LEARN ENGLISH

Present Perfect Simple

2011-04-24T04:04:00.000-07:00

Present Perfect Simple

Present Perfect Tense can be used in three situations:

1. To indicate something that has happened at an indefinite time in the past :

- I have seen that movie already.

- She has left for California.

- They have not eaten their dinner yet.

2. To indicate something which started in the past and continues until now :

- I have lived in New York for nine years.

- We have been here since Friday.

- He has played football since he was a child.

3. To indicate something which occurred recently :

- I have been sick lately.

- She hasn’t slept much recently.

Notes:

When speaking about a specific time, use past tense.

A: I have seen that movie already.	(Non-specific time)
B: Oh really? When did you see it?
A: I saw it last week with Bob.	(Specific time)

Some words should not be used in situation 2 (above)

I have met John for five years.	(INCORRECT)
I have known John for five years.	(CORRECT)
I met John five years ago.	(CORRECT)
I have met John already.	(CORRECT)

Sometimes, but not always, present perfect continuous can be used instead of present perfect.

I have lived there for ten years.	(Okay)
I have been living there for ten years.	(Okay)
I have exercised a lot recently.	(Okay)
I have been exercising a lot recently.	(Okay)
I have seen that movie ten times.	(Okay)
I have been seeing that movie ten times.	(NOT Okay)

Present Progressive / Continuous

2011-04-24T03:26:00.000-07:00

Present Progressive / Continuous

The present progressive tense takes the form be + V ing.

The form of “be” is determined by the subject of the sentence :

- He is singing.

- She is listening.

- They are sleeping.

- I am going home.

In English, the present progressive is used to indicate actions happening at the time of speaking, or right now :

- Jake is speaking to his mother right now.

- Please keep quiet. The baby is sleeping.
The present progressive can also be used to indicate actions occurring over a period of time which includes the present :

- I’m taking five classes at the university.

- Grace is working at a chemical factory.

- What are you doing these days?

The present progressive is sometimes used to indicate ongoing, developing, imminent or future actions :

Ongoing

Don’t bother Mr. Grumpy while he is watching the football game.

Developing

I’m beginning to like this place!

Imminent

A: Honey, where are you?

B: I’m coming. Just let me put on my shoes.

Future (Note the presence of future time words.)

A: Are you going to the concert this weekend?

B: I wish I could, but I’m meeting an important client from Oklahoma.

Some non-action verbs do not occur in the present progressive tense. The simple present is sufficient.

Simple Present Tense

2011-04-20T04:13:00.000-07:00

PRESENT TENSE
What is the present tense?
A tense is a specific form of a verb that shows WHEN the action implied by the verb takes place. There are two tenses in English: the PRESENT and the PAST (note: WILL, which denotes the FUTURE, is not a tense by a MODAL). When a verb is at the present tense, it shows that the action implied by the verb is :
a) taking place NOW or
b) is a valid and eternal truth. Examples ; I work today, The United States of America believes in free speech.
For most verbs in the simple present tense, you must add an "s" to the end of the verb for he/she/it, as in, "Devan hates the holidays." However, for some verbs, you have to add es for he/she/it, as in, "She watches a lot of TV," or, "He misses his mom."
So how do you know when es is necessary? One rule to remember is that any verb ending in ch, sh or ss needs an es, not s, for he/she/it.

For the other pronouns, i/you/we/they, regular verbs simply take the basic verb form. For example, "I play basketball," or, "We love watching movies."
And remember, you can always put an always in front of a simple present verb to indicate that something happens all the time.
In English, conjugating regular verbs at the PRESENT tense is very easy. You associate the subject (I, you, we, you, they) and the verb (love, make, work, etc.) without making any change to the verb. Only the subjects he and she add an extra ‘s’ to the verb.
Examples: I work today. We work today.
You work today. (singular) You work today. (plural)
He/she works today. They work today.

Exercises :

Choose the right verb

1. You a taxi.

2. I my parents.

3. Mark his friend for dinner.

4. Theythe football competition.

5. Mother in the kitchen.

6. My dog the treats in your pocket.

7. She in late on the weekend.

8. He his old job at the warehouse.

9. The boy the dishes after dinner.

10. I always basketball at the park when it's nice outside.

Build a sentence
1) You / like / watching TV.
2) She / read / books for pleasure.
3) I / write / in my journal.
4) He / listen to / reggae music.
What about you now?
Write a paragraph about yourself. Interview your classmate and present to the class what he or she does.
Wind-down
1) What differences do you see between the American school system and yours?
2) Are there cultural differences between the traditional American social life and yours?
3) What do you think of the American work ethic?

WH - Questions

2011-04-12T00:39:00.000-07:00

Wh- Questions allow a speaker to find out more information about topics. They are as follows:

When?

Where?

Who?

Why?

How?

What?

Time

Place

Person

Reason

Manner

Object/Idea/Action

Other words can also be used to inquire about specific information:

Which (one)?

Whose?

Whom?

How much?

How many?

How long?

How often?

How far?

What kind (of)?

Choice of alternatives

Possession

Person (objective formal)

Price, amount (non-count)

Quantity (count)

Duration

Frequency

Distance

Description

The “grammar” used with wh- questions depends on whether the topic being asked about is the “subject” or “predicate” of a sentence. For the subject pattern, simply replace the person or thing being asked about with the appropriate wh-word.

(Someone has my baseball.)

(Something is bothering you.)

Who has my baseball?

What is bothering you?

For the predicate pattern, wh- question formation depends on whether there is an “auxiliary” verb in the original sentence. Auxiliary or “helping” verbs are verbs that precede main verbs. Auxiliary verbs are italicized in the following sentences.

I can do it.
They are leaving.
I have eaten my lunch.
I should have finished my homework.

To make a question using the predicate pattern, first form a yes/no question by inverting the subject and (first) auxiliary verb. Then, add the appropriate wh- word to the beginning of the sentence.

(You will leave some time.)	… will you leave When will you leave?
(He is doing something.)	… is he doing What is he doing?
(They have been somewhere.)	… have they been Where have they been?

If there is no auxiliary and the verb is “be,” invert the subject and verb, then add the appropriate wh- word to the beginning of the sentence.

(He is someone.)	… is he Who is he?
(The meeting was some time)	… was the meeting When was the meeting?

If there is no auxiliary and the verb is not “be,” add do to the beginning of the sentence. Then add the appropriate wh-question word. Be sure to “transfer” the tense and number from the main verb to the word do.

(You want something.)	… do you want What do you want?
(You went somewhere.)	… *did* you go (past tense) Where did you go?

She likes something.)	… *does* she like (third person –s) What does she like?

6. Expression necessity and obligation

2011-03-04T08:43:00.000-08:00

Must is often used to indicate 'personal' obligation what you think yourself or other people/things must do. The obligation comes from outside (a rule or law).
Have to or need to are often used to indicate neccessity (but not always). It means doesn't come from a rule or law.
Here are the expressions to show necessity and obligation :

- It is necessary for you to be here on time.

- You must finish your reports before the boss ask you.

- We don't need to come to the party, I think.
- You have to submit the report by June 2 ^nd
^{- We must be here before the teacher comes}

- The school must provide more sports facilities.

- You have to clean the keyboard regularly.
   - I really must get some exercise.
   - People must try to be more tolerant of each other.
   - If you own a car, you have to pay an annual road tax.

5. Agreement and disagreement

2011-03-01T09:52:00.000-08:00

The expression to show agreement we can use :

- Exactly.

- I agree with .......

- Certainly.

- I think so.

- I totally/ extremely agree with you.

- That's just what I was thinking.

- Yes, that's quite tree.

Whereas to show disagreement we use expression as :

- No way / non sense.

- I'm afraid, I have my own opinion

- I don't think so

- That's not right

- I'm sorry but you are wrong

- Surely not, I can't agree with that ..........

- I don't agree with you.
Now look the simple dialogue below !

Bram : I think a facsimile is for more efficient that a letter.

Andy : Yes, That's quite tree. (agreement)

Bram : Do you think browsing on the internet is difficult ?

Andy : I don't think so, We just need more practice. (disagreement)

Expression to show arguing about something :

- That's good idea but .............

- I agree to point but ............

- They may be so but .................

- Yes, but don't forget ................

- I see your point but .............

- On one hand I agree with you, but on the other hand .............

- I suppose you are right but ..............

4. Certainty and Uncertainty

2011-02-28T08:54:00.000-08:00

To express certainty, we can use the following expressions :
- I know that ...............

- I'm certain that .............

- I'm quite certain ..............

- We absolutly sure that ...........

- It's positive that ...............

- I have no doubt about ..............

- You might be right about ..............

- I really believe that .................

- etc.
Now, how do you express uncertainty ?

You could use the expressions below to express uncertainty as :

- I'm not certain/sure/convinced that ...............

- We have doubt about ...............

- There's some doubt about ................

Note :

a. The word " that " is followed by clause.

for the example : I'm certain that she can win the game

clause

Clause is a group of word consisting of subject, predicate

b. The word " about " is followed by a noun.

for the example : - There's some doubt about his ability.

- I have no doubt about Ani's story.

3. Bargaining

2011-02-27T00:11:00.000-08:00

In a departement store

Shirley : This is nice material. What is it ?

Shopkeeper : It's cotton

Shirley : How much is it ?

Shopkeeper : It's very good material. It's four dollars a metre

Shirley : Four dollars! That's too expensive. But it's very
attractive.

Shopkeeper : How much can you pay, madam ?

Shirley : I'll pay three dollars a metre.

Shopkeeper : I'll make a special price for you, madam.

Three dollars seventy five a metre.

Shirley : How about three dollars fifty ?

Shopkeeper : Just for you, madam. Three dollars fifty cens a metre.

The italic sentences above are expression asking about price and bargaining

Here are expressions for asking about prices :

- How much is it ?

- How much does it costs ?

- What does this book/sweater/shoes/dress/etc costs ?

- How much is this book/sweater/shoes/dress/etc ?

- How much is that altogether ?

- How much do these pens costs ?

- How much will that be altogether ?

If you as customer do bargaining you could use this expression :

- How about ................. dollars ?

- How about ................. rupiahs ?

- Can you make it lower ?

- Can you lower the price?

- Can you give me a discount ?

- Is there any discount ?

- That's too expensive, how about Rp. .............. ?

- Oh, that's rather expensive, how about ................... ?

- Is there any discount for this dress/shirt/sweater/etc ?

What do you say if you as a seller accept the bargaining ?

To accept the bargaining we use the expression as :

- Yes, I'll give you ................. % discount.

- That's ok.

- Well, just a little.
- Just for you, madam/sir. ..................
And you could use the expressions below if you as seller refuse the bargaining :

- I'm sorry, it's the fixed price.

- I'm affraid you can't bargain.

- I'm sorry, we don't put discount on this product.

2. Expression used for giving compliments to others

2011-02-26T08:55:00.000-08:00

Many kinds of the expressions are used to give compliment to others as below :

- Wonderful.

- Congratulation

- You look handsome/beautiful tonight

- Wow, Fantastic.

- That's great

- Well done.

- How beautiful you look.

- Wow.. beautiful.

- What a good appearance I see.

- You look great.

- Good job.

- etc

Did you ever get compliment by your friends ?

What did you say to respond it ?

If someone gives you compliment you must respond it as :

- Thank you

- You've made my day

- Do you really think so ?

- It's kind if you say that.

- Thanks I need that

- etc

Here are the examples how you give compliment to your friend to these situation :

1. When your friend have passed all the tests excellently, what would you

say to give his/her compliment ?

Say to his/her : " Great for you, you have passed all the tests."

2. When you know your friend won the pop song competition, you

must give his/her compliment.

Say to his/her : " That's great, you won the pop song competition " or

" Congratulation, I don't think you won the pop song competition."

3. Your father can repair his car by himself so you could give him

compliment as :

" Well done, dad.. you can repair the car by yourself " or

" Wow..fantastic, dad. It's work ."

1. Expression giving invitation

2011-02-25T09:34:00.000-08:00

Generally all of us have activities that need to attended by others. So you have to invite them to come and join. You might invite them orally (informal) or writing (formal). It's depend on situation where are you at the day. Might be you met your friend when you were jogging, you invite them to come and join for lunch/dinner/birthday party/ etc orally (informal

Here are the examples of giving invitation :

- Could you come to my party ?

- Would you mind coming over on Saturday night ?

- Would you like to come to my birthday party on .......... ?

- How about going out for lunch to gather this afternoon ?

- I'd like you to ......... ?

- Can you ............ ?

- How would you like to ................... ?

- Would you like to come to my place for dinner tonight, please ?

- Why don't you join me for lunch/ dinnner ?

- I'd like to invite you to see our school/factory/office/ while you're in Bali/etc?

- Would you come with me to the cinema tomorrow ?

- etc.

If you got problem how to write to invite them, you could visit this link :

http://www.worldchiroacticalliance.org/children/manual/invitation-letter.asp

How to make birthday invitation design ?

Here are the samples of birthday invitation design :

You could visit the link below to get many kind of invitation design :

http://www.vistaprint.com/gallery.aspx?pg=39&preid=52&xnav=TsrItem&xnid=birthday

What is your response ?

· Thank you for your invitation I'll happy to come/join/dinner/lunch/etc.

· That's very kind of you.

· That sound wonderful, I'll happy to come/ join/ etc.

· I'd love to go with you.

· Certainly, I'd love to go/ come/ join/ etc.

· etc.

But if you refuse/decline an invitation, remember to thank the person for the invitation and give a reason for refuse/decline. You don't need to give a detailed reason, it's just a general reason.

Below are responses if you refuse/decline an invitation :

. Thank you but I'm sorry, I'm affraid I can't...

· Thank you for your invitation but I don't think I can make it.

· I'd love to but I can't. I have other plans.

· That's very kind of you, but I'm affraid my schedule is booked up all next week/

nex Sunday/ tomorrow/ Saturday night/ etc.

· I'm sorry, but I have other plans. Thank you anyway.

. I'd like to, but tomorrow I would prefer to stay at home.