A bystander is someone who, by chance, is present at some event, and sees what happened.
"After the crash, the police asked the bystanders what they saw"
Learn more English online at SmartLanguageSolutions.com
Showing posts with label EFL ESL English Grammar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label EFL ESL English Grammar. Show all posts
Tuesday, 18 May 2010
Tuesday, 20 April 2010
Zero Conditional
In this mini lesson I want to explain the zero conditional. As you know there are a total of four conditionals used in English, and they are the zero, the first, the second, and the third conditional.
Each conditional describes a situation, either real or imagined called the condition which is followed by a result of that condition.
Each of the four conditional are defined by separate grammar rules.
In this mini lesson I want to explain the easiest of all the conditionals, and the one that is not taught in most books, this lesson is about the zero conditional.
The offices of SmartLanguageSolutions.com are near to Heathrow airport in south west London, this means sometimes planes fly over the office.
If a plane flies over the SmartLanguageSolutions.com office, we hear the noise from its engines.
In this sentence we used the zero condition to explain a fact that is always true, and this is the main use of the zero conditional.
For example:
If you heat water, it boils
or
If you run 10 kilometres every day, you will get fit.
Grammatically the zero conditional is constructed with:
If + a condition in the present simple, + a result in the present simple
Remember the zero conditional is used to express something that is always true.
To learn English online in real time, the book a free trial lesson at SmartLanguageSolutions.com
Each conditional describes a situation, either real or imagined called the condition which is followed by a result of that condition.
Each of the four conditional are defined by separate grammar rules.
In this mini lesson I want to explain the easiest of all the conditionals, and the one that is not taught in most books, this lesson is about the zero conditional.
The offices of SmartLanguageSolutions.com are near to Heathrow airport in south west London, this means sometimes planes fly over the office.
If a plane flies over the SmartLanguageSolutions.com office, we hear the noise from its engines.
In this sentence we used the zero condition to explain a fact that is always true, and this is the main use of the zero conditional.
For example:
If you heat water, it boils
or
If you run 10 kilometres every day, you will get fit.
Grammatically the zero conditional is constructed with:
If + a condition in the present simple, + a result in the present simple
Remember the zero conditional is used to express something that is always true.
To learn English online in real time, the book a free trial lesson at SmartLanguageSolutions.com
Thursday, 15 April 2010
Preparing for the TOEFL essay.
The essay section of the TOEFL is sometimes considered to be the hardest part of the test.
However here at SmartLanguageSolutons.com we feel that with an understanding on the structure of the written exam you will find sitting the written exam a little less daunting.
For your essay you will be given a statement or situation and will be asked to take an opinion based upon the information supplied and then to write out your opinion.
It is recommended that you aim for a five paragraph essay.
Paragraph One:
In this paragraph, called your thesis statement, you state your opinion on the question provided.
You should then give three reasons in the form of headlines explaining why you have reached that opinion.
For example, the question is:
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
Parents are the best teachers.
The answer could take the following form:
Yes, I agree that parents are the best teachers.
Its my opinion that being a parent makes you a natural educator, the fact that you have had a child gives a vested interest in improving your child's knowledge, and being that child's parent you have a deeper understanding of what motivates the child more than anyone else.
In the above example we can see that the author agrees with the statement and then gives three reasons why they agree.
The next step is to create three new paragraphs, which are called topic paragraphs.
Each topic paragraph should be an expansion of each reason given in your thesis statement.
Paragraph two:
You take the first of your reasons and expand on it. It is recommended that you only use one argument for your each reason.
For example:
It is my opinion all parents are natural educators. Once a parent sees their child for the first time, something basic is triggered in that parents genetic make up that unlocks a lifetime passive knowledge that the parent simply wants to impart to their child....
Paragraph three:
The same as above bur for your second reason.
Paragraph four:
The same as above but for your third reason.
Paragraph Five:
This is your concluding statement.
In this you will restate your thesis statement and clearly summarize what you have stated in your three topic sentences.
For example:
I wish to end this essay by restating that it is my opinion that parents are natural educators for the reasons set out above.
Parents simply have no choice in being an educator...
Sounds simple!
Well it is, but you should take help from a tutor to learn how to construct and interlink your ideas, because a simple list of ideas is not sufficient to pass the exam.
The good news is that you can find a full list of TOEFL essay topics on the study material page on our website!
We would recommend that long before you take the TOEFL exam you read all the essay topics and perhaps prepare an essay for each one.
However you should also take some TOEFL essay lessons with one of our native speaking professional English teachers who will help change your lists to fully essays!
However here at SmartLanguageSolutons.com we feel that with an understanding on the structure of the written exam you will find sitting the written exam a little less daunting.
For your essay you will be given a statement or situation and will be asked to take an opinion based upon the information supplied and then to write out your opinion.
It is recommended that you aim for a five paragraph essay.
Paragraph One:
In this paragraph, called your thesis statement, you state your opinion on the question provided.
You should then give three reasons in the form of headlines explaining why you have reached that opinion.
For example, the question is:
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
Parents are the best teachers.
The answer could take the following form:
Yes, I agree that parents are the best teachers.
Its my opinion that being a parent makes you a natural educator, the fact that you have had a child gives a vested interest in improving your child's knowledge, and being that child's parent you have a deeper understanding of what motivates the child more than anyone else.
In the above example we can see that the author agrees with the statement and then gives three reasons why they agree.
The next step is to create three new paragraphs, which are called topic paragraphs.
Each topic paragraph should be an expansion of each reason given in your thesis statement.
Paragraph two:
You take the first of your reasons and expand on it. It is recommended that you only use one argument for your each reason.
For example:
It is my opinion all parents are natural educators. Once a parent sees their child for the first time, something basic is triggered in that parents genetic make up that unlocks a lifetime passive knowledge that the parent simply wants to impart to their child....
Paragraph three:
The same as above bur for your second reason.
Paragraph four:
The same as above but for your third reason.
Paragraph Five:
This is your concluding statement.
In this you will restate your thesis statement and clearly summarize what you have stated in your three topic sentences.
For example:
I wish to end this essay by restating that it is my opinion that parents are natural educators for the reasons set out above.
Parents simply have no choice in being an educator...
Sounds simple!
Well it is, but you should take help from a tutor to learn how to construct and interlink your ideas, because a simple list of ideas is not sufficient to pass the exam.
The good news is that you can find a full list of TOEFL essay topics on the study material page on our website!
We would recommend that long before you take the TOEFL exam you read all the essay topics and perhaps prepare an essay for each one.
However you should also take some TOEFL essay lessons with one of our native speaking professional English teachers who will help change your lists to fully essays!
Friday, 19 March 2010
Urban Slang - muppet
In the late 1950's puppet master Jim Henson created some puppet characters and called them the Muppets.
Since the 1950's the Muppets have been entertaining children and adults alike with their silly antics.
However in Brittan, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand, the word muppet has become a mild term of abuse.
When using muppet as a mild term of abuse the first thing to notice is the difference in spelling, the puppets created by Jim Henson and now owed by the Disney Corporation are spelt with a capital "M", as in The Muppets, and when we call someone a muppet we spell it with a lowercase "m".
When you call someone a muppet (lower case) you are suggesting that they stupid or silly.
For example: "John its six o'clock, you were supposed to be here an hour ago, you muppet!"
Calling someone a muppet should not cause them offensive, and has even been used in street advertising, however as a learner of English, remember if you are going to call someone a muppet, be sure that they have a good sense of humour.
Learn English correctly @ the online language school, SmartLanguageSolutions.com
Since the 1950's the Muppets have been entertaining children and adults alike with their silly antics.
However in Brittan, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand, the word muppet has become a mild term of abuse.
When using muppet as a mild term of abuse the first thing to notice is the difference in spelling, the puppets created by Jim Henson and now owed by the Disney Corporation are spelt with a capital "M", as in The Muppets, and when we call someone a muppet we spell it with a lowercase "m".
When you call someone a muppet (lower case) you are suggesting that they stupid or silly.
For example: "John its six o'clock, you were supposed to be here an hour ago, you muppet!"
Calling someone a muppet should not cause them offensive, and has even been used in street advertising, however as a learner of English, remember if you are going to call someone a muppet, be sure that they have a good sense of humour.
Learn English correctly @ the online language school, SmartLanguageSolutions.com
Wednesday, 3 March 2010
Packed in like Sardines
The other night I was teaching a client in Moscow and he asked me to explain the phrase, "packed in like sardines" which he had heard was a good way to describe rush hour on the Moscow Metro, however he was a little unsure if it was an offensive phrase or not.
The phrase is not offensive and in fact comes from the business of food processing.
Sardines, as you know are a type of fish, and we normally buy our sardines in small tins. When we open a tin of sardines, its normal that there are a lot fish in the tin and there no free space.
Therefore the phrase packed in like sardines is used to describe a situation where people are in an area or space with little room to move.
So it is not offensive and in fact a very good way to describe the Moscow Metro during rush hour.
"Every morning I take the Metro to work, it is always full and there is no room to move because everyone is packed in like sardines."
Packed in Like sardines = No space to move
Learn more English online- SmartLanguageSolutions.com
The phrase is not offensive and in fact comes from the business of food processing.
Sardines, as you know are a type of fish, and we normally buy our sardines in small tins. When we open a tin of sardines, its normal that there are a lot fish in the tin and there no free space.
Therefore the phrase packed in like sardines is used to describe a situation where people are in an area or space with little room to move.
So it is not offensive and in fact a very good way to describe the Moscow Metro during rush hour.
"Every morning I take the Metro to work, it is always full and there is no room to move because everyone is packed in like sardines."
Packed in Like sardines = No space to move
Learn more English online- SmartLanguageSolutions.com
Tuesday, 2 March 2010
Using Will to express a future decision
In this mini English blog, I want to discuss one of the uses of Will to express the future.
As we previously discussed in other blogs there are a number of different ways of expressing the future.
Using Will is one ways to express the future and Will has a number of different uses, however in this blog I want to focus only on Will as used to express decisions.
When we are speaking about an action in the future, and we make decision about this future action while we are speaking we must use will.
For example:
"I don't know if I should go to the cinema or not...hhmm...OK I will go with you."
In this sentence the speaker is unsure about a future trip to the cinema, however while they are speaking they make up their mind to go to the cinema, so they must use Will to express this decision, because will is used to express a decision made at the moment of speaking.
Will is used to express a decision made at the moment of speaking.
There you have it another use of will for expressing the future!
If you want to learn more English go to our website www.SmartLanguageSolutions.com and book a free trial lesson.
We look forward to hearing from you soon.
As we previously discussed in other blogs there are a number of different ways of expressing the future.
Using Will is one ways to express the future and Will has a number of different uses, however in this blog I want to focus only on Will as used to express decisions.
When we are speaking about an action in the future, and we make decision about this future action while we are speaking we must use will.
For example:
"I don't know if I should go to the cinema or not...hhmm...OK I will go with you."
In this sentence the speaker is unsure about a future trip to the cinema, however while they are speaking they make up their mind to go to the cinema, so they must use Will to express this decision, because will is used to express a decision made at the moment of speaking.
Will is used to express a decision made at the moment of speaking.
There you have it another use of will for expressing the future!
If you want to learn more English go to our website www.SmartLanguageSolutions.com and book a free trial lesson.
We look forward to hearing from you soon.
Thursday, 11 February 2010
That's a Killer
From time to time you may hear English speakers use the word killer in a sense that has nothing to do with killing something!
Killer can be used as an adjective to describe something that is very good, excellent or even hard.
"That was a killer game of football" = It was a very good game of football.
"That was a killer exam" = It was a very hard exam.
Killer can be used as a noun, in the form of a greeting that suggests the person being greeted in a very cool person.
"Hey Killer, how are you today?"
Remember unless you are 100% sure of English and English slang, we recommend you don't use it as if used wrongly it may cause great offence.
However we do recommend that you learn slang so that when you hear it, you understand it.
Learn more English online at www.smartlanguagesolutions.com/
Killer can be used as an adjective to describe something that is very good, excellent or even hard.
"That was a killer game of football" = It was a very good game of football.
"That was a killer exam" = It was a very hard exam.
Killer can be used as a noun, in the form of a greeting that suggests the person being greeted in a very cool person.
"Hey Killer, how are you today?"
Remember unless you are 100% sure of English and English slang, we recommend you don't use it as if used wrongly it may cause great offence.
However we do recommend that you learn slang so that when you hear it, you understand it.
Learn more English online at www.smartlanguagesolutions.com/
Tuesday, 9 February 2010
Have to
In English when we want to express an obligation, we combine "have" and "to" with an infinitive (first from of the verb).
For example, "I have to be in work at 9AM"
Here you can see the construction "Have" + "to"+ "be"
Remember an obligation is something that comes from "outside" such as a rule or a law we obey.
"You have to drive at 30KM in the city centre"
"Do you have to wear a uniform?"
The past tense of "have to" is "had to" + infinitive.
When we use the past tense we express and obligation that we no longer do.
"When I was a child I had to make my bed in the morning"
The future of "have to" is "will + have + to" + infinitive.
We use the future tense to express a future obligation that we don't have at the moment.
"When I get to the airport tonight I will have to show my passport"
We hope this helps you.
If you have any questions please let us know.
Why not have a free interactive lesson with us! Go to www.smartlanguagesolutions.com and book a free trial lesson with us.
For example, "I have to be in work at 9AM"
Here you can see the construction "Have" + "to"+ "be"
Remember an obligation is something that comes from "outside" such as a rule or a law we obey.
"You have to drive at 30KM in the city centre"
"Do you have to wear a uniform?"
The past tense of "have to" is "had to" + infinitive.
When we use the past tense we express and obligation that we no longer do.
"When I was a child I had to make my bed in the morning"
The future of "have to" is "will + have + to" + infinitive.
We use the future tense to express a future obligation that we don't have at the moment.
"When I get to the airport tonight I will have to show my passport"
We hope this helps you.
If you have any questions please let us know.
Why not have a free interactive lesson with us! Go to www.smartlanguagesolutions.com and book a free trial lesson with us.
Monday, 8 February 2010
A Pigs Ear!
This English lesson focus on the use of the phrase "A Pigs Ear".
This phrase has its roots in cockney rhyming slang, but is mostly used in Ireland.
When someone says they or someone else makes a pigs ear of something it means that have made a mistake, mess or a muddle of something.
"I made a pigs ear of dinner", means the dinner I made was really bad.
"He made a pigs ear of his exam", means that he made a mistake in his exam and got low marks.
We recommend that you take care when using idioms, as when used incorrectly they don't make any sense. We would also recommend you don't use either idioms or slang unless you are an advanced user of English, BUT you should learn their meanings so when you hear someone else using them you understand what they are saying.
To learn English (EFL) online from the comfort of your home or office we recommend Smart Language Solutions, the internets most professional and friendly online language school.
Book a FREE lesson at:
learn@smartlangaugesolutions.com
www.smartlangaugesolutions.com
This phrase has its roots in cockney rhyming slang, but is mostly used in Ireland.
When someone says they or someone else makes a pigs ear of something it means that have made a mistake, mess or a muddle of something.
"I made a pigs ear of dinner", means the dinner I made was really bad.
"He made a pigs ear of his exam", means that he made a mistake in his exam and got low marks.
We recommend that you take care when using idioms, as when used incorrectly they don't make any sense. We would also recommend you don't use either idioms or slang unless you are an advanced user of English, BUT you should learn their meanings so when you hear someone else using them you understand what they are saying.
To learn English (EFL) online from the comfort of your home or office we recommend Smart Language Solutions, the internets most professional and friendly online language school.
Book a FREE lesson at:
learn@smartlangaugesolutions.com
www.smartlangaugesolutions.com
Tuesday, 11 August 2009
Question Tags
In English when we want to continue a conversation we can put a question tag at the end of a sentence.
The purpose of the question tag is to invite the person who we are talking to reply to us.
“You agree with me, don’t you?”
Question tags are easy to construct, if the base sentence is positive, then the question tag is negative and if the base sentence is negative then the question tag is positive.
We construct the question tag using the auxiliary verb from the base sentence and invert it:
It isn’t a nice day, is it?
You have my pen, haven’t you?
If there is no auxiliary verb in the base sentence then use do/does/did:
The school closes at 5PM, doesn’t it?
You eat meat, don’t you?
Remember when learning English, it’s very important to take lessons with a professional native speaker teacher.
Join us online to learn English in small groups or one to one with Smart Language Solutions.
www.SmartLanguageSolutions.com
The purpose of the question tag is to invite the person who we are talking to reply to us.
“You agree with me, don’t you?”
Question tags are easy to construct, if the base sentence is positive, then the question tag is negative and if the base sentence is negative then the question tag is positive.
We construct the question tag using the auxiliary verb from the base sentence and invert it:
It isn’t a nice day, is it?
You have my pen, haven’t you?
If there is no auxiliary verb in the base sentence then use do/does/did:
The school closes at 5PM, doesn’t it?
You eat meat, don’t you?
Remember when learning English, it’s very important to take lessons with a professional native speaker teacher.
Join us online to learn English in small groups or one to one with Smart Language Solutions.
www.SmartLanguageSolutions.com
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