Unit Two

Sentence Structure

Sentence Structure

Unit One/Present Simple vs Present Continuous

                                         

                                        

Different Subjects

Vocabulary - Borrow, Lend, Rent, Use

TALK, SPEAK, TELL - What's the difference?

English Vocabulary - Look / See / Watch

English Vocabulary - Listen & Hear - What's the difference?

Prepositions

Prepositions for Time, Place, and Introducing Objects

One point in time

On is used with days:

·         I will see you on Monday.

·         The week begins on Sunday.

At is used with noon, night, midnight, and with the time of day:

·         My plane leaves at noon.

·         The movie starts at 6 p.m.

In is used with other parts of the day, with months, with years, with seasons:

·         He likes to read in the afternoon.

·         The days are long in August.

·         The book was published in 1999.

·         The flowers will bloom in spring.

Extended time: To express extended time, English uses the following prepositions: since, for, by, from—to, from-until, during,(with)in

·         She has been gone since yesterday. (She left yesterday and has not returned.)

·         I'm going to Paris for two weeks. (I will spend two weeks there.)

·         The movie showed from August to October. (Beginning in August and ending in October.)

·         The decorations were up from spring until fall. (Beginning in spring and ending in fall.)

·         I watch TV during the evening. (For some period of time in the evening.)

·         We must finish the project within a year. (No longer than a year.

Place

To talk about the point itself: in, (There is a wasp in the room)

To express something contained: inside, (Put the present inside the box)

To talk about the surface: on, (I left your keys on the table)

To talk about a general vicinity, at. (She was waiting at the corner)

Higher than a point: To express notions of an object being higher than a point, English uses the following prepositions: over, above.

·         He threw the ball over the roof.

·         Hang that picture above the couch.

Lower than a point: To express notions of an object being lower than a point, English uses the following prepositions: under, underneath, beneath, below.

·         The rabbit burrowed under the ground.

·         The child hid underneath the blanket.

·         We relaxed in the shade beneath the branches.

·         The valley is below sea-level.

Close to a point: To express notions of an object being close to a point, English uses the following prepositions: near, by, next to, between, among, opposite.

·         She lives near the school.

·         There is an ice cream shop by the store.

·         An oak tree grows next to my house

·         The house is between Elm Street and Maple Street.

·         I found my pen lying among the books.

·         The bathroom is opposite that room.

To introduce objects of verbs:

At: glance, laugh, look, rejoice, smile, stare

·         She glanced at her reflection.
(Exception with mirror: She glanced in the mirror.)

·         You didn't laugh at his joke.

·         I'm looking at the computer monitor.

·         We rejoiced at his safe rescue.

·         That pretty girl smiled at you.

·         Stop staring at me.

Of: approve, consist, smell

·         I don't approve of his speech.

·         My contribution to the article consists of many pages.

·         He came home smelling of alcohol.

Of (or about): dream, think

·         I dream of finishing college in four years.

·         Can you think of a number between one and ten?

·         I am thinking about this problem.

For: call, hope, look, wait, watch, wish

·         Did someone call for a taxi?

·         He hopes for a raise in salary next year.

·         I'm looking for my keys.

·         We'll wait for her here.

·         You go buy the tickets and I'll watch for the train.

Reference: YouTube

Present Perfect

FORM

[has/have + past participle]

Examples:

• You have seen that movie many times.
• Have you seen that movie many times?
• You have not seen that movie many times.

USE 1 Unspecified Time Before Now

We use the Present Perfect to say that an action happened at an unspecified time before now. The exact time is not important. 

• You CANNOT use the Present Perfect with specific time expressions such as: yesterday, one year ago, last week, when I was a child, when I lived in Japan, at that moment, that day, one day, etc. 
• We CAN use the Present Perfect with unspecific expressions such as: ever, never, once, many times, several times, before, so far, already, yet, etc.

Examples:

• I have seen that movie twenty times.
• I think I have met him once before.
• There have been many earthquakes in California.
• People have traveled to the Moon.
• People have not traveled to Mars.
• Have you read the book yet?
• Nobody has ever climbed that mountain.
• A: Has there ever been a war in the United States?
  B: Yes, there has been a war in the United States.

How Do You Actually Use the Present Perfect?

The concept of "unspecified time" can be very confusing to English learners. It is best to associate Present Perfect with the following topics:

TOPIC 1 Experience

You can use the Present Perfect to describe your experience. It is like saying, "I have the experience of..." You can also use this tense to say that you have never had a certain experience. The Present Perfect is NOT used to describe a specific event.

Examples:

• I have been to France.
  This sentence means that you have had the experience of being in France. Maybe you have been there once, or several times.
• I have been to France three times.
  You can add the number of times at the end of the sentence.
• I have never been to France.
  This sentence means that you have not had the experience of going to France.
• I think I have seen that movie before.
• He has never traveled by train.
• Joan has studied two foreign languages.

TOPIC 2 Change Over Time

We often use the Present Perfect to talk about change that has happened over a period of time.

Examples:

• You have grown since the last time I saw you.
• The government has become more interested in arts education.
• Japanese has become one of the most popular courses at the university since the Asian studies program was established.
• My English has really improved since I moved to Australia.

TOPIC 3 Accomplishments

We often use the Present Perfect to list the accomplishments of individuals and humanity. You cannot mention a specific time.

Examples:

• Man has walked on the Moon.
• Our son has learned how to read.
• Doctors have cured many deadly diseases.
• Scientists have split the atom.

TOPIC 4 An Uncompleted Action You Are Expecting

We often use the Present Perfect to say that an action which we expected has not happened. Using the Present Perfect suggests that we are still waiting for the action to happen.

Examples:

• James has not finished his homework yet.
• Susan hasn't mastered Japanese, but she can communicate.
• Bill has still not arrived.
• The rain hasn't stopped.

TOPIC 5 Multiple Actions at Different Times

We also use the Present Perfect to talk about several different actions which have occurred in the past at different times. Present Perfect suggests the process is not complete and more actions are possible.

Examples:

• The army has attacked that city five times.
• I have had four quizzes and five tests so far this semester.
• We have had many major problems while working on this project.
• She has talked to several specialists about her problem, but nobody knows why she is sick.

Time Expressions with Present Perfect

When we use the Present Perfect it means that something has happened at some point in our lives before now. Remember, the exact time the action happened is not important.

Sometimes, we want to limit the time we are looking in for an experience. We can do this with expressions such as: in the last week, in the last year, this week, this month, so far, up to now, etc.

Examples:

• Have you been to Mexico in the last year?
• I have seen that movie six times in the last month.
• They have had three tests in the last week.
• She graduated from university less than three years ago. She has worked for three different companies so far.
• My car has broken down three times this week.

NOTICE

"Last year" and "in the last year" are very different in meaning. 

• "Last year" means the year before now, and it is considered a specific time which requires Simple Past. 
• "In the last year" means from 365 days ago until now. It is not considered a specific time, so it requires Present Perfect.

Examples:

• I went to Mexico last year.
  I went to Mexico in the calendar year before this one.
• I have been to Mexico in the last year.
  I have been to Mexico at least once at some point between 365 days ago and now.

USE 2 Duration From the Past Until Now (Non-Continuous Verbs)

With Non-Continuous Verbs and non-continuous uses of Mixed Verbs, we use the Present Perfect to show that something started in the past and has continued up until now. "For five minutes," "for two weeks," and "since Tuesday" are all durations which can be used with the Present Perfect.

Examples:

• I have had a cold for two weeks.
• She has been in England for six months.
• Mary has loved chocolate since she was a little girl.

Although the above use of Present Perfect is normally limited to Non-Continuous Verbs and non-continuous uses of Mixed Verbs, the words "live," "work," "teach," and "study" are sometimes used in this way even though they are NOT Non-Continuous Verbs.

Exercise 1: Present Perfect vs Simple Past 

Exercise 2: Present Perfect vs Simple Past

Reference: englishpage.com

Articles-a, an & the

Articles

a/an/the

An article is a kind of adjective which is always used with and gives some information about a noun.  There are only two articles a and the, but they are used very often and are important for using English accurately.

   The word a (which becomes an when the next word begins with a vowel - a, e, i, o, u) is called the indefinite article because the noun it goes with is indefinite or general.  The meaning of the article a is similar to the number one, but one is stronger and gives more emphasis.  It is possible to say I have a book or I have one book, but the second sentence emphasizes that I do not have two or three or some other number of books.

   The word the is known as the definite article and indicates a specific thing.  The difference between the sentences I sat on a chair and I sat on the chair is that the second sentence refers to a particular, specific chair, not just any chair.

Many nouns, especially singular forms of countable nouns which you will learn about later, must have an article.  In English, it is not possible to say I sat on chair without an article, but  a demonstrative or possessive adjective can be used instead of an article as in the sentences I sat on that chair and I sat on his chair.

Whenever you see an article, you will find a noun with it.  The noun may be the next word as in the man or there may be adjectives and perhaps adverbs between the article and the noun as in the very angry, young man.

See this video for more information

Reference: YouTube 

Tenses?

What is Tense?

tense (noun): a verb-based method used to indicate the time, and sometimes the continuation or completeness, of an action or state in relation to the time of speaking.

The concept of tense in English is a method that we use to refer to time - past, present and future.

We cannot talk of tenses without considering two components of many English tenses: time and aspect. In simple terms...

Time expresses:

• past - before now
• present - now, or any time that includes now
• future - after now

Aspect can be:

• progressive - uncompleted action
• perfective - completed action or state

The following table shows how these components work together to create some basic tenses.

		time
		past	present	future
simple (no aspect)		sang	sings	will sing
aspect	progressive	was singing	is singing	will be singing
	perfective	had sung	has sung	will have sung

(Some say that simple tenses have "simple aspect", but strictly speaking simple tenses are simply unmarked for aspect.)

The progressive aspect produces progressive or "continuous" tenses: past continuous, present continuous, future continuous.

The perfective aspect produces perfect tenses: past perfect, present perfect, future perfect.

And the two aspects can be combined to produce perfect continuous tenses: past perfect continuous, present perfect continuous, future perfect continuous.

Reference:www.englishclub.com

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