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We’ve been looking at the definite article over the last few weeks.  The indefinite article is just as important, however, and has different rules.

For an overview go to the World Atlas of Structures online at http://wals.info/feature/description/38.

The interesting thing about the indefinite article is that it changes, depending on the pronunciation of the noun.  It could be ‘a’ or an.’

Try this exercise and decide whether it should be ‘a’ or an.’

1) Lucy has  — dog.

2) Let’s sing  — song.

3) Emily needs  — new desk in her room.

4) I need  — blue pen.

5) Ben has — old bike.

6) Peter has — aunt in Berlin.

7) We listen to — English CD.

8) She has — exercise book in her school bag.

9) The speed of this car was 160 miles — hour.

10) They finished — unit.

I’ll give you the answers next week and also give you a chance to explore the rules in more detail.

See you next week and don’t forget to check the schedule for my Grammarathon!

Teachers of English use lots of strange words that may not always seem clear. The words are used as a ’short cut.’ They’re labels that educators define so that next time you hear the word you can understand the whole meaning behind it. I suspect that if you asked a teacher of English they might not always be able to explain ALL the words in a way that would make you understand them because the meaning is too technical or has been misunderstood.

Take the word TENSE, for instance. I still have nightmares about the time I first started teaching and said to my students ‘Today we’ll look at the present perfect tenses.’ I hadn’t realised that they would need more than an explanation of the ‘present perfect’ when a student said ‘Miss Miss. What does ‘tense’ mean?’ I knew what it meant and how to use it but I couldn’t explain it in a clear and simple manner for an elementary student. I said ‘Er … erm … when we look at the present perfect the meaning of the word ‘tense’ will become clearer.’

Today I’m giving myself a second chance to explain the NOUN ‘tense’ and here it is:

It is an expression of a location of an ACTION in TIME.

Does that help? Of course there is much more to it than that but as long as you remember that it is about the time or the ‘kind’ of time, you’ll be all right.

A vocabulary challenge – impress with your long, long words

We’ve all been in the situation, where someone wants to impress someone with the breadth of their knowledge.

I’m going to give you 10 horribly long words.  Can you match the word to its synonym?  The first one has been done for you. It is 1. e)

1.    munificent
2.    parsimonious
3.    lachrymose
4.    litigious
5.    pusillanimous

a)    poor-spirited
b)    penurious
c)    contentious
d)    tearful
e)    lavish

munificent – Very liberal in giving; generous.
Synonyms: lavish, overgenerous, prodigal, too-generous, unsparing, unstinted, unstinting
Usage: Munificent as life was to me, I added to that munificence.

parsimonious – Excessively unwilling to spend.
Synonyms: penurious
Usage: He was, I had discovered, parsimonious about small expenditures– a trait absolutely inconsistent with his general character.
L
achrymose – Weeping or inclined to weep; causing or tending to cause tears.
Synonyms: dolorous, weeping, tearful, sorrowful
Usage: He was by turns devout and obscene, merry and lachrymose.

litigious – Related to or tending to engage in lawsuits or disputes.
Synonyms: contentious, disputatious, argumentative
Usage: The aide had been so litigious that she was eventually fired for insubordination.

pusillanimous – Lacking courage; cowardly.
Synonyms: poor-spirited, unmanly
Usage: This counsel was indignantly derided by Grammar Girl as pusillanimous.

I have been guilty of using big words to impress my colleagues but  I also believe that it’s also all about knowledge. You must make yourself easy to understand.  Before you decide which path to choose, have a look at this great site.

Grammar Girl bids you adieu !

A wise woman once said that both ‘who’ and ‘whom’ mean the same thing.  When you choose one over the other, all you are doing is changing the word order and the formality or informality of the sentence.

Personally, I find ‘whom’ very nineteenth century and would like to throw it in the bin BUT if you are writing for an international examination (like IELTS), writing a thesis or an academic article, you might want to vary your sentence structures with a little bit of ‘whom.’

Here is the answer and an example of each one.

Use the he/him method to decide which word is correct.

he = who
him = whom

Examples:     Who/Whom wrote the letter?

He wrote the letter. Therefore, who is correct.

For who/whom should I vote?
Should I vote for him? Therefore, whom is correct.

We all know who/whom pulled that prank.
This sentence contains two clauses: We all know and who/whom pulled that prank. We are interested in the second clause because it contains the who/whom. He pulled that prank. Therefore, who is correct. (Are you starting to sound like a hooting owl yet?)

We want to know on who/whom the prank was pulled.
This sentence contains two clauses: We want to know and the prank was pulled on who/whom. Again, we are interested in the second clause because it contains the who/whom. The prank was pulled on him. Therefore, whom is correct.

And there you have it.  There is more to ‘who’ or ‘whom’ than that of course, but this little method should send you in the right direction.

Bye for now,

Grammar Girl

Last month I wrote about the spelling of words with long and short vowels.

I think that the best way to improve your spelling is to read, observe the spelling of new or difficult words, copy them down and learn them.  Keep doing a ’spell-check,’ which my recommendation for the week should help you with.
Check out this site - Fun brain

Rules can be very difficult to follow unless you have got the concept itself in your head.  So today, I’m going to keep it short and sweet.

I want you to think about how reading and observing the spelling of a word can help you with grammar.

I’m going to give you 8 words.  Look at the letters at the END of each word to tell me whether it is a noun, a verb, an adjective or an adverb.

The first one has been done for you:
1.    advertise – VERB
2.    musical
3.    dangerous
4.    nursery
5.    already
6.    recommendation
7.    recommend
8.    audible

Do look them up in a dictionary to find out what they are and/or what they mean.  The answers are below.

Now, when you see words ending in ‘ise,’ ‘al,’ ‘ous, ‘ery,’ ‘y,’ ‘ion,’ ‘end’ or ‘ible’ you’ll know what they are.

Answers:
1.verb 2.adjective 3.adjective 4.noun 5.adverb 6.noun 7.verb 8.adjective

In my last blog I mentioned commas and apostrophes.  Of course, we’ve all used commas and apostrophes.  Try the game on this site to see how comfortable you are with them.

How did it go?
Today, we could have a wee bit of a closer examination of apostrophes, which you will have found at the end of the game.  There are 13 apostrophe rules but since 7 is a luckier number than 13, I’ve only written the 7 most important ones.

Rule 1.
Use the apostrophe with contractions. The apostrophe is always placed at the spot where the letter(s) has been removed.
Examples:     don’t, isn’t
You’re right.

Rule 2.
Use the apostrophe to show possession. Place the apostrophe before the s to show singular possession.
Examples:     one boy’s hat
one woman’s hat

Rule 3.
Use the apostrophe where the noun that should follow is implied, in other words we know what the noun should be.
Example:     This was his father’s, not his, jacket.

Rule 4.
To show plural possession, make the noun plural first. Then immediately use the apostrophe.
Examples:
two boys’ hats
two women’s hats

Rule 5.
Do not use an apostrophe for the plural of a name.
Examples: We visited the Sanchezes in Los Angeles.
The Changs have two cats and a dog.

Rule 6.
With a singular compound noun, show possession with ’s at the end of the word.
Example:     my mother-in-law’s hat

Rule 7.
If the compound noun is plural, form the plural first and then
use the apostrophe.
Example:     my two brothers-in-law’s hats

Don’t worry about the other 6 rules.  Pay particular attention to these 7 tips and you’ll be apostrophe-perfect.

Good luck,

Grammar Girl

Do you want to know which country has the most English speakers?

Which type of English is better – American or British?

What about the future of English and why should everyone learn English and not Chinese?

If you have questions about the English language and how it is used around the world come and talk to language expert Samuel Teacher.

This event is open to all students and their friends so come along and enjoy the session.

Where : Languagelab welcome area

When: 8pm UK time/12pm PST

Who: English Expert Samuel Teacher

Answers to our Twitter Quiz:

There are a few grammar, spelling and vocabulary differences  a UK or USA? and what is the equivalent?

1)apartment = USA/ flat = UK

2)diaper  = USA/ nappy  = UK

3)lift = UK/elevator = USA

4)bloke = UK/guy = USA

5)pram = UK/stroller = USA

6)bathroom = USA/ toilet or loo = UK

7)argument = USA/ row = UK

8)band-aid  = USA/ plaster = UK

9)jelly = UK/ Jell-o = USA

10)trousers = UK/ Pants = USA

Now guess the word, give the USA and UK word:

What is a ticket for two journeys: out and back called? – UK – Return  USA – round trip

What is flavoured ice on a stick called? – UK – ice-lolly  – USA – popsicle

What is an arthropod with six legs called? UK – insect – USA – bug

What is a self contained section of television called? UK – programme – USA – show

What is a type of house connected to one other called? UK – semi-detached – USA – duplex

What is a contest between two teams called? – UK – match  – USA – game

What is a group of people waiting for their turn called? – UK – queue – USA – line

What is a multi-lane road for cars called? – UK – motorway – USA – highway

What is payment in a restaurant called? – UK – bill – USA – cheque

What was there was before email? – UK – post – USA – mail

Teachers and Learners: This is for you

How to become a good academic writer

This post might be clearer if you are studying in university or are an advanced learner of English.  But even if you aren’t preparing for your IELTS, TOEFL or TOIC exam or studying in university, you might find these suggestions useful.  Teachers of English could also use these tips if they are preparing a writing course.

Below, you’ll see some examples of poor writing with answers that hint at how you might want to improve them.

1. Don’t abbrev.
Answer: I do not is better than I don’t.

2. Check to see if you any words out.
Answer: Check to see if you have left any words out.

3. Be carefully to use adjectives and adverbs correct.
Answer: Be careful to use adjectives and adverbs carefully.

4. About sentence fragments.
Answer: Do not use sentence fragments. Visit this site to learn more about sentence fragments.

5. Don’t use no double negatives.
Answer: Do not use double negatives.

6. Don’t use commas, that aren’t necessary.
Answer: Do not use commas that are not necessary.

7. Its important to use apostrophe’s right.
Answer: It is important to use apostrophes correctly.

8. Only Proper Nouns should be capitalised. also a sentence should begin with a capital letter and end with a full stop .
Answer: Only proper nouns should be capitalised.  Also, a sentence should begin with a capital letter and end with a full stop.

Use hyphens in compound-words, not just in any two-word phrase.
Answer: Use hyphens in compound words, not just in any two-word phrase.

There are, of course, more golden rules.  Try these grammar and punctuation suggestions and let me know how it goes.

Good luck,

Grammar Girl

Here are the riddles and answers from my Tweets !

1. I am lighter than a feather, yet no man can hold me for very long. What am I?
2. Three guys run into a bar, the fourth man ducks. Why does he duck?
3. All of the animals go to a meeting for the Lion King. One animal doesnt show up. Which animal doesn’t come?
4. You come to a river that aligators live in. There is no boat, raft, bridge, nor material to make them. How do you get accross?
5. A fifteen foot rope is tied to a horse. The horse is 25 feet from a stack of hay. How can the horse get to the hay?
6. From what number can you take half and leave nothing?
7. How can you drop an egg 3 feet without breaking it?
8. How can you make a fire with only one stick?
9. How can you tell the difference between a can of chicken soup and a can of tomato soup?
10. Can giraffes have babies?
11. What has four wheels and flies?
12. Feed me and I live, give me something to drink and I’ll die. What am I?
13. What has eyes but cannot see?
14. When is a door not a door?

Answers:

1. Breath
2. He didn’t want to hit the bar
3. The elephant, he’s in the refrigerator
4. Jump in, swim accross, get out. The aligators are at the meeting
5. The rope isn’t tied to anything but the horse
6. 8. Take the top half away and the “o” is left
7. Drop it 4 feet, the first 3 feet the egg won’t hit anything
8. Make sure it’s a matchstick
9. Read the label
10. No, they have giraffes
11. A dumpster
12. Fire
13. A needle, a potatoe, a storm, or true lovers
14. When it’s ajar