Saturday, May 30, 2015

First Conditional

We use the First Conditional to talk about future events that are likely to happen.
  • If we take John, he'll be really pleased.
  • If you give me some money, I'll pay you back tomorrow.
  • If they tell us they want it, we'll have to give it to them.
  • If Mary comes, she'll want to drive.
The 'if' clause can be used with different present forms.
  • If I go to New York again, I'll buy you a souvenir from the Empire State Building.
  • If he's feeling better, he'll come.
  • If she hasn't heard the bad news yet, I'll tell her.
The "future clause" can contain 'going to' or the future perfect as well as 'will'.
  • If I see him, I'm going to tell him exactly how angry I am.
  • If we don't get the contract, we'll have wasted a lot of time and money.
The "future clause" can also contain other modal verbs such as 'can' and 'must'.
  • If you go to New York, you must have the cheesecake in Lindy's.
  • If he comes, you can get a lift home with him.

Friday, May 29, 2015

Zero Conditional

When we talk about things that are generally or always true, we can use:
If/When/Unless plus a present form PLUS present simple or imperative
  • If he gets there before me, ask him to wait.
  • When you fly budget airline, you have to pay for your drinks and snacks.
  • Unless you need more space, a small car is big enough for one person.
Note that we are not talking about a specific event but something which is generally true.
In the condition clause, we can use a variety of present forms. In the result clause, there can only be the present simple or imperative.
  • If you visit London, go on the London Eye.
  • If unemployment is rising, people tend to stay in their present jobs.
  • If you've done that, go and have a coffee.
  • When you go on holiday, take plenty of sun cream. It'll be very hot.
  • When I'm concentrating, please don't make so much noise.
  • When I've finished an article, I always ask Kate to read it through.
Notice that 'unless' means the same as 'if not'.
  • Unless he asks you politely, refuse to do any more work on the project.
  • Unless prices are rising, it's not a good investment.
  • Unless you've been there yourself, you don't really understand how fantastic it is.

Saturday, May 23, 2015

How to Make Plurals

  1. Singular and Plural: Many new learners make mistakes in forming the plural form of singular nouns.
Pluralisation in English can be a bit of a tricky game, and as with any language the key to mastering this aspect lies in practicing through reading and conversing until the variations that appear unpredictable in the beginning become second nature, a matter of habit. Having said that, there are certain principles that are generally applicable that make the task easier by giving us a broad idea of how common words are pluralised. Let us take a look at these.
For most nouns, add an ‘s’ at the end of the word.
SINGULAR
PLURAL
Car
Cars
Desk
Desks
Tree
Trees
Ball
Balls
Hand
Hands
For nouns that end with ‘s’, ‘x’, ‘z’, ‘ch’, or ‘sh’, add ‘es’ at the end of the word.
SINGULAR
PLURAL
Boss
Bosses
Box
Boxes
Topaz
Topazes
Leech
Leeches
Dish
Dishes
For some words that end with ‘o’, add ‘es’ at the end of the word.
SINGULAR
PLURAL
Potato
Potatoes
Echo
Echoes
Hero
Heroes
For some words that end with ‘o’, add ‘s’ at the end of the word.
SINGULAR
PLURAL
Photo
Photos
Piano
Pianos
Logo
Logos
Radio
Radios
For some words ending with ‘f’, replace the ‘f’ with a ‘v’ and add ‘es’ at the end of the word.
SINGULAR
PLURAL
Thief
Thieves
Loaf
Loaves
Half
Halves
Calf
Calves
Leaf
Leaves
For some words ending with ‘f’, add an ‘s’ at the end of the word.
SINGULAR
PLURAL
Reefs
Reefs
Roof
Roofs
Chef
Chefs
For some words ending with ‘ife’, replace the ‘f’ with a ‘v’ and add an ‘s’ at the end of the word.
SINGULAR
PLURAL
Wife
Wives
Knife
Knives
Life
Lives
For common nouns ending with a consonant followed by ‘y’,replace the ‘y’ with an ‘i’ and add ‘es’ at the end of the word.
SINGULAR
PLURAL
Nappy
Nappies
Poppy
Poppies
Fly
Flies
Penny
Pennies
Sty
Sties
Some nouns are the same in both forms.
SINGULAR
PLURAL
Fish
Fish
Sheep
Sheep
Deer
Deer
Tuna
Tuna
Trout
Trout

Friday, May 22, 2015

Punctuation Rules

  1. Punctuation mistakes: Punctuation errors, too, are very common, especially in the use of semicolons and commas.
Punctuation is a very important aspect of writing; good writing presupposes correct punctuation. Incorrect punctuation is the sign of weak writing, or carelessness. But this sort of thing is eminently avoidable, because punctuation is quite simple to master. Here are some basic rules to keep in mind:
  1. Every sentence must end with a full stop.
  2. Proper nouns (names of people, places, brands, etc, i.e. unique instances of a class) must always be capitalised.
  3. When you use opening quotation marks, do not forget to use closing quotation marks at the end of the quoted word or phrase.
  4. Quotation marks are when quoting or sometimes to convey irony, not for emphasis; emphasis is conveyed by emboldening or italicisation, followed by an exclamation mark.
  5. Do not use an apostrophe when you are pluralising a word. The plural of toy is toys, not toy’s. Apostrophes are used to form contractions (it is = it’s) and indicate possession.
  6. The ellipsis, used to indicate variously the intentional omission of a section of text, an unfinished thought, and a trailing off into silence, consists of only 3 dots. It is pointless to add more dots to an ellipsis. This is excessive punctuation, which is in other words incorrect punctuation.
  7. As per the rules of British English, any punctuation mark that is not part of a quoted section of text must be placed outside the quotation marks. However, in the case of direct speech, punctuation marks must be enclosed within the quotation marks.

Saturday, May 16, 2015

Grammar Rules

  1. Comparison of adjectives: We add ‘er’ to compare short adjectives like pretty and thick; and we add ‘more’ for longer adjectives like handsome and intelligent.
When we want to compare two or more nouns using adjectives, we use the comparative and superlative forms of the adjective to show the comparison between the nouns. E.g. -
Honey is sweet, sugar is sweeter but victory is the sweetest.
In this sentence, we are comparing the three nouns using the positive, comparative and superlative forms of the word ‘sweet’.
Positive Form -
These are the simple adjectives that simply describe the noun without comparing it to another - big, sweet, clean, etc.
She has a big black dog.
He is a sweet boy.
The cupboard is clean.
Comparative Form -
These are used when we are comparing two nouns and need to show which noun possesses the adjective or character in a greater or lesser amount, when compared with the other. - bigger, sweeter, cleaner, etc.
I have a big dog but hers is bigger.
He is sweeter than the other boys.
The cupboard is cleaner than before.
Superlative Form -
This form is used when three or more nouns are being compared and we need to show that one or more of the nouns posses the adjective or characteristic to the highest amount possible. We usually add ‘the’ before the superlative form. - biggest, sweetest, cleanest, etc.
She has the biggest dog in the colony.
He is the sweetest boy in his class.
The cupboard is the cleanest thing in the house.
Making Comparatives and Superlatives
There are certain rules that must be followed in the making of the comparatives and superlatives of the adjectives. Not all adjectives form their comparatives and superlatives in the same way and there are also some irregular adjectives that form completely different comparative and superlative forms.
Single Syllable Words and Double Syllable Words ending with -y, -er, -ow, -le -
We use ‘-er’ to make the comparative and ‘-est’ to make the superlative.
Positive
Comparative
Superlative
Black
Blacker
Blackest
Fair
Fairer
Fairest
Clever
Cleverer
Cleverest
When there is a silent ‘e’ at the end of the positive form, we remove that and add ‘-er’ and ‘-est’
Positive
Comparative
Superlative
Nice
Nicer
Nicest
Late
Later
Latest
When the adjective ends with a ‘y’, we convert the ‘y’ into ‘i’ before adding ‘-er’ and ‘-est’

Positive
Comparative
Superlative
Pretty
Prettier
Prettiest
Lazy
Lazier
Laziest
If the adjective is a small one with little stress on the vowel, we double the last consonant.
Positive
Comparative
Superlative
Hot
Hotter
Hottest
Wet
Wetter
Wettest
Other Words with Two or More Syllables -
For other double syllable words that do not end with -y, -er, -ow, -le, and for adjectives with more than two syllables we use more and most to form the comparatives and superlatives.

Friday, May 15, 2015

Grammar Rules

  1. 1.Subject Verb Agreement: Learners often get confused with using the appropriate form of the verb with the subject of the sentence. For example, ‘I live in India’ and ‘He lives in India’ is the correct subject verb agreement of the verb ‘to live’.
  1. 2.Possessive Nouns: Non-native speakers of the English are unsure about showing possession while writing or speaking in English. For example, ‘The book belonging to the girl’ can also be referred to as ‘The girl’s book’
  2. Possessive nouns are those nouns that show possession. Possessive Nouns are used to show ownership.
    A noun is possessive only when a phrase can be modified to say that an idea or commodity belongs to something or someone. Possessive nouns are an integral part of learning English, use them as often as you can to gain confidence.
    Here are some rules to help you use possessive nouns
    Rule 1: In singular nouns (person, place, thing or idea), we add apostrophe and ‘s’ after the noun. For example:
    Ron’s car is in the garage. (Car belonging to Ron is in the garage)
    Note that the possessive noun always comes before what the person or a thing owns or has. In this case, the car belongs to Ron and hence the singular noun ‘Ron’ is placed before ‘car’ that he owns.
    Rule 2: In singular nouns ending with ‘s’, we add an apostrophe and ‘s’ to the noun. For example:
    Tejas’s notebook is lying on the table. (Notebook of Tejas is lying on the table)
    Suhas’s wife is a doctor. (Wife of Suhas is a doctor)

Sunday, May 10, 2015

Will other uses

Older textbooks often refer to 'will' as 'the future tense' and this has confused a lot of learners.
It is important to remember that when we talk about the future we cannot always use 'will' and that when we use 'will' we are not always talking about the future.
Here 'will' is clearly referring to the future.
  • If I speak to her, I'll tell her about it.
  • I'll probably visit Sue when I go to Oxford.
  • Next birthday she'll be 32. Or so she says.
In these examples, however, 'will' is referring to events happening at the present.
  • The car won't start.
  • If that's the phone, I'll get it.
  • Will you have another cup of coffee?
When we use 'will' referring to the present, the idea being expressed is usually one of 'showing willingness' or 'will power'.
  • My baby won't stop crying. I've tried everything and I'm really exhausted.
  • I am the boss. You will do as I say.
  • I need quiet to write this but he will keep on talking to me. I wish he would leave me alone.
We use 'will' for requests, orders, invitations and offers.
  • Will you give me a hand?
  • Will you please take a seat?
  • Will you have some cake?
  • I'll help you.

Friday, May 8, 2015

Present Forms for the Future

We use the present continuous to talk about things that we have already arranged to do in the future.
  • I've got my ticket. I'm leaving on Thursday.
  • I'm seeing Julie at 5 and then I'm having dinner with Simon.
  • He's picking me up at the airport.
  • The company is giving everyone a bonus for Christmas.
In many situations when we talk about future plans we can use either the present continuous or the 'going to' future. However, when we use the present continuous, there is more of a suggestion that an arrangement has already been made.
  • I'm going to see him./I'm seeing him.
  • I'm going to do it./I'm doing it.
We use the present simple to talk about events in the future which are 'timetabled'. We can also use the present continuous to talk about these.
  • My plane leaves at 6 in the morning.
  • The shop opens at 9.30.
  • The sun rises a minute earlier tomorrow.
  • My plane is leaving at 8.30.
  • The shop is closing at 7.00.
  • The sun is rising at 6.32 tomorrow.

Saturday, May 2, 2015

Going to or Will

When we want to talk about future facts or things we believe to be true about the future, we use 'will'.
  • The President will serve for four years.
  • The boss won't be very happy.
  • I'm sure you'll like her.
  • I'm certain he'll do a good job.
If we are not so certain about the future, we use 'will' with expressions such as 'probably', 'possibly', 'I think', 'I hope'.
  • I hope you'll visit me in my home one day.
  • She'll probably be a great success.
  • I'll possibly come but I may not get back in time.
  • I think we'll get on well.
If you are making a future prediction based on evidence in the present situation, use 'going to'.
  • Not a cloud in the sky. It's going to be another warm day.
  • Look at the queue. We're not going to get in for hours.
  • The traffic is terrible. We're going to miss our flight.
  • Be careful! You're going to spill your coffee.
At the moment of making a decision, use 'will'. Once you have made the decision, talk about it using 'going to'.
  • I'll call Jenny to let her know. Sarah, I need Jenny's number. I'm going to call her about the meeting.
  • I'll come and have a drink with you but I must let Harry know. Harry, I'm going to have a drink with Simon.

Friday, May 1, 2015

The Future - Will future

Some people have been taught that 'will' is 'the future' in English. This is not correct. Sometimes when we talk about the future we cannot use 'will'. Sometimes when we use 'will' we are not talking about the future.
We can use 'will' to talk about future events we believe to be certain.
  • The sun will rise over there tomorrow morning.
  • Next year, I'll be 50.
  • That plane will be late. It always is.
  • There won't be any snow. I'm certain. It's too warm.
Often we add 'perhaps', 'maybe', 'probably', 'possibly' to make the belief less certain.
  • I'll probably come back later.
  • He'll possibly find out when he sees Jenny.
  • Maybe it will be OK.
  • Perhaps we'll meet again some day.
We often use 'will' with 'I think' or 'I hope'.
  • I think I'll go to bed now.
  • I think she'll do well in the job.
  • I hope you'll enjoy your stay.
  • I hope you won't make too much noise.
We use 'will' at the moment we make a new decision or plan. The thought has just come into our head.
  • Bye. I'll phone you when I get there.
  • I'll answer that.
  • I'll go.
  • I won't tell him. I promise.