Lesson 247--order of prepositions

 

Prepositions are used for many things.  In today's lesson we look at prepositions of time and place and their order.

We went to the park. (place)

We went in the afternoon. (time)

When we put them together, we put place before time.

We went to the park in the afternoon. (correct)

We went in the afternoon to the park. (incorrect)

However we can rearrange the sentence to put the time at beginning of the sentence.

In the afternoon, we went to the park.

more examples. (All the sentences are correct)

I drove to work on Monday.  However, I took the bus to work on Tuesday.

On Monday, I drove to work.  On Tuesday, however, I took the bus to work.

On Monday I drove to work.  However, on Tuesday, I took the bus to work.

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The blog has now hit 25000 page views.  This is quite a big number.  Thank you everyone for looking at it.  I hope you are learning from it, and I hope that you keep learning from it.  I will keep writing it.

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Lesson 246--Making Nouns from Adjectives

I always tell my students that learning word forms is important.  If you learn the noun of an adjective, the meanings of the two words are closely related.  So, today, I am going to start doing my best to help.

Below you will find 20 adjectives and their nouns.  In this case, all of the nouns end with the same suffix --ness.  It should be easy to remember them.  Good luck (because you never know when there will be a test).  If there are words that you do not know, I suggest looking in the dictionary.

Adjective	Noun
dark	darkness
restless	restlessness
inventive	inventiveness
quick	quickness
inquisitive	inquisitiveness
hopeless	hopelessness
destructive	destructiveness
helpless	helplessness
frank	frankness
cheap	cheapness
awesome	awesomeness
awkward	awkwardness
foolish	foolishness
hideous	hideousness
nervous	nervousness
ruthless	ruthlessness
kind	kindness
neat	neatness
shy	shyness
lonely	loneliness

 

Lesson 245--point

Point a gun at someone

We looked at point out and making a point in lessons 162 and 163.  In today's lesson we will also be looking at some other uses of the word point.

point at vs. point to

For the most part, there is little difference between the two.

He's pointing at you.

I pointed to Jane.

I pointed at Jane.

Without any context, the meanings are similar.  However, when more anger or violence is suggested, we prefer at.

I pointed angrily at Jane.

I pointed a gun at Jane.

"Stop pointing at me!" exclaimed Jane.

 

Pointless

Meaning:  There is no point.

examples

Your argument is pointless.

It was pointless to wait any longer, so Melanie went home.

Lesson 244--Error Quiz

You will find fifteen incorrect sentences below.  Please correct them and check your answers by clicking on the words "answer" in the top right corner of this blog.  If you have a different answer that you think is correct, please submit it to me--you might be right.  Also, if you don't know why a question is wrong, please ask for an explanation in the comments box below the quiz.

Good Luck!

1. I am not good at sports.  But, I like to play them.
2. Before I started work I went to the gym.
3. James who works in the marketing department is getting married next week.
4. The more big he gets, the faster he runs.
5. She is the more beautiful woman I know.
6. If she will win the race, she can get a scholarship to a good university.
7. Paul was late for work due to it was raining.
8. Maria slept very late, because she was tired.
9. I have been to the CN Tower last week.
10. Philip goes always to Wal-Mart.
11. It depends of the situation.
12. I am not interested in help you.
13. I want to go to the beach, I want to swim.
14. It was really good the party.
15. Mellissa went to the store for buy some books.

Lesson 243--Like as a Verb and Preposition

 

 

Most of my students are very good at using like as a verb. 

example:          I like chocolate.

                        I liked chocolate when I was a child.

                        I've never liked Jazz music.

However, like is also a preposition.  In the following examples notice that like is a preposition following other verbs.

He looks like a fool.

Maria works like a dog.

Tim and Nancy feel like having hot chocolate.

The party guests were dressed like characters from the Lord of the Rings.

Lesson 242: Pairs

We use the word pair sometimes to mean one thing, and sometimes to mean two things.  Here are some useful examples

 

one item

a pair of scissors

a pair of jeans

a pair of pants

a pair of glasses

a pair of underwear

a pair of shorts

Be careful when using pair as the number of pairs determines singular and plural.

A pair of scissors is useful.

Two pairs of scissors are useful

two items

a pair of socks

a pair of gloves

a pair of shoes

a pair sandals

Be careful when using pair as the number of pairs determines singular and plural.

A pair of shoes is essential for the trip.

Two pairs of shoes are essential for the trip.

 

Lesson 241--Some advice

 

 

Today's lesson is a little different.  Instead of teaching you a phrase, or some vocabulary, I just wanted to give you some advice.

• When you have mastered something in English, like answering "I'm fine." and used it successfully a few times, you should try something new.  "Great!" or "Fantastic!" or "Pretty good."  Don't be afraid to experiment.

• When you get asked the same questions every day  ("How was school today?"), prepare for them, and give longer and different answers.  "It was great because we learned about the 3rd Conditional."

• If you learned a new word today (or any day) learn words that are related to it.  If someone teaches you destroy, you should learn destroyer, destruction, destructive, destructible, indestructible, destructively, and indestructibly.  The meanings of all these words are approximately the same.  If you dictionary doesn't tell you this information, it isn't a good dictionary.

• Try to find a collocation dictionary.  It will change the way you look at English.

• If you have trouble with prepositions, read a newspaper article and highlight all the prepositions.  You will remember more of them this way.

• If you want to practice reading in English, get a book translated from your language into English.  You won't have to worry about names and cultural issues because you will already understand them.

Lesson 240--Collocations with "favour"

 

 

An interesting word came up in class today and I thought I would share it with you.  Someone asked me about the word favour.    So I present to you some different uses of the word favour.

1.  Do me a favour.

we use this one to ask people to help us or do something for us.

 

Could you do me a favour?

2.  in favour of

we use this to explain that we support something.

 

I am in favour of a complete ban on smoking.

Marcia was not in favour of a school dress code.

 3. in favour with + somebody/someone

      out of favour with + somebody/someone

we use this to explain that someone is seen positively by someone else

Jason was not in favour with the team owner and decided to quit.

Jason had fallen out of favour with the team owner and decided to quit.

Lesson 239--Slackers

Slackers Celebrate

I asked my students about their experiences in groups or teams.  They had some funny stories.  I heard several people explain that in at least one project their teammates did absolutely no work and they had to do everything,  It is with this idea that I present some useful phrases that relate to a situation like that.

to slack off: this means to do very little or no work.

A slacker
 

 

examples

When Jimmy started slacking off, his team leader yelled at him.

All of the members of Maria's team started to slack off before the end of the project.  As a result she had to do most of the work.

slacker:  someone who slacks off (usually quite often)

 

examples

Greg had a bad reputation as a slacker.

Because Daniela was a terrible slacker, nobody wanted to work with her.

to pick up the slack:  to do work that other people are not doing

 

examples

Phyllis had to pick up the slack when several of her team members got sick.

 

If they were going to finish the project on time, the remaining members would have to pick up the slack.

Lesson 238--The Amazing Word Get.

 

A student today asked me why we always use the word get.  Honestly, I would say because it is easy.  The word get has so many useful functions in English.  My student's example was "Can I get a coffee?"  which he heard a person use when ordering.  It really means "Can I have/order a coffee?"

Today's lesson is using get in a way that means "something happened to me."  It is a passive construction that doesn't use the "be" verb.

I got hit by a car.  ( I was hit by a car.  The car hit me. )

Greg got his car stolen.  (Greg's car was stolen.  Somebody stole Greg's car.)

Theresa got her heart broken again.  (Theresa's heart was broken.  Somebody broke her heart again.)

When he wasn't looking Jimmy got hit in the head.

Sandy and Ramona got beaten in the tennis match.

The car got scratched at the mall.

When you have time, try and make some useful get sentences. 

Lesson 237--Job Title Suffixes

 

Vocabulary and spelling are quite important, so today's lesson is devoted to that.

Specifically today's lesson is focused on jobs/occupations and how to make them using suffixes (word endings).

If there are any jobs in the list that you don't know, try looking them up.  Use this link for an online dictionary with pronunciation (in British and North American)

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/british/

 

 

ian	or	er	ist	others
physician librarian technician optician electrician veterinarian	doctor director actor conductor animator curator	teacher soccer player mover trainer lawyer plumber writer singer barber mail/postal carrier	pharmacist psychologist therapist dentist biologist manicurist hair stylist	accountant engineer mechanic masseuse

 

If you comment on other job titles, I will edit the post and include them in the chart above.  By commenting, you will be helping all the other students as well.

Lesson 236--Using the Present Continuous for the Future

 

 

While we use the present continuous (is/are/am + ...ing) for things happening right now, we also use it to describe future events.  This is considered more sure than using going to  or will to express the future. To do this:

• we include a reference to the time we are doing the event
• the event must have been organized and agreed to by more than one person.

examples

I am playing tennis on Tuesday with my father. (The time has been agreed upon by my father)

 

Jim is flying to Miami on the 12th. (Jim, the airline, and even his travel agent agreed upon the time)

 

Maria is working late on Thursday. (Both Maria and her boss agreed upon this)

 

The whole family is spending Christmas in Cuba.

 

What are your future plans?

Submit your sentences in the comment box (you don't have to log in, just click the anonymous box).

Lesson 235--Two expressions using "second".

 

 

Today's lesson is about two expressions using the word second.  They are closely related, but they are not exactly the same.  The two are

To second guess someone

To have second thoughts

 

To second guess someone or something means to have some doubts about someone or something. 

examples

Janine was second guessing her husbands story about Friday night.

Philip told Maria that he didn't like anyone second guessing him.

Daniel started second guessing his decision to quit smoking almost immediately.

Manuela second guessed everything her twin sister did.

 

A similar idiom is to have second thoughts.  This usually means to reconsider, or to start doubting a choice you have made.

examples

After proposing to Donna, Keith started having second thoughts.

Pamela was ready to buy a new computer, but she started having second thoughts and decided to wait a few weeks.

If you are having second thoughts, maybe you shouldn't do it.