Grammar rules 6

 6. Adjectives usually come before a noun (except when a verb separates the adjective from the noun).

• I have a big dog.
• She married a handsome Italian man.
• (Her husband is rich.)

Grammar rules 5

 5. When two singular subjects are connected by or, use a singular verb. The same is true for either/or and neither/nor.

• John or Mary is coming tonight.
• Either coffee or tea is fine.
• Neither John nor Mary was late.

The Blind Girl

 

 

There was a blind girl who hated herself purely for the fact she was blind. The only person she didn’t hate was her loving boyfriend, as he was always there for her. She said that if she could only see the world, she would marry him.

One day, someone donated a pair of eyes to her – now she could see everything, including her boyfriend. Her boyfriend asked her, “now that you can see the world, will you marry me?”

The girl was shocked when she saw that her boyfriend was blind too, and refused to marry him. Her boyfriend walked away in tears, and later wrote a letter to her saying:

“Just take care of my eyes dear.”

 

Moral of the story:

 

When our circumstances change, so does our mind. Some people may not be able to see the way things were before, and might not be able to appreciate them. 

There are many things to take away from this story, not just one.

Grammar rules 4

 4. The subject and verb must agree in number, that is a singular subject needs a singular verb and a plural subject needs a plural verb.

• John works in London.
• That monk eats once a day.
• John and Mary work in London.
• Most people eat three meals a day.

Grammar rules 3

 3. Every sentence must have a subject and a verb. An object is optional. Note that an imperative sentence may have a verb only, but the subject is understood.

• John teaches.
• John teaches English.
• Stop! (i.e. You stop!)

Thinking Out of the Box (Creative Thinking)

 

In a small Italian town, hundreds of years ago, a small business owner owed a large sum of money to a loan-shark. The loan-shark was a very old, unattractive looking guy that just so happened to fancy the business owner’s daughter.

He decided to offer the businessman a deal that would completely wipe out the debt he owed him. However, the catch was that we would only wipe out the debt if he could marry the businessman’s daughter.

Needless to say, this proposal was met with a look of disgust.

The loan-shark said that he would place two pebbles into a bag, one white and one black.

The daughter would then have to reach into the bag and pick out a pebble. If it was black, the debt would be wiped, but the loan-shark would then marry her. If it was white, the debt would also be wiped, but the daughter wouldn’t have to marry the loan-shark.

Standing on a pebble-strewn path in the businessman’s garden, the loan-shark bent over and picked up two pebbles.

Whilst he was picking them up, the daughter noticed that he’d picked up two black pebbles and placed them both into the bag.

He then asked the daughter to reach into the bag and pick one.

The daughter naturally had three choices as to what she could have done:

1. Refuse to pick a pebble from the bag.
2. Take both pebbles out of the bag and expose the loan-shark for cheating.
3. Pick a pebble from the bag fully well knowing it was black and sacrifice herself for her father’s freedom.

She drew out a pebble from the bag, and before looking at it ‘accidentally’ dropped it into the midst of the other pebbles. She said to the loan-shark;

Oh, how clumsy of me. Never mind, if you look into the bag for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked.”

The pebble left in the bag is obviously black, and seeing as the loan-shark didn’t want to be exposed, he had to play along as if the pebble the daughter dropped was white, and clear her father’s debt.

 

Moral of the story: 

It’s always possible to overcome a tough situation throughout of the box thinking, and not give in to the only options you think you have to pick from.

Grammar rules 2

 2. The order of a basic positive sentence is Subject-Verb-Object. (Negative and question sentences may have a different order.)

• John loves Mary.
• They were driving their car to Bangkok.

A pound of butter

There was a farmer who sold a pound of butter to a baker. One day the baker decided to weigh the butter to see if he was getting the right amount, which he wasn’t. Angry about this, he took the farmer to court.

The judge asked the farmer if he was using any measure to weight the butter. The farmer replied, “Honor, I am primitive. I don’t have a proper measure, but I do have a scale.”

The judge asked, “Then how do you weigh the butter?”

The farmer replied;

“Your Honor, long before the baker started buying butter from me, I have been buying a pound loaf of bread from him. Every day when the baker brings the bread, I put it on the scale and give him the same weight in butter. If anyone is to be blamed, it is the baker.”

Moral of the story:

In life, you get what you give. Don’t try and cheat others.

Grammar rules 1

 Sometimes a few rules and tips are a real help for everyone who is studying English in order to avoid mistakes in grammar. 

I hope the coming comprehensive rules during the last days of January, will help you improve knowledge.

1. A sentence starts with a capital letter and ends with a period/full stop, a question mark or an exclamation mark. 

• The fat cat sat on the mat.
• Where do you live?
• My dog is very clever!

Use it don't lose it

 

5. Use it don't lose it

Look to attach English language to everyday situations, as you are working or as you are in your house think about the situations you are in and use English to describe it. If you talk to someone on the phone for example, after the phone call think about how you would conduct that conversation in English. Pick a few phrases and key vocabulary and think about how you would use that in the phone conversation.

If you want to practise speaking you could even say the phrase aloud and pretend that you are still talking on the phone, only, you are speaking in English, although you might need to be home by yourself to do this!   

Identify at least two or three sources of English content to use regularly, these might be websites, newspapers, social media sites or books. Once you have found them, get into the habit of activating some key learning techniques. One way is to keep a notebook list of new words, write the new word down and then write an example sentence using the word or phrase. Note the form of the word - is it an adjective, a noun, an adverb or a verb? If it is a verb then write down the different forms of the verb. If you want, even translate the word into your own language.

Keep your list handy and when you have a few spare minutes open it and review your new vocabulary and make sure you use those new words whenever and as soon as you can. After all, the only way to successfully learn a foreign language is hard work and, practise, practise and practise. 

Listen to the radio

 

4. Listen to the radio

It is important to listen to different voices and the more the better. Listening to the radio is one way that you can keep your awareness of the sounds of English active and at the same time, work on your pronunciation. There are many different options for free radio both online and through shortwave. Find out what radio stations operate in your area in English and familiarise yourself with some of the programming and if you can, arrange your schedule so you can listen to a broadcast or part of a broadcast each day or week.

Pronunciation is a key part of learning a language and can be done in many different ways. Just focusing on a word and listening for syllabus stress and practising the right form yourself can be very productive. To do this you need to find the correct version of the word. and this can often be found as an audio file in most free online dictionaries.  Look for the icon that indicates 'to listen'.

Listen to the word and then imitate the sounds you hear. Again, this might be aided by using a mirror where you can watch as you make the sounds of English.

3. Turn the subtitles on

 

3. Turn the subtitles on

English movies are a great and fun way to build up your language skills and can be very useful to practise listening, pronunciation and build up your vocabulary. As well, viewing movies in English will expose you to some very natural and authentic exchanges in everyday situations. 

Where you can, turn on the English subtitles for movies and listen and follow along. Use the pause and rewind functions to pick up on any vocabulary or phrases you are not sure about or that you are interested in. If there are close ups of the actors then use the close ups as an opportunity to study how they are making different words through mouth and facial movements, then pause and practise those sounds yourself. You might even find it helpful to use a mirror and imitate the sounds and movements yourself.

Active listening is a very useful way to improve your skills, listen to what you hear and apply it. If you have the captions on, turn them off and listen to what you hear and write down what you hear. Listen, pause and then write what you hear and then rewind and come back and check your understanding. This type of dictation will help you focus on the individual sounds in and around words, as well as how words link and the different stress points in those linkages.

Keep a dictionary handy

 

2. Keep a dictionary handy

Always keep a dictionary at hand. If you have a pocket dictionary, keep it with you or if you have a smartphone, then find a dictionary website that provides access that you can keep in your bookmarks. When you come across a new word, check it in your dictionary and make a quick note of the word so you can come back to it later. 

When you have some spare time, familiarise yourself with the different styles and symbols that your dictionary will use as this will help you later when you need to quickly access definitions and meaning from the dictionary. For example, many dictionaries will use abbreviations or shortened words to explain the word or phrase in focus. Examples include:

Vb - verb

Adj - adjective

Syn - synonym

When you do look up a word in the dictionary, ensure you expand your knowledge by reading through the list of synonyms. A synonym is a word that has the same or nearly the same meaning such as 'happy', 'joyful' and 'elated'. It is a good idea to look at the list of synonyms as this can help you to attach other words that you may know to the new word that you have just learnt.

Two heads are better than one

 

1.There are many different ways that you can practise speaking and you should get into a habit where you employ at least one or two of these methods for practise each day or week.

Practise with a friend; find a partner who is also learning English and set aside a time where you both communicate in English each day or week. By phone, online, or in person, conduct your everyday conversation through English over a coffee or tea and don't worry if you need to fill in some gaps with your native language, just use as much English as you can and keep these chats regular. 

Put learning into usage; look for an opportunity to use the recent language you have learnt in conversation as soon as you have learnt it to ensure that it becomes an active part of your range. As you learn a new phrase, make sure that you keep it top of mind so that you can use it at the next opportunity. 

Learn about WORD STRESS

 

Hi there,

Wish you are doing well this Sunday afternoon. Some of few were present around here today and I do appreciate it.

The time we are living here, doesn't necessarily mean that we have to be together around.

You don't need to be in a classroom to keep improving your English language skills - there are lots of other ways.  

Here are some easy ways that you can use just about anywhere and anytime. And if you use them regularly you will be well on the way to becoming a great communicator in English. 

Enjoy a nice evening.

fm

Word Stress is golden key number One for speaking and understanding English. Word Stress is very important. You can try to learn about Word Stress. This is one of the best ways for you to understand spoken English—especially English spoken fast. What is Word Stress? Take 3 words: photograph, photographer, photographic, for example. Do they sound the same when spoken? No! They sound very different, because one syllable in each word is "stressed" (stronger than the others). PHOtograph phoTOgrapher photoGRAPHic This happens in all words with two or more syllables: TEACHer, JaPAN, CHINa, aBOVE, converSAtion, INteresting, imPORtant, deMAND, etCETera The syllables that are not stressed are "weak" or "small" or "quiet". Native speakers of English listen for the stressed syllables, not the weak syllables. If you use Word Stress in your speech, you will instantly and automatically improve your pronunciation and your comprehension. Try to hear the stress in words each time you listen to English—on the radio, or in films for example. Your first step is to hear and recognise it. After that, you can use it! For more about Word Stress—with audio files for you to listen to—please read about Word Stress on EnglishClub.

Lesson 142

5. the…the 

 

Krahasorët me the…

the mund të përdoren për të thënë që gjërat ndryshojnë së bashku ose që dy variablet/parametrat e ndryshueshëm janë në vazhdimësi të ndërvarura nga       njëra-tjetra. 

 

Rendi i fjalëve (në të dy fjalitë): 

the + shprehje krahasore + kryefjalë + folje 

 

• The older I get, the happier I am. (JO: Older I get, more I am happy.) 

• The more dangerous it is, the more I like it. (JO: The more it is dangerous…) 

• The more I study, the less I learn. 

 

More mund të përdoret së bashku me një emër në strukturën: 

• The more money he makes, the more useless things he buys. 

 

Përpara foljes së parë vendosim ndonjëherë that. 

• The more information that comes in, the more confused the picture is. 

 

Një formë e shkurtër e kësaj strukture përdoret në shprehjen The more the merrier si dhe në fjalitë që mbarojnë me the better. 

• ‘How do you like your coffee?’  ‘The stronger the better.’ 

 

Kini parasysh që në këtë strukturë theja  në fakt nuk është nyja the – ajo ka qenë fillimisht një formë e përemrit dëftor me kuptimin ‘sa/aq më shumë’.