7 dic 2010

WELCOME!!

WELCOME TO THIS BLOG TO LEARN BASIC ENGLISH.


THE REASON FOR WHICH IT WAS CREATED IS TO SHARE A LITTLE OF WHAT WE LEARNED DURING THIS SEMESTER.
THIS BLOGGER ATTEMPT TO EXPLAIN SOME DEFINITIONS, EXERCISES AND VIDEOS, WHICH ARE ESSENTIAL IN LEARNING ENGLISH, SPECIFICALLY IN THE CORE.
                                                             
 THE TOPICS INCLUDES IT ARE EXPLAINED IN A SIMPLE WAY DUE TO THIS LEVEL COURSES, AND ALTHOUGH IT SEEMS SIMPLE OR UNIMPORTANT ARE THE BASE FOR LEARNING THIS LANGUAGE.

PRESENT PERFECT

FORM

[has/have + past participle]
Examples:
  • You have seen that movie many times.
  • Have you seen that movie many times?
  • You have not seen that movie many times.

USE 1 Unspecified Time Before Now


We use the Present Perfect to say that an action happened at an unspecified time before now. The exact time is not important. You CANNOT use the Present Perfect with specific time expressions such as: yesterday, one year ago, last week, when I was a child, when I lived in Japan, at that moment, that day, one day, etc. We CAN use the Present Perfect with unspecific expressions such as: ever, never, once, many times, several times, before, so far, already, yet, etc.
Examples:
  • I have seen that movie twenty times.
  • I think I have met him once before.
  • There have been many earthquakes in California.
  • People have traveled to the Moon.
  • People have not traveled to Mars.
  • Have you read the book yet?
  • Nobody has ever climbed that mountain.
  • A: Has there ever been a war in the United States?
    B: Yes, there has been a war in the United States.

How Do You Actually Use the Present Perfect?

The concept of "unspecified time" can be very confusing to English learners. It is best to associate Present Perfect with the following topics:

TOPIC 1 Experience

You can use the Present Perfect to describe your experience. It is like saying, "I have the experience of..." You can also use this tense to say that you have never had a certain experience. The Present Perfect is NOT used to describe a specific event.
Examples:
  • I have been to France.
    This sentence means that you have had the experience of being in France. Maybe you have been there once, or several times.
  • I have been to France three times.
    You can add the number of times at the end of the sentence.
  • I have never been to France.
    This sentence means that you have not had the experience of going to France.
  • I think I have seen that movie before.
  • He has never traveled by train.
  • Joan has studied two foreign languages.
  • A: Have you ever met him?
    B: No, I have not met him.

TOPIC 2 Change Over Time

We often use the Present Perfect to talk about change that has happened over a period of time.
Examples:
  • You have grown since the last time I saw you.
  • The government has become more interested in arts education.
  • Japanese has become one of the most popular courses at the university since the Asian studies program was established.
  • My English has really improved since I moved to Australia.

TOPIC 3 Accomplishments

We often use the Present Perfect to list the accomplishments of individuals and humanity. You cannot mention a specific time.
Examples:
  • Man has walked on the Moon.
  • Our son has learned how to read.
  • Doctors have cured many deadly diseases.
  • Scientists have split the atom.

TOPIC 4 An Uncompleted Action You Are Expecting

We often use the Present Perfect to say that an action which we expected has not happened. Using the Present Perfect suggests that we are still waiting for the action to happen.
Examples:
  • James has not finished his homework yet.
  • Susan hasn't mastered Japanese, but she can communicate.
  • Bill has still not arrived.
  • The rain hasn't stopped.

TOPIC 5 Multiple Actions at Different Times

We also use the Present Perfect to talk about several different actions which have occurred in the past at different times. Present Perfect suggests the process is not complete and more actions are possible.
Examples:
  • The army has attacked that city five times.
  • I have had four quizzes and five tests so far this semester.
  • We have had many major problems while working on this project.
  • She has talked to several specialists about her problem, but nobody knows why she is sick.

Time Expressions with Present Perfect

When we use the Present Perfect it means that something has happened at some point in our lives before now. Remember, the exact time the action happened is not important.

Sometimes, we want to limit the time we are looking in for an experience. We can do this with expressions such as: in the last week, in the last year, this week, this month, so far, up to now, etc.

Examples:
  • Have you been to Mexico in the last year?
  • I have seen that movie six times in the last month.
  • They have had three tests in the last week.
  • She graduated from university less than three years ago. She has worked for three different companies so far.
  • My car has broken down three times this week.

NOTICE

"Last year" and "in the last year" are very different in meaning. "Last year" means the year before now, and it is considered a specific time which requires Simple Past. "In the last year" means from 365 days ago until now. It is not considered a specific time, so it requires Present Perfect.
Examples:
  • I went to Mexico last year.
    I went to Mexico in the calendar year before this one.
  • I have been to Mexico in the last year.
    I have been to Mexico at least once at some point between 365 days ago and now.

USE 2 Duration From the Past Until Now (Non-Continuous Verbs)


With Non-Continuous Verbs and non-continuous uses of Mixed Verbs, we use the Present Perfect to show that something started in the past and has continued up until now. "For five minutes," "for two weeks," and "since Tuesday" are all durations which can be used with the Present Perfect.
Examples:
  • I have had a cold for two weeks.
  • She has been in England for six months.
  • Mary has loved chocolate since she was a little girl.
Although the above use of Present Perfect is normally limited to Non-Continuous Verbs and non-continuous uses of Mixed Verbs, the words "live," "work," "teach," and "study" are sometimes used in this way even though they are NOT Non-Continuous Verbs.

ADVERB PLACEMENT

The examples below show the placement for grammar adverbs such as: always, only, never, ever, still, just, etc.
Examples:
  • You have only seen that movie one time.
  • Have you only seen that movie one time?
exercises:
http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/verbs5.htm
http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/verbs6.htm

PAST SIMPLE

STRUCTURE 

[VERB+ed] or irregular verbs
Examples:
  • You called Debbie.
  • Did you call Debbie?
  • You did not call Debbie.

 Completed Action in the Past


Use the Simple Past to express the idea that an action started and finished at a specific time in the past. Sometimes, the speaker may not actually mention the specific time, but they do have one specific time in mind.
Examples:
  • I saw a movie yesterday.
  • I didn't see a play yesterday.
  • Last year, I traveled to Japan.
  • Last year, I didn't travel to Korea.
  • Did you have dinner last night?
  • She washed her car.
  • He didn't wash his car.

 A Series of Completed Actions


We use the Simple Past to list a series of completed actions in the past. These actions happen 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and so on.
Examples:
  • I finished work, walked to the beach, and found a nice place to swim.
  • He arrived from the airport at 8:00, checked into the hotel at 9:00, and met the others at 10:00.
  • Did you add flour, pour in the milk, and then add the eggs?

Duration in Past


The Simple Past can be used with a duration which starts and stops in the past. A duration is a longer action often indicated by expressions such as: for two years, for five minutes, all day, all year, etc.
Examples:
  • I lived in Brazil for two years.
  • Shauna studied Japanese for five years.
  • They sat at the beach all day.
  • They did not stay at the party the entire time.
  • We talked on the phone for thirty minutes.
  • A: How long did you wait for them?
    B: We waited for one hour.

Habits in the Past


The Simple Past can also be used to describe a habit which stopped in the past. It can have the same meaning as "used to." To make it clear that we are talking about a habit, we often add expressions such as: always, often, usually, never, when I was a child, when I was younger, etc.
Examples:
  • I studied French when I was a child.
  • He played the violin.
  • He didn't play the piano.
  • Did you play a musical instrument when you were a kid?
  • She worked at the movie theater after school.
  • They never went to school, they always skipped class.

Past Facts or Generalizations


The Simple Past can also be used to describe past facts or generalizations which are no longer true. As in USE 4 above, this use of the Simple Past is quite similar to the expression "used to."
Examples:
  • She was shy as a child, but now she is very outgoing.
  • He didn't like tomatoes before.
  • Did you live in Texas when you were a kid?
  • People paid much more to make cell phone calls in the past.

IMPORTANT When-Clauses Happen First

Clauses are groups of words which have meaning but are often not complete sentences. Some clauses begin with the word "when" such as "when I dropped my pen..." or "when class began..." These clauses are called when-clauses, and they are very important. The examples below contain when-clauses.
Examples:
  • When I paid her one dollar, she answered my question.
  • She answered my question when I paid her one dollar.
When-clauses are important because they always happen first when both clauses are in the Simple Past. Both of the examples above mean the same thing: first, I paid her one dollar, and then, she answered my question. It is not important whether "when I paid her one dollar" is at the beginning of the sentence or at the end of the sentence. However, the example below has a different meaning. First, she answered my question, and then, I paid her one dollar.
Example:
  • I paid her one dollar when she answered my question.

ADVERB PLACEMENT

The examples below show the placement for grammar adverbs such as: always, only, never, ever, still, just, etc.
Examples:
  • You just called Debbie.
  • Did you just call Debbie?

ACTIVE / PASSIVE

Examples:
  • Tom repaired the car. Active
  • The car was repaired by Tom. Passive                                                                                              
 EXERCISES:
VOCABULARY: 
 

TIME ADVERBIALS

ADVERBS AND ADVERBIALS


Adverbs and adverbials may be one or several words that offer information on circumstances connected to the state or activity named by the verb. Adverbs are one-word items that modify verbs. Adverbials may be single words or else phrases that provide information about when, where, how, or why things happen. So adverbs fall into the category of adverbials. The difficulties around them have to do with where we should place adverbs. Adverbs and the wider category of adverbials belong to the predicate, and there they may be placed next to the verb or after the object (at the end *). But they may be found at the beginning of a sentence ), provided they do not separate the subject from the verb.
A general idea which may be useful is this: elements in a sentence organize around the heart of the sentence, S + V, in a hierarchical manner: the more important they are, the closer they are to the heart. For instance, an object (O) is more important than an adverbial of time because it is closer to the verb, so the adverbial of time can never interfere between the V and its O, and must be placed after. (Of course, adverbs are sometimes very close to the verb, see the case of Frequency Adverbs.)
Another general idea is: when an element that usually comes before another is long, the shorter element may come before. But you needn’t think about this because you’ll probably do it intuitively.

Do you go out with your friends EVERY WEEKEND?
Do you go out EVERY WEEKEND with all of those really noisy friends of yours?!

1. Manner: How? *

Adverbs and adverbials of manner go after the verb or the object, if there is one. They are not placed between V and O.
They worked HARD *               She danced BEAUTIFULLY *                  They did it VERY WELL *
They worked IN A GREAT RUSH  *        They did it WITH A GREAT DEAL OF NOISE *

The exception is when the object is long:

When V + prep + O, the adverb could be placed before the preposition if the object is long.
The little children looked at everyone SUSPICIOUSLY *

The little children looked SUSPICIOUSLY at everyone who gave out sweets


When V + O, the adverb             could be placed before the verb if the object is long.

They CAREFULLY picked up all the bits of broken glass

Adverbs concerned with character and intelligence, like foolishly, kindly, generously, stupidly, etc., may take two positions, but meaning changes:

He answered the questions FOOLISHLY * = He answered in a foolish manner, his answers were foolish

He FOOLISHLY answered the questions = His action was foolish, it was foolish of him to answer at all


He spoke KINDLY * = His words were kind

He KINDLY waited for us = It was kind of him to wait for us



 
WELL can be an adverb of manner or of degree.
He reads WELL (manner)
They speak English WELL (manner)
They treated me WELL (manner)
She knows the town WELL (degree)
Shake it well before opening it (degree)
The presents were well wrapped up (degree)BADLY
as an adverb of manner goes also at the end. But as an adverb of degree, it can precede the verb.
The door needs a coat of paint BADLY
The door BADLY needs a coat of paint
I need a drink BADLY
I BADLY need a drink

 
Note: The difference between manner and degree depends BASICALLY on what you want to mean. It’s unimportant.


2. Place: Where? *

Place adverbials are usually placed in end position.
They lived HERE *
They found the dog OUT IN THE WOODS *
Did you see my keys ANYWHERE? *


However, in descriptive writing and reports, we can move them to the front, to introduce the theme or to highlight where something happened.
) AT THE MEETING we distributed this year’s Office Reports

Notice: if the verb following is BE, S-V inversion occurs.
) NEXT TO MARY was Joe, laughing his head off (like “there be”: Next to Mary there was a man)
Be careful: ) IN THE GARDEN people were preparing the party

This also happens in descriptive writing with intransitive verbs indicating position or movement to a position, like hang, lie, live, sit, stand; come, fly, go, march, roll, run, swim, walk.
            ) BEYOND THE HOUSE lay an open field

But we don’t do this if the intransitive verb is followed by a manner adverb (or with trans. Verbs, V+O):
            ) ABOVE HIS HEAD the sword hung MENACINGLY               () IN THE GARDEN Mary built a tree house)


3. Time: When? * ())

We know that TIME ADVERBIALS are placed at the beginning or at the end of the sentence.

            ) AFTERWARDS we bumped into Muriel           
) EVENTUALLY we found the station thank god!
) LATELY I have had the strangest feeling… (Stevie Wonder)

The weather will be much cooler TOMORROW *
You must have handed in your exercises BY NOVEMBER 1 *       
We’ve been dreaming about it FOR YEARS *

Notice what happens when you move the time adverbial to the beginning in the last two examples.

7 But this is not always so, of course! Look at these adverbs of time, which are placed in mid-position:


1.    JUST is placed before the main verb with perfect tenses when we want to express: “acabar de” + hacer algo. I’ve JUST finished. We had JUST finished when the teacher asked someone out.

2.    STILL is placed before the verb, like frequency adverbs. Are you STILL doing your exercise? Yes, I am STILL doing it! Exception: I am still here (if the main verb is BE). Notice: “are, am” in the first

3.    examples are auxiliary verbs and notice “am” in the former example is a main verb.

4.    YET can only be placed at the end: I haven’t finished my exercise YET. Aren’t you ready YET?


The adverbs DAILY, HOURLY, MONTHLY, WEEKLY… go in end position (as if they were manner adverbs!)
The web page is updated WEEKLY

ORDER: MANNER + PLACE + TIME (often, TIME –--SUBJECT+VERB--- MANNER + PLACE)





4. Frequency: How often? 7



One-word FREQUENCY ADVERBS are USUALLY placed before the main verb (except if it is BE!):

We USUALLY go out on Saturdays           I have NEVER seen a UFO          Are you ALWAYS shouting?!


Exception, the modals “used to” and “have to”.
           
            We HARDLY EVER have to remind them of bringing their books

And when we give short answers. Then the frequency adverb goes before the auxiliary:
           
            Can you park well here (manner + place)? Yes, I USUALLY can.

If there are two auxiliaries before the main verb, then they are placed after the first auxiliary:

You have OFTEN been told not to do that.

When we have adverbial expressions expressing frequency, such as “once a week”, “twice a month”, “three times a year”, “every other day”, “on Mondays”, “every month”, “each single day”… we have to treat them as if they were adverbials of time, and place them at the beginning or at the end.

We OFTEN drive to the seaside TWICE A YEAR *

) ON MONDAYS she goes to the gym     She goes to the gym ON MONDAYS *


OCCASIONALLY, you will find frequency adverbs at the beginning of the sentence, as in this sentence!
)  SOMETIMES I have to be up at eight

When this happens, if the frequency is indefinite and the verb has a negative meaning, like HARDLY EVER, NEVER, RARELY, SELDOM, NOT ONCE… then a S-V inversion is necessary:
)  NEVER have I seen such a beautiful baby!
)  NOT ONCE did she say she was sorry…

5. Comment/Viewpoint and Connecting Adverbials )  

Presumably*, … Certainly*, … Clearly*, … Undoubtedly*, … Obviously*, … As might be expected, … Sadly, … Oddly enough, … Interestingly enough, … Generally speaking, … Wisely, … Wrongly, … To my disappointment, … To my surprise, … To be honest/fair, … To put it simply, … On average, … Financially, …  Ideologically, … Morally, … Politically, … From a technical point of view, … Personally, … As a result, … Similarly, …

* Degree of certainty ) * 7 They certainly worked hard

 

Punctuation Rules

Period
Use a period to end a complete sentence. A sentence is a group of words containing a subject and predicate. In British English a period is called a 'full stop'.
Examples:
He went to Detroit last week.
They are going to visit.


Comma
There are a number of different uses for commas in English. Commas are used to:

  • Separate a list of items. This is one of the most common uses of a comma. Notice that a comma is included before the conjunction 'and' which comes before the final element of a list.
Examples:
I like reading, listening to music, taking long walks, and visiting with my friends.
They would like books, magazines, DVDs, video cassettes, and other learning materials for their library.


  • Separate phrases (clauses). This is especially true after a beginning dependent clause or a long prepositional phrase.
Examples:
In order to qualify for your certificate, you will need to take the TOEFL exam.
Although he wanted to come, he wasn't able to attend the course.


  • Separate two independent clauses that are connected by a conjunction such as 'but'.
Examples:
They wanted to purchase a new car, but their financial situation would not allow it.
I'd really enjoy seeing a film this evening, and I'd like to go out for a drink.


  • Introduce a direct quote (as opposed to indirect speech i.e. He said he wanted to come ...).
Examples:
The boy said, "My father is often away during the week on business trips."
His doctor replied, "If you don't stop smoking, you run the risk of a heart attack."


  • Separate appositives (a noun, or noun phrase) or non-defining relative clauses.
Examples:
Bill Gates, the richest man in the world, comes from Seattle.
My only sister, who is a fantastic tennis player, is in great shape.


 
Question Mark
The question mark is used at the end of a question.
Examples:
Where do you live?
How long have they been studying?

 
Exclamation Point
The exclamation point is used at the end of a sentence to indicate great surprise. It is also used for emphasis when making a point. Be careful not to use an exclamation point too often.
Examples:
That ride was fantastic!
I can't believe he is going to marry her!

 
Semicolon
There are two uses for a semicolon:

  • To separate two independent clauses. One or both of the clauses are short and the ideas expressed are usually very similar.
Examples:
He loves studying; He can't get enough of school.
What an incredible situation; it must make you nervous.


  • To separate groups of words that are themselves separated by commas.
Examples:
I took a holiday and played golf, which I love; read a lot, which I needed to do; and slept late, which I hadn't done for quite a while.
They plan to study German, for their travels; chemistry, for their work; and literature, for their own enjoyment.


 
Colon
A colon can be used for two purposes:

  • To provide additional details and explanation.
Examples:
He had many reasons for joining the club: to get in shape, to make new friends, to lose some weight, and to get out of the house.
She gave notice for the following reasons: bad pay, horrible hours, poor relations with colleagues, and her boss.


  • To introduce a direct quote (a comma can also be used in this situation).
Examples:
He announced to his friends: "I'm getting married!"
She cried out: "I never want to see you again!"

PREPOSITION OF MOVEMENT

TO:
We use to to show movement with the aim of a specific destination.

EXAMPLE:
I moved to Germany in 1998.
He's gone to the shops.
He carried the rubbish to the bin


THROUGH:
We use through to show movement from one side of an enclosed space to the other.    

 EXAMPLE:
The train went through the tunnel.
The train came through the tunnel.



ACROSS:
We use across to show movement from one side of a surface or line to another.

EXAMPLE:
She swam across the river.
He swam across the channel.



ALONG:



EXAMPLE:
He walked along the road



DOWN:

EXAMPLE:
He skied down the mountain.




OVER:


EXAMPLE:
They walked over the bridge.



OFF:


EXAMPLE:
The man ran off the cliff.


ROUND:

EXAMPLE:
The arrow is moving round the ball.

INTO:

EXAMPLE:
The man poured the sand into the timer.