Tag: Level 1

MarkESOL 5 minute grammar lesson – GERUNDS and INFINITIVES

Posted in grammar, Level 1, Level 2, MarkESOL 5 minute grammar lesson, Things we find difficult, UncategorizedTagged , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Here is another video for your lockdown learning.

Below the exercises is the Google Doc transcript from the 5-minute grammar lesson. Extra teacher talk from the video not included!

Gerunds and Infinitives. What are these? Why do we need to use them? Well, in reality if you have some knowledge of English, you will already be using them. You might get them wrong – but it doesn’t matter. Being brave and using new language is the key to learning.

And yes, I’m well aware that this 5 minute grammar lesson doesn’t cover everything. It’s a 5 minute introduction. In a reading exam you may be asked to identify a gerund or an infinitive, so this video can help there. You will need to do more work to know more about gerunds and infinitives, but hopefully I can help you in my next video on the subject.

Here are your online exercises:

  1. https://www.englishpage.com/gerunds/index.htm

2. https://agendaweb.org/verbs/infinitive_gerund-exercises.html

Today’s video Google Doc transcript

MarkESOL 5 minute grammar lesson. 

Using INFINITIVES AND GERUNDS.

Today we’re going to be covering:

  1.   What is an INFINITIVE?
  2. What on earth is a GERUND????
  3. Why do I need to know about these INFINITIVES and GERUNDS?
  4. Oh boy … rules. So many English language rules. Let’s just lie down and cry. It’s too difficult, Mark!!!!
  5. Sleep. On another day we’ll get into more detail. Maybe. If we can be bothered…

Righto. Let’s be brave and start with the easy stuff.

INFINITIVES or INFINITIVE VERBS

I’ll give you a moment while you tell me … yeah, that’s right. The small basic form of the verb: go, live, have, want, play, sleep. With no ings, no es on the end no past participle nonsense. Simple.

Remember when we’re talking about recipes or mobile phone instructions  – instructional texts:

Open the packet.

You Pour in the flour.

Press the red button on the side.

Or orders:

Go now!

Listen!

Sit down!

Teachers love an infinitive verb. 

Shut up! (A lovely phrasal verb with up)

Now hold that thought while we jump into the world of …

GERUNDS

“A word ending in “-ing” that is made from a verb and is used like a noun.” (Cambridge Free English Dictionary)

“I always love your cooking, dear.”

“He enjoys playing video games.”

Any verb tense can be used.

“As a child I used to love living in the countryside.” 

“Many students aren’t doing enough reading.”

RULES, RULES, RULES – just give me rules, Mark! I need em!

So, when and why do we sometimes use a gerund and other times an infinitive?

Hey, I’ve got 5 minutes here.

Gerunds and infinitives can be the subject or the complement of a sentence.

Gerund subject of a sentence

Eating is fun. (Noun + verb + adjective).

Dancing is healthy.

Smiling is nice.

Smoking is unhealthy.

DON’T CONFUSE GERUNDS WITH THE PRESENT CONTINUOUS = THAT’S A ROOKIE ERROR! Where’s the verb to be for a start?

Infinitive as a subject of a sentence

These sound super intelligent. They look like things that people share on Instagram.

To eat healthily is to live a healthy life.

Learn something new every day.

Sing like no one is listening.

Love like you’ve never been hurt.

Dance like nobody’s watching,

and live like it’s heaven on earth.

To be or not to be? That is the question.

Study like your teacher is watching.

So gerunds sound informal, non-pretentious and friendly. If in doubt – use a gerund. In normal English gerunds are used much more than infinitives.

BIG HOWEVER …

It all depends on the verb in the sentence. Sometimes you have a choice. Sometimes you don’t. Here both forms work:

I love to sing.

I love singing.

NO PROBLEMS. Apart from my singing.

However, if we’re using FINISH – it has to be a gerund after it.

I’ve finished cleaning.

She won’t finish cooking for ages.

We don’t say FINISH + an INFINITIVE

Please finish to write. The exam is over.

You must finish writing now! 

Yeah, rules. Rules and rules.

He enjoys relaxing. “Enjoy” needs a gerund. 

BUT YOU KNOW THAT, RIGHT?

We came to give you a present.

“Come” wants an infinitive.

EASY

PEASY

LEMON

SQUEEZY

Oh yeah, some rules about nouns and pronouns, you want them too?

Info about gerunds and prepositions? Hmmm…

No time! Another time!?

Verbs that need GERUNDS

stopfinishimagineavoidstop
Give upkeepvisither friendlater

Verbs that need INFINITIVES

needprepareswearhopewould like
offeraffordpromisedeciderefuse

Bye-bye!

MarkESOL xxx

MarkESOL 5 minute grammar lesson – Using SHALL and SHAN’T for the future

Posted in grammar, Level 1, Level 2, MarkESOL 5 minute grammar lesson, questions, Things we find difficult, UncategorizedTagged , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Here is another video for your lockdown learning.

Below the exercises is the Google Doc transcript from the 5-minute grammar lesson. Extra teacher talk from the video not included!

Shall & shan’t. Have you ever used this? It’s good for impressing people, especially if you ever meet a prince or a princess at a ball.

ball noun (DANCE)

[ C ]a large formal occasion where people dance

Here are your online exercises:

  1. https://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-2/exercise-english-96373.php

2. https://agendaweb.org/exercises/verbs/modals/shall-will

Today’s video Google Doc transcript

MarkESOL 5 minute grammar lesson. 

Using SHALL and SHAN’T for the future.

Today we’re going to be covering:

  1.   Who uses SHALL?
  2. When do we use SHALL and SHAN’T?
  3. Making suggestions
  4. Volunteering and offering
  5. Promises
  6. General future statements
  7.  How to make statements
  8. How to make negative statements
  9. Confirming with a question
  10. Question tags

Gosh! That’s loads of things. I thought SHALL was going to be a quick 3 minute one! Better get going …

  1. Who uses SHALL? Why, you and I, dear boy!

It’s terribly FORMAL. It’s posh. It’s quite cool because not many people use it.

PRO TIP: If you meet the Queen or a random prince. Use SHALL.

It’s particularly useful if you want to dance with a princess:

“Shall we dance?”

“Shall we not leave before my coach turns into a pumpkin?”

“Yes, I think we probably shall.”

It’s really good for suggestions, for question tags and definite, slightly POSH statements about the future.

“I shall tell you more about this in a moment, dear lady!”

“So, shall we begin?”

“Yes, sir, we shall.”

Making suggestions

Almost always with I and we. You use it in answer to questions. Not as a definite answer but as a HOW ABOUT? MAYBE WE COULD? 

Yeah, it’s a modal verb thing…

It can even be a passive-aggressive way of getting someone to do what you want without ordering them to do it.

“What do you want to do this evening?”

“Shall we go into town? Or would you rather go to the gym?” You’re just saying – hey, here’s an idea! 

Usually, here’s my VERY GOOD opinion. You can disagree, but you will be wrong!

“Shall we get a takeaway tonight? Shall we go home, I’m really tired.”

Volunteering and offering

Like our friends “Would you like… ?” or “I’ll help.” “We’ll give you a lift.”

You’re saying you shall do something. It’s your idea but you can also volunteer your friends or family. “I’ll help you!” “We shall help you.” – Although that’s not so common. Don’t worry about that.

Promises

Like will. Saying you shall do something – is a promise. You are giving your word. “I shall be here at 8 o’clock tomorrow morning.” This is a statement of fact and feels much stronger than will.

General future statements

I shall go later.

DON’T WORRY ABOUT THESE. CONCENTRATE ON = promises, suggestions and question tags!

Question tags

“I’ll explain, shall I?”

“I’ll lend you my umbrella, shall I?”

It’s a backwards question where you think you know the answer – YES or NO.

“We’ll lend you some money, shall we?”

Ummm, yes, please! I shall need it!

Statements with – SHALL

subjectshallInfinitive verb Extra informationwhen
IshalldoMy homeworksoon
she/he/itshallvisither friendlater
weshallstudyin collegeIn the summer
youshalltryTo exercise in the parkThis afternoon
theyshallgoon a dietIn the summer

Yeah, no one uses she, you or they with shall. And who says ‘shan’t’ and ‘I shall not’?

People in books written in the 18th century mainly.

“I shan’t enjoy this party, mama. The people are perfectly ghastly!”

Negative statements with – SHAN’T/SHALL NOT

subjectShan’t/shall notInfinitive verb Extra informationwhen
IShall notdrinkany alcoholtonight!
He Shall notbeallowedIn college!
weshan’tattendthe meetingOn Wednesday
youShall notplaywith that boyever again!
theyShall not eatMcDonald’s

Suggestions and questions with – SHALL

Question wordwillsubjectInfinitive verb Extra informationwhen
WhenshallItakeThe tablets?
WhenshallIarrive?
ShallwewatchNetflixtonight?
HowshallweStudy Englishthis term?
What timeshallwemeet?How about8.30?
Shallwe alllearn English at homenow?

So! Give shall a whirl. Give it a try.

Particularly if you want to impress with your formality and poshness!

“I shall help you.”

“Shall we go for a walk?”

Bye bye!

MarkESOL xxx

Compare & Contrast – Things we find difficult – part 3

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The difference between the verbs ‘to compare’ and ‘to contrast’ seems to have caused some heated debate. Probably more than it should. I’m not sure why. Perhaps it’s the perenial potato debate. Which do you prefer? Sweet potatoes or old fashioned regular potatoes? Or how about yams? Surely a discussion about potatoes couldn’t cause so much argument, could it?

Let’s look at the meaning of ‘to contrast’ first because it’s easier to understand:

contrast verb

C2 [ T ]to compare two people or things in order to show thedifferences between them:

If you contrast some of her early writing with her later work, you can see just how much she improved.

 

C2 [ I ]If one thing contrasts with another, it is very different from it:

The styles of the two film makers contrast quite dramatically.
The tartness of the lemons contrasts with the sweetness of the honey.
So the potatoes are rounder, and obviously, the sweet potatoes are ummm sweeter. I’m not doing very well here….
Cleveland Health Clinic explain that, “Sweet potatoes provide 400% of your daily requirement of vitamin A. They also have more vitamin C, fewer calories, more fibre and fewer total carbs than white potatoes, despite more sugar. But don’t forget white potatoes — they’re more versatile in cooking and less expensive.“
So that’s the contrast sorted. Fine. We’re happy with that. One is usually white the other is usually orange. Contrast! Easy… So, to compare:

compare verb [ T ] (EXAMINE DIFFERENCES)

B1 to examine or look for the difference between two or more things:

If you compare house prices in the two areas, it’s quite amazing how different they are.
That seems expensive – have you compared prices in other shops?
Compare some recent work with your older stuff and you’ll see how much you’ve improved.
This road is quite busy compared to/with ours
But – we also use ‘to compare’ – to talk about similarities and to decide which thing is better. We can make chips out of potatoes and sweet potatoes; the taste is different but overall I prefer regular potatoes:

compare verb [ T ] (CONSIDER SIMILARITIES)

to judge, suggest, or consider that something is similar or of equal quality to something else:

The poet compares his lover’s tongue to a razor blade.
Still only 25, she has been compared to the greatest dancer of all time.
People compared her to Elizabeth Taylor.
You can’t compare the two cities – they’re totally different.

does not compare

 

If something or someone does not compare with something or someone else, the second thing is very much better than the first:

Instant coffee just doesn’t compare with freshly ground coffee.

compare favourably

 

If something compares favourably with something else, it is better than it:

The hotel certainly compared favourably with the one we stayed in last year.

Level 1 & 2 – Last minute Reading exam revision crib sheet

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Here are a bunch of question types that have turned up on the C&G Reading exam paper. The sort of questions you can expect to see in the exam.

  1. What is the meaning of the word flubalub… ? Use. See – using context clues – https://macmillanmh.com/ccssreading/treasures/grade6/ccslh_g6_lv_8_3b.html

In the context of the text what does flubalub… mean in the text? – use the dictionary BUT DON’T JUST READ THE 1ST MEANING – words mean different things. The examining board are trying to test you (obviously!)

  1. What is the purpose of the document? See – https://www.bbc.com/education/guides/zqx8hv4/revision
  2. What is the key theme/focus of the last paragraph? The key point of the paragraph is … ‘The writer highlights the impact of … : See – http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/guides/z398d2p/revision
  3. Which textual features are used in this text? See – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mAl9QMJJTo
  4. What is an appropriate heading for the 3rd paragraph? What is an appropriate title for the text? See – http://www.ieltsbuddy.com/paragraph-headings.html

In order to do this type of task well you must understand the gist, or main ideas, of each paragraph. These tips will help you do this task well.

  • First read all of the headings.
  • Then read the paragraphs carefully and match the ones you are sure about.
  • If you are not sure about one, leave it and move on to the next one. You may be able to match up ones you are not sure about by elimination at the end.
  • Be careful with extra options, e.g. six headings to match with four paragraphs. There will be two headings you don’t need.
  1. The final paragraph has been written in 1st, 2nd, 3rd singular/plural? See – http://study.com/academy/lesson/point-of-view-first-second-third-person.html#lesson
  2. The register/tone of the text is? / The language in the text is (Formal, polite, facetious, technical) See – https://writerswrite.co.za/155-words-to-describe-an-authors-tone/
  3. What is the perspective of the author? See – https://www.thatquiz.org/tq/practicetest?4y393q0w5n5i & http://www.mpsaz.org/rmre/grades/grade5/homework_help/files/authors_purpose_and_perspective2.pdf
  4. What discourse markers are used in this text? See – http://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/discourse-markers/discourse-markers-so-right-okay
  5. Why is there a paragraph break between 3 and 4? See – http://www.saidsimple.com/content/100835/
  6. Text type – see – http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/guides/z97mxnb/revision
  7. The content of the text is: biased, factual, fictional, first hand, detached. See – Objective information does not vary, whereas subjective information can vary greatly from person to person or day to day. Subjectivity can actually be wrong, or far from the truth, whereas objectivity means being as close to the truth as possible.12 Jun 2014

Objective vs Subjective Writing: Understanding the Difference

https://blog.udemy.com/objective-vs-subjective/

Search for: What does it mean to be objective

  1. Inverted commas/speechmarks, commas, apostrophes. See – http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks2/english/spelling_grammar/punctuation/read/1/ & http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/guides/zqsyvcw/revision/4
  2. Colons & semi-colons   http://www.colonsemicolon.com/
  3. What does you/it/he refer to? See – https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/pronouns
Purpose of text questions:

describe

advertise

explain

persuade

enterain

inform

instruct

advertise

entertain

warn

sell

show

give instructions/advice

offer help/advice

to show how/why

 

 Type of text questions:

Letter (formal/informal)

Leaflet (information or advertisement)

Pamphlet

Set of instructions

Email (formal/informal)

Poster

Advertisement

Text message

Article (any published text)

Timetable

Invitation

Webpage

Sign (danger/road/shop/school etc… can be an image too!)

Certificate

Form

Guide (travel, tourist, grammar…)

Reference book (dictionary, atlas, thesaurus)
Questions about images:

Logo

Sign (can also be a type of text)

Diagram

Photograph

Graph

Illustration

Drawing

 

 Language questions:

Scientific

Descriptive

Instructive

Persuasive

Informative

Informal

Formal

Humorous

Aggressive
Features of text:

Bullet points                 Block capitals

Images (see above)     Internet links/web icon

Text box                        Bold text

Columns                       Italics

Headings                     Subheadings

Numbers                     Captions

Things we find difficult to understand – part 2 – collective nouns

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collective noun  [ C ]

a noun that describes a group of things or people as a unit:

“Family” and “flock” are examples of collective nouns.
Collective nouns are often very peculiar and very particular. You don’t need to know them all (most people don’t), but they are fun to know and make for excellent conversation starters if you’re a language geek!

A) Check out these lists of collective nouns on buzzle.com  then try the online tests:

B) Collective nouns – online tests:

Collective nouns, English skills online, interactive activity lessons

Abstract nouns. Collective nouns. Apostrophes – possession (Common and proper nouns). L.1.1.c – Use singular and plural nouns with matching verbs in basic …

Subject-verb agreement with collective nouns – Quizzes – Language …

Does a singular collective noun take a singular or plural verb? Well, it depends. If the collective noun refers to the group as a unit, then it takes a singular verb.

Collective Noun Quiz – ProProfs Quiz

This quiz was created for beginner ESL learners studying collective nouns.

Quiz: Collective Nouns – CliffsNotes

Choose the TRUE statement. Collective nouns are always singular.Collective nouns may function as verbs. Collective nouns may be singular or plural. Previous.

collective nouns 1 – Englishleap.com

COLLECTIVE NOUNS EXERCISE 1. CHOOSE THE CORRECT OPTION: … Related Exercises. Auxiliary Verbs Exercise – 1 · Collective Nouns Exercise – 2.

Things we find difficult to understand – part 1 – Subject-Verb agreement in sentences

Posted in Level 1, Level 2, Things we find difficultTagged , , , , Leave a comment

A) Check out these PowerPoint links for a full explanation of the many difficulties with Subject-Verb agreement. If this is easy, then you’re doing pretty well, my friend:

[PPT]Subject – Verb Agreement PPT – Grammar Bytes!

Subject–Verb Agreement. Do I need an s at the end of the verb? Or should I leave the s off? This presentation covers maintaining agreement between subjects …

[PPT]Subject and Verb Agreement

Subject–Verb Agreement. A Project LA Activity. Basic Rule. Singular subjects need singular verbs. Plural subjects need plural verbs. These create problems:.

B) Advanced level videos:

Subject verb agreement BBC English explanation parts 1, 2 & 3. Listen with subtitles and watch more than once if that helps:

subscribe for more excellent and complex language advice:

bbclearningenglish bbclearningenglish

C) Now try some Subject-Verb agreement online exercises:

A SECOND QUIZ ON SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT

After each sentence select the verb form that will best fit in the blank. The explanation will describe the process of arriving at the correct choice for that sentence.

Subject Verb Agreement Quiz

Read the sentences to decide whether the verbs should be singular or plural. Then click the drop-down menu. answer. to see the answer.

ESL Quiz – Subject-Verb Agreement (Difficult) (Keith S. Folse) I-TESL-J

ESL Quiz – Subject–Verb Agreement (Difficult) (Keith S. Folse) I-TESL-J … This quiz is part of Interactive JavaScript Quizzes for ESL Students. Quiz Data …

Advanced Subject Verb Agreement + Exercises – Espresso English

Subject–verb agreement is one of the first things you learn in English class: “My friend is Japanese.” (singular). “My friends are Japanese.” (plural). In this English …

Advanced Grammar | Subject / Verb Agreement Exercise | esl-lounge …

Subject / Verb Agreement Exercise. Look at each sentence and think about subject/verb agreement. Which is the correct answer?

Subject-Verb Agreement: Advanced – Quizzes – Language Portal of …

An advanced English-language quiz on subject–verb agreement.

LITERACY – SUBJECT/VERB AGREEMENT IN ENGLISH 1 – exercise …

Whether you’re a native speaker of English or an advanced ESL student, these … topic: SUBJECT/VERB AGREEMENT IN ENGLISH 1 | level:Advanced Choose …