tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23353872511438761412024-02-20T00:13:26.040-08:00Daniel Gauss : Common English Grammar MistakesDaniel Gausshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07158256979767078123noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2335387251143876141.post-56931814388894656722012-08-12T17:19:00.000-07:002018-07-02T22:36:06.485-07:00Fix Your Broken English!!! :P<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 22pt;">Fix your broken English!!!!!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
I took these 30 grammar-fixing tips from my ESL book: <span style="color: blue;"><strong>New York City Sucks, But You'll Still Wanna Live Here.</strong></span><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="color: #351c75;">The book is available at amazon.com as an e-book for the affordable price of $3.50. However, if you want a free copy, please send me e-mail at <a href="mailto:djg51qu@gmail.com">djg51qu@gmail.com</a> and I'll send you a free copy via e-mail attachment. It's a good book!</span></strong><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sucks-Youll-Wanna-Anyway-ebook/dp/B004TSPAQS">http://www.amazon.com/Sucks-Youll-Wanna-Anyway-ebook/dp/B004TSPAQS</a><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Common Mistakes –</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: blue;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1)<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“If” statements</span></b></span><span style="color: cyan; font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Here’s where I’m going to deal with
common mistakes foreign students make. For instance, <u>if you want to
speak English, you are going to have to use “if” statements a lot. </u><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Take a look at that last
sentence. That’s a simple conditional statement. You have the
present tense in the first part and the future in the second part. But,
please notice, instead of “…you will have to use…” I wrote “you are going to have
to use…” Americans don’t use the word “will” a lot. They use “going
to” more often. </span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">However, “will” is still used a lot
in the conditional so feel free to use it that way if you want to. As you
get more familiar with English and get some experience with it, you can begin
using “going to” more often.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Let’s take a quick look at the three
big ways that the conditional is used. 90% of the time you’ll use one of these
three sentence structures. Learn this thoroughly please! It is so useful.</span><br />
<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">The simple conditional</span></b><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">. Present tense and future tense. I would guess
that 75% of the time you use the conditional, you can use the simple
conditional. If you drink too much soda you are going to get fat.
Or: If you drink too much soda you will get fat. “Drink” is in the
present tense and “going to get fat” or “will get fat” is in the future tense.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">If we drive to Jersey we are going
to pick up Bob (or: we will pick up Bob). If Joe eats much more he is
going to get sick (or: will get sick).</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">The unreal conditional.</span></b><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"> Past tense and would. If Bob ate pork, he would
get sick. If I wrote this down, it wouldn't get lost. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<u style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">But, there is also a way to use the
unreal conditional with the verb "were."</span></u><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"> If Bob were to eat pork he would get sick. If I were
to write this down it wouldn't get lost. So it would involve: were + to +
a verb.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Why "were"? In
English we still have the "subjunctive" rule in regard to unreal
situations using the word "if." This rule states that if you
use "if" in the unreal conditional, you should use "were" instead
of "was."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Most Americans don’t even know this.
Only 25% of Americans go to college.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">This is supposed to help people
realize that the situation is unreal. You will often, however, hear many
Americans say, "If I was in his place I would not go home."
But it's better to follow the subjunctive rule and use "were" instead
of “was”: If I were in his place I would not go home. If I were not tired I
would walk over to your house. If he were not to drive, he would have to
walk. The subjunctive rule seems to be dying in the English language.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because too many Americans are too uneducated
to understand it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t say
that!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who said that?!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">All of this is about a hypothetical
or theoretical or </span><u style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">non-real</u><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> situation – something that hasn’t happened
but someone is thinking of doing it and thinking of the consequences of doing
it. This is a type of situation which might or might not happen.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">"If I drank soda, I would get
fat." More instances of the other way to convey the unreal
conditional: If I </span><u style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">were to drink</u><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> soda I would get fat. If I </span><u style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">were
to drive</u><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> to Jersey I would pick up Bob. If Joe </span><u style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">were to eat</u><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">
pork he would get sick. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Do you want the truth?
Educated Americans seem to use “were to” and uneducated Americans seem to use
the past tense. That’s how it seems to me. Actually, here's the real
truth: most Americans don't even know how to use conditionals correctly. Even
journalists mess up the conditional in their newspapers. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One important rule of thumb (brief
rule): <u>never follow an "if" immediately with a "will"
or "would". You will never say: "If I would…" or “If
I will…”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Never in a million years.
Never in a zillion years.</u> This is an impossible structure, but
Americans use it anyway. Please don't follow their example.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<b style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Past unreal (or whatever the hell they
call it). </span></b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Basically, if you have to use “if”
and it refers to something <i><u>in the past</u></i>, you use this weird
structure. If I <u>had driven </u>into Jersey I <u>would have picked up</u>
Bob. So this type of “if” statement is about a hypothetical situation
that might have happened in the past. If Bob <u>had eaten</u> the old
stale food he <u>would have gotten</u> sick. If I <u>had drunk</u> a lot
of soda I <u>would have become </u>fat.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">So it is:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>had + p.p. -----</span><span style="font-family: "wingdings"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">à</span></span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"> would have + p.p.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s so easy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Oh my God! I can’t believe it
when foreign students make mistakes with “if” statements! If you use “if,”
90% of the time you are only going to have THREE sentence structure choices.
So, people, PLEASE, pretty please! Please stop for just a second
and determine which of the three structures you will need to use when you use
“if.” These “if” statements are so easy but so many foreign students make
mistakes when they use if! </span><b style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Every time you are about to use
"if" please catch yourself and think, just briefly: Present +
will? Past + would? Had + p.p. + would have + p.p?</b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Oh! I almost forgot. You
don’t always have to use “will” or “going to” or "would” in the second
part of an “if” statement. You can use other “modals” like “can” or
“should” or “might”. i.e. If you go to Astoria you can buy some good Greek
groceries. If I had known about the sale, I might have bought some
clothes from there. But the structure is the same. Please nail down
these conditionals; they are essential. "To nail down" means to
really master or understand something. You hit a nail with a
hammer. If you nail something down using a hammer and nail, that object
cannot move any more. Please be aware, however, that the type of nail you
can hit with a hammer is different from the type of nail on your fingers.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How to use
“recommend” and “suggest” correctly</span></b><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">
Many foreign students totally use the verbs “to recommend” and “to suggest”
incorrectly. A student will often say: He recommended me to go to the
Metropolitan Museum. No! No! No! Never use an object pronoun after recommended
or suggested. It sounds TERRIBLE to a native English speaker.
Really terrible!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">There are two ways to use “to
recommend”: 1) He recommended the Metropolitan Museum to me. Or
2) He recommended that I should go to the Metropolitan Museum.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">So it is: Subject +
recommended + object + to + object pronoun<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Or</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Subject + recommended + that + object
pronoun + should + infinitive verb etc.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Examples: I recommended that
he should try the sushi at that Japanese restaurant. We suggested that
they should try to get home by midnight because the bus stops running at that
time. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">recommended <b><u>that…should</u></b>
suggested <b><u>that…should</u></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">If you just remember that
recommended or suggested can always be followed by </span><b style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><u>that</u></b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> and
then </span><b style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><u>should</u></b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> you will never go wrong. He recommended </span><b style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">that</b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">
my friend </span><b style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">should</b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> visit Northern Avenue in Flushing if he wants to get
good Korean food. I recommended </span><b style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">that </b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">he </span><b style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">should</b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> go to the
Bronx Zoo on Wednesday because it is free day there. They suggested </span><b style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">that</b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">
we </span><b style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">should</b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> avoid going to certain areas of the Bronx because they have
been neglected by city hall and are very dangerous.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">You can also ask: Can you please
recommend a place where I can find a reasonably priced Korean
restaurant? (Here “recommend” is followed by a direct object) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Would you recommend that I should
eat at this restaurant? Did he recommend that you should go to the Film
Forum to see the Hitchcock films?</span><br />
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: blue;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">3)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16pt;">Never mind!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Vs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t
worry!</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Lots of foreign students make this
mistake.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Never mind!” is actually kind
of a rude statement if not used properly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Most of the time, foreigners really mean the nicer expression: “Don’t
worry!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">If someone is running late and she texts
you, and you text back, “Never mind!” that person, if she is a native speaker,
might think you are telling her that you are upset and you should not bother
coming.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">What you need to say is, “Don’t
worry!</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Please take your time!”</span><br />
<br />
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">How do you use “never mind”?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Very carefully.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mi might tell Bob that she needs his
help.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But by the time Bob arrives, Mi
has already finished what she has been doing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She can then say, “Oh, Bob, never mind. I was able to finish this by
myself.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<u style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">You use “Don’t worry!” when you want a
person to relax.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You use “Never mind!”
when you want a person to forget something.</span></u><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><br /></span></span></b>
<span style="color: blue;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">tell vs. say</span></b></span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">The distinction between these two
verbs really seems to drive foreign students nuts. Nuts means
crazy. Nobody knows how nuts came to mean crazy. The difference
between “to tell” and “to say” is so easy however. And, you can often use
these words interchangeably. He <b>told me</b> that I should go to the
Met Museum. He <b>said that</b> I should go to the Met Museum. Do
you see one of the big differences between how these verbs are used?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">You use “tell” when you can follow
it with an object pronoun or other object. </span><b style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Tell me</b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> the latest news
from Hong Kong! Can you please </span><b style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">tell me</b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> where the nearest bathroom
is? I tried to </span><b style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">tell her</b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> that going to that neighborhood might be
dangerous.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">“To say” does not take this direct
object pronoun. What did he <b>say about</b> coming to Philadelphia
tomorrow? I remember that you once <b>said to me</b> that you were born
in Berlin. You can also say: You once <b>told me</b> that you were born
in Berlin. He <b>said that</b> Bob was coming along with us for the ride.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Often times you’ll use “say” when
you are quoting or kind of quoting someone.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">
</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">A quote is something like this: Bob said, “I will go on vacation
soon.”</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">A quote is surrounded by
quotation marks.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Did you once say that
Bob is gay?</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I want to know what she said
about me.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">But you could also have said,
Did you once tell me that Bob is gay?</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I
want to know what she told you about me.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<u><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">By the way, “tell” can also mean
"determine" or “see.”</span></u><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">
This is very confusing for foreign students. I can tell that it is raining
outside because you came in all wet. I could tell that he was angry
because he was not smiling as usual. I think I have a few gray hairs, can
you tell?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can tell that you are in a
good mood today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Practice a little!
Please.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: blue;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>should vs. have to</span></b><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Oh my God! This drives me
crazy. There is such a huge difference between “should” and “have to”
that I honestly don’t know why so many foreign students in America make
mistakes using these terms.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">If you </span><b style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">should</b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> do something,
it would be a good idea to do something, or it would be right to do
something. If you really have no choice in the matter, then you </span><b style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">have
to</b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> do something.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">He did not know whether he <b>should</b>
stay in New York City longer or travel around the country.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">In America every citizen </span><b style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">should</b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">
vote in every political election but in Australia every citizen </span><b style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">has to</b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">
vote in every election or he/she will be punished.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">I <b>have to</b> go back to my
language school by Thursday if I want to fill out my transfer papers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I </span><b style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">should</b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> have gone to sleep
earlier last night because I am so tired now. (It would have been a good idea
to do that.)</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">They <b>have to</b> take the number
1 train if they want to get off at the Canal Street stop.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">A young person </span><b style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">should</b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> make
every effort to take advantage of every learning activity in school.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: blue;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">The imperative – telling someone to do something</span></b><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">The big problem that foreign
students seem to have with the imperative is that they often use a pronoun
before the imperative form of the verb. For instance, You take the
garbage out! No. It should just be: Take the garbage out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or, Please take the garbage out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Now, nobody likes to take
orders. So unless you are a total asshole, please don’t just tell someone
to do something, use “please” before your imperative statement in
English. So basically, don’t use a pronoun and try to use
"please" and you’ll be ok. If a person uses the imperative with
you without "please," he’s an asshole. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Please throw that garbage out before
you leave! Please give me my bag! Please hand me my coat. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<u style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">There are other ways to soften an
imperative sentiment or command.</span></u><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">
If you want to tell another person you are with that she should cross the street,
you can say, “Please cross the street with me.” But that sounds a little silly.
<u>So you can use “let’s.”</u> Let’s cross the street now! Let’s
get some dinner now! Let’s go to a movie. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<u><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">“Why don’t we…” is very useful.</span></u><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"> Why don’t we cross the street now? Why don’t we
get some dinner? Why don’t we go to a movie? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Please practice this.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Here’s something somewhat related to
the imperative. Foreign students who are studying with native-speakers
who have to leave a table to go to the bathroom are often not sure what to
say. Please try this: </span><u style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Would you mind if I went to the restroom?</u><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">
Would you mind if I answered this call? So it is going to be “Would you
mind if…” plus some past tense of a verb.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: blue; mso-list: Ignore;">7)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: blue;">“So” vs. “Such a”</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Almost
every foreign student makes this type of mistake over and over and over
again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Basically, you use “so” with an
adjective<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and “such a” with an adjective
and noun.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">She
is so beautiful!<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>She
is such a beautiful woman!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">He
is so fat!<span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span>He
is such a fat guy!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">That
book is so good!<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>That is
such a good book.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Please
practice because it drives me crazy when people make this type of mistake.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: blue;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">8)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">articles (a, the)</span></b></span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Look at this terrible sentence: They
need table. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Why is this type of statement so
frustrating for a native-speaker to hear? Because “they” would seem to mean/imply
that more than one table might be necessary. But, then again, maybe a
small group just needs one table. Without the right article, or without
pluralizing the word “tables,” the native speaker doesn’t know what the heck you are trying to say.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><u>This is why articles and pluralization are so
important.</u> A native-speaker doesn’t know whether you are saying: They
need *a* table. Or: They need tableS. “They need table” could mean
either of those sentences.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">“I
have friend who like that.”</span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">OMG!</span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Do you mean “I have friends who like
that.”?</span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Or “I have a friend who likes
that.”</span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">You’ll drive English speakers
crazy if you don’t use your articles.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I once heard another person say: He
did stupid thing. He did a stupid thing? Or, he did stupid
things? It turns out that she meant he did stupid things. I thought
she had meant he did a stupid thing. This gets </span><b style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><u>really frustrating</u></b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> to people who have been trained their
whole lives to listen for the article or the plural form.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Articles are huge! You have to
use articles! You really do need to nail these articles down! Many
foreigners do not even try to use articles and they sound terrible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They don’t even realize how bad they sound.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Oh man, when I hear foreign students
speak, their inability to use articles really drives me crazy. Every
Asian or Russian student then makes this excuse: “Hey! We don’t have
articles in our languages!” I don’t care. You are here to speak
English, yeah? You are not here to speak broken English, right? Use
your articles! They are so freaking easy.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Sorry. I’m Ok.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Let me check my blood pressure.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Here’s the rule again: countable
stuff has to have a freaking article. Non-countable stuff doesn’t need an
article. When people speak they usually speak about countable things, so
always be ready to use an article.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Think, “Can I count buildings? Yes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> There's one building, there's a second building, there's a third building. </span>OK, THE building is close by.” Can I count coffee? No, coffee is one mass of something. Can I count justice? No, it's a concept. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">What’s the difference between “a”
and “the”?</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">If you are talking about one
thing among many, you have to use “a.”</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I
need a new laptop.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The new laptop,
which I recently bought, is quite good.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">
</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">“The” is for one special thing you are pointing out.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I am going to visit an historic church
today.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The church I visited was built In
the 1700s.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Here’s what drives me nuts. <u>If
you mention a person’s profession, you have to use an article.</u> A
teacher, a doctor, a nurse, an accountant etc. You don’t say: I’m going
to see doctor. You do say: I’m going to see a doctor. I think that
elementary and high school English teachers around the world should be shot by
the NYPD’s huge machine guns for not stressing the articles. Joking. I believe in non-violent change. <u>When you
learn a vocabulary word you should also learn whether it is countable or non-countable.</u><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">That’s why in my vocabulary word
lists I don’t write: “sacrifice” I write “a sacrifice.” “A
sacrifice” is countable. You can have two of them. You can’t have
two “waters” though. Water is a general thing. You can, however,
have two cups of water. A cup of water.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">
</span><u style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Lots of people make mistakes with the word “advice.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can’t say “advices.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You have to say, “a piece of advice.”</u><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Let me give you a piece of advice. Let me
give you two pieces of advice.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">The word “person” always has to take
an “a” or “the.” I am a lonely person. I am a skinny person.
He is the only person I know who has been to Nepal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Here’s another problem I have
noticed. Many foreign students use “some” instead of “a.” This
sounds terrible too. They need some table. No! They need a
table. Yes. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">They need some book about
history. No. They need a history book. “Some” does not equal
“a.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><u>“Some” only works with a plural
noun or something non-countable.</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
need some water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Give me some
money.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I need some potato chips.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dan needs some more patience.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: blue;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">9)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Will vs. Would</span></b></span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Basically “will” indicates that
something is going to happen, “would” means something can or might happen if
something else happens. Both “will” and “would” are commonly used
in ”conditional” statements. “Will” is used in the simple and would in the
“unreal.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Think of using “will” or “going to”
in a scientific sense. If you place a certain amount of a chemical into a
container with another chemical, something WILL happen. It is like a
scientific law. In regard to “would” however, it’s as if you are thinking
of doing the scientific experiment. If I placed this chemical in that
container with that other chemical, something WOULD happen.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<u><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">If you want to know for sure whether
a person is going to do something, you will use “will.” </span></u><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"> "Will you be leaving town this weekend?” “Yes, I
will.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<u style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">When you ask a person what he or she
wants, you usually use “would.”</span></u><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">
Would you like to have a cup of coffee? Would you like to dance?
Would you like to borrow this book?</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">If you need to excuse yourself you
also use “would.” Would you mind if I took this phone call? Would
you mind if I went to the bathroom?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Would you mind if I + past tense (this is an unreal conditional
situation).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Please also remember that </span><u style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">“would”
can be used in English to mean “used to.”</u><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> A couple years ago he would
play basketball on Saturdays. A couple years ago he used to play
basketball on Saturdays. My mother would rock me in a rocking chair when
I was a child. My mother used to rock me in a rocking chair when I was a
child.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Please remember that you use “used
to” when you talk about something you used to do, but don’t do any more. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: blue;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">10)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">this type of vs. these types of, this, these, that,
those</span></b></span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Many students get these types of statements
mixed up. Furthermore, <u>many foreign speakers do not know how to use
“type of” correctly.</u> Let’s say you see two dogs and one is a German
Shepard and the other is a Rottweiler. You can’t say: There are two
different dogs there. To say “two different dogs” means there are two
non-identical dogs, but they could still be of the same breed. You would
have to say, “There are two different types of dogs there.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">If one neighbor is very nice and cooperative
and the other is mean and nasty, you don’t have two different neighbors, you
have two different </span><b style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><u>types of neighbors</u></b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">.
If you have formal and casual clothing you have two types of clothing.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">The big problem, however, is that students
do not show consistency when using the term “type” or “types.” Sometimes
a student will say: “This types of beer is good” Instead of correctly saying:
These types of beers are good”. This type of dog is gentle. These
types of dogs are gentle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This stuff is
important.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Do you know what the real problem is?</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">First, most Americans don’t even speak
grammatically correct English.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Second,
they don’t care whether you speak grammatically correct English either.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Many foreign students are surprised to learn
that if an American can basically understand what you are trying to say, he/she
is happy.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Americans don’t often care
whether your English is broken or not.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><br />
<br />
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Well, kind of.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, if you speak really broken English
they’ll never give you a job here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But,
if you are asking directions or just casually chatting, they won’t care about
your English. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">This person, these people. </span><u style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Please
know that people is the plural of person</u><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">. You will never say
“persons.” That person, these people. This really matters. If you
do not maintain your consistency using this, that, these, those, your English
will sound terrible, even to an American who speaks bad English.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><br /></span></span></b>
<span style="color: blue;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">11)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Past tense vs. present perfect</span></b></span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Oh my God. This is so easy. I
don’t know how students still make this type of mistake. <u>If you are
referring to a particular time that something happened, like “last Tuesday” or
“ten years ago” or “yesterday,” then you have to use the simple past tense.</u>
You have no freaking choice!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Last Tuesday I </span><b style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">called</b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> my mother in Chicago and </span><b style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">told</b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> her the good news concerning my upcoming wedding. Ten
years ago I attended a university in New York City. Yesterday I ate a
hamburger.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<u><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">If you do not indicate a specific time in
the past, you have to use “has” or “have” and the past participle.</span></u><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"> I haven’t
called my mother recently. I <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">have
been</b> to Niagra Falls. But: I went to Niagra Falls when I was younger. I
have eaten at Sophie’s many times in the past.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I once read that book. I have read
that book.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<u><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">“used to” is used a lot in the past as well.</span></u><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"> I used to
attend The University of Wisconsin. I used to eat in that restaurant
every Thursday. I used to buy the New York Times until the price went up
again. <u>“Used to” indicates that you did something continually but
stopped at some point.<o:p></o:p></u></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Using the past tense and then going even
farther back is used in English alot. He </span><b style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">told</b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> me that he </span><b style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">had finished</b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">
his work at 6pm. She felt that Bob had violated her trust by seeing
another woman. So you use the past tense and then a past participle after it.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Honestly,
if a person asks you a question, listen for the verb form that he/she uses.</span></u></b><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"> Have you ever
been to Kentucky? No I haven’t. Did you ever eat at Sophie’s?
Yes I did, in fact, I have eaten there many times. (This implies you are
going to eat there again). Or: Did you ever eat at Sophie’s?
Now, you can say, “Yes I did.” Or, if you have eaten there a lot: “Yes, I have
eaten there a lot.” Or: “Yes, I used to eat there often.” (This
means you have stopped eating there.) This is kind of easy isn’t it? English is
so easy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<u style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Stories, In English, can be told in the
present or past tense.</span></u><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"> Yesterday a guy became angry at me because he
thought I had taken his parking spot. After I parked, he ran out of his
car and banged on my window and demanded that I leave the spot. I
refused. I then got out of the car and called the police. This guy
got so scared he ran away. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">You can also say: So yesterday this guy
becomes angry at me because he thinks that I took his parking spot. After
I park my car he runs out of his car and starts pounding on my window.
Then he demands that I leave! So I refuse to do that, step out of my car
and call the police. The guy gets scared and runs away.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: blue; mso-list: Ignore;">12)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16pt;"><span style="color: blue;">Scary vs. Scared,
boring vs. bored, interesting vs. interested</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">This is often a real problem for foreign students.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This situation is scary, therefore I am
scared.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This class is boring, therefore
I am bored.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This book is interesting, so
I am interested in it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">A situation will have the “ing” and your emotional state
will have the “ed.”</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">This movie is so scary!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I was so scared by this movie.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">This book is so boring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I am so bored reading this book.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Bob is such an interesting guy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am <u>interested in</u> meeting Bob.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: blue;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">13)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">The subjunctive</span></b></span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">The subjunctive is dying in English.
It is really only used when “was” is changed into “were” in situations which
are unreal. But because formally educated Americans tend to use the
subjunctive, you should know about it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">If I were that fat guy, I would not eat so
much fried food. You would think it should be “If I was that fat
guy”…however, to indicate unreality “was” is changed to “were”.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Basically, the rule for the subjunctive is
that you always change “was” to “were” after “if.” This helps more
clearly indicate that this is an unreal situation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">It’s the same for the third person singular
as well. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">If he were feeling better, he would go to
the baseball game. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">If she were not interested in literature,
she wouldn’t be writing a book about it. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">If he were a bit more relaxed, he would live
longer. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Just remember that if you use “if” and the
verb “to be” in the past tense in the first clause, you should use “were” and
not “was.” Many Americans use “was” anyway. As I said, the
subjunctive seems to be dying out. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">If he were more handsome, he would be able
to date more women.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; mso-list: Ignore;">14)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue;">How
to use “explain”</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Many students will say, “He explained me how to get to
the Metropolitan Museum.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">No.
No no no no no NO! Seriously, if you want to sound really goofy, keep saying “explain
me.”</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<u><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">He explained how to get to the Metropolitan
Museum <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">to me</b>.</span></u></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">When you use the verb “to explain,” you have to
use:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>explain + object + to pronoun<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<u><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Can you explain to me how I can get to the
Met Museum?</span></u><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That
works too.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<u><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Joe explained the problem to Bob.</span></u><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><u>He explained the situation to her.</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><u>We explained the book to them.<o:p></o:p></u></span></div>
<u><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">You
often have to use “how” after “explain.”</span></u><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Can
you explain how this works to me?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Can
you explain how I can get to Yankee Stadium from here?</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">You really have to get
out of the habit of saying “explain me” “explain you” “explain him” etc.</span><span style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">It sounds </span><b style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">TERRIBLE</b><span style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> to a native-English speaker. Really terrible.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(255, 249, 238); line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Lousy: Bob explained
her that she can buy a metrocard here.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(255, 249, 238); line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Good: Bob explained to
her that she can buy a metrocard here.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(255, 249, 238); line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Good:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bob explained that she can buy a metrocard
here to her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(255, 249, 238); line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Lousy: Mark explained
me the story of the book.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(255, 249, 238); line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Good: Mark explained
the story of the book to me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(255, 249, 238); line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Lousy:</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Let me explain you the story.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(255, 249, 238); line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Good:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let me explain the story to you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(255, 249, 238); line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">At
this point you should practice many sentences in which you use the verb “to
explain” properly. <u>Almost every foreign student makes this mistake over and
over again, and it sounds so bad. Please stop driving me crazy and practice
this! </u></span><u style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "wingdings"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span></u></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: blue;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">15)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">How to say when
something will happen in the future<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Many
students will say:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am going on
vacation two weeks later.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">No.</span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I am going on vacation </span><u style="font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">in two weeks.</u><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Please
practice this because most students make this mistake and it drives me crazy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">No:</span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Five months later I will go home.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Yes:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><u>In five months</u> I will go home.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">No:
I will be a bit late. I will be there 20 minutes later.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Yes:
I will be a bit late. I will be there <u>in 20 minutes</u>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">If
you are running late and want to send a text message to someone, you can type:
“I will be about 20 minutes late.”</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">You
can use “3 days later” or “20 minutes later,” but be careful!</span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Joe washed his car.</span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">20 minutes later it rained.</span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I arrived in San Francisco on Monday.</span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">3 days later I went to LA.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<u><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Do
you see the difference?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you are
talking about doing something at a future time, you have to use “in 3
days.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you are describing something
that happened, you have to use “3 days later.”</span></u></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: blue;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">16)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">one of _______s</span></b><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">This is one of the most common mistakes
foreign students make. Notice that I wrote “mistakes.” If you use
“one of…..” <u>you have to have a plural at the end of that phrase</u>.
One of my friends is studying in Barcelona.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">One of the uncles of my cousin is a
millionaire. One of his friends is Danish.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">One of the people at my office is a Japanese
guy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(people is plural)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">So what seems to be confusing to students
about this is that you have to use a plural, but then you use the third person
singular form of the verb. That is because the subject is “one.”
“of the people” is a prepositional phrase. One of the people at my school
is an ice skater.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">So in this sentence, “one” is the subject,
“of the people” and “at my school” are prepositional phrases “is” is the verb
and “a star ice skater” is the object. People has to be used because it
is plural.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">One of the students in my class is sexy.
“Students” has to be plural – this is what I’m saying: 95% of foreign students
do not use the plural here and it sounds TERRIBLE to native English speakers.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: blue;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">17)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16pt;">to marry, to get
married, to divorce, to get divorced<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Many
students will say Joan got married with Bill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>No.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Joan
got married <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">to</b> Bill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or, Joan married Bill.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<u><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">So
basically, if you use “got married,” you’ll have to use “to.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you just use the verb “to marry,” you’ll
have to use an object.<o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Harry
got married to Mary.</span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Harry married
Mary.</span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Harry will get married to
Mary.</span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Harry will marry Mary.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">It’s
the same with “to divorce” or “to get divorced,” except for the fact that you
have to change ‘to” to ‘from.”</span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Joe will
divorce Helen.</span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Joe will get a divorce</span><b style="font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> from</b><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> Helen.</span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Joe is divorcing Helen.</span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Joe is getting divorced from Helen.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: blue;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">18)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">there is, there are etc.</span></b><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">This is huge. You have to get used to
saying “there is” “there are” “there was” “there were” “there will be” etc..
In fact, this occurs in all verb forms: There have been, there will be, there
should be etc.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Most students will say something like, “We
had four children in our family” or “We were four children in our family”…no no
no no…There were four children in our family.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Most, if not all, western languages have
this. In German it is “es gibt” and in Spanish it is “hay.” “There
are” indicates existence. There are 30 students in my class. There
are 50 states in the United States of America. There are three children
in my family. There is a funny squirrel that lives in the tree in front
of my house. There is a good TV show on tonight.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">There were a few reasons why I quit my
job. There was a period of time when half of Europe was communist.
There were no students absent yesterday. There were very few crimes on
the New York City subway system last year.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">There have been 44 presidents of the United
States of America. (We use “have been” because there will be more
presidents.) There have been a number of suicides that took place at the
Empire State Building. (This anticipates that there will be more – there is the
possibility that there will be more).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">It’s going to be tough for you to make this
change if you are not using “there is” correctly, unless someone points it out
to you, but try to be aware of situations where you have to express “existence”
without a definite subject and you should start to catch on. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "wingdings"; font-size: 10pt;">J</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: blue;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">19)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">confused, confusing, embarrassed, embarrassing etc.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">To confuse and to be confused are very
confusing to foreign speakers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<u style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">To confuse is a transitive verb. That
means it takes an object. I confused him when I spoke in Italian.
He confused me when he told me that story. “Me” is the object.</span></u><br />
<br />
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<u><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">To be confused is an adjective. I was
confused by his story. I became confused, or I got confused, when he
spoke to me in Italian. I got confused by what you said. What you
said confused me.<o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Do you see the difference?</span><br />
<br />
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Before you use “confuse” or “confused” think
about whether you are using it as a verb or as an adjective. If you are
using it as a verb, use a subject, confuse, and an object. She confuses
me when….<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">If you use it as an adjective, use it as an
adjective! The confused person looked confused. He was confused by
the difficult math problem. (adjective) The math problem confused him. (verb)</span><br />
<br />
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">It’s the same with embarrassed. To
embarrass and to be embarrassed. He embarrassed me when he told me the
dirty story. I was embarrassed when my friend told one of my personal
stories to other friends of mine. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Another big problem: a person can be
embarrassed or confused, but a situation is embarrassing or confusing.
You NEVER say I am confusing!!!!!! I AM CONFUSED!!!!!!!!! I am
confused, I am embarrassed, the problem was confusing, the situation was
embarrassing. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; mso-list: Ignore;">20)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue;">a
21 year old boy (not a 21 years old boy)</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">The material below represents one of the most common
mistakes foreign students make.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Please
examine this closely and try to understand what’s going on here:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Correct:<span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Incorrect:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">a 21 year old boy</span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">a 21 years old boy</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">a 5 dollar bill<span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span>a 5 dollars bill<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">a 100 story building</span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">a 100 stories building</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">50 million people<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>50 millions people<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">50 million dollars</span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">50 millions dollars</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">But!!!!!! See below:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Correct:</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">The boy is 21 years old.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">That check is worth 5 dollars.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">That building has 100 stories.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Millions of people die each year of hunger.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">He has 50 million dollars.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Do you see the differences?</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: blue;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">21)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Countries and
people who live in them</span></b></span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">This drives me crazy. Don’t
tell me you visited German. You did not visit German. You visited
Germany. A German is someone who lives in Germany. Let’s go through
some countries please.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">A person who lives in England is
English.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">A person who lives in Russia is
Russian. A person who lives in France is French. A person who lives
in Holland is Dutch. A person who lives in Scotland is Scottish. A
person who lives in Japan is Japanese. A person who lives in China is
Chinese. A person who lives in Switzerland is Swiss. Greece –
Greek. Slovakia – Slovakian. Italy – Italian. Thailand –
Thai. Vietnam – Vietnamese. Canada – Canadian. </span><span lang="ES" style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Sweden – Swedish. Turkey –
Turkish. Israel – Israeli. Eqypt – Egyptian. Austria – Austrian.
Australia – Australian. America – American. Mexico – Mexican.
</span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Brasil – Brasilian.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Here’s something interesting.
If an adjective relating to a person’s country ends in “n” the word “person” is
left out. For instance, He is a Japanese person. He is a
Korean. He is a Dutch person. He is an American. He is a
Chinese person, he is a Russian. Please learn the difference between the
name of a country and the name of a person from that country!</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: blue;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">22)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">woman, women</span></b></span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">You might think it is frivolous (not
important) for me to include this, but I have had students who made this
mistake over and over again. You simply need to know how to pronounce these
two words differently or you are going to drive native English speakers crazy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Woo mun - woman</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Wi men - women<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Women has a distinctive short “i”
sound in the first syllable. This has to be nailed down. I can’t
tell you how many English students have driven me nuts by continually
mispronouncing women.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: blue;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">23)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">subject + verb
+ object + relative pronoun clause or prepositional phrase.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Someone once said that Italian is
the language of poetry, German is the language of philosophy, French is the
language of lovers and English is the language of business. Actually, I
think English is the language of science because it is so logical and allows a
person to express precise, detailed things or events.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Like all generalizations, there is
some truth to this and some falsehood. I am guessing this person said
English is the language of business because it is a very precise
language. Or, it allows a person to express very detailed and precise
ideas and situations. There have been exceptionally great English
language poets and philosophers and I am hoping some good lovers too, so I
think English is pretty good for everything you might want to try!</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">This is one of the reasons it has become a
world language!</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">There is nothing mysterious about
the sentence structure of English. It is very basic.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Indeed, it would not hurt you to
look at various sentences in an English book and analyze those sentences according
to the sentence structures. You will see how basic English is – there is
always a reason for an English structure, except for when there are idiomatic
exceptions like “I’m going home” which you might think would be “I’m going to
my home.” In fact, you can say “I’m going to my home” but this common
phrase has been shortened through usage to “I’m going home.”</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">I challenge you to go through
passages of this book and really analyze the sentence structures – determine
where the subjects, verbs, objects, relative pronoun clauses, prepositional
phrases etc. are. This will really help you to construct your own
sentences.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Most basic English sentences are
going to be made up of </span><u style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">a subject + a verb + an object</u><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">. There are
very few of these simple sentences, but what you have to realize is that to
continue this type of sentence there are a couple of things that are quite
common that you can do. </span><u style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The most common things are using a
prepositional phrase or a relative pronoun clause. What’s the difference
between a phrase and a clause? A clause has a verb and a phrase doesn’t.</u><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">The dog ate the food which we had
left on the table. “which” is the relative pronoun that introduces
another subject, verb and object and then a prepositional phrase is used (on
the table). Relative pronouns introduce clauses because you have verbs in
them, prepositions introduce phrases because there are no verbs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I visited the church </span><u style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">where the
tomb of Alexander Hamilton is found</u><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">I saw the person who is called the
Naked Cowboy. (who introduces a relative pronoun clause).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I bought the book in the store on 5</span><sup style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif;">th</sup><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">
avenue where you have also shopped. (two prepositional phrases followed
by a relative pronoun clause).</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">One big problem I have noticed is
that sometimes foreign students want to begin sentences with prepositional
phrases but forget to use the preposition. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<u style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">They might say something like: The
mountains, my husband and I went there and saw some deer. It should be:
In the mountains my husband and I saw some deer.</span></u><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"> Without the preposition you now have two
subjects. It's pretty common to begin sentences in English with
prepositional phrases.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; mso-list: Ignore;">24)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue;">gerunds vs. the present progressive</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Any English
verb can become a noun by adding “ing” to it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This then is called a gerund.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">To Run –
running.</span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">To run is a verb and running is
a gerund.</span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">I like running
through <st1:place w:st="on">Central Park</st1:place> on breezy days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here is where students get confused.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this sentence, “like” is the verb.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Running is the gerund.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Running becomes the object of the sentence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">He enjoys
eating pizza.</span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Enjoys is the verb form.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<u><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">What
is more confusing is that “running” and “eating” are also part of the present
progressive tense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I am running
in a race tomorrow.</span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">This sentence has no
object because to run is an intransitive verb – it does not take an
object.</span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Please do not
confuse the gerund and the present progressive tense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here are a couple examples of using the
gerund first and then the present progressive tense:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">One of my
favorite activities is reading mystery novels.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">He was reading
a mystery novel when his sister called him to dinner.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">He was only
interested in investing his money in a reliable stock.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">He is
investing his money these days in reliable stocks. (If something is reliable,
you can trust it.)</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; mso-list: Ignore;">25)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue;">transitive and intransitive verbs</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">There are only
two types of verbs in English.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some
verbs take objects and some verbs take either nothing or prepositions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s really useful if you can tell the
difference between these verbs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The verbs that
take objects are called transitive verbs.</span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">If you use a transitive verb, you can use an object.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">To eat is
transitive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I ate pizza.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">To travel is
intransitive.</span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I traveled to </span><st1:place style="font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;" w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Boston</st1:city></st1:place><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> yesterday.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">An
intransitive verb takes a preposition. In fact, it might be good to learn
intransitive verbs with their prepositions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I care about doing well on this test.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>My sister cared for me when I was a child.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<u><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">To
ask is transitive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You will never say: I
asked to him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s always: I asked him.</span></u><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<u><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">You
will also never say: I visited to Boston.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s always: I visited Boston.<o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Many students
mistakenly use “to” after ask….please don’t do this, it sounds terrible.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">This is pretty
basic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you are not sure whether a
verb is transitive or intransitive, please look it up and memorize the
preposition that goes with it if it is intransitive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I enjoy
sitting in a rocking chair when I read.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">I enjoy
reading books about <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New York City</st1:place></st1:city>’s
history.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">This is quite
simple.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; mso-list: Ignore;">26)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue;">that vs. in which</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Many students
falsely use “that” when they should use “in which.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">For
example:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is the bank that I have my
money.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That sentence doesn’t work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This one works: <u>That is the bank in which
I have my money.</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Many students
think that using “that” is very simple and it always works as a relative
pronoun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you are referring to places, you might not
be able to use “that.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><st1:state w:st="on">Colorado</st1:state>
is the state where I saw the <st1:place w:st="on">Grand Canyon</st1:place>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Where” is the relative pronoun there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or you could say: <st1:state w:st="on">Colorado</st1:state>
is the state in which I saw the <st1:place w:st="on">Grand Canyon</st1:place>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<u><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">The
relative pronoun also changes for ‘time.”</span></u><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That was the year
when I was born.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That was the era in
which Eisenhower was the US president.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“in which” could have been used for “when” as well.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<u><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Also
“that” does not always require a subject, verb and object after it – “in which”
does.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">He is the man
that ate the apple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“that” refers back
to the object “man” and serves as a substitute for “man” as a subject in the
next part of the sentence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you use
“where” or “in which” you will always have a subject, verb and object.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want to go to a restaurant in which they
serve sushi.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">So I would
recommend that if you are talking about a place and need to use a relative
pronoun, use “where” or “in which.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am
looking for a language school in which I can get some good speaking
practice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am looking for an apartment
in which I can live with my husband and children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am looking for a city where I can raise my
children healthfully and peacefully.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<u><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">But,
in which doesn’t always refer to a physical place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I had a dream in which I was being chased by a dog.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
want to avoid a situation in which I might get hurt.<o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">So, basically,
“in which” points back to the object and refers to something happening “inside”
the object.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">It’s gets a
little more complicated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can also
use “on which,” “through which,” “over which,” etc.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">That is the
chair on which I usually sit.</span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">To be
honest with you, for “on which,”</span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">most
Americans place the preposition at the end of the sentence and drop “which,”
although it is “grammatically correct” to place it with “which.”</span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">For example:</span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">That is the chair I sit on. vs. That is the chair on which I sit.</span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">That is the table on which I placed a book.</span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">vs. That is the table I placed the book on.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: blue;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">27)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">another vs. other<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<u><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">“Another”
thing is an extra or additional thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>An “other” thing is something completely different. Often, but not
always, “another” is used for a singular thing and “other” is used for plural
things.</span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Another person
might have acted differently from me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Other people might have acted differently from me.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">If you have
had a beer and are still thirsty for beer, you will have another beer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you ordered a beer and they gave you a
glass of wine, you ordered something other than what you received.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Often times
you use “other” when you have a choice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If someone offers you a Coke or a Pepsi they might say, “Do you want the
Coke or the other soft drink?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">If you have
only been offered a Coke and have drunk it they might offer you another Coke.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">If you are
talking about two things and a person asks you to choose one of those, the word
“other” might be used.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are two
“tabloid” newspapers in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New York City</st1:place></st1:city>:
The New York Post and the New York Daily News.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A tabloid is a small newspaper that is easy to read on the subway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Someone might say, “Do you like the Daily
News or the other tabloid?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">If there is an
accident and you were a witness a police officer might say, “Which car caused
the accident – this one or the other?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Other”
is always used in regard to a choice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Another”
is always used if you want more of something.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">This is all
quite simple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just catch yourself before
you use “other” or “another” and think: am I talking about a choice or
something extra?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Choice = other, extra =
another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: blue;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">28)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span></b><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Placement of “just” or “only”</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Another huge mistake that many foreign students make
concerns the placement of the words “just” or “only.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Usually, these two words have to be placed
between the subject and the verb: please do not use “just” or “only” at the
beginning of a sentence.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">I only learned about the scheduling change yesterday.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">I just found out about the change in schedule yesterday.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">I only have $5, so I can’t do anything tonight.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">I just have ten minutes to spare before I have to leave
for my train.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">But, if you are going to use a past participle, “only”
or “just” comes after the “have/has/had” part.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It has only rained a little bit this year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have only heard about him, I have never met
him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have just had a car
accident.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She had just noticed that he
was calling her when she saw him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; mso-list: Ignore;">29)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue;">Asking questions</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Oh my
God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of you foreign students cannot
even realize how bad you sound when you ask questions in English.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hello!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If you use a question word, a verb HAS TO BE after it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whenever I hear: Why you no go to <st1:street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">Northern Boulevard</st1:address></st1:street>
to buy Korean food? I want to scream!!!!!!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Listen carefully.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Please pay
attention:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why DON’T you go to <st1:street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">Northern Boulevard</st1:address></st1:street>
to buy Korean food?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">NO:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why you live in <st1:place w:st="on">Queens</st1:place>?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>YES: Why DO you live in <st1:place w:st="on">Queens</st1:place>?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">NO:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why he didn’t do that?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>YES:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Why didn’t he do that?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Why you why
you why you why you why you why you why you OH MY GOD!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH
MYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">I never want
to hear: Why you…again!!!!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why don’t
you…?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why do you…?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why didn’t you….?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Please get
used to using: do, don’t, didn’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or,
Why are you….</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">No: Why he
went to Jersey?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes: Why did he go to
Jersey?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Why are you
studying economics?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why are you staying
with your brother this summer?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When did
you come to the <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">USA</st1:place></st1:country>?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where are you from?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">People, this
one is SO EASY!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Never, please NEVER say
“why you” UNLESS you are making a statement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For example:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You never told me
why you decided to go to California.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">When you are
asking a question, after “why” always find a verb to use.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is really essential.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am not joking – if you really really really
want to sound terrible, then keep using “why you.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you want to speak better English, please
catch yourself and put a verb after every question word in English.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country> thanks you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br />
<span style="text-indent: -24px;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; line-height: 21.4667px;"><span style="color: blue; mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b>30)</b></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><b>No "to" after "let" </b></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">When you use "let" there is no need for a "to" afterwards. For example:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">Let him to go there! <-- wrong.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">Let him go there. <---right</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">Let me have that book, please.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">Let him sleep, he worked hard today.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">Let them meet us at the restaurant, we are running late.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;">This is me:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8E7k3_eYw5l4bfc4nt2pTlrHINtdcHfL87mK1UVMDDuQvgHMw_eU3REjoLQF0k7-a4omkaVhrR8ODwuA4SLNXdYtg9wgR0mPIqXrcm23TrBaBHaVzElfbZotTfYGbkEYxWjdV8oawUIYe/s1600/10380328_10207113820312672_1185019420478438337_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8E7k3_eYw5l4bfc4nt2pTlrHINtdcHfL87mK1UVMDDuQvgHMw_eU3REjoLQF0k7-a4omkaVhrR8ODwuA4SLNXdYtg9wgR0mPIqXrcm23TrBaBHaVzElfbZotTfYGbkEYxWjdV8oawUIYe/s1600/10380328_10207113820312672_1185019420478438337_n.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="text-indent: -24px;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; line-height: 21.4667px;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><b>Feel free to buy my amazing book. I kept the fee low to make sure anyone could get it. $3.50 as an e-book. (Don't buy a cup of coffee today, buy my book! :P)</b></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="text-indent: -24px;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; line-height: 21.4667px;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/York-Sucks-Youll-Wanna-Anyway-ebook/dp/B004TSPAQS">https://www.amazon.com/York-Sucks-Youll-Wanna-Anyway-ebook/dp/B004TSPAQS</a></b></span></span></span></span><br />
<div style="text-indent: -24px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Daniel Gausshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07158256979767078123noreply@blogger.com0