Jul 5, How and When to Use SHALL?

How and when should I use the word "shall"?

answer:

In the past "shall" had many more uses, but in modern day non-formal English this is the most typical use:

You can use it in questions and offers, such as:

"Shall we start eating?"

"What shall we do tonight?"

"Let's start, shall we?"

Jul 2, Learn Spoken English

When you learn spoken English there is one very important thing you should keep in mind. Spoken English can actually be
quite different than written English!

Let's take a look at a few of these differences:
For example, when mentioning an unreal condition, you must use "were" instead of "was."

The following sentence is grammatically correct:
"If I were rich I would buy this ship."

In spoken English you could also hear the grammatically incorrect version:
"If I was rich I could buy this ship."

Here is a good example.

This is a sentence you could hear in an informal conversation:

"I was so beat I had hit the sack early."

First, let's clarify what this means:

Beat = an informal way to say "very tired."
Sack = an informal way to say "a bed."
Hit the sack = an informal way to say "went to bed."

Now, if we were to write this sentence,
we would probably phrase it quite differently:

"I was so exhausted I had to go to bed early."

And if you want to make this really pompous and literary:

"I was overpowered with fatigue and was obliged to retire early."

Overpowered = defeated by someone or something stronger.
Fatigue = extreme tiredness.
Obliged = forced to do something.
Retire = go to bed.

Some common examples:
"You" --> "ya"
(For example, "I'll see ya tomorrow." "Going to" --> "gonna"
(For example, "I'm gonna talk with him tomorrow.") "Want to" --> "wanna"
(For example, "Where do you wanna eat?") "Have to"/"Have got to" --> "gotta"
(For example, "We gotta go.") "Going" --> "goin' "
(For example, "I'm goin' home.) "Doing" --> "doin' "
("They are doin' it all wrong.") "What are you" --> "watcha"
(For example, "Whatcha doin'?")These contractions are unacceptable in written English.

In summary, spoken English is indeed quite different than written or formal English. And these are just some of the things you should keep in mind when you learn spoken English.

Jul 3, Free Vocabulary Worksheets

Use these free vocabulary worksheets by yourself (if you are a learner) or with your students (if you are a teacher).

These worksheets practice sentence composition, and they are suitable for beginners. You can use them online.

Vocabulary Worksheet A

Vocabulary Worksheet B
Look at each picture and the bold words above it.Make a sentence to describe the picture using these words.Note that there is more than one correct answer for each picture!There is a list of suggested answers at the end of this page.Dog, happy

Answer:

"The dog is happy."

OR

"The dog seems happy."

(Or any other similar answer.)

Man, books, many

Answer:

"The man has many books."

OR

"This man holds many books."

(Or any other similar answer.)

1) Man, surprised

2) Cake, candle

3) Woman, ball

4) Lady, crying

5) People, clapping

6) Apples, green

7) Apple, red, books

8) Girl, balloons, flowers

9) Family, dinner

10) Bread, baking

1) "The man is very surprised."

2) "There is one candle on the cake."

3) "The ball hit this woman."

4) "This lady is crying."

5) "The people are clapping."

6) "These apples are green."

7) "There is a red apple on the books."

8) "The girl has balloons and some flowers, too."

9) "My family is having dinner now."

10) "She is baking some bread."

1) Bank, money

2) Bed, tidy

3) Heart, broken

4) Trouble, big

5) Cat, butterfly

6) Closet, organized

7) Corner, sitting

8) Box, thinking

9) Armchair, fireplace

10) Refrigerator , empty

1) "He got the money from the bank."

2) "The bed is clean and tidy."

3) "His heart is broken."

4) "He's in big trouble."

5) "The cat is looking at the butterfly."

6) "Her closet is well organized."

7) "The man is sitting at the corner."

8) "This man is thinking about the box."

9) "She is sitting in her armchair by the fireplace."

10) "The refrigerator is empty."

These were some of the free vocabulary worksheets.

Visit the Vocabulary Activities section for many additional activities and exercises.

Jul 3, A Box of Milk or a Carton of Milk?

 

Should we say a "packet of milk" or "box of milk" or "carton"?

 answer:

I'm not familiar with a "packet" of milk, but there are both a "box of milk," and "carton of milk."

These two can have somewhat different meanings:

A carton of milk usually refers to the picture above.

Cartons of milk need to be refrigerated.

A box of milk actually looks more rectangular and can be kept in room temperature.

Jul 9, Fun ESL Games – Make Lessons Fun with ESL Games!

One way to make your lessons more enjoyable is to have a bunch of ESL games you can use. To save you searching the web, here are some of my favorites.Many of the popular TV game shows are syndicated worldwide so students will know them. They can easily be adapted to use with any grammar point or vocabulary theme. Jeopardy is easy to use in class and is great for practicing question forms. You can write the answers, or for more class involvement, you can get your students to write answers for the other team to make questions. Great idea, group work, good fun, and less work for you! Even adults like to move around during long lessons, and with younger students it is even more important to get them active. Games involving mime can be used with vocabulary and are also great if you are teaching progressive tenses. Put the students into teams, get one person to mime something and have the others guess what it is. Another version of this is to have students draw pictures on the board for their team to guess. Instead of a boring quiz, why not make it into a sports game. Draw a plan of a football field on the board and ask teams questions. When a team gets a question right, move the ball one step nearer touchdown! This may take a while as it goes backwards and forwards, just like in a real game. This can be adapted to any sport, simply use the scoring method from the sport instead of giving straight points. My students love this one! Get each team to draw a cartoon character to represent them. Draw a grid of lines across the board and stick each character at the start of the grid. Ask ‘category’ kinds of questions, for example, Name 5 things that are always white. Name 8 things with wheels. Name 5 positive and 5 negative personal characteristics. This is great way to revise vocabulary from a previous class. The first team to write all correct answers moves 2 points along the grid, the second team moves one. The first team to reach the end of the grid are champions! This has different names, but my students called it Two Chairs and it was a great favorite at the end of the lesson. I wouldn’t do this as a warm-up as it can get a little crazy! Two teams, two students sit in chairs with their backs toward the board. The rest of the teams describe or act words you write on the board for their team-mates to guess. First one to guess it gets a point.

When you are playing ESL games you do need to be sure that your students understand the rules and that they know your decision is final! If you use some of these ideas, your students will have fun and learn at the same time.

Jul 2, Free English Grammar Test for Download

In this section you will find a free English grammar test for download.

If you are a student you can use it to test yourself.

If you are a teacher you can use it to test and grade your students.

Tests serve as important tools to monitor progress and see which subjects need review.

The Really Learn English Grammar Test will help you do just that.

The test is divided into five parts.
Each part tests a different skill and equals to 20 points. All four parts add up to 100 points.
(There are 100 questions in total, each question is worth 1 point.) This test is appropriate for students in the intermediate level. The answers to the question are included in the end of the test.Part A—Parts of Speech 1
(I) Pronouns / Verbs(II) Plural Nouns(III) A / An / The(IV) Comparative Adjectives
Part B—Parts of Speech 2
(I) Prepositions—Place(II) Prepositions—Time(III) Prepositions—Other(IV) Conjunctions
Part C—Verb Tenses 1
(I) Simple Present / Present Progressive(II) Simple Past / Past Progressive(III) Simple Past / Present Perfect(IV) Mixed Tenses
Part D—Verb Tenses 2
(I) Yes / No Questions(II) WH Questions(III) Tag Questions(IV) Negative Sentences
Part E—Sentence Structure
(I) Simple Sentences(II) Compound Sentences(III) Complex Sentences(IV) Mixed Sentences
You can download the test by right-clicking the link below and choosing "Save As":
Free English Grammar Test for Download

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Jul 21, The Verb Is as an Action Verb

If the verb "is" is an action verb, but it is also a linking verb, then how does it express an action?

For example: "Mary is my classmate."

("Is" is a verb. What action does it expresses?)

 answer:

This is an excellent question!

The verb "is" actually expresses a state of being.

The action is "to be."

For example, "Jane is in the room."

She isn't necessarily doing something. She is simply being there. She is located there.

For a full, illustrated explanation, visit this page: