Object Relative (Adjective) Clauses

Subject Relative (Adjective) Clause

Linking Words of Condition - English Grammar

Expresing Purpose; Reason/Cause; Result/Effect

PURPOSE:

Examples:
We had a meeting today so as to discuss next year's programme.

He did all he could for her not to worry.
I moved to France so that I could improve my French.
Everyone did their best in order to finish the work.

REASON:
 

Examples:
Since you don't believe me, I won't give evidence.
Because of his lack of training he had difficulties finding a job.
He gave him his jacket out of pity.
On account of the weather we didn't go for a walk.
Billy was punished for lying to his teacher.
Owing to the snow,the planes couldn't take off.
As you are a foreigner you can't express your opinions on the situation in the area.
Seeing that you aren't interested I' ll do it by myself.

RESULT:

Examples:
He missed the early train, as a result he was too late for the job interview.
The result of his trial, therefore, could hardly have been other than a foregone conclusion.
If he locked the door, then Kitty is trapped inside.
taken from:
http://languagelearningbase.com/19645/expressing-purpose-reason-cause-result-effect

Silent Letters

Silent letters are letters that you can't hear when you say the word, but that are there when you write the word.

-Silent letters can distinguish between homophones, e.g. in/inn; be/bee; lent/leant. This is an aid to readers already familiar with both words.
-Silent letters may give an insight into the meaning or origin of a word, e.g. vineyard suggests vines more than the phonetic 'vinyard' would.
-Silent letters help to show long vowels e.g. rid/ride
-Silent letters help to show 'hard' consonants e.g. guest/gest
-They can help to connect different forms of the same word e.g. resign/resignation.

taken from:

http://languagelearningbase.com/88832/silent-letters-examples-and-spelling-rules

The Most Frequent Collocations in Spoken English

A collocation is two or more words that often go together. These combinations just sound "right" to native English speakers, who use them all the time. On the other hand, other combinations may be unnatural and just sound "wrong".

Why learn collocations?
-Your language will be more natural and more easily understood.
-You will have alternative and richer ways of expressing yourself.
-It is easier for our brains to remember and use language in chunks or blocks rather than as single words.

note: the collocations are written in bold blue letters. Their meaning is written in white

taken from:

http://languagelearningbase.com/88802/the-most-frequent-collocations-in-spoken-english

Meet vs Get Together

The difference between Meet and Get Together

It’s Friday night and you have plans to have a drink with your friends.
So what expression do we use in English to explain that you will join with your friends at the bar at 10pm?

A. I will meet my friends at the bar.
B. I will get together with my friends at the bar.
C. I will meet up with my friends at the bar.
Correct answer: we use all three!

However there is a difference between sentence A and the other two (B and C).

Meet is normally used to say the place or the time you will get together with another person (or people).
Let’s meet at the library.
Let’s meet at 5 o’clock.

The other two (get together with and meet up with) both mean the same thing and expresses that you will spend some time with your friends in person.

Will you call your friends? No
Will you chat with your friends online? No
You will get together with your friends.
Many times, English learners say that they meet their friends on Friday night, which sounds like they are meeting (or knowing them) for the first time. (Not possible, you already know them otherwise they wouldn’t be your friends)

When you meet someone, it is usually for the first time.
That is why we say “Nice to meet you” the first time you are presented to someone.

You can meet a person for the first time OR
You can meet a person at a place
You can meet a person at a specific time

What they want to say is that they meet up with / get together with their friends.

Look at the response to this question: What do you normally do on the weekend?
I meet my family (incorrect – you already know them)
I get together with my family (correct – you plan to spend some time with them)

To meet = to reunite in a specific place (at a specific time)
I can’t leave work early, so I’ll just meet you at the bar.
To meet = to be introduced to someone for the first time.
Jack doesn’t want us to meet his girlfriend, so we don’t know if she’s real or imaginary.

To meet up = to make plans to be with someone in person
Can we meet up tomorrow to go over the new contract?

To get together = to make plans to be with someone and to spend time with them
I haven’t seen you for months! Let’s get together for coffee.
Olivia and Paul get together with their children every Thanksgiving.

There is also a noun form of To get together:

Get-together = (noun) a small informal meeting or social gathering
Let’s have a get-together at my place tonight.

taken from:
http://www.woodwardenglish.com/meet-get-together-difference/

Prepositions in Expressions of Time

Time phrases are words that show the verb tense we need to use

Note: We say at night when we are talking about all of the night:
Example: He sleeps during the day and works at night.

But we say in the night when we are talking about a short time during the night:
Example: He woke up twice in the night.

taken from:

http://languagelearningbase.com/88672/prepositions-in-expression-of-time-in-at-on-ago

Difference Between TO and FOR

To

Used to indicate the place, person, or thing that someone or something moves toward, or the direction of something, used to indicate relationship, used to indicate a limit or an ending point

For

Used to indicate the use of something, used to mean because of, used to indicate time or duration.

taken from:

http://languagelearningbase.com/87694/to-vs-for-a-very-simple-explanation

Describing an Artwork

Guidelines for Describing an Artwork

When you describe an artwork, list only things that you can see. Report only facts. Don’t worry about what the work mean, or whether you like it or not. The guidelines below can be used to describe works with or without recognizable shapes. You may not use all of the items listed in the guidelines for a particular work. 

1) Label information: 

Artist, title, and date of work. Medium (what is it made of). Processes used to make it. Size of art work. Country where it was created. 

2) Subject Matter: 

a) Figures, animals, objects (trees, sun, clouds, grass, birds, machines, buildings, etc.). If there are no recognizable objects in the artwork, describe art elements: line, color, value, shape, texture, space, movement. 

b) Describe what figures, animals and other things that move are doing. How many are there? 

c) What is large/small, near/far, in front/behind? 

3.) Art Elements: 

a) Lines. Are they straight, curved, swirling, jagged, diagonal, vertical, horizontal, continuous, broken, heavy, thin, dark, light? Do they occur at edges where color, value or texture changes suddenly? Are there lines that direct your attention from one place to another? 

b) Colors. Are they warm, cook, bright, dull, opaque, transparent? Are they like colors you see in the real world, or different from real world colors? Is there a dominant color? Are there related colors? 

c) Values. Are the colors dark? Light? Both? Are there strong contrasts of dark/light? Are there soft contrasts of dark/Light? 

d) Shapes. Are shapes realistic, unrealistic, or not representational? Do shapes appear flat or do they appear to have depth (roundness)? Are they geometric (squares, triangles, circles)? Are they organic (curved and irregular edges)? 

e) Textures. Are they visible in the artwork? Where? Don’t confuse texture with patterns like checkerboard, stripes, and polka dots. 

f) Space. Does space appear deep? If so, is it due to: overlap; placement of small objects high in the picture and large ones low; making objects smaller as they get farther away; linear perspective (converging lines); colors that seem to advance and recede: Does space appear shallow? Why? 

g) Movement. If movement is suggested in the work, is it due to: alternating shapes; figures and other life forms doing something; repetition of one thing after another; elements that progress from large to small, small to large, dark to light?

Edward Hopper: "Early Sunday Morning". 1930

Whitney Museum of American Art

taken from:

http://panthers.k12.ar.us/high_school/departments/art/Lessons/Guidelines%20for%20Describing%20an%20Artwork.pdf

Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Adjectives Clauses

What are adjective clauses?
First of all, it’s important to understand the meaning of a clause. A clause is a group of related words that contain a subject and verb. So, an adjective clause is a group of related words with a subject and verb that describes a noun or pronoun. An adjective clause is also always dependent which means it cannot stand alone as a sentence.
Nonrestrictive Adjective Clauses
A nonrestrictive modifying clause (or nonessential clause) is an adjective clause that adds extra or nonessential information to a sentence. The meaning of the sentence would not change if the clause were to be omitted. Nonrestrictive modifying clauses are usually set off by commas.
Here's an example:
Old Professor Legree, who dresses like a teenager, is going through his second childhood.

This who clause is nonrestrictive because the information in the clause doesn't restrict or limit the noun it modifies (Old Professor Legree). The commas signify that the adjective clause provides added, not essential, information.

Other examples:
Edgar Allan Poe, who wrote "The Raven," is a great American poet.
Puerto Rico was a Spanish colony until 1898, when it was ceded to the United States.

Restrictive Adjective Clauses
A restrictive modifying clause (or essential clause) is an adjective clause that is essential to the meaning of a sentence because it limits the thing it refers to. The meaning of the sentence would change if the clause were deleted. Because restrictive clauses are essential, they are not set off by commas.

Here's a example:
An older person who dresses like a teenager is often an object of ridicule.

Here, the adjective clause restricts or limits the meaning of the noun it modifies (An older person). A restrictive adjective clause is not set off by commas.

Other examples:
All students who do their work should pass easily.
The car that I want is out of my price range.
The gas company will discontinue our service unless we pay our bills by Friday.
So let's keep in mind two basic rules:
Nonrestrictive
An adjective clause that can be omitted from a sentence without affecting the basic meaning of the sentence should be set off by commas.
Restrictive
An adjective clause that cannot be omitted from a sentence without affecting the basic meaning of the sentence should not be set off by commas.

taken from:
http://www.cws.illinois.edu/workshop/writers/restrictiveclauses/

No Article

No Article

We use no article with:

1. When we refer to general ideas, plurals or uncountable nouns we do not use THE.
Religion is an important issue. (NOT The religion is an important issue)
Mexican food is spicy. (NOT The Mexican food is spicy).

2. Names of people, books and plays (unless it is part of the title).
I have read Romeo and Juliet.

3. Towns, cities, states and countries.
Cape Town
Montana
Vietnam
(Exceptions – The USA, The UK, The Netherlands, The Czech Republic, The Philippines).

4. Lakes, single islands, continents or mountains.
Lake Victoria
Jamaica
Asia
Mt Fuji
(Exemptions - The Himalayas, The Andes, The Amazon river/jungle, The Nile river; because "the" is part of the name)

5. Planets
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn

6. Sports or games
soccer
tennis
skiing
monopoly

7. Meals
breakfast
lunch
dinner
supper

taken from:

http://www.grammar.cl/Notes/Articles.htm

The Definite Article "THE"

The definite article "the" is the most frequent word in English.

We use the definite article in front of a noun when we believe the hearer/reader knows exactly what we are referring to.

• because there is only one:
The Pope is visiting Russia.
The moon is very bright tonight.
The Shah of Iran was deposed in 1979.

This is why we use the definite article with a superlative adjective:
He is the tallest boy in the class.
It is the oldest building in the town.

• because there is only one in that place or in those surroundings:
We live in a small village next to the church. = (the church in our village)
Dad, can I borrow the car? = (the car that belongs to our family)
When we stayed at my grandmother’s house we went to the beach every day. = (the beach near my grandmother’s house)
Look at the boy in the blue shirt over there. = (the boy I am pointing at)

• because we have already mentioned it:
A woman who fell 10 metres from High Peak was lifted to safety by a helicopter. The woman fell while climbing.
The rescue is the latest in a series of incidents on High Peak. In January last year two men walking on the peak were killed in a fall.

We also use the definite article:

• to say something about all the things referred to by a noun:
The wolf is not really a dangerous animal (= Wolves are not really dangerous animals)
The kangaroo is found only in Australia (= Kangaroos are found only in Australia)
The heart pumps blood around the body. (= Hearts pump blood around bodies)

We use the definite article in this way to talk about musical instruments:
Joe plays the piano really well.(= Joe can play any piano)
She is learning the guitar.(= She is learning to play any guitar)

• to refer to a system or service:
How long does it take on the train?
I heard it on the radio.
You should tell the police.

• With adjectives like rich, poor, elderly, unemployed to talk about groups of people:
Life can be very hard for the poor.
I think the rich should pay more taxes.
She works for a group to help the disabled.

The definite article with names:

We do not normally use the definite article with names:
William Shakespeare wrote Hamlet.
Paris is the capital of France.
Iran is in Asia.

But we do use the definite article with:

• countries whose names include words like kingdom, states or republic:
the United Kingdom; the Kingdom of Nepal; the United States; the People’s Republic of China.

• countries which have plural nouns as their names:
the Netherlands; the Philippines

• geographical features, such as mountain ranges, groups of islands, rivers, seas, oceans and canals:
the Himalayas; the Canaries; the Atlantic; the Atlantic Ocean; the Amazon; the Panama Canal.

• newspapers:
The Times; The Washington Post

• well known buildings or works of art:
the Empire State Building; the Taj Mahal; the Mona Lisa; the Sunflowers

• organisations:
the United Nations; the Seamen’s Union

• hotels, pubs and restaurants*:
the Ritz; the Ritz Hotel; the King’s Head; the Déjà Vu

*Note: We do not use the definite article if the name of the hotel or restaurant is the name of the owner, e.g.,Brown’s; Brown’s Hotel; Morel’s; Morel’s Restaurant, etc.

• families:
the Obamas; the Jacksons

taken from:
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/determiners-and-quantifiers/definite-article

Tag Questions

Question Tags – Advanced Points

The question tag for I am is aren’t I?
I am late, aren’t I? (NOT …amn’t I?)

Imperatives can be followed by will you / would you / can you / can’t you / could you?
Keep quiet, can’t you?
Give me a hand, would you?
Open a window, will you?

After a negative imperative, we use will you?
Don’t forget, will you?

The question tag for let’s is shall we?
Let’s go for a walk, shall we?

Negative words
Sentences containing negative words like never, no, nobody, hardly, scarcely and little are followed by non-negative question tags.
You never let me finish a sentence, do you? (NOT …don’t you?)
She hardly steps out of her home, does she?
There is little we can do about it, is there?

It is used in question tags to refer back to nothing and everything.
Everything is alright, isn’t it? (NOT …isn’t everything?)

We use they in question tags to refer to nobody, somebody, everybody, no one etc.
Nobody came, did they?

Somebody wanted a drink, didn’t they?


After have
When have is used as a principal verb, question tags with both have and do are possible in British English. Do is more common in American English.
She has a boyfriend, hasn’t / doesn’t she?

Notes
In sentences with question tags, pronoun subjects and auxiliary verbs are often left out.
Nice day, isn’t it. (More natural than ‘It’s a nice day, isn’t it?)

taken from:

http://www.englishgrammar.org/question-tags-advanced-points/

Other Ways to Express Conditions

When expressing CONDITIONS, the following words or expressions can substitute IF.

IF and WHEN
When can replace if in zero conditionals:

If you heat water to 100 degrees Celsius, it boils.
When you heat water to 100 degrees Celsius, it boils.

In the other types of conditionals, we cannot use when instead of if.

EVEN IF
Even if emphasises that something will happen, would happen or would have happened whatever the condition:

Even if we leave right now, we still won't catch the train.
I wouldn't go into the water even if I could swim.
Even if we had booked our flight earlier, it wouldn't have been cheaper.

ONLY IF
Only if makes the condition more restrictive:

Acetaminophen is dangerous to children only if dosage is too high.

If the if-clause is first, the subject and the auxiliary in the main clause are inverted:

Only if you like classical music is it worth coming tonight.

SO/AS LONG AS, PROVIDING/PROVIDED (THAT)

So/As long as and providing/provided (that) can be used instead of if to express a condition. Note that providing/provided (that) is a bit formal:

You can stay here as long as you keep quiet.
Provided/Providing (that) the bills are paid, tenants will not be evicted.

SUPPOSE/SUPPOSING, WHAT IF
Suppose/supposing and what if can replace if, mainly in everyday conversation, and are often used without a main clause:

Suppose/supposing you won the lottery, what would you do?
Suppose/supposing you can't find a job?
What if you are not accepted to university? What will you do then?

UNLESS
Unless is followed by an affirmative verb to express "if ... not":

My leg's broken. I can't stand up unless you help me. (I can't stand up if you don't help me.)

IF IT WEREN'T FOR / IF IT HADN'T BEEN FOR, BUT FOR
These expressions mean "without". They are used in second and third conditionals and are usually followed by a noun phrase:

If it weren't for Miguel, we wouldn't know what to do now. (Without Miguel...)
If it hadn't been for your foolishness, we wouldn't have got lost. (If you hadn't been such a fool...)
But for your help, I would have been in big trouble. (Without your help... / If you hadn't helped me...)

IF IN DOUBT, IF POSSIBLE, IF NECESSARY etc.
We can make the if-clause shorter by omitting the subject and the verb be:

If (you are) in doubt, consult a dictionary.

In certain idiomatic expressions, the subject and be are normally omitted:
If necessary, you can call Jake at home.
I'd like a seat by the window if possible.

IF SO, IF NOT
If so and if not can stand for an if-clause which is understood from the context:

"According to the weather forecast, it might rain tomorrow." "If so, we'll go hiking another day."
I hope Peter gets here soon. If not, we'll have to start without him.

IN CASE and IF
An in case-clause gives a reason while an if-clause describes a condition:

I'll buy a sandwich in case I get hungry. (I'll buy a sandwich because I may get hungry later.)
I'll buy a sandwich if I get hungry. (I'll buy a sandwich when I get hungry.)

We can use should after in case:
Take an umbrella in case it should rain.

taken from:

http://www.grammaring.com/if-even-if-only-if-as-long-as-provided-supposing-unless-but-for-if-necessary-if-so-in-case-etc

Prepositions after Adjectives

Here is a list of some commonly used adjectives and the prepositions that are normally used with them.

taken from:
http://languagelearningbase.com/82944/prepositions-after-adjectives

Prefixes

 taken from:
http://languagelearningbase.com/87780/formation-english-interpreting-meaning-prefixes-suffixes

When Not to Use an Article

5 Strange Sentences in English

English could be one of the most interesting languages in the world. Just look at these sentences:

1. Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs.
It’s not just required luggage for surviving the weekend at the in-laws’ house--- this sentence contains every single letter of the alphabet, while using the smallest number of letters to do so. Go ahead and check; they’re all there.

2. This exceeding trifling witling, considering ranting criticizing concerning adopting fitting wording being exhibiting transcending learning, was displaying, notwithstanding ridiculing, surpassing boasting swelling reasoning, respecting correcting erring writing, and touching detecting deceiving arguing during debating.
Ending a word with “ing” can make it a noun, verb, or adjective, depending on how you use it. This sentence, found in a 19th century grammar book, explores just how far we can take the versatile “ing” if we put our minds to it. If you take the time to really dissect this sentence, it’s not as crazy as it initially appears: "This very superficial grammatist, supposing empty criticism about the adoption of proper phraseology to be a show of extraordinary erudition, was displaying, in spite of ridicule, a very boastful turgid argument concerning the correction of false syntax, and about the detection of false logic in debate." Well, I guess it’s just slightly less confusing.

3. A woman without her man is nothing.
This has made the rounds on the internet for a while now, but it’s still a
fascinating look at how punctuation can completely change the meaning of a sentence. As the story goes, a professor told his class to correctly punctuate the sentence. The males in the classroom wrote, “A woman, without her man, is nothing.” The women in the class wrote, “A woman: without her, man is nothing.” With just a simple change in punctuation, the entire meaning of the sentence was changed in an instant.

4. “I do not know where family doctors acquired illegibly perplexing handwriting; nevertheless, extraordinary pharmaceutical intellectuality, counterbalancing indecipherability, transcendentalizes intercommunications’ incomprehensibleness.”
Author and recreational linguist Dmitri Borgmann came up with this sentence, in which each word is exactly one letter longer than the one before it. The sentence contains twenty words, and although it’s a little confusing to read, if you take the time to analyze it, you’ll notice that it actually makes complete sense.

5. “I see,” said the blind man as he picked up the hammer and saw.
This sentence plays off the fact that ‘saw’ is both a noun and the past tense of the verb ‘to see.’ It could mean that the hammer allowed the blind man to regain his eyesight, or that he uttered the phrase while picking up two tools.

Further reading: 

http://distractify.com/avericlements/the-19-most-mind-blowing-sentences-in-the-english-language/

5 Stange Sentences in English

This is why English is the coolest and craziest language at the same time.


1. I never said she stole my money.
This fun sentence takes on seven different meanings depending on which word is emphasized: [I] never said she stole my money. - Someone else said it. I [never] said she stole my money. - I didn't say it. I never [said] she stole my money. - I only implied it. I never said [she] stole my money. - I said someone did, not necessarily her. I never said she [stole] my money. - I considered it borrowed. I never said she stole [my] money. - Only that she stole money--- not necessarily my own. I never said she stole my [money]. - She stole something of mine, not my money. While this trick works for plenty of other sentences as well, this one’s short and easy to understand.

2. All the faith he had had had had no effect on the outcome of his life.
While it may look like someone copied “had” and pressed the paste button a few too many times, this is actually an example of what happens when the past perfect tense gets used back-to-back. The first and third “hads” are the auxiliary verbs, while the second and fourth ones are the main verbs. Stylistically speaking, the sentence would probably be less confusing if written, “He had had a lot of faith, but it had had no effect on the outcome of his life,” but what fun is that?

3. The complex houses married and single soldiers and their families.
The fun thing about this sentence is that “complex,” “houses,” and “married” can all serve as different parts of speech. We automatically tend to assume that “houses” is a noun, “complex” is an adjective, and “married” is a verb, but when you realize that “complex” is a housing complex and that soldiers who are married are staying there, things make a lot more sense.

4. The horse raced past the barn fell.
You don’t really appreciate little words like “who,” “which,” or “that” until you come across a sentence like this one. The headache you’re experiencing trying to figure this out is due to the presence of a reductive relative clause, which can be seen in sentences like, “The song heard on the radio was beautiful,” instead of, “The song that was heard on the radio was beautiful.” All we have to do to make this a little more simple is change the first part of the sentence: “The horse that was raced past the barn fell.”

5. A rough-coated, dough-faced, thoughtful ploughman strode through the streets of Scarborough; after falling into a slough, he coughed and hiccoughed
The letter combination “-ough” has nine possible pronunciations in English (depending on regional dialect), and this delightful sentence contains them all: “uff,” “oh,” “auh,” “ow,” “uh,” “oo,” “off,” and “uhp.” How’s that for a tongue-twister?

For further reading:

http://distractify.com/avericlements/the-19-most-mind-blowing-sentences-in-the-english-language/