As a general rule, the English language aims to avoid repetition. That’s why, on Everyday Grammar, we talk about ways to shorten sentences – in spoken English and in some forms of writing. Shortened speech helps us avoid restating what we, or others, have just said. For example, my sister and I just exchanged text messages that demonstrate how to say something in only a few words. I’ll share our messages with you. She would like to use something of mine, so she wrote: Hey, do you have an extra air bed? Some friends are visiting this weekend. I responded: I think so!! I’ll check tonight. In my text, the word “so” shortened a longer sentence. “I think so” means “I think that I have an extra air bed.” When we use “so” this way, we are replacing a group of words known as a that-clause. On a past Everyday Grammar program, we introduced this idea. Today, we will look at the grammar in steps. Step 1: What is a clause? The first step is to understand what a clause is. A clause is a part of a sentence with its own subject and verb. Many sentences in English contain two or more clauses. Imagine I wrote a longer text to reply to my sister: I think that I have an extra air bed. This sentence has two clauses – a main clause and supporting clause. The main clause is “I think.” Its subject is “I” and verb is “think.” The main clause is joined to a second clause that gives us more information – in this case, a that-clause. “That I have an extra air bed” is the that-clause. It begins with the word “that” and has its own subject and verb. Its subject is “I” and verb is “have.” Step 2: Replacing that-clauses Now let’s move to step two – how to replace that-clauses with “so.” There are a few kinds of that-clauses in English, and not all can be replaced with “so.” We mostly do it when sentences follow the structure subject + verb + that-clause. This kind of that-clause is a noun clause. But remembering that term is not important for today’s lesson. We replace that-clauses with “so” only after a limited number of verbs, including: think, believe, hope, guess, suppose, assume, imagine, know, say and tell Most of these verbs (except “say” and “tell”) can express uncertainty or an opinion. “Say” and “tell” are reporting verbs, which we can use to talk about what someone else said. Step 3: Hearing examples All of this will become clearer in step three – hearing examples. Let’s now listen to a few. I recently asked a friend if she’d won an award for small businesses in New York. Her response was something like this: I haven’t gotten an answer yet. But I really hope so!! Later, she found out that she was a winner! Our next example has a reporting verb. Notice that there’s just one speaker: I'm not sure if Alfredo's coming to the watch party. He said so. But it’s after 5pm and I haven’t seen him. We can shorten that-clauses in our own speech, not just in responses. And this last one answers a suggestion: Should we wait until tomorrow to go hiking? I suppose so. It’s close to sunset so the bugs will be out now. Step 4: The missing “that” OK, onto step four. I imagine this step will be a huge help as you continue studying English. When native speakers say or write things, we often leave out the word “that” in that-clauses. In fact, I did it a few sentences ago. Did you catch it? Here’s a clue: I said “I imagine…” Recognizing missing “thats” will help you understand and write English better. Step 5: Negative forms Now for step five: negative forms. When we replace that-clauses with “so” in negative sentences, we do it differently for different verbs. After the verbs “think,” “believe,” “say,” and some others, we make the negative this way: I don’t suppose so. The witness didn’t say so. Rachel doesn’t think so. But, after the verbs “guess” and “hope,” we form the negative without the verb “do” and put “not” at the end, like this: I guess not. We hope not. We do not say, “I don’t guess so” or “We don’t hope so.” What you can do Wow, we covered a lot today! Don’t try to remember it all. Instead, look and listen for signals of that-clauses anywhere that English is used. You can start by paying attention when people use the verbs “think,” “believe,” “guess” and “hope” in positive or negative form. Then, ask yourself if the speaker or writer used a full that-clause, left out the word “that” or replaced the clause completely with “so.” For instance, at a restaurant or market, a worker might ask a customer, “Would you like anything else today?” The customer might respond, “I don’t think so, thanks.” And, I think we are done for today, too! I’m Alice Bryant. Alice Bryant wrote this story for Learning English. Kelly Jean Kelly was the editor. _____________________________________________________________ Practice You heard me give many examples of shortened that-clauses with “so” in today’s program. Look at the three examples below and complete their full that-clauses. (about the business award) I haven’t gotten an answer yet. But I really hope so!! But I really hope that __________________!! I am not sure if Alfredo is coming to the watch party. He said so. He said that ____________________. Should we wait until tomorrow to go hiking? I suppose so. I suppose that _____________________. 4. Would you like anything else today? I don’t think so, thanks. I don’t think that ____________________, thanks. ______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story conversation - n. an informal talk involving two people or a small group of people :the act of talking in an informal way text - n. a message sent on a mobile phone introduce - v. to mention or refer to something for the first time clue - n. something that helps a person find something negative - adj. expressing denial or refusal positive - adj. describing a factual sentence ______________________________________________________________ A note about “told” The common American expression “I told you so” (or the shorter “Told you so” or “Told you”) has a meaning other than it seems. It means “I warned you about something and you did not listen to my warning.” This is usually considered unkind so it’s best to avoid using the expression.
source https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/how-to-replace-that-clauses-with-so-/4973455.html
Thursday, 27 June 2019
Survival Phrases #44 - Admissions in the USA
Learn English travel phrases with EnglishClass101.com! A little English can go such a long way! Whether you’re traveling, visiting, or sightseeing, EnglishClass101.com has all the essential travel phrases just for you! In this lesson, we cover a high frequency English phrase sure to be of use on your trip, travels or vacation to the USA. In [...]
source https://www.englishclass101.com/lesson/survival-phrases-44-do-you-have-an-english-information-guide/
source https://www.englishclass101.com/lesson/survival-phrases-44-do-you-have-an-english-information-guide/
Tuesday, 25 June 2019
Monday, 24 June 2019
Lesson 42: I Was Minding My Own Business
Summary Anna sees a crime and tries to help find the robbers. She hurts her arm. The news reporter wants to know, "How did she hurt herself?" Speaking In this video, learn how to say the new words. Then learn how to use reflexive pronouns like herself, ourselves, and yourself. Pronunciation Use this video to understand how English speakers pronounce the words "did you" quickly and learn to say them as /didjə/. Conversation Guy: Hello. I'm Guy Newsman with News Channel XYZ. I’m here in Washington, D.C. at the scene of a crime. Guy: We are talking with this woman. Guy: She saw the crime during her lunch break. It looks like she hurt herself while she was trying to stop the crime. Guy: Tell us your name. Anna: Hi, Guy. I'm Anna. Guy: Anna, what did you see and what happened to your arm? Anna: Guy, I was minding my own business. See, I work over there. Guy: Um-hum Anna: I left work to get some lunch. Then suddenly, I heard a woman yelling. She was yelling like this ... “Help! Help!” Guy: Um-hum Anna: Two robbers were grabbing her bag like this. She was hitting them with her umbrella. Guy: Is that when you hurt your arm? Anna: No. At that time, I was not fighting the robbers. Guy: Um-hum. Anna: See. I was too far away and I didn't have my own umbrella. Guy: So, what happened next? Anna: They grabbed her bag and ran away! So, I grabbed her umbrella and ran after the robbers. Guy: Then that is the time that you hurt your arm? Anna: No. I was yelling, “Stop, robbers! Stop!” She was yelling, “Hey, come back with my umbrella!” Guy: Were you afraid? Anna: I had no time to be afraid, Guy. Well, I had time while I was resting on a bench. I had a lot of time. Guy: Then what happened? Anna: The robbers got on a bus. So, I ran after the bus. A VO: While I was running, I tripped and fell. Guy: And that is the time that you hurt your arm? Anna: No. While I was lying on the ground, someone stepped on my arm! Guy: Ouch. That’s too bad. Anna: Yeah. And they didn’t apologize. Well, then the robbers got themselves kicked off the bus. Guy: Why? Anna: They didn’t pay. You've got to pay when you get on a bus. The police came and took them away. Guy: And that’s when you hurt your arm! Anna: No. Guy: Then, when did you hurt yourself? Anna: Well, Guy, by this time, I was feeling very hungry. So, I went to my office to get a snack. C: Anna, I'm calling for help right now. C: (on the phone) Hello? Yes, please come right away. My co-worker is stuck in a vending machine. Guy: You hurt your arm in a vending machine buying a bag of chips? Anna: I was really hungry and the bag was stuck. I had to - Guy: That’s all from News Channel XYZ. This is Guy Newsman saying goodbye. Guy: Okay, we have to find ourselves another story, guys. Anna: Until next time! Hi Mom! Writing In this lesson, Anna hurt herself in the vending machine. Did you ever hurt yourself by accident? What were you doing when you hurt yourself? Write to us by email or in the Comments section. Click on the image below to download the Activity Sheet and practice writing and using the past continuous tense and reflexive pronouns. Learning Strategy Learning Strategies are the thoughts and actions that help make learning easier or more effective. The learning strategy for this lesson is Read Between the Lines. This expression means to find a hidden meaning in something said or written. In this lesson, Guy Newsman asks Anna many questions. Anna tells him a long story about the crime. But she doesn't explain how she hurt her arm until the end. Guy reads between the lines each time he guesses about how she hurt her arm. Do you ever read between the lines to understand what you hear or read in English? Write to us about it in the Comments section or send us an email. Teachers, see the Lesson Plan for more details on teaching this strategy. Quiz Listen to short videos and test your listening skills with this quiz. ______________________________________________________________ New Words arm - n. either one of the two long body parts that join the top of your body at the shoulder and that end at the hand or wrist chips - n. thin, hard, and usually salty pieces of food crime - n. an illegal act for which someone can be punished by the government fall (past tense: fell) - v. to come or go down suddenly from a standing position grab - v. (past participle: grabbing) to quickly take and hold (someone or something) with your hand or arms ground - n. the soil that is on or under the surface of the earth kick off - phrasal verb. (past tense: kicked off) force (someone) to leave lie - v. (gerund: lying) to be in a flat position on a surface minding my own business - idiom. doing what you normally do and not bothering anyone robber - n. a criminal who steals money or property or a thief who robs people snack - n. a small amount of food eaten between meals step - - v. to put your foot down — usually + in or on stuck - adj. difficult or impossible to move from a position trip - - v. (past tense: tripped) to fall or nearly by accidentally hitting your foot on something as you are walking or running umbrella - n. a device that is used for protection from the rain and sun vending machine - n. a machine that you put money into in order to buy food or drinks Subject Pronouns (Lesson 2) Object Pronouns (Lesson 18) Possessive Adjectives (Lesson 15) Possessive Pronouns (Lesson 37) Reflexive Pronouns (Lesson 42) 1st person I me my mine myself 2nd person you you your yours yourself 3rd person (female) she her her hers herself 3rd person (male) he him his his himself 3rd person (neutral) it it its (not used) itself 1st person (plural) we us our ours ourselves 2nd person (plural) you you your yours yourselves 3rd person (plural) they them their theirs themselves ______________________________________________________________ Free Materials Download the VOA Learning English Word Book for a dictionary of the words we use on this website. Each Let's Learn English lesson has an Activity Sheet for extra practice on your own or in the classroom. In this lesson, you can use it to practice using the past continuous tense and reflexive pronouns. For Teachers See the Lesson Plan for this lesson for ideas and more teaching resources. Send us an email if you have comments on this course or questions. Grammar: Reflexive pronouns; While-clauses; Past Continuous Tense, Topics: Describing ongoing past activities; Asking about & giving information about past events; Describing a sequence of events; Expressing concern about someone; Reacting to bad news; Expressing sympathy Learning Strategy: Read Between the Lines Speaking & Pronunciation: Reflexive pronouns; Pronouncing /didjə/ ____________________________________________________________ Now it's your turn. Send us an email or write to us in the Comments section below or on our Facebook page to let us know what you think of this lesson.
source https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/lets-learn-english-lesson-42-i-was-minding-my-own-business/3647264.html
source https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/lets-learn-english-lesson-42-i-was-minding-my-own-business/3647264.html
A guide to rude, offensive, insulting and taboo gestures for EFL learners
New Entry: 'A guide to rude, offensive, insulting and taboo gestures for EFL learners' has just been added to the Articles area of UsingEnglish.com.
source https://www.usingenglish.com/articles/guide-to-rude-offensive-insulting-taboo-gestures-for-efl-learners.html
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)