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Tuesday 30 April 2013

ORDER OF ADJECTIVES


The Order of Adjectives

In English, most adjectives go before the noun they qualify. The problem comes when there are several adjectives and one has to decide in which order they should go. For example, how would you describe young Ron Weasley, one of the three protagonist in Harry Potter series?


 Young, cute, red-haired, with freckles.

But how do we know in which order we should write these adjectives in a sentence?

For English speakers it sounds natural when you say: He is a cute, young, red-haired boy with freckles but if you are not a native speaker you may find it difficult to decide which goes where.

The grammar rules for adjective order are quite complicated, but if we want to set a more simple rule, we could say that the more subjective the adjective, the farther it is from the noun, while the adjective that best describes the noun goes right next to it.
So, in the example above, cute is a subjective adjective because it gives an opinion: he may be a cute boy for me, but may look ugly for you. On the other hand, the adjective that best describes him is red-haired, that's why this word should be the one nearer the noun. The word freckles is not an adjective, so we write this particular characteristic after the noun.

However, things are not always so simple and it's useful to know that the order should be:
OPINION / SIZE / AGE / SHAPE / COLOUR / ORIGIN / MATERIAL / PURPOSE
(A mnemonic technique can help you remember this easily: OSASHCOMP)
Some examples:

DETERMINER OPINION SIZE AGE SHAPE COLOUR ORIGIN MATERIAL PURPOSE NOUN
My beautiful
new
brown
woolen
coat
A pair of comfortable
old
black Italian leather riding boots
A few talented
young

English

men
An expensive big
square

wooden
table
Two cozy


blue
cotton sleeping bags


Take into account that this is not a hard and fast rule, and the position of some adjectives can change for emphasis reasons: breaking the patterns of adjective order can be a powerful way to emphasize one attribute over the other. 

And now... LET'S PRACTISE!



These exercises will help you check how much you have learnt:

EXERCISE 1

EXERCISE 2

EXERCISE 3

EXERCISE 4

EXERCISE 5 

EXERCISE 6

EXERCISE 7



Sunday 28 April 2013

A - AN




When do we use A or An?



A or An are INDEFINITE ARTICLES. But how do we know when to say A and when to say AN?

The rule is really very simple. It depends on the sound at the start of the following word. (It does not depend on the way we write the following word, it depends on the way we say it.) 

A + consonant sound

 

If the following word starts with a consonant sound, then we say A


a cat
a game of golf
a human emotion
a Peruvian
a very fat woman

 

AN + vowel sound

 

If the following word starts with a vowel sound, then we say AN


an apple
an extremely easy job
an interesting film
an old man
an umbrella

 

The importance of sound

 

Normally, we pronounce consonant letters with a consonant sound, and vowel letters with a vowel sound. But there are some exceptions. The rule about A or AN is still the same. You just need to think about the sound, not the writing. Look at these examples: 


consonant letter with vowel sound
an honest man on-est
an hour our
an FBI agent eff-bee-ai

vowel letter with consonant sound 
a European country you-ro-pe-an
a one-day conference won-day
a university you-ni-ver-si-ty




 
In an hour.
(Although 'house' and 'hour' start with the same three letters (hou), one attracts 'a' and the other 'an'.)

An unknown man.

An LRS...
(LRS - Linear Recursive Sequence)

A TT race...
(TT - Tourist Trophy)

It is a honour.
('honour' - starts with an o sound)

Send an US ambassador.
('US' - starts with a y sound)

A RTA.
('RTA' - Road Traffic Accident)


And Now...
















Drama in the Classroom

Drama in the English Classroom

 


Why are we introducing play scripts?

Scriptwriting helps students focus on register, adjacency pairs, vocabulary in context, and fluency. A script can be edited and re-drafted to focus on the writing process. The added benefit is that the students can perform their script when it is completed.

An easy way to learn new vocabulary is to create very short scenes in which they dramatize certain concepts. Aside from practicing newly learned vocabulary, students can focus on specific grammar features. Likewise, students may write scripts for scenes that focus on specific issues.


Why are we using plays?

When students are asked to take a role in a play, they can imagine and plan how to act in situations for which they do not yet have the language skills. This gives them the confidence to try their newly acquired language outside the classroom, too. Moreover, it gives them the chance to recite the same lines repeatedly, giving them the opportunity to practice pronunciation. Lines can be written (or chosen) to focus on particular aspects of pronunciation that are difficult for the student or the class as a whole.

There are many purposes for introducing play scripts into the classroom. Students can read for the main idea, read for details, read to write a different ending, read to understand character’s motivations, read to find grammar points, or learn vocabulary in context, among other purposes. 



Read this article prepared by your teacher. You'll find the steps how to make your own play script!




And now, see an example of a playscript:






I hope this will be useful to prepare your own play script!