English World

What's a sentence made of? At a minimum, sentences consist of a subject and a verb : George sang. The sun rose. Sentences can get quite long, but they always have a subject and a verb. The sun rose in the east. The yellow sun rose slowly in the east. the large, yellow sun of our planet rose slowly over the blue hills in the east, shining into my tired eyes. Well, what's a simple sentence? A simple sentence is also called an independent clause . An independent clause can stand alone. It contains a subject and a verb and a complete thought. For example: Some students like to study in the morning. She plucked another flower. (Peter Pan, J.M. Barrie)* Joe plays cards with his friends every Saturday evening. Compound Sentences. Compound sentences are made up of at least two independent clauses and are connected together with a coordinating conjunction, typically preceded by a comma**: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so.  She pluck...

Just a second, let me extinguish my cigarette. Now, doesn't that just sound weird? Besides the fact that smoking is bad for you, isn't it nicer to say Just a second, let me put out my cigarette . Phrasal verbs form a large group, consisting of verb + preposition . Put out , bring up , and work on are all part of this group. They are used to replace other, more formal words or phrases. As noted, put out is to extinguish , bring up is to raise (as in a child or a topic), and give back is to return (as in a library book or some money).  So, how do we utilize these in the language? Well, let's divide the phrasal verbs into two sub-groups. Separable Phrasal Verbs. The first sub-group is the separable phrasal verb. This means the particle (the preposition) can be placed before or after the object. Look up the word in the dictionary. / Look the word up in the dictionary. Write down the word. / Write the word down. See how it can move? Ho...

Paraphrasing is a very important skill to perfect, whether it's academic, business, or just everyday English. If somebody asks you to explain a movie, you don't pull out the film text and recite from it! You give them a brief summary of the film in an organized fashion. If, in a classroom setting, the professor asks you to summarize the reading, you must be able to compress it all into a small space, in your own words , within a short period of time. In your own words . This means paraphrasing . Keep your voice natural and light, and try not to sound like you are reading or being forced to do a paraphrase because your teacher told you it was homework. Act interested in what you are saying. With speaking, is it OK for a student to write down a summary then read it? I would say no; this is the antithesis of what the student should be doing. Now, let's look at what to do on a cognitive level and a metacognitive level: Paraphrase the thought! Cognitive level Read ...