first name, you can use their first name too.
People in European and English-speaking cultures often shake hands when they meet someone for the first time.
* Don't forget to smile! :-)
How to talk about illness
Sometimes you don't feel very well, but you're not really ill. Here are some common expressions that you can use to describe general "aches and pains" and some useful "sympathetic" responses.
General aches and pains
"I feel a bit under the weather."
"I'm not feeling very well."
"I think I'm going down with a cold. I've got a sore throat."
"I've got a slight headache." (Or toothache / stomach ache / backache) Pronounced "ake" as in "cake".
"I'm not sleeping very well at the moment."
"I feel a little faint."
"I've got a nagging pain in my shoulder." (nagging = a pain that won't go away)
"I've got a splitting headache - I hope it's not a migraine."
Sympathetic responses
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"You don't look very well."
"You look a little pale."
"Maybe you're going down with something. There's a bug going around."
"Maybe you should go home and get some rest."
"Why don't you go home and have a lie-down."
Mild illness
"I have a bit of a stomach bug."
"I think I've got a bit of a temperature."
"I have a touch of flu." (Flu = influenza)
"I've got a nasty cough." (pronounced "coff")
Talking idioms
These idioms will help you describe talking and communication.
Talk
talk nineteen to the dozen = talk fast: "She was so excited that she was talking nineteen to the dozen."
talk the hind legs off a donkey = talk without stopping: "She can talk the hind legs off a donkey!"
talk something through / over = to discuss something: "Before we decide anything, I think we ought to talk it through."
talk something up = to make something appear more important: "She really talked the idea up, but I don't think that everyone was convinced."
talk someone into doing = to persuade someone: "He talked her into buying a new car."
talk someone through something = give step-by-step instructions: "She talked him through the procedure."
talk down to = talk in a condescending way: "Don't talk down to me! I understand you perfectly well."
talk back = respond to someone in authority in a rude way: "Don't talk back to your mother!"
This is similar to back chat: "I don't want any back chat from you!"
talk under your breath = talk quietly so that nobody can hear you: "They talked under their breath in the meeting."
talk rubbish = not to speak logically: "He talks complete rubbish sometimes!"
Also talk through your arse (British slang and quite rude): "You're talking through your arse again. You know nothing about it!"
talk at cross purposes = when two people don't understand each other because they are talking about two different things (but don't realise it): "We're talking at cross purposes here."
talk / speak with a plum in your mouth = talk with a posh (=upper class) accent: "She talks with a plum in her mouth!"
talk around the subject = not get to the point: "He didn't want to say they were in danger of losing their jobs, so he talked around the subject for half an hour."
talk highly of someone = praise someone: "He talks very highly of you!"
to give someone a talking-to = when you talk to someone because you are angry with them: "His boss gave him a real talking-to yesterday!"
talk to yourself = to speak to yourself, maybe because you are concentrating on something: "Are you talking to yourself again?"
to be like talking to a brick wall = to not have any effect on someone: "Sometimes talking to him is like talking to a brick wall!"
talk your way out of something = get out of a difficult situation by giving a clever explanation: "Whew! I think I managed to talk our way out of that one!"
straight talking = honest words: "I want some straight talking around here!"
talk shop = talk about work in a social situation: "Whenever I go out with my colleagues, we always end up talking shop."
Chat
to chat someone up = to talk to someone because you are attracted to them: "He went to a party and chatted up every woman."
a chatterbox = someone who talks a lot, but not saying anything important: "She's a bit of a chatterbox at work."
chit-chat = social conversation about unimportant subjects: "Enough of the chit-chat! I have to get on with some work."
Word
to have a word with someone = to talk to someone about something you are not happy with: "I'm going to have a word with him about his kids' behaviour."
to not have a good word to say about someone = to always criticise: "She never has a good word to say about the Browns."
a word in your ear = something you say before you give some advice or a warning: "A word in your ear - the company are monitoring internet use."
to not mince your words = say something directly, without trying to be diplomatic: "She doesn't mince her words!"
to have words = to have an argument: "They've had words and now they're not speaking."
to get a word in edgeways = to try to contribute to a conversation: "They were talking so fast it was impossible to get a word in edgeways!"
Party idioms
People who love parties
The life and soul of the party = the person who's at the centre of all parties!
She's the life and soul of the party.
let your hair down = forget all your inhibitions: "Go on! Let your hair down for once and have a good time."
have a whale of a time = have a great time: "We had a whale of a time at Sonia's birthday."
paint the town red = have a wild time: "They painted the town red all weekend."
a party animal = a person who loves going to parties: "John is a real party animal. He's never at home."
a wild child = a young adult who goes to lots of parties: "Emma is a bit of a wild child."
large it up (UK slang) = have a good time: "She larges it up at the weekend."
a social butterfly = a person with lots of friends and acquaintances: She's a bit of a social butterfly."
be a laugh = be good company: "Eric's a bit of a laugh."
throw a party = have a party: "We're throwing a party next Saturday."
People who hate parties
party-pooper = someone who doesn't like parties: "Don't be such a party-pooper!"
a wet blanket = someone who doesn't want to have fun: "He's such a wet blanket."
Billy no-mates (UK slang) = a man with no friends: "He doesn't want to go alone to the restaurant and look like Billy no-mates."
Norma no-mates (UK slang) = a woman with no friends: "She doesn't want to look like Norma no-mates."
pour cold water on = someone who turns the atmosphere cold: "So then he had to go and pour cold water on everything by refusing to sing Happy Birthday."
a wallflower = someone who stands on his own at parties: "Who's the wallflower over there?"
piss on someone's fireworks (UK slang) = ruin the happy mood: "Don't go and piss on his fireworks by turning down the music. Let him have some fun."
find someone in the kitchen at parties = refer to someone who doesn't like mixing socially: "You'll always find Kevin in the kitchen at parties."
Dancing
a slow dance = a slow, romantic dance: "She had a slow dance with Tony."
burn up the dance floor = dance a lot: "They like burning up the dance floor."
dance the night away = dance all night long: "Those two danced the night away."
dance cheek to cheek = dance very close to someone: "Everyone was looking at them dance cheek to cheek."
have a boogie = have a dance: "Fancy a boogie?"
put on your dancing shoes = get ready for dancing: "Come on Sarah! Put on your dancing shoes - we're going clubbing tonight!"
strut your stuff = enjoy dancing: "Look at him strut his stuff. Who does he think he is? John Travolta?"
Party idioms
People who love parties
The life and soul of the party = the person who's at the centre of all parties!
She's the life and soul of the party.
let your hair down = forget all your inhibitions: "Go on! Let your hair down for once and have a good time."
have a whale of a time = have a great time: "We had a whale of a time at Sonia's birthday."
paint the town red = have a wild time: "They painted the town red all weekend."
a party animal = a person who loves going to parties: "John is a real party animal. He's never at home."
a wild child = a young adult who goes to lots of parties: "Emma is a bit of a wild child."
large it up (UK slang) = have a good time: "She larges it up at the weekend."
a social butterfly = a person with lots of friends and acquaintances: She's a bit of a social butterfly."
be a laugh = be good company: "Eric's a bit of a laugh."
throw a party = have a party: "We're throwing a party next Saturday."
People who hate parties
party-pooper = someone who doesn't like parties: "Don't be such a party-pooper!"
a wet blanket = someone who doesn't want to have fun: "He's such a wet blanket."
Billy no-mates (UK slang) = a man with no friends: "He doesn't want to go alone to the restaurant and look like Billy no-mates."
Norma no-mates (UK slang) = a woman with no friends: "She doesn't want to look like Norma no-mates."
pour cold water on = someone who turns the atmosphere cold: "So then he had to go and pour cold water on everything by refusing to sing Happy Birthday."
a wallflower = someone who stands on his own at parties: "Who's the wallflower over there?"
piss on someone's fireworks (UK slang) = ruin the happy mood: "Don't go and piss on his fireworks by turning down the music. Let him have some fun."
find someone in the kitchen at parties = refer to someone who doesn't like mixing socially: "You'll always find Kevin in the kitchen at parties."
Dancing
a slow dance = a slow, romantic dance: "She had a slow dance with Tony."
burn up the dance floor = dance a lot: "They like burning up the dance floor."
dance the night away = dance all night long: "Those two danced the night away."
dance cheek to cheek = dance very close to someone: "Everyone was looking at them dance cheek to cheek."
have a boogie = have a dance: "Fancy a boogie?"
put on your dancing shoes = get ready for dancing: "Come on Sarah! Put on your dancing shoes - we're going clubbing tonight!"
strut your stuff = enjoy dancing: "Look at him strut his stuff. Who does he think he is? John Travolta?"
How to keep the conversation going
What can you say when you want to encourage people to keep talking to you?
Try making a comment or asking a question - it shows the other person you're interested in what they are saying.
Here are some examples of what you can say:
Making comments
"No!" - to show surprise.
"I don't believe it!" - to show surprise.
"Wow!" - to show admiration or surprise.
"That's incredible / amazing / unbelievable" - to show great interest in the subject of conversation.
"How awful / terrible" - to show sympathy with someone else's bad news.
Asking questions
"Really?" - to show surprise.
"And you?" - when someone asks you how you are.
"Did you?" - can be used to encourage someone to tell their story.
For example, "I saw her last night", "Did you?" "Yes, she was with one of her friends, and she…."
English Reading: The economic crisis
In the USA, both General Motors and Chrysler have begun to offer layoff packages to their workforces.
The automobile manufacturers have been hard hit in the recent economic downturn and have been forced to seek federal aid from the U.S. government. Reports say that GM's package includes a $20,000 cash payment and a $25,000 new vehicle voucher. Chrysler will offer a $25,000 vehicle voucher and $50,000 with healthcare and $75,000 without.
The two companies have received $13.4 billion in federal loans to keep them operating, but Congress required them to produce viability plans to demonstrate they were making significant cost cuts and labor concessions in return for the money. UAW workers in Detroit earn $28 an hour; their replacements will earn about half that. The UAW's "jobs bank", a system where workers without duties are still paid, has stopped at both companies.
The entire motor manufacturing sector has suffered under the economic downturn, with the Ford Motor Company announcing a $14.6 billion annual loss, although it has not sought federal aid. GM and Chrysler both ran out of operating funds in December, leading to the federal bailout.
Improving your English vocabulary
Having a great English vocabulary doesn't just mean that you can understand lots of words and phrases: it also means that you can use these words and phrases and that you can remember them when you need them.
This is the difference between an active and a passive vocabulary. Generally, most people's passive vocabulary is far bigger than their active vocabulary, and the secret is to try and "activate" passive knowledge.
There are a number of ways that you can activate your passive vocabulary in English, ranging from simple five-minute activities to longer periods of study. Most activities work best if a) you have a good English dictionary, and b) you keep a vocabulary notebook.
Good English dictionaries
A good English dictionary should be up-to-date (no more than five years old!) and should be easy to understand. Make sure that the definitions are written in clear English. Pictures also help you to understand some words. I strongly recommend the Longman range of dictionaries, as there is good coverage of spoken and written English, British and American English, as well as clear example sentences.
Vocabulary notebooks
When you come across a new English word or phrase, make a note of it! Look up the meaning in the dictionary, making sure you are aware of any grammatical information. (For instance, if you are looking up a verb, check to see if the verb can be used in a passive form, if it is followed by any particular preposition, and so on.) Check also for the pronunciation and use of a word. Is it particularly formal or informal, or used in certain word partnerships? For example, we say "do housework", but "make an effort".
When you find a new word, check to see if you can use it in other ways. English is a flexible language - nouns, verbs and adjectives often share the same stem. For example, a house, to house, housing policy, and so on.
When you write down your new word in your notebook, try to include an example sentence in English.
Some people find it helpful to organise notebooks into themes. So rather than having a list of words without any obvious connection, you divide your notebook into themes, with one page containing words to do with the house, another page with words to do with jobs, and so on.
Quick English vocabulary booster activities
1. An English word a day
Choose a new word or phrase from your notebook and try to use it as often as possible in one day. Think of situations where you would need to use it, and write down a couple of example sentences. Go back to this word or phrase after a week, to make sure you still remember it.
Some people find index cards useful. You can write down the word on the card and carry it around with you for a day, taking it out of your pocket whenever you have a moment and trying to put it into a sentence.
2. Review
The next time you have a spare couple of minutes, flick through your notebook. You'll be surprised how much comes back to you! Choose a page where you have already stored a number of words and expressions, cover the page, and try to remember what you wrote. Then look at the page and see how many you remember.
3. One word at a time
When you read a page of a book or newspaper, decide you will only look up one word in a dictionary. When you write it down in your notebook, also make a note of any synonyms (words that mean the same) or the opposite of the new word.
4. English word building
Take a prefix (such as "en", or "pre") and make a list of all the words that can follow. (For example, encircle, enclose, enlist; prenatal, premature, pre-war.) Here are some more prefixes you can use:
dis, il, im, ir, pro, anti, de, un, con, re
Longer English vocabulary learning activities
1. Read
Read something that interests you. It could be a newspaper, a novel, a magazine, or even an English "graded reader" (a simplified book). Working page by page, underline the words or phrases that you don't know. Look up only those that are important for understanding, or which are repeated. Use a good dictionary, and make a note in your English vocabulary notebook.
2. Blitz
Focus on a theme, such as sport. Divide one page of your notebook into three columns. In the first column write down as many sports as you can think of. In the second, write down all the equipment you need for the sport. In the third, write down the scoring systems. You might end up with something that looks like this:
tennis racquet, ball, net umpire, love, linesman
football pitch, ball, goal posts referee, offside, penalty
You can use this method for many different themes: houses (rooms of house, furniture, styles); jobs (names of jobs, places where these jobs are done, characteristics of the job) and so on.
3. Word association
Write a key word in the middle of a page and draw a bubble around it. Then draw lines out from this word connected to smaller bubbles. In the smaller bubbles you can add words associated with the main word.
For example, you could write "email" in the middle of a page. Then the smaller bubbles could contain words such as "write", "compose", "receive", "delete", "reply" and so on.
English relative clauses
There are two types of relative clauses in English: those that add extra information (non-defining relative clauses) and those that modify (or define) the subject of the sentence (defining relative clauses).
Defining clauses
These clauses define the noun and they identify which thing or person we are referring to.
Things
"The present which he bought me is beautiful."
People
"The man who has started an English course is from Spain."
Using whom
Whom is used to refer to the object of the verb.
The people with whom I was sitting were very noisy.
However, it is hardly ever used in spoken English. Instead, "who" is used with the preposition:
The people who I was sitting with were very noisy.
To whom are you speaking? = Who are you speaking to?
For whom are you buying the present? + Who are you buying the present for?
Using that
In spoken English, "that" is often used instead of "which", "whom"or "who".
"The present that he bought me is beautiful."
"The man that has started an English course is from Spain."
When, where and whose
When: Is there another time when (that) I can call you?
Where: Can you tell me where I can buy wrapping paper?
Whose: (possessive) Have you seen the TV show whose catchphrase is "Deal no deal?"
Omitting that, who and which
If the pronoun ("that", "who", "which") is the object of the verb, it can be omitted.
"The company that she works for is based in London." ("That"is an object pronoun.)
= "The company she works for is based in London." ("That"can be omitted.)
But:
"The company that employs her is based in London." ("That" is a subject pronoun.)
The company employs her (the company is the subject). In this case, it is not possible to omit "that". You need the pronoun because it is the subject of the verb.
Non-defining relative clauses
These clauses add further information.
"My students, who are all adults, are learning English to get a better job."
"The textbooks, which the students like, have lots of helpful examples."
Commas are used to separate the relative clause from the rest of the sentence.
"That" cannot be used instead of "who"or "which" in non-defining relative clauses.
You can use "some", "none", "all" and "many" with "of which" and "of whom" to add extra information:
My students, many of whom are from Europe, are learning English to get a better job.
The textbooks, some of which the students like, have helpful examples.
Comparing defining and non-defining relative clauses
The meaning of the sentences changes if you use a non-defining clause rather than a defining clause. Compare the following:
Non-defining
The students, who had revised hard, passed the exam. (All the students revised and they all passed the exam.
Defining
The students who had revised hard passed the exam. (Only some of the students revised, and these were the ones who passed the exam.)
How to use gerunds
In English, the ing form, for example swimming or smoking, is both a noun and a verb. You can follow it by an object, smoking cigarettes, by a verb, swimming is good, or you can make it the object of a sentence, I like swimming.
After verbs
You use the ing form after some verbs such as enjoy, admit, appreciate, can't stand / help / bear, deny, avoid, mind, understand.
For example, "I can't stand doing nothing", or "she denied breaking the copier".
With 'from' and 'to' with some verbs
Prevent / stop someone from doing: "He prevented her from leaving."
Look forward to doing: "We look forward to hearing from you soon."
Object to doing: "Does anyone object to me smoking?"
Get used to doing: "It took him a long time to get used to living in a city."
Prefer something to doing something else: "I prefer cooking to doing the dishes."
After prepositions
"Before going out he turned off the heating."
"I'm tired of arguing."
"These are used for cracking walnuts."
"I passed the exam by remembering the equations."
In some fixed expressions
"As well as doing…"
"It's no good doing…"
"It's no use doing…"
Some verbs can use either the 'to do' or the 'ing' form
See / hear / watch someone do / doing
With the verb form do, you see or hear the whole action. For example,"I heard him tell you about the letter."
With the verb form ing you only see or hear part of the action. For example, "I saw her drinking a coffee in the bar."
Remember / regret
If you use ing after these verbs, you are talking about something that happened before. "I remember coming here as a child" - I'm not a child any more, but I remember the times when I came here before.
"I regret not studying." (I didn't study in the past and I regret it now.)
If you use the to do form after these verbs, then you are referring to something in the future.
"Please remember to turn off the lights." (Please don't forget to do it later.)
"I regret to inform you that…" (I'm just about to tell you some bad news.)
Stop
"I want to stop smoking." (I want to break my habit.)
"She stopped to sit down." (She stopped walking so that she could sit down.)
Try
Try + ing = try out this experiment.
Try reading something in English every day." (You may be surprised at the results!)
Try to do = try hard to do something.
"Please try to be quiet when you come in." (Please make an effort.)
"make" and "let"
In English, the verbs "make" and "let" are followed by an object and the infinitive without "to":
They can't make you work late.
She made him do the exercise again.
She lets the students sing in class.
His parents let him paint his room black.
Be careful: in the passive, "make" is followed by the infinitive with "to":
They were made to do the exercise again.
"Have" can also be used in this pattern:
Please have your secretary call me as soon as possible.
(Please ask your secretary to call me…)
Other English verbs not followed by the infinitive + to
Modal verbs (can, will, would, etc) are followed by the infinitive without "to":
I can see him clearly.
They will leave early tomorrow.
If I were you, I would talk to her.
(Click here for more information on modals.)
See / hear / watch someone followed by the infinitive without "to":
She saw the girl steal the money. (She saw all the action of stealing.)
I heard him tell her about the party." (I heard all about the party.)
I watched them do the exercise. (I watched them complete the exercise.)
But remember:
If you follow these verbs with the gerund form (ing), you only see part of the action.
She saw him talking to the teacher. (She didn't see the whole conversation.)
Talking about the weather
It's true! British people often start a conversation with strangers and friends by talking about the weather. As weather is a neutral topic of conversation, it's usually safe to use it to strike up a conversation - at the bus stop, in a shop, or with a neighbour over the garden fence.
Some examples of conversation starters
"Lovely day, isn't it!"
"Bit nippy today."
"What strange weather we're having!"
"It doesn't look like it's going to stop raining today."
Attitude to weather
Although British people like to complain about bad weather, they generally put a brave face on it.
If someone complains about too much rain, you might hear:
"Never mind - it's good for the garden."
If someone complains that it's too hot, you could hear:
"At least my tomatoes will be happy."
If the conversation has been about general bad weather, perhaps someone will say:
"Well, I've heard it's worse in the west. They've had terrible flooding."
Predicting the weather
We can make predictions about the weather, using a range of forms - not just the "will" or "going to" form:
"I think it'll clear up later."
"It's going to rain by the looks of it."
"We're in for frost tonight."
"They're expecting snow in the north."
"I hear that showers are coming our way."
Human attributes
We also attribute human features to the weather, almost as if the weather can decide what to do:
"The sun's trying to come out."
"It's been trying to rain all morning."
"It's finally decided to rain."
Understanding the forecast
Many British people are keen gardeners, and they keep a close eye on the weather forecast. Here are some of the weather features which can worry gardeners:
a hard frost
blizzard / galeforce conditions
hailstones
prolonged rain
blustery wind
a drought
Here are some more temperate conditions which gardeners like:
mild weather
sunny spells
light drizzle
Tell a story
A useful skill in English is to be able to tell a story or an anecdote. Anecdotes are short stories about something that happened to you or to someone you know.
How to start
Traditional stories often start with the phrase "Once upon a time". However, if you are going to tell your story after someone else has already spoken, you can say something like:
That reminds me!
Funny you should say that. Did I ever tell you about…
Hearing your story reminds me of when…
Something similar happened to me….
How to tell your story
First of all, your story should be quite short. Try to keep it grammatically simple as well, so that it is easy to follow.
Make it easy for the listener to understand by using sequencing and linking words:
Sequencing words
These words show the chronological sequence of events.
First of all, I (packed my suitcase)
Secondly, I …. (made sure I had all my documents)
Previously (before that) ….. I changed some money.
Then… I (called a taxi for the airport)
Later (on)… (when we were stuck in traffic, I realised…)
But before al that… (I had double checked my reservation)
Finally… (I arrived at the wrong check-in desk at the wrong airport for a flight that didn't go until the next day)
Linking words
Use these words to link your ideas for the listener. Linking words can be used to show reason, result, contrasting information, additional information, and to summarise.
I booked a flight because….
As a result, I was late…
Although I had a reservation, I hadn't checked the airport name.
I made sure I had an up-to-date passport and I also took along my driving licence.
In short, I had made a complete mess of the holiday.
Tenses
We can use a variety of tenses to tell stories and anecdotes. Jokes are often in the present tense:
A man walks into a bar and orders a beer.
We also use the present tense to give a dramatic narrative effect:
The year is 1066. In medieval England people are worried that the king, Harold, is not strong enough to fight off a Norman invasion.
However, we generally use past forms to talk about past events. If you tell your story in chronological order, you can use the past simple:
I double checked my reservation. I packed my suitcase, and then I called a taxi.
Use the past continuous to describe activities in progress at the time of your story, or to describe the background.
The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day. We were driving along the motorway quite steadily until we suddenly saw in front of us the warning lights to slow down. We were heading towards a huge tailback.
Sometimes, you might want to avoid telling your story as one chronological event after the other. You can use the past perfect (simple and continuous) to add more interest to your story by talking about events that happened before the events in your story:
I double checked my reservation, which I had made three days previously.
I wanted to visit some friends who had been living in France for the last five years.
Vocabulary
Try to use a wide range of words to make your story more interesting. Remember that you can "exaggerate" when you tell a story, so instead of using words like "nice" or "bad", experiment with more interesting words, such as "beautiful", "fabulous", "wonderful", "horrible", "awful" or "terrible".
Finally - remember that you are telling a story - not giving a lecture. Look at the people listening, and try to "involve" them in the story or anecdote. Keep eye contact, use the right intonation and try to make your face expressive. You might also want to try practising a few anecdotes in the mirror before "going live". Have fun!
improve your English pronunciation.
Here are some tips to help you improve your English pronunciation.
First of all, don't worry about not having a native-English accent. It's important to be able to speak clearly, so that people can understand you. However, it's almost impossible to sound exactly like a native English speaker if you are learning English as an adult in a non-English speaking country.
However, there are many things that you can do to improve your pronunciation and your speaking skills.
1. Listen to spoken English as often as possible.
Listen to how speakers pronounce various words and phrases and "model" your pronunciation on what you hear.
2. Learn the phonetic alphabet.
Use the phonetic alphabet page (at the beginning of most good dictionaries) as a guide to pronouncing new words.
3. Don't forget to learn the word stress of a new word.
Every English word has its own stress, or intonation. For example, the word "believe" has two syllables (be and lieve), but only the second syllable is stressed. We say be'lieve and not 'be lieve. Your dictionary will show the syllable stress by an apostrophe (') before the syllable to be stressed.
Word stress is important. In fact, it is more likely that someone misunderstands you because of wrong word stress than because of the wrong pronunciation of a sound.
4. Work out which sounds cause you most problems in English.
Depending on what your first language is, you may have problems with certain sounds. For example, French speakers have difficulties with "th"; speakers of Mandarin have difficulties with "r" or "l", and Arabic speakers have difficulties with "p" and "b".
5. Practise the sounds you find difficult.
A useful exercise is a "minimal pair" exercise. For example, if you have difficulty distinguishing between "p" and "b", try practising pairs of words which are the same except for the sound "p" and "b":
For example, "pair" and "bear"; "pond" and "bond"; "pie" and "buy" etc.
6. Be aware of intonation and sentence stress.
Not all words in a sentence have equal stress, and generally only the "information" words (nouns and verbs) are stressed.
'Where's the 'pen I 'gave you?
'Where's the 'red 'pen I 'gave you?
Where's the 'red and 'blue 'pen I 'gave you 'yesterday?
The unstressed words (such as "the", "I", "you" and "and") don't carry as much "weight" as the stressed words. They become much smaller in length, and are almost abbreviated. For example, "and" becomes "un".
Changing stress
Sentence stress isn't "fixed" like word stress. In fact, you can stress words that are normally unstressed in order to highlight different meanings.
For example:
I 'love you. (Love, rather than just like.)
'I love you. (With the stress on I to highlight that it's me rather than another person who loves you.)
I love 'you. (And nobody else.)
Intonation
There are a couple of easy to remember rules about intonation. Usually our voices go up at the end of the sentence to show a question, and down at the end to show a statement.
Intonation is also important in "tag questions":
You know him, don't you? (With rising intonation on "don't you?" to show it's a question)
You know him, don't you. (With falling intonation on "don't you" to show it's a statement you expect the other person to agree with.)
7. Learn to recognise spelling patterns.
For example, "tion" on the end of a word is pronounced "shun", while "sion" can be pronounced "zhun". There are often many ways to pronounce a particular spelling pattern, but it certainly helps to know what the variations are. For example, the pattern "ough" can be pronounced "uff" as in "enough" and "tough", or "or" as in "ought" and "bought" or "oh" as in "although" and "dough".
8. Don't rush.
If you speak too fast, the danger is that you could skip over some words, fail to pronounce them completely, or mix them up. If you speak too slowly, you might end up sounding unnatural. But it's better to speak slowly and clearly than too quickly
Saying dates and numbers in English
Remember to use ordinal numbers for dates.
(The first, the second, the third, the fourth, the fifth, the twenty-second, the thirty-first etc.)
Years
For years up until 2000, separate the four numbers into two pairs of two:
1965 = nineteen sixty-five
1871 = eighteen seventy-one
1999 = nineteen ninety-nine
For this decade, you need to say “two thousand and —-” in British English:
2001 = two thousand and one
2009 = two thousand and nine
Large numbers
Divide the number into units of hundreds and thousands:
400,000 = four hundred thousand (no s plural)
If the number includes a smaller number, use “and” in British English:
450,000 = four hundred and fifty thousand
400,360 = four hundred thousand and three hundred and sixty
Fractions, ratios and percentages
½ = one half
1/3 = one third
¼ = one quarter
1/5 = one fifth
1/ 6 = one sixth etc
3/5 = three fifths
1.5% = one point five percent
0.3% = nought / zero point three percent
2:1 = two to one
Saying 0
Depending on the context, we can pronounce zero in different ways:
2-0 (football) = Two nil
30 - 0 (tennis) = Thirty love
604 7721 (phone number) = six oh four…
0.4 (a number) = nought point four / zero point four
0C (temperature) = zero degrees
Talking about calculations
+ (plus)
2 + 1 = 3 (two plus one equals three)
- (minus / take away)
5 – 3 = 2 (five minus three equals two / five take away three equals two)
x (multiplied by / times)
2 x 3 = 6 (two multiplied by three equals six / two times three equals six)
/ (divided by)
6 / 3 = 2 (six divided by three equals two)
English Joke - Factory Workers
The woman says, "I can make the boss give me the day off."
The man replies, "And how would you do that?"
The woman says, "Just wait and see." She then hangs upside-down from the ceiling.
The boss comes in and says, "What are you doing?"
The woman replies, "I'm a light bulb."
The boss then says, "You've been working so much that you've gone crazy. I think you need to take the day off."
The man starts to follow her and the boss says, "Where are you going?"
The man says, "I'm going home, too. I can't work in the dark."
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