Search results for 'tag:Indefinite articles tag:Prepositions' matching tags 'Indefinite articles' and 'Prepositions'

Looking for some tips and/or curriculum suggestions

mikesusangray — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 21:50:11 GMT

Hi all!

I've been giving English conversation lessons to a theology professor for about a year now. He's getting on in the years - a couple years from retirement - and his primary goal has been just to get his spoken English going a little stronger. His mother tongue is French but he's been teaching at a German language university for many years.

I'd like to add some more specific inputs to our lessons but I can't seem to find the right material. His passive skills are excellent - he reads widely and with perfect comprehension in his field - and he can communicate quite understandably. He is a linguistics specialist and can grasp any concept about the language immediately. I brought along Cambridge Advanced Grammar in Use and he could plow through a chapter in five minutes with perfect conceptual comprehension.

However, he also continues to make very simple errors - for example, he has trouble choosing between present simple and continuous or often uses the present tense for past events. Sentence order tends to get wander hither and yon while definite and indefinite articles come and go with the tide. (Prepositions are a problem too, but I won't beat him to hard there - prepositions are difficult in any new language.) In many cases his mistakes are typical of French or German speech patterns.

One other limitation is that he enjoys the weekly lessons (a good hour), but doesn't have much time to study in between.

Right now we spend about 15 minutes reading a chapter from Advanced Grammar in Use and about 45 minutes talking about just about anything under the sun, while I take notes and show him problems under the categories Pronunciation/Articles & Prespositions/Word Order/Other Grammar/Vocabulary/Idioms. However, I don't think the work book is a good choice - particularly since he doesn't do the homework - and it seems like he isn't making very good progress with his typical problem patterns - though he greets them like old friends when I point them out.

Any tips here?

Re: work in/ at...

Cool Breeze — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 10:30:45 GMT

Hi Lcchang

If there is only one airport in your city, you could say I work at the airport. If you want to emphasize that you are always indoors when you work there, you could say I work in the airport. You could use the indefinite article (a/an) if there are several airports.

If you mention a company, the preposition is often for: I work for China Airlines.

Trouble understanding this...

SeekerOfPeace — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 03:20:03 GMT

Right or wrong?

âFor a moment¹, I even thought² that this was some sort of test³ and that this woman was someone from the head office⁴, testing my loyalty⁵.â

1: Prepositional phrase used adverbially.

2: Main clause

3: Dependant clause

4: Dependant clause

5: Participial phrase

For: preposition,

A: indefinite determinant

Moment: noun

I: personal pronoun, 1^st person,

Even: adverb, expressing surprise

That: relative pronoun?

This: pronoun

Was: L.V. simple past

Some: determiner, determines âsortâ, indefinite article

Sort: noun

Of: preposition

Test: noun

And: subordinating conjunction, (I thought and could only be used as a coordinating conjunction??)

This: definite article

Woman: noun

Was: L.V. simple past

Someone: indefinite pronoun

From: preposition, links someone and head office

Head office: compound noun+ head used as an adjective rather than a noun here.

Testing: present participle (verb?)

My: determiner

Loyalty: noun

Giving directions

Pastsimple — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 18:41:28 GMT

Hi,

could you please answer the questions below? They're all related to giving directions.

1. Someone is asking for directions to the bank. What can you say instead of the highlighted part below to sound most natural?

Take the first right. Take the first right. The bank is the first building on the/your left.

Some suggestions:

Take the first right twice.
Take the first right and then take the first right again. (not sure about the second article - underlined)
Take the first right and then take another right.

2. Which articles would you use in the sentences below?

a. Well, go straight ahead until you come to a / the church, then...
b. Take the first left into Long Street. Go straight down the street. You('ll) come to a / the church on your left. The bank is opposite it.

3. Which article would you use here?

Sentence 2.a above followed by ...take a / the right. (I'd use the indefinite article here)

4. Would you use the present simple or the future simple tense in 2.a and when giving directions in general?

Other examples (note - these senetences have been preceded by other "commands" and are not the first piece of "information" you're giving):

a. ...ahead of you is / will be a large car park.
b. ...take a right at the cathedral. You are (now) / will be in High Street.
c. ...there is / will be a post office on your left.

I'd use the present simple here.

Thank you in advance.

P.S. All of the examples above use BrE prepositions.

Re: Why without the indefinite article?

Clive — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 04:58:51 GMT

Hi,

For the word 'discussion', #1 sounds very wrong. #2 sounds fine, although there are alternatives to the preposition 'on'.

Best wishes, Clive

Several different questions

K48 — Tue, 19 Apr 2005 13:02:39 GMT

1) I haven't *a* or *the* slightest idea? (yes I know it's superlative, but in some cases we may use an indefinite article with superlative degree)
2) *a" nice weather or without any article? (yes I know it's uncountable, but there is a descriptive attribute "nice")
3) "It's *in* a five minutes' walk from here." - Do we always need the preposition in this case?
4) Is "downtown" a word from American English? Can I say, e.g. "it's in the downtown of Chelyabinsk (a city in Russia)?"
5) What word would you prefer: reduction or discount? Is there any difference in meaning or they are just synonyms?

Re: Sentence analyze

hela — Fri, 28 Jan 2005 19:30:50 GMT

Hello everyone,

I like to do sentence analyses, so if you could sometimes send us some exercises on the matter they will be very welcome.

A/ Here is MY analysis:

1) She is so pretty a girl.

a) parts of speech:

she = nominative personal pronoun
is = fintie verb
so = adverb of intensity
pretty = predicative adjective
a = indefinite article
girl = noun

b) function:

she = subject (NP)
is = copular verb (VP)
so pretty a girl = subject-complement (?) (NP?)

2) He is too bright a student to study with me.

a) parts of speech:

he = nominative personal pronoun
is = finite verb
too = adverb of intensity
bright = predicative adjective
a = indefinite article
student = noun
to study = non-finite verb
with = preposition
me = accusative personal pronoun

b) function:

he = subject
is = copular verb
too bright a student = subject-complement (NP?)
to study with me = adverbial of purpose ??? (PP ?)

3) How smart a student he is.

a) parts of speech:

how = adverb ??
smart = attributive adjective
a = ind. art.
student = noun
he = nominative pers. pron.
is = verb

b) function:

How smart a student = subject-complement ? (NP ?)
he = subject ?
is = copula

4) In spite of his hangover, he got up at seven.

a) parts of speech:

in spite of = subordinating conjunction
his = possessive adjective
hangover = noun
he = nominative pers. pron.
got = finite verb
up = proposition
at = preposition
seven = numeral / cardinal number ?

b) function:

he = subject (NP)
got up = intransitive verb (VP)
at seven = adverbial of time (PP)
in spite of his hangover = ??

B/ What do you think of the following ?

5) She bought herself five pounds of chocolate for her birthday.

a) parts of speech:

she = subject / nominative personal pronoun
bought = ditransitive verb
herself = reflexive pronoun
five = determinative adjective / cardinal number ?
pounds = noun
of = preposition
chocolate = noun
for = preposition
her = possessive adjective
birthday = noun

b)sentence pattern:

She = subject
Bought = verb
Herself = indirect object
Five pounds of chocolate = direct object
For her birthday = adverbial of time OR adverbial of purpose ?

Thank you very much in advance for your correction.
All the best,
Hela

Re: Sentence analysis

hela — Sun, 16 Jan 2005 13:19:46 GMT

Hello,

Nobody replied to my previous post, but I hope someone will for this one

1) The representative told the press a lie out of fear of retribution.

Parts of speech:

The = definite article
Representative = noun
Told = ditransitive verb
Press = noun
A = indefinite article
Lie = noun
Out of = complex preposition
Fear = noun
Of = preposition
Retribution = noun

Sentence elements:

The representative = subject
Told = verb
The press = indirect object
A lie = direct object
Out of fear of retribution = adverbial of reason

2) Children should watch less television.

Parts of speech:

Children = noun
Should = modal auxiliary
Watch = transitive verb
Less = comparative adjective (?)
Television = noun

Sentence elements:

Children = subject (noun phrase)
Should watch = verb (verb phrase)
Less television = direct object (?) (noun phrase)

3) We walked five miles to a garage.

Parts of speech:

We = subjective personal pronoun
Walked = intransitive verb (?)
Five = determinative adjective / cardinal numeral (?)
Miles = nouns
To = preposition
A = definite pronoun
Garage = noun

Sentence elements:

We = subject
Walked = verb
Five miles = adverbial (?)
To a garage = adverbial of place

See you for another post,
Hela

Re: What's "a" is it an adjective?

Raul — Mon, 01 Sep 2003 22:36:09 GMT

Hi. Formally, it's an indefinite article (a man = any man). Compare to "the", which is a definite article: the man on the corner (no other man). Now, it can be considered a preposition only in informal speech when replacing "of": sorta sad (sort of sad) or a kinda mess (a kind of mess).

(By the way, I'm new to the Forum)