Tag: english teaching

English Corner – The Utility of One-on-One Practice

When you are learning a new language especially one where you don’t have a lot of access to native speakers of that language, your ability to learn the foreign language can suffer as a result. Even if you are learning from someone in your country who speaks with advanced proficiency, there is still a discernible difference between a native speaker who also would likely be a qualified teacher for foreign students and one who is a teacher but is still a non-native teacher.

Now, there are a lot of great foreign teachers of second languages including the English language out there who are non-native speakers but I think that if a student has the chance to work with native speakers especially if they have taught before and are certified, your odds of getting better at the target language will increase exponentially. Most group classes or formal class settings for language learning instruction place an emphasis on a comprehensive strategy involving reading, grammar, vocabulary, and listening comprehension. However, while there is a little bit of speaking and writing practice, it is often not enough and there is also no time spent on the individual student and their own strengths and weaknesses.

If you are in a class of 25 to 30 students, one teacher will not be able to effectively work with each student as much or as effectively to improve either the speaking or writing skills in such a constrained time period. If you have four or five hours of English language instruction per week, the chances are high that out of that amount of time, there will only be 30 minutes to an hour dedicated to either speaking or writing instruction, which is very little.

While group or class settings can be ideal for addressing certain proficiency needs such as the aforementioned reading, listening, grammar, and vocabulary practice, such a large setting is often not conducive to conducting good lessons related to addressing speaking or writing practice. In order to boost a student’s proficiency levels specifically with regards to their speaking or writing needs, then you’re going to have to go smaller to get the best results. Any student of the English language must take it upon themselves to find one-on-one practice because that is the best way to help them achieve the best results when it comes to improving their English especially when it comes to speaking or writing.

Even if a student has no access to one-on-one practice, an admirable alternative would be small group sessions or roundtables of no more than five students so they can get as much individualized attention as possible. The key point to make is that one-on-one or small group practice will help the individual student advance a lot more in English than in a large classroom setting. Large classroom settings can benefit ESL students in some ways especially for socialized learning and group practice, but it lacks that kind of one-on-one correction and encouragement that a foreign language student often needs to succeed.

If the English student in question doesn’t have the funds or the time to research private options, it would be ideal for the school or learning institution providing his class study to provide him or her with some outside options for additional learning, especially online if the student is able to do so. While funding private one-on-one learning may not be possible for the academic institution, to improve their students’ performance, they should do their best to make one-on-one tutoring as cost effective as possible.

If it cannot be offered within the institution, then it should be subsidized as much as possible and referred back to other trusted learning centers or individual teachers who will do a great job in assisting the student in one-on-one tutoring. One-on-one learning, especially for speaking and/or writing purposes is extremely effective for a number of reasons. The greater amount of attention, the ability to correct the student quickly and show them how to fix their errors, and the ability to have a longer, more in-depth conversation or writing session is key to helping the student than they could receive instead in the classroom setting.

To have the ability to study the language on a one-to-one basis is a key part of becoming a better English speaker and writer. To have an hour or two of one-on-one practice will do wonders for the student’s self-confidence, their comprehension, and their ability to cover more topics than they would in a class with 25 other students. The next best option that the student has without spending any money is to attend a language exchange event if available in their city or town where they can practice English with another speaker in exchange for sharing their native language with another student or more. These language exchanges are a great way for language students to meet each other, practice their native and foreign languages, and build a community of like-minded students. While these are not specifically one-on-one practice events, you are likely to be speaking to one other person at a time as you rotate to talk to other people at the event as they likely go for a few hours each time.

By practicing one-on-one, you are not able to hide from your language ability and will put them to the test. Overall, that is an excellent way to develop your English proficiency and to do it more quickly. In a classroom, you can hide as other students answer questions and do work on shared projects but there is no hiding in a one-on-one practice session. While it can be intimidating to work with a teacher or a peer one-on-one, it’s not only good for the student’s English language skills but also for their personal development and socialization.

An added bonus to this is that the student can learn from a native speaker perhaps or a person from a country where the language is native to them. Lastly, with the advent of digital learning, it is now easier to work online with a native speaker from halfway around the world in English or another language for free with a peer or with a paid tutor for anywhere from thirty minutes to a couple of hours each week.

Group lessons and classroom learning are key to being better at English but if you really want to develop your proficiency to the highest level, you should consider learning and practicing on a one-on-one basis as much as possible. You’ll be putting yourself out there and may mistakes but that is a natural part of any learning process and you will definitely grow as a result of being accountable for both your failures and your successes as a language learner.

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English Corner – The Rules of Capitalization

Understanding the rules of capitalization is a key part of taking your English grammar understanding to a very advanced level. If you are able to know when, where, and how to capitalize letters and words correctly, you will definitely be ahead of most other English learners.

Some people may tell you that there are far more than just the main ten rules of capitalization in English, which may in fact be true. Other folks may say that there are only three rules of capitalization, and they may also be correct. However, The truth is that, depending on how you organize the rules, the rules of capitalization may be many or few based on how narrow or broad your definition of these rules are.

Most of the things we capitalize in English are what we refer to as ‘proper nouns.’ They are the names of specific and unique things.

  • If you are talking about one specific mountain (Mt. Fuji), state (Idaho) or street (Atlantic Avenue), use a capital letter for every word in the name.
  • However, when you are talking about a common thing of which there are many of them- like a mountain, a state or a street – you don’t have to use a capital letter for those words.

It’s important to remember as well that Capital letters are not used for articles (a, an, the) or for prepositions (of, on, for, in, to, with, etc.).

The Ten Main Rules

  1. Names or titles of people

This one may seem obvious, but there’s also a catch. Of course, you capitalize the first letters of a person’s first, middle and last names (John Quincy Adams), but you also capitalize suffixes (Jr., the Great, Princess of Power, etc.) and titles.

Titles can be as simple as Mr., Mrs. or Dr., but they also apply to situations wherein you address a person by his or her position as though it’s their first name. For example, when we talk about President Lincoln, we are using his role as though it were a part of his name. We don’t always capitalize the word president. Indeed, we could say, “During the Civil War, President Lincoln was the president of the United States.”

Another way to look at capitalizing job titles is to look at the position of the job title in the sentence in reference to the person’s name.

  • You should capitalize the title when it comes immediately before or after someone’s name.
  • You don’t have to capitalize the job title if it comes after the word “the.”

For example:  “Dr. Rogers was the Cardiac Surgeon.” “The cardiac surgeon allowed me to come into the room and observe the patient.”

  1. Names of mountains, mountain ranges, hills and volcanoes

Again, we’re talking about specific places. The word ‘hill’ is not a proper noun, but Bunker Hill is because it’s the name of one specific hill. Use a capital letter to begin each word in the name of a mountain (Mt. Olympus), mountain range (the Appalachians), hill (San Juan Hill) or volcano (Mt. Vesuvius).

  1. Names of bodies of water (rivers, lakes, oceans, seas, streams and creeks)

From here, it gets pretty easy. The same rules that apply to mountain names also apply to water names. A river is just a river, but the Mississippi River is a proper noun and must be capitalized, just like Lake Erie, the Indian Ocean and the Dead Sea.

  1. Names of buildings, monuments, bridges and tunnels

Man-made structures also often have names. The White House, The Eiffel Tower, The Statue of Liberty, The Golden Gate Bridge and The Lincoln Tunnel are a few good examples.

  1. Street names

It’s necessary to capitalize both the actual name part of the name (Capital) and the road part of the name (Boulevard); both are necessary for forming the entire name of the street (Capital Boulevard).

  1. Schools, colleges and universities

All of the words in the name of the educational institution should be capitalized. For example, Harvard University, Wilkesboro Elementary School, Cape Fear Community College.

  1. Political divisions (continents, regions, countries, states, counties, cities and towns)

As is the case with regions of a country, the divisions may not always be political, but you get the idea. When you refer to New England, the Midwest, the Pacific Northwest or the South as a region (as opposed to a compass direction), you capitalize it. Also, continents (South America), countries (Belgium), states (Wisconsin), counties (Prince William County), cities (London) and towns (Lizard Lick) get capitalized.

  1. Titles of books, movies, magazines, newspapers, articles, songs, plays and works of art

This one’s a little tricky when ‘and,’ articles or prepositions are involved. If ‘the’ is the first word in the given name of a work, it must be capitalized (The Washington Post, The Glass Menagerie). If ‘a’ or ‘an’ is the first word, it too is capitalized (A Few Good Men), and if a preposition leads the way, you guessed it: Capitalized (Of Mice and Men). However, if any of these words come in the middle of the title, it is not capitalized.

  1. The first letter in a sentence

The last two rules are easy. Always capitalize the first letter of a sentence. If the sentence is a quotation within a larger sentence, capitalize it, but only if it’s a complete sentence. If it’s merely a phrase that fits neatly into the larger sentence, it does not require capitalization. Study the following two examples for clarification:

  • The waiter said, “My manager will be here shortly,” but he never came.
  • The waiter told us that his manager would “be here shortly,” but he never came.
  1. The pronoun ‘I’

It’s only necessary to capitalize other pronouns when they begin a sentence, but ‘I’ is always capitalized.

Remembering the Rules

How can you possibly remember all these rules? Well, first of all, you should ask yourself three questions:

  • Is this the first letter in a sentence? If the answer is yes, capitalize.
  • Is this the pronoun I? If yes, capitalize.
  • Am I using a name that someone gave to this thing or person? If yes, capitalize.

And if you want to remember all the specific categories, try memorizing one of the following sentences.

  • “For Bob Barker, the price is wrong sometimes,” Adam says.
  • Susan Sarandon bought my wife fancy toilet paper in Boston.

The first letter of each word stands for a category:

  • F– First letter in a sentence
  • B– Buildings (and other man-made structures)
  • B– Borders (of regions, states, countries, etc.)
  • T– Titles
  • P– People
  • I– I
  • S– Schools
  • W– Water
  • M– Mountains
  • S– Streets

Other Examples of Capitalization

First Word of a Sentence

The cat is sleeping in my bedroom.

Where did I put that book?

Hey! It’s great to see you! How have you been?

Names and Personal Pronouns

My favorite author is Jonathan Franzen.

Tom and Diane met at Jill’s house.

Have you met my dog, Barry?

The First Word of a Full Quote

Mario asked, “What is everyone doing this weekend?”

Stacy answered, “My sister and I are going to the theme park.”

Days, Months, and Holidays

I hate Mondays!

Harry’s birthday is in July.

Oh no! I forgot about Mother’s Day!

Words in Formal Titles

Lord of Rings is better than A Song of Ice and Fire.

The first movie of the series is Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

Cities, Countries, Nationalities, and Languages

English is made up of many languages, including Latin, German, and French.

My mother is Italian, and my father is German.

The capital of Ethiopia is Addis Ababa.

Time Periods and Events

Most of the World War I veterans have now passed away.

In the Middle Ages, poor hygiene was partly responsible for the spreading of the black death.

High school history students often enjoy studying the social changes that took place during the Roaring Twenties in the United States.

In this article, it is not just the ten main rules of capitalization that we have to be aware of. There are many other additional rules where you can use capitalization on a consistent basis. The examples shown above should help you, the reader, to understand when and where these words can be capitalized and to notice a pattern in terms of how these rules can be applied. 

Overall, capitalization is a very tricky topic to fully master but if you know the rules and you know when not to capitalize at all just for definite / indefinite articles along with prepositions, you will be well on your way to having a handle on this advanced grammar topic. It’s important to not be overwhelmed by all of the rules out there including the additional ones that were highlighted here. Starting off with the ten main rules of capitalization is a sufficient enough starting point to focus on. With Capitalization, you do not want to bite off more than you can chew and while the ‘additional rules’ of this grammar topic are important, it’s best to focus on the main rules such as geographic features, names of people / titles, the first letter in any sentence, etc. Good luck!

English Corner – Prepositions of Place

In this ‘English Corner’ blog post, we are going to go deeper into the topic of prepositions, which we have covered previously but I want to highlight the specific ‘prepositions of place’ that are a large part of this expansive grammatical topic. The thing to keep in mind when reading this article is to focus mainly on the examples listed below to see how, when, and why these preposition words such as ‘at, on, and in’ are used. There are different reasons that are given when it comes to each of the ‘preposition of place’ words and how they end up being used in a sentence. Later on, I will highlight the ‘prepositions of time’ and how they are utilized when compared to the ‘prepositions of place.’

When it comes to ‘prepositions of place’, the main point of this type of prepositions is to show where something or someone is located, usually in a physical sense. The three major words that are ‘prepositions of place’ are ‘at, in, and on’, which also come up the most frequently in terms of usage. ‘At’ is used in a very specific manner in terms of being referred to for a specific location, place, or position.

Here are some examples where we can use ‘at’ as a ‘preposition of place’ in the right way:

  1. I was at Jonathan’s birthday party last night.
  2. We lived together at 8 Drury Lane for two years.
  3. They danced with each other for the first time at the Senior Prom.

When you use the prepositional word ‘on’, the meaning and usage for it is a little bit different than ‘at.’ For ‘on’, you’re going to use it to indicate the position of an object, thing, or person on a horizontal or vertical surface such as a desk, table, floor, etc.

Here are some examples of how we can the preposition ‘on’ in a sentence:

  1. The boy is playing on the playground.
  2. The basketball was bouncing on the court surface.
  3. I put my cowboy hat on the kitchen table.

Similarly to ‘at’, ‘on’ can also be used for positioning when it comes to streets, roads, and avenues.

Example: I used to live on Beacon Street.

The last major ‘preposition of place’ would have to be ‘in’ which is quite frequent in its’ usage. In terms of its’ meaning, the preposition ‘in’ is used for something or someone that is enclosed or surrounded.

Here are some examples of how we can use the preposition ‘in’ in a sentence:

  1. The check is in the mail.
  2. The letters are in the mailbox.
  3. She is in the high-speed train going home from work.

In addition to discussing enclosed or closed off places and spaces, the preposition ‘in’ can also refer to a position within a general area such as a town, city, country, region, country, continent, etc.

Example: I used to live in Istanbul, Turkey but now I live in London, England.

It’s important that the average English learner be made aware that there are many more prepositions of place besides the main ones, which are ‘at, in, on.’ There are many other prepositions of place words, and it would be an exhaustive list to go over the meaning and usage of each one. However, it would be better to highlight another couple of preposition of place words that come up frequently but not as often as ‘in, on, at.’ The other ‘preposition of place’ words would be after, among, behind, between, in front of, next to, beside, by, over, above, under, below, and beneath. Here are some examples of sentences that use these other preposition of place that were just mentioned above:

  1. The dog jumped over the wheelbarrow.
  2. He was hanging out by the pool on his off day from work.
  3. She checked under her bed to see if her pet gerbil was there.

There are dozens of examples that could be made with prepositions of place. However, it’s best to focus mainly on the particular prepositions of place such as ‘at, on, in’ and to understand clearly when, why, and how we use them correctly. While a sub-topic within ‘prepositions’, knowing what prepositions of place are and how to use them correctly in the grammatical sense will help you to become a better English learner and student.

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If you’re looking to improve your English through private lessons with me on a one-to-one basis please check out my ‘Learn English with Ben‘ page here: https://benjweinberg.com/learn-english-with-ben/

You can also check out my ‘English Grammar’ courses on Teachable.com here: https://benjweinberg.com/my-grammar-courses/

English Corner – Zero and First Conditionals

These are the first two types of conditionals to be aware of when it comes to studying this particular grammar topic of conditionals. The ‘zero’ conditional is formed when it comes to discussing general truths and things that can happen under certain circumstances. It’s important to know how to form the ‘zero’ conditional, and how to create sentences using it.

The second type of conditional to study is the ‘first’ conditional and is used for discussing possibilities that can occur in the present or in the future. I will be writing about the first conditional and how its’ made along with its’ usage in English grammar. The ‘zero’ and ‘first’ conditionals are the most frequently used and it’s important to be aware of how to use them and when to use them in sentences.

When you form a ‘zero’ conditional sentence, there are two parts or clauses to it that make it a complete sentence. The first clause in the sentence is the ‘if’ clause and the second clause is the main clause that completes the sentence. The ‘if’ clause usually begins at the beginning of the sentence followed by the main clause. It’s important to note that you don’t need to begin the ‘if’ clause with if but rather use ‘when’ instead to start the sentence.

Here are some examples of how to form and put the zero conditional into action:

Example:

If you cool water to 0 degrees Celsius, it freezes.

When you use the ‘if’ clause first, you’re going to have to put a comma there before using the main clause which in this case is ‘it freezes.’

However, if you were to put the ‘if’ clause second in the sentence, you don’t need to use a comma at all to connect the sentence’s clauses together.

Example:

Water freezes if you cool water to 0 degrees Celsius.

When it comes to the grammatical basis for an ‘if clause’ sentence, you’re going to want to follow this formula of formation.

‘if clause’ – ‘if’ + subject + simple present verb = complete sentence

‘main clause’ – subject + simple present verb = complete sentence

Now that you know how to form the ‘zero’ conditional, it’s important to see some other examples in order to get a better sense of how this particular conditional is used.

Examples:

  • If you heat the snow, it melts.
  • If it rains a lot, the flowers get wet.
  • Forest fires don’t start if there is no drought.
  • If you cross time zones, the time changes.

When it comes to the first conditional, you have to make sure to follow a similar formula to the zero conditional but with keeping a few differences in mind. The first conditional or conditional type 1 is used for talking about current possibilities or those that are possible to happen in the near future. Similar to the zero conditional, the first conditional has a basic structure that should be memorized.

A first conditional sentence has two clauses which consist of the ‘if’ clause and the main clause. Instead of simply addressing the simple present tense as the zero conditional does, the first conditional can reference the future with the simple future tense in its’ sentences. The ‘if’ clause can either come first or second in the structure of a first conditional sentence; it’s really up to your personal preference as the learner. You can have the main clause go first instead or have it come second after the ‘if’ clause. The most important thing to remember is that the first conditional must address the future primarily and not the present as the zero conditional does.

Here below are a few examples of the first conditional in action:

Example:

  • If you do your homework, you will pass the class.

The ‘if’ clause goes first in this sentence followed by the main clause and the use of the future simple tense with ‘will.’

Example:

  • You will catch the train if you run fast.

In this first conditional sentence, the main clause goes before the ‘if’ clause, and there is also no comma used because of this change in the sentence structure. You should notice that ‘will’ and the simple future tense is still being used regardless of which clause is used first or second.

Example:

  • I will dance Salsa if I hear the music.

For this particular example, you should note that there are two different verbs being used for their respective clauses. ‘Dance’ comes with the main clause while ‘hear’ goes with the ‘if’ clause for the second part of the sentence. Since the sentence begins with the main clause, you don’t need the comma to make a complete sentence.

Now that you know how to form the ‘first’ conditional, it’s important to see some other examples in order to get a better sense of how this particular conditional is used.

Examples:

  • If you drop the glass, it will break.
  • If the airplane is full, I will leave.
  • We will not go to the movies if the tickets cost $12 each.
  • They will not leave Disneyland if they do not get a refund.

Conditionals are a popular English grammar topic and it’s important to know how and when to use them with your sentence. The zero and first conditionals are only the first two types of conditionals that can be used in English. For the next ‘English Corner’ blog post, I will be focusing on the other types of conditionals that are sure to come up in your English grammar studies. Study the examples above and you should start seeing some progress with this particular grammar topic!

English Corner – Idioms

If you are looking for a mainstay of most living languages, you should look no further than the concept of the ‘Idiom.’ The Idiom is the closest thing that humans have in terms of a universal connector among the diversity inherent in all forms of spoken language. The most important thing to understand about the idiom is that you are not supposed to take them literally but you are still supposed to take them seriously. There’s a deeper, implied meaning beyond any idiom regardless of the language it’s spoken in. This is especially the case in the English language where there are hundreds, if not thousands of idioms that can be used for any matter or circumstance.

Idioms can be extremely diverse in their range and can refer to any amount of unique subjects or topics. Idioms can also be used very locally, regionally, or nationally depending upon the language and the culture it comes from. A dialect, jargon, or accent can also lend to the idioms used by a certain group of people who share common interests and/or beliefs. Idioms can be used in reference to business, politics, science, art, music, and other parts of daily life.

It can be tough to decipher which idioms are the most used in the English language but there are a few of them that stand out in terms of their popularity and their different ways of usage. Most people who speak English are likely to be familiar with these idioms below or have used them themselves.

Examples

  1. Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.

Meaning: Don’t get ahead of yourself before things are accomplished.

  1. Have a chip of my shoulder.

Meaning: You’re bothered or annoyed by something that won’t go away.

  1. Don’t jump to conclusions.

Meaning: While not taking this statement literally, you shouldn’t pass judgment on someone or something before you receive all of the facts.

  1. A dime a dozen.

Meaning: Very common, easily found anywhere and everywhere.

  1. An ace in the hole.

Meaning: A secret advantage or a benefit that no one else knows about and is going to be used soon against an opponent or adversary.

Sentences

  1. The science project isn’t finished yet because we still have to build the volcano. Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.
  2. I don’t like critics doubting my basketball skills. They really give me a chip on my shoulder.
  3. We don’t know whether or not he’s telling the truth about his new invention, Let’s not jump to conclusions.
  4. These Amazon ‘Alexa’ AI devices are a dime a dozen. You can find them everywhere and they are really popular.
  5. I have Matt Ryan as my starting Quarterback in Fantasy Football this weekend. He’s my ace in the hole.

Idioms can refer to someone’s actions and the consequences of those actions highlighted in example idioms such as ‘Pay the piper’ and ‘Rub somebody the wrong way.’ Idioms can refer to people in general when you say that they are ‘sick as a dog’ or ‘six feet underground.’ Lastly, colors in English can often become part of idioms themselves such as when you describe somebody as feeling upset or depressed as having ‘the blues.’ You know that the person isn’t actually ‘blue’ in their color but rather they have ‘the blues’, which is referred to as when somebody isn’t feeling well. There is a whole musical genre that is devoted to this kind of mellow music called the ‘Blues.’ ‘Out of the blue’ is another example of a color kind of idiom that refers to something happening when you least expect it to.

It can be very difficult to get the hang of idioms especially if your proficiency level is at a low level. First, you need to be able to conjugate verbs, have a good grasp on the vocabulary by knowing a lot of different words, and then you need to be able to understand the meaning behind the idioms and use them with other native speakers in the right way. The idioms being used depends upon the region, the culture, and the social group you find yourself in. That is why there are such a sheer variety of idioms that can be used in any given situation regardless of the language that the idiom falls under. Idioms cut across language and cultural barriers and can have similar meanings to each other depending upon the situation.

The best way in which to comprehend and start using English idioms is to talk with native speakers who will use them throughout a conversation even if they don’t realize it at times. The more conversations you have with English speakers, the more idioms you will pick up on and remember. They will most likely want to help you out so do not be afraid to ask questions if you don’t understand the meaning of the idiom or why it’s being used in a certain sentence.

Before you start using idioms yourself, you want to be absolutely clear that you’re using the idiom within the right context for the right meaning. It can be a bit embarrassing if you tell your American friend who is starring in a Broadway play that you want him to ‘jump the gun’ instead of to ‘break a leg.’ Idioms take time to understand, use, and master but they are an important part of learning any language, including English.
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If you have liked what I have written in this ‘English Corner’ post, and you are interested in improving your English language skills whether its’ with speaking, writing, or just boosting your knowledge of grammar, I would be happy to help you reach your language learning goals. Check out Learn English With Ben to book a private lesson with me today!

English Corner – Imperatives

Using the ‘imperative’ is similar to using the bare infinitive and has the same form as the singular or plural ‘you’ when it comes to forming it. The imperative clause is used for many reasons and is flexible in terms of its’ usage. Some of the reasons for using the imperative include when you want to tell somebody else to do something, giving them advice, making suggestions, creating requests, enforcing commands, or handing out orders and/or instructions. This means that you can tell people do things or to not do things and you are usually not referring to anyone in particular when you give out these imperatives.

There is no specific subject indicated when it comes to the imperative form of sentences. It’s rather about addressing who is listening to you whether it’s one listener or multiple listeners, and the speaker is addressing a general subject rather than a specific subject. The base form of the verb in its’ present form is usually the most common way to create an imperative sentence. You can make the imperative as direct as possible or make it more indirect as to not hurt someone’s feelings, which will make him or her less likely to do something for you.

Let us take a look at some of the reasons why we use the imperatives as mentioned earlier as well as cite some specific examples when it comes to the reasons being used.

  1. To give advice or suggestions

Examples:

-Go to the gym three times a week to lose weight.

-Eat fruits and vegetables daily to stay healthy.

  1. To give directions or instructions

Examples:

-Turn right at the street corner and walk 400 meters to the store.

-Cut the tomatoes into small pieces and add them to the guacamole.

  1. To give orders or commands

Examples:

-Fire the missiles!

-Shoot the ball!

-Be silent now!

  1. To give warnings

Examples:

-Put your cell phone on to airplane mode.

-Wear your seatbelt.

  1. To make polite requests

Examples:

-Please eat your peas and carrots, Karen.

-Be quiet during the movie please.

  1. To offer invitations

Examples:

-Join us for the birthday party, John.

-Come with him to the dance tonight.

It’s important to not refer to the subject as ‘you’ regardless if your imperative is singular or plural in its nature. Instead, it would be better to refer to the specific individual by their name or be more general than that by omitting the subject totally from the sentence.

If you really want your ‘imperative’ to stand out, it would be best to add the word ‘do’ to the beginning of your command, request, or instruction. The word ‘do’ really adds emphasis to your imperative and helps to create a sense of urgency that is not easily replicated with other word substitutes. The word ‘do’ has a powerful meaning in the English language that makes it an important part of mastering imperatives. Here are a few examples that uses ‘do’ in an imperative sentence effectively:

Examples:

  1. Do be kind and gentle to your grandmother.
  2. Do the right thing and help that old lady carry her groceries home.
  3. Do finish your exam on time!

Having been able to use the word ‘do’ in an imperative sentence in the ‘positive’ form, you should also be able to use ‘do’ in its’ negative form. In order to use ‘do’ negatively, you need to add the word ‘not’ right after ‘do’ to create ‘do not’ as the beginning of the imperative sentence. You can also combine ‘do not’ together to create ‘don’t’ to create an even more powerful and emphatic command or request. Here are some examples that you can use with ‘do not’ or ‘don’t’ to create imperative sentences.

Examples:

  1. Do not smoke inside the restaurant.
  2. Don’t give alcohol to underage minors.
  3. Don’t loiter in front of the grocery store.

An important thing to remember when it comes to using imperatives correctly is not to use them if you’re addressing your employer, a family member or relative, or a police officer / authority figure. Imperatives are very direct and you can come off as being harsh or rude in English if you don’t understand when and where to use this type of sentence.

It’s necessary to know who you’re talking with and how well you know them before you start to give out a formal request, a dire command, or a stern warning. Hopefully, with this edition of ‘English Corner’, you’ll know a lot more about ‘imperatives’ and how to form and use them correctly in polite conversation.

English Corner – Future Perfect Tense

We’re going back to the future for this edition of ‘English Corner.’ The ‘future perfect tense’ is our last main form of the perfect tense. The future form of the perfect tense is the most specific in terms of its’ usage and formation. While not the most important grammar tense to learn, if you want to be able to describe actions in the future that have already been completed, it’s necessary to have a good working knowledge of the ‘future perfect tense’ and to be able to use it proficiently. First, let’s take a look at its’ formation and usage before looking at some examples of the future perfect tense in action.

The future perfect tense is a very specific grammatical tense and is only used in a few situations. The 1st situation in which it is used is to describe how long an action will take until some point and time in the future, regardless if its’ near or far from the present time. The 2nd situation is when it’s used to describe at what time or point will a specific action be finished in the future.

Often times, the future perfect tense is used in conjunction with the present simple tense in order to form a grammatically accurate sentence. It’s important to note that when using the future perfect tense, you should have a good knowledge of how to utilize days, weeks, months, years, and other time-related vocabulary in order to be successful in making these kinds of sentences.

Let’s take a look at some examples of the future perfect tense utilizing the simple present tense + the word ‘for’ to describe the length of time in which a specific action is being taken.

Examples

  • When we finish our group project, it will have taken us three weeks total.
  • At five o’clock, I will have worked in this office for eight hours straight.

A good ‘future perfect’ sentence should include a future indicative word, which deals with a period of time such as ‘by.’ This is imperative because you can then describe an action being done by a certain time in the future but being more specific with using ‘by’ to hold yourself or other subjects to a general deadline whether it’s on an hourly, daily, weekly timetable.

Examples

  • By the time I’m 30 years old, I will have completed my Masters’ degree.
  • By next Tuesday, Your boss will have needed you to finish your environmental report for the office.

In addition, it should also be pointed out that the future perfect tense is formed with a combination of the simple future tense with verbs like ‘to be’. In the future perfect tense, ‘to be’ becomes ‘will be’ combined along with the past participle in the regular form (verb + -ed) to go after the verb being used to complete the sentence.

Here are some other examples when the future perfect tense is being used in the positive form:

Examples

  • Jane will have cooked dinner by 7 PM tonight.
  • We will have left the stadium before the lightning storm comes.
  • By Christmas time, parents will have bought presents for their children.

If you would like to shorten the word ‘will’ and combine it with the subject phrase, you can do so quite easily. All you have to do is change ‘will’ to ‘ll’ and put the subject word (I, we) together with ‘ll and then make the future perfect sentence as you normally would.

Examples

  • I’ll have studied the English grammar tenses for many months before taking the TOEFL exam.
  • They’ll have left China by the time you arrive in Japan.

In order to make the future perfect tense ‘negative’ in its formation, you simply need to put the word ‘not’ in between the future indicative word of ‘will’ and the verb ‘to have’, and then the past participle would follow afterwards towards the end of the sentence. You can also make the negative form of the future perfect tense contracted by combining ‘will’ and ‘not’ together to form ‘won’t.’ It’s all a matter of preference but if you’re choosing to use this grammatical tense in formal settings, you should err on the side of caution and use ‘will not’ instead of ‘won’t.’

Examples

  • I will not have surprised her at the birthday party because she already knew about it ahead of time.
  • She won’t have helped me out with my paper because she’s been busy doing other things.
  • It will not have stopped snowing by the time I leave my meeting at 9 PM.

When you have to put the future perfect tense into the question form, you simply need to place the word ‘will’ before the subject word especially if you’re focusing on simple yes or no questions. English learners should not hesitate to use the future perfect tense with ‘Wh-‘ based questions because that is acceptable in its’ formation and usage as well.

Examples (Yes or No – Questions)

  • Will I have improved my test scores by next semester?
  • Will it have snowed in New Hampshire by December?
  • Will you have told the truth to the Grand Jury for the next trial?

Examples (Wh – Questions)

  • Why will he have got married to Luisa before this Fall?
  • When will she have been in Colombia for two months?
  • How will you have met your girlfriend by tonight?

During those times when we think about ourselves, other people and the actions that we take in the future, we need to be able to understand, use, and master the future perfect tense. While these actions may be completed, we need to have some insight into what circumstances did these actions occur especially when it comes to time and place. To project ourselves into the future, we need the future perfect tense to make that happen.

The future perfect tense can make us reflect upon an action or an event that will be completed sometime into the future and beyond the present, but it’s not certain as to when that will happen. Using time expressions are a necessity with the future perfect tense, so make sure that you practice a lot so you can be able to merge these two grammatical concepts together to form functional and unique sentences.

English Corner – Past Perfect Tense

Now that we’ve gone over the present perfect tense with the last post, let’s go back into the past. I’m going to cover the how, when, and why’s of when we use the past perfect tense and how to do so with the correct form and usage. While not the most well know or often used grammatical tense, by improving your knowledge and understanding of the ‘past perfect tense’, you’ll be able to take your English proficiency to new heights. Remember this blog post in the future because it may help you for years to come.

The past perfect tense goes deeper than other past tenses in that you’re going to be referring to two separate yet interrelated events that occurred at some point in the past but at different times and places. The past perfect tense, like other past tenses, refers to an action, event, or thing that took place at a time earlier than now or in the present. The past perfect tense goes further in that it connects two events in the past and ties them together because they are somehow interrelated to some degree. This grammar tense refers to one past event happening before the other event and it’s usually clear which event happened first and which event happened second.

When it comes to the past perfect tense, the first event will be mentioned at the beginning of the sentence and then the second event will be mentioned towards the end of the same sentence and is noted as having happened after the first event.

Examples

  1. Alex had gone out to eat dinner when his phone rang suddenly.
  2. When they had arrived to the birthday party, the cake was already being eaten.
  3. She was already exhausted at 10 o’clock that night because she had studied for the Chemistry exam all day.
  4. You had finished the 5K race when I was just getting started.

Forming the past perfect tense for usage in sentences is quite simple. There is always going to be two parts to forming this particular grammar tense that you should be aware of. Firstly, you’re going to use the verb ‘to have’ in the past tense form, which would change into the word had. Right after the word ‘had’, you’re going to add the past participle of the main verb to be used in the heart of the sentence.

As listed in the examples above, the ‘had + past participle’ combination should come one right after the other to form the past perfect grammar tense. You can use verbs like started, studied, finished, danced, etc. to go along with the past tense form of ‘to have.’ There are only some slight changes to be made to the past perfect tense when it comes to the negative or question form of this grammatical tense. I’ll also use another example of the ‘positive’ form of the past perfect tense to compare the three versions together.

Example – Positive

  1. I had realized my mistake in the equation but it was too late to change.

Example – Negative

  1. John hadn’t thought that it was a big deal to skip the gym this week.

Example – Question

  1. Had they worked hard enough to earn the Nobel Peace Prize? (+)
  2. Hadn’t you sung before with the city choir before tonight’s performance? (-)

It’s quite common when it comes to the negative form of the ‘past perfect tense’ to contract ‘had not’ into ‘hadn’t’ to express it. It’s not obligatory to contract the negative form of the verb ‘to have’ but it’s quite common to use especially if the sentence is informal in nature. In the negative question form of the ‘past perfect tense’, you can also be free to contract the ‘to have’ verb if you feel that it is necessary although it is not mandatory to do.

The word ‘had’, positive or negative form, will always go at the beginning of the sentence if it is in the form of a question for the past perfect tense. While that’s a lot to keep in mind, if you follow the examples listed above for positive, negative, and question form, you’ll be able to catch on quickly in terms of the structure and usage of the past perfect tense.

The last thing to keep in mind is that similar to the ‘present perfect tense’, the past perfect tense also makes usage of the word ‘just’ to describe events that ‘just’ happened in the past recently and could be used to relate to another event in the same sentence.

Examples

  1. I just had put on some coffee when my friend arrived to the house.
  2. The airplane had just departed when I came to the airport gate.

The past perfect tense can be used under a specific circumstance and it can be quite valuable to master when describing multiple events that occurred recently. When it comes to a historical timeline to study or errands that your close friend ran during the day that he wants to tell you about, a working knowledge of the past perfect tense in English could help you in a number of ways. By understanding the structure, the forms, and the usage of this grammatical tense, you should be able to pick it up yourself to be used in polite conversation or for your next story.

 

English Corner – Present Perfect Tense

While not the most widely used or well-known grammar tense in the English language, the ‘perfect’ tense does come up every now and then in either your writing, speaking, or listening skills. It’s important to understand both the usage of the ‘perfect tense’ as well as the forming of this grammar tense. We’ll begin this series of the ‘perfect tense’ with its’ usage and formation in the present. In the next two posts, we’ll then dive into the past and future forms and uses of the ‘perfect tense.’ When you get the basic grammar tenses down as I have gone over in past ‘English Corner’ posts, you can move onto more challenging and specifically used tenses such as the ‘perfect tense.’

It may be surprising to teach this right off the bat but the present perfect tense helps to create a link between the past and the present. In a present perfect sentence, you are going to be describing an action or an event that has happened before but it isn’t certain whether that action or event is ongoing. When you use the present perfect tense, you are going to want to focus on the result or conclusion of an action rather than if it’s still continuing or not.

There are five main circumstances in which you can use the present perfect tense. You can do so when discussing an action or situation, which began in the past and has continued into the present. You can talk about an action that was undertaken during a period of time and that has not yet been finished. You could also discuss a repeated action or event that occurred over an unspecified amount of time between the past up until now.

You can also insert the word ‘just’ into your sentence to indicate that an action or event was completed very recently in the past to emphasize how close it was to the present. Lastly, you can describe an action or event that simply took place and was completed without mentioning the time or date at all. If you want to be more detailed about asking why, when, where, what, how, who, etc., you’re going to want to focus on using the simple past tense instead so as to not to confuse these two distinct tenses. In order to get a better idea of these five different uses for the present perfect tense, here are some examples to remember.

Actions Started In The Past that Continue Into The Present

Examples:

  • We haven’t lived in our house for years.
  • He has worked in the high school for decades.
  • Have you played the guitar since you were a teenager?

The Time Period Hasn’t Been Completed Yet

Examples:

  • I have traveled very far this week.
  • They have danced a lot tonight.
  • It has snowed a little bit this winter.

Repeated Actions Between The Past and Now (Unknown Period)

Examples:

  • We have seen The Terminator three times.
  • I have been on that roller coaster ride multiple times.
  • She has visited her parents occasionally.

Completed Actions In The Very Recent Past – ‘Just’

Examples:

  • Have you just eaten dinner?
  • I have just finished my thesis.
  • Has he just left the ballpark?

The Timing of the Action is Not Known or Not Important

Examples:

  • Have you been to Washington DC?
  • Somebody has eaten my lunch.
  • You have studied many foreign languages.

Ultimately, it’s important to remember that additional words like ‘just’, ‘since’, ‘for’, and ‘still’ may pop up every now and then in your present perfect tense sentences depending upon which of the five uses you are utilizing this specific grammar tense for.

When it comes to forming the present perfect tense, there is an actual formula towards creating the right form that each English learner should be aware of. There are two elements to the present perfect tense. The first is the right form of the auxiliary verb represented by the verb to have in the present tense. The second element is represented by using the past participle of the main verb with the base verb + ed. For some examples, the past participle of these regular verbs could be danced, finished, worked, etc. The two elements will also go together when the base verb is irregular regardless of the circumstances.

Positive Form – Example

  1. He has traveled to Japan.

(Subject + verb ‘to have’ + past participle)

Negative Form – Example

  1. She has not traveled to Brazil.

(Subject + verb ‘to have + not’ + past participle)

Question Form – Example

  1. Have they traveled to Colombia?

(Verb ‘to have’ + subject + past participle)

Negative Question Form – Example

  1. Hasn’t he traveled to Japan?

(Verb ‘to have + not’ + subject + past participle)

To finish off this entry on the ‘present perfect’ tense, I’d like to leave my readers with an additional example of how to use a simple verb and express that word in the positive, negative, and question forms by using the present perfect tense. You can use these examples to help yourself when it comes time for you as the student to use this particular grammar tense in your everyday speaking and writing activities as an English language student.

As always, if you have any questions or comments about my ‘English Corner’ posts, please do let me know. Next time, I’ll be covering the ‘past perfect’ grammar tense, which is quite similar to the ‘present perfect’ tense but with a few differences to highlight. In the meantime, keep studying hard and do check out my previous ‘English Corner’ posts on my website.

To Run – Present Perfect Tense

Positive Form

  1. I have ran
  2. You have ran
  3. He, She, It has ran
  4. We have ran
  5. You have ran
  6. They have ran

Negative Form

  1. I haven’t ran
  2. You haven’t ran
  3. He, She, It hasn’t ran
  4. We haven’t ran
  5. You haven’t ran
  6. They haven’t ran

Question Form

  1. Have I run?
  2. Have you run?
  3. Has he, she, it ran?
  4. Have we run?
  5. Have you run?
  6. Have they run?

Note: It’s important to remember that the verb ‘to run’ goes from ran to run when it comes to the question form of the ‘present perfect’ tense. Otherwise, in the positive and negative forms of this grammar tense, you will use ‘ran’ instead to describe this particular verb in the ‘present perfect.’ This is a helpful tip to remember for readers if you happen to be confused by this change.

English Corner – Interjections

What is an Interjection? You may reading the title of this blog post and appear to be slightly confused. The concept may sound familiar to you but it’s possible that you may have forgotten the meaning of the word since you left high school English. If you’re learning English as a non-native speaker, you may be even more befuddled. Luckily, if you keep reading on, you’ll discover that ‘Interjections’ are more common than we think they are and play a huge role in English literature. There are also a number of examples when it comes to what are interjections and where they are used in a sentence. If your curiosity has been piqued, keep reading on to find out more about this underrated and underused form of speech.

To answer the question that I posed in the opening paragraph, an Interjection is considered to be one of the eight parts of speech along with nouns, verbs, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, and conjunctions. While interjections are unnecessary to be placed in most sentences and are considered to be the least important part of speech, you can still use it quite effectively to grab the reader’s attention especially when you’re writing a short story or novel.

You need nouns, verbs, and even adjectives to make a complete sentence that makes grammatical sense but you do not an interjection to make that happen. However, to convey the depths of emotion within a sentence, interjections are an important part of speech that must be used in those cases. You can express either emotions or feelings with interjections but they are not as grammatically important as other parts of speech. If you plan on using interjections in academic or professional forms of writing, I would not recommend doing that. Instead, interjections would be perfect for more artistic or creative forms of writing that allow you as the author to express your emotions or feelings to the readers.

When it comes to the placing of interjections within a sentence itself, there are a couple of options for you to consider. It is quite common to put an interjection like “Wow!” or “Oh no!” with an exclamation at the beginning of a sentence to signal that it is a strong emotion.

Examples:

“Oh no! I forgot to do my homework last night!”

“Wow! That was an exciting football match!”

Interjections don’t solely need to be at the beginning of a sentence but can also be found in the middle or at the end of a sentence. Emotions and feelings can be conveyed in any part of a sentence as long as it makes sense within the story or article you’re writing.

Example: So, it’s going to rain today, huh?”

In this case, the interjection here is “huh?” which comes at the end of the sentence to express disappointment or bewilderment that it’s going to rain. When you use ‘huh’ as an interjection in English, it mainly conveys confusion rather than excitement or wonder, which would allow you to place an exclamation point after a different interjection (!) such as wow!

As for an interjection that can go in the middle of a sentence, let’s look at this example below.

Example: “According to what you just told me, my gosh, that’s the most intelligent argument you have ever made.”

You do not need an exclamation point in this case but you should understand that the author of this quote is expressing his sentiment that what the other person just said was very smart and insightful.

Last but not least, interjections can even be their own sentences on their own especially when they are followed by an exclamation mark (!) or a question mark (?). Even though, interjections are very short in length at only one or two words, with the emotion or feeling they convey, it can be its own sentence. The complete thought has already been expressed in terms of the emotion that the narrator or character is feeling. In this rare case, you do not need either a subject or an action to make a complete sentence. Some examples of an interjection making up an entire stand-alone sentence would be “Wow!” “Huh?”, or “Oh gosh!”

If you aren’t clear what interjections are at this point, let me give you some more common examples to help you out.

Examples: Hah, Boo, Ew, Dang, Darn, Gosh, Oh, Oh No, Ouch, Shoot, Uh-Oh, Ugh, Yikes.

There are over hundreds of examples of interjections that you can look up to start using in your own stories or articles. These examples above are just a few of the most commonly used ones that you’ll see in the English language. When it comes to interjections being used within larger sentences, there are some examples that I can show you to improve your comprehension.

Examples:

Yowza! That was a close call with those hooligans.

Hurray! We won the baseball league championship.

It was a great celebration, my goodness, you missed out on it.

Oh no! I forgot to do my Science project that was due today.

Boo! The creepy ghost scared my friends and I away from the haunted house.

Remember, it’s important to know when and where these interjections should be used. Academic and formal forms of writing should have no place for interjections because you are trying to convey facts and relevant information rather than emotions and feelings. However, when it comes to artistic or creative forms of writing, you can use as many interjections as you want.

While interjections are considered to be an unpopular and relatively unknown form of speech, they are actually used quite frequently and are very popular when you think about it. During those times when you are texting back and forth with your friends or you need to write a captivating fictional story, interjections play a large role in the English language and shouldn’t be overlooked.

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