lessons 15-17 November

Nov 252011

Hi there,

Well , here’s the grammar we did this week! Passives, Must , infinitive of purpose!

PASSIVE is /are/was /were

This PC was/ is made in China!

Shakespeare wrote Hamlet. (active sentence)

( Agent V

Hamlet was written by Shakespeare. (passive sentence)

The passive is formed from be + past participle. (ONLY BE CHANGES!)

I was born in London. Where and when were you born? I wasn’t born in Ca.

MADE in Italy. Fiat cars ARE MADE in Italy. My watch is made in China! Is this wine made in Sardinia?

She has been to France! This car will be made by robots in the future!

Often we don’t include the agent of the action, because we do not know the agent; the agent is not important; the agent is obvious.

They clean the offices every day.

The offices are cleaned every day.

FIATS ARE MADE IN ITALY.

USEFUL EXPRESSIONS

……………. WAS WRITTEN BY………..; WAS PAINTED BY; WAS DIRECTED BY; WAS MADE IN (YEAR, COUNTRY); was sung by

Questions (Subject questions!)

Who painted the Mona Lisa? Leonardo painted the Mona Lisa. WHAT DID L.PAINT?

Who wrote Harry Potter?

NB Who saw Luca? ( John saw Luca)

Who did Luca see? ( Luca saw Mike)

MODAL VERBS

Will Shall

May might MAY I SIT HERE?

Would should

Can could I CAN SWIM.

Must ought to*

Modal verbs are followed by an infinitive without “to” (Exception “ought to”) The form is the same for all persons.

Eg, CAN in all forms ( NB he, she, it can)

(-) add NOT

I, you, he/she/it, we, you, they cannot (can’t) come

(?) Inversion

Can you swim?

Can you come to my party?

MUST /HAVE TO

Express rules or things that are necessary.

The house is dirty. I must clean it.

We don’t have any money. We must go to the bank.

Sometimes we can use either:

It’s a great book. You must/have to read it! He has to/must read the book!

NB when we talk about rules we often use “have to”

(Must generally refers to internal obligation , things that the speaker feels is necessary. )

“Have to” often expresses an external obligation ( a law, a rule etc. )

I must remember to buy some milk ( I feel that it is necessary.)

You have to have a license to drive a car! ( law!)

Remember that “have to” is conjugated ! ( have to/ has to)

Do you have to wear a uniform at school?

MUSTN’T

Expresses a prohibition, not allowed!(sbagliato o proibito farlo)

You mustn’t touch the picture. It’s very valuable!

You mustn’t smoke here!

CAREFUL!!! (DING DING DING!!!)

Don’t/doesn’t have to mean that IT is NOT NECESSARY TO DO SOMETHING( NON SONO TENUTO A FARLO(OBBLIGATO A FARLO).

You don’t have to read Hamlet for the English lab! ( You can read it if you want!)

YOU mustn’t read the Kama Sutra! (Vietato!!!!)

INFINITIVE OF PURPOSE

We use “to + infinitive” to say why we do things.

Why did you go to the butcher’s?”

“I went to the butcher’s to buy some meat!”

They’re going to London to see the Queen!

Looks like the lesson by popular demand will be on 13.12.2011- will confirm time during lesson!

Enjoy the weekend , rain or shine???

SAllyD

Lessons 8-10 Nov

Nov 182011

Hello!

Here’s what we did this week! Present Perfect, more Present perfect and more Present Perfect!!!

Here’s the grammar!!!

PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE (1. For experience)

S AUX (HAVE) PAST PARTICIPLE

I ‘ve (have) had many different jobs in my life!

NEGATIVE

S AUX (HAVE)+ not PAST PARTICIPLE

I haven’t been to the United States but I have been to Canada.

QUESTION

AUX (HAVE) S PAST PARTICIPLE ?

Have you ever been to New York? Have you ever eaten sushi?

Short answers

Yes, I have / No, I haven’t. No, never! (I’ve never been to France!)

We are talking about the experience NOT when it happened. CFR

I’ve met Madonna! I met her two years ago.

PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE JUST(appena)

John and Sue have JUST arrived.

I’ve JUST had lunch!

ALREADY (già) (affirmative sentences usually)

Jim has already gone to bed. They have already arrived!

YET (negatives and questions) NB its position.

I haven’t finished yet! ( non ancora) I’ve already finished!

Have you been to see the new film yet?

PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE (1. For since)

The present perfect expresses unfinished states that began in the past and continue into the present.

How long have you been a teacher? I’VE BEEN A TEACHER SINCE 1980./ FOR 29 YEARS.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU LIVED IN ca? I’VE LIVED IN CA SINCE 1982/FOR 27 Years.

For twenty years = period of time

Since 1989 = a point in time

FOR SINCE (always Present Perfect)

10 minutes 3 years Tuesday 10 o’clock

A week a month January 24 I arrived

2 days a long time I was a child Christmas

For ever for ages 1976 I was a born

How long have you lived in London?

I’VE LIVED IN VENICE FOR TWO YEARS/since 2010.

I lived in Venice for two years.

For 2 months = Since August.

NB. AGO

I arrived here 2 years ago. Cfr

When did John arrive in Paris? How long has John been in Paris?

He arrived here a week ago. He’s been here for a week/ since last Monday.

PRESENT PERFECT WITH UNFINISHED TIME

We use the PRESENT PERFECT with expressions like this week, in the last few months, today, this morning; all of these are connected to the present time.

I’ve had six cups of coffee today! ( Today is not finished)

How often have you been to the cinema this year? ( This year is not finished)

The Past Simple is used to talk about finished actions and states that happen in a period of time that is finished and not connected to the Present Time. We use time phrases like “ last week, three years ago”.

I drank six cups of coffee yesterday!

I went to the cinema last week

Present Perfect Simple with been and gone

Go went gone (been)

Ann has been to London. She has come back. (Be was /were been )

You:“Hello Ann! Where have you been?

Ann: “I’ve been to London!”

You ;What was London like?”

Ann: “It was great! I saw Big Ben!”

Where have you been ? have you ever been to Paris?

Ann has gone to London! She’s still there! Go went gone (been)

John: “Where’s Ann?”

Mike: “She’s not here! She’s gone to London on business!”

NO !!!!!!!Where have you gone??? XXXXXXXXX NO

Don’t forget that you need to practice as much as possible.!!! Talk to yourself!!! Imaginary conversations!!!

Try a drill !!! Take a simple sentence like:

I go to the cinema!!! Negative

I don’t go ……………………

Do you go …………………………….

I went to the cinema yesterday!

I didn’t go ……

Did you go………..?

Then try Present Cont. ; past Contin; Present perfect ; Future (all 3 forms) ; may/ might/ should; Invite/suggest (Answer too!)

DO you get the idea!!!!

Enjoy your weekend!!

SAllyD

Lessons 8-10 November

Nov 132011

Hi there,

Well what did we do last week? We looked at superlatives- the grammar was in with the comparatives last week. so I won’t write it again!

Then we did the Past Progressive /Continuous

Past continuous (progressive)

Actions in progress at a particular time in the past.

Wh-word	Aux.(be)	Subject	-ing form
What	was	John	doing	at 6 o’clock?
	Were	they	studying	in the other room?

Sub	Aux. (be)	gerund
He	was	watching	TV.
They	were	working	in the other room.
NEGATIVE FORM	Aux. (be + not)
He	wasn’t	listening	to the teacher.
It	wasn’t	raining.

Past simple for an action that interrupts the action in the past continuous!

—————————The sun was shining ——————————————

The birds were singing

A dog was barking

(past) woke up (now)

When I woke up, the sun shining, the birds were singing, a dog was barking……….!

—————————I was having a shower—————————————–

John was watching TV

They were having breakfast

(past) the phone rang (now)

the postman arrived

I was having a shower, when the phone rang. = While I was having a shower, the phone rang

John was watching TV, when the postman arrived.= While John was watching TV, the postman arrived

And now we’ve just started the Present perfect. We looked at one of its uses to ask/talk about experience! Here’s the grammar!

PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE (1. For experience)

S AUX (HAVE) PAST PARTICIPLE

I ‘ve (have) had many different jobs in my life!

NEGATIVE

S AUX (HAVE)+ not PAST PARTICIPLE

I haven’t been to the United States but I have been to Canada.

QUESTION

AUX (HAVE) S PAST PARTICIPLE ?

Have you ever been to New York? Have you ever eaten sushi?

Short answers

Yes, I have / No, I haven’t. No, never! (I’ve never been to France!)

We are talking about the experience NOT when it happened. CFR

I’ve met Madonna! I met her two years ago.

So there you have it!!! We are going to continue with the Presnet Perfect next week so see you !!!

TTFN

SallyD

Lessons 3/4 November

Nov 042011

Hi there ,

Just a quick note about what we did yesterday!!! Hope you are enjoying your weekend!

Well , Wednesday quite a few of you came along ; thanks!!!

We looked at making requests and answering !

I’d like a cup of tea!!!

Can I/you open the window, please?

Could I/you open the window, please? MORE FORMAL.

(COULD I HAVE SOME INFORMATION PLEASE?)

I wonder if I could use your newspaper.

Yes, sure/ certainly/of course.

I’m sorry but it’s too cold in here! I’m afraid that I am still reading it!

We also did some revision of questions etc.

On Thursday we started looking at Comparatives. Here’s the grammar rules for forming the Comp. You’ll also find the rules for the Superlative.

COMPARATIVES SUPERLATIVES

SHORT ADJECTIVES (1 SYLLABLE) + ER SHORT ADJECTIVES (1 SYLLABLE) the + EST

Old – older sweet – sweeter tall –taller Old – oldest sweet – sweetest tall –tallest

Spelling big- bigger hot –hotter Spelling big- biggest hot –hottest

Adjectives in –y ( usually, two syllables – ier Adjectives in –y ( usually, two syllables; the – iest

Happy – happier lucky –luckier Happy – happiest lucky –luckiest

Longer adjectives with MORE Longer adjectives with the MOST

Interesting – more interesting beautiful – more beautiful Interesting – the most interesting

beautiful – the most beautiful

Irregulars

Good – better- the best bad – worse- the worst

Far- further- the furthest

AFTER COMPARATIVES WE USE “THAN”

John is OLDER THAN Mike. English is MORE DIFFICULT THAN French.

AFTER SUPERLATIVES USE “in”

He’s the oldest student in the class. Which is the longest river in the world?

NOT AS ……. AS AS…..AS

Mike isn’t as old as John. This hotel is as expensive as the one in Oxford Street.

Remember to do the reading comprehension from your test for Tuesday!

See you soon!

SAllyD