Search results for 'tag:Prepositions tag:Past simple' matching tags 'Prepositions' and 'Past simple'

Re: grammar check!

AlpheccaStars — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 17:03:57 GMT

Ellisa:

This is a very long passage, and your other post seems to be even longer.

The editor at this web site makes it difficult to make corrections to long passages. Also, many teachers do not want to devote a long time working on a single post. If you post only one paragraph at a time, then different teachers can work on them and you will get your corrections faster.

Ellisa

Hello teachers!
I'm summarising a book which is about teaching methods.
I guess there are millions of errors.
Please ~~check those to right one~~ suggest corrections to my sentences.!
Thanks in advance!

13. Teaching grammar

There are two main ways to teach~~ing~~ grammar.(or you can say "ways of teaching grammar". The word "teaching" is a gerund, and must be used as a noun. In this example, it is object of the preposition "of")
One way is ~~both~~ planning grammar teaching in advance and relying on the coursebooks which can help us teach grammar. The other way is teaching grammar as a result of other work. In other words, it is ~~has~~ done as a peripheral activity. In this chapter, we will look at the various different ways to teach grammar. We will look at the range of activities which satisfy not merely efficiency but also ~~appropriacy~~ (not a word; you can use the adjective forms - a range of activities which are efficient as well as appropriate). . Lastly, we will discuss grammar books and their usages.

(You need to be consistent in using imperative versus declarative sentences)

A. Introducing grammar

The following ~~1 to 4~~ examples (, numbered 1 to 4,) are activities which represent a range of possibilities for introducing new grammar.

Ex1) It's making sentences using the present simple in the third singular. First, the teacher holds up a number of flashcards which are about a specific job. Then (? subject - the students )make sentences in ~~contained~~ present simple tense for ~~the~~ each pictures. It consists (or The exercise consists of) of three affirmative and three negative sentences. Then (? subject - the teacher )makes the students guess what kind of job it is. Once students are confident in ~~with~~ these sentences, the teacher asks them to think of one profession and make 6 sentences. Now, they can do activities guessing what profession is being described.

Ex2) It's using texts which contained (present tense) what the students are being taught (past simple irregular verbs). While the students read the text, they come across blanks that they must fill in with the past tense form of certain verbs. Then, (? subject - the teacher )makes them write these past tense verb forms down in the blanks and also write them phonetically using ~~which are shown~~ ~~their~~ phonemic symbols.

Ex3) This is aimed to show the differences between ~~reporting~~ direct speech and reporting things that were said in the past. The teacher draws ~~Draw~~ two people on the board. One, whose name is Jack, is holding a phone and smiling ~~whose name is Jack~~. The other is just standing. The teacher gives the ~~Give~~ students the information that Jack is talking to a girl who he met in the school canteen. Then, the teacher asks the students what Jack tells his friend while taking on the phone. The answers might be in the present form such as ' She says I'm really nice'. In this process, the teacher makes sure that the students understand how 'you' changes to 'I'. The teacher now tells the students that Jack is back home and he was spurned by the girl. He is telling to his mother that 'She said I was really nice' which is past form. The teacher can write both past and present forms on the board to help students.

Ex4) Here, the language which the students are ~~were~~ going to study is ~~was~~ embedded in the texts which they read. The teacher makes the students read the story first. After confirming that they ~~are~~ fully understanood the story by asking comprehension questions, the teacher asks them to make bad or insensible statements using the story. Then, the ~~get~~ students to come up to the board and write the sentences. ~~so that T~~he sentences have to use the modal auxillary "should," such as ~~ncluding~~ 'Should have p.p.' or' Shouldn't have p.p'.(especially here.)

Re: Check my mistakes,please

CalifJim — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 02:23:47 GMT

<<Do we have to use the definite article "the" for each tense or not? >>
To be very strict about it, yes, but we frequently write telegraphically and leave out the the, especially on this site, where we use the names of the tenses so often.

<<1.In the use of the Present Simple. I would use the here, yes.
2.The Present Perfect Tense or Present Perfect Tense. Either, as explained above.
3.Translate the following sentences into the Past Unreal Conditional. With the is better.
4.Complete the sentences using Past Simple or the Past Simple. Either. >>

Adding the the sounds better when the tense name comes after a preposition.
_____________

<<Check the following sentences,please:
   A: Why didn't you prepare anything yesterday? OK.
   B: Because I didn't know they ~~will~~ would come. (Sequence of tenses. did - would)
       If I had known that they would come, I would have prepared everything. OK.
    - If they had told me they would come, I would have prepared everything. OK.
>>

<<1. This program is on the air ~~everyday~~ every day except on Sundays.>>

<<Which one is correct?
1. Why ~~I couldn't~~ get in touch with you yesterday?
2. Why couldn't I get in touch with you yesterday? >>

Only the second. You have to invert subject and verb for a question unless the subject is being questioned.(Which came first? or Who did that?)
____________

In the future it would be more convenient if you made separate posts for each of your questions instead of putting so many different ones all in one post.

CJ

Re: Gerund after prepositions.

Nomad04 — Mon, 10 Apr 2006 17:53:38 GMT

Goodman, MrP thanks for your help.
It's really important for me to know how native speakers perceive my written and spoken English.

One more question:

Is there any difference between first and second sentences?
Which sentence would you prefer to use in real life situation?

Situation: A man, soiled with machine oil, is speaking to his neighbor:
1) I regret having bought the car.
2) I regret that I've bought the car.

By the way, can I use Past Simple in the second sentence? (I regret that I bought the car.)
I think, I can't, but who knows.

P.S. Present Perfect is a really special thing for me

Re: Help, speech parts

Philip — Sat, 18 Feb 2006 20:07:49 GMT

Anonymous wrote:
hello,

I have to look at a bit of language and label or name the parts of speech, for school. Can some one check that this is ok pleae?

"It was pandemonium almost as soon as the roadworks went up."

Subject Pronoun (it) / verb (past simple of be) (was) / noun (pandemonium) / adjective adverb, modifying 'soon'(almost) / preposition (as)/ adjective adverb, telling when (soon)/ preposition (as)/ article definitive (the) / noun (plural) (roadworks)/ verb + partical (phrasal verb) )went up.

It is about a man talking about a traffic jam. I hope the spelling is correct, if not I am sorry.

Thank you in advance.

Edit: Could the "as soon as" be classed as a complex preposition?

I hope this helps.

Help, speech parts

Anonymous — Sat, 18 Feb 2006 19:39:35 GMT

hello,

I have to look at a bit of language and label or name the parts of speech, for school. Can some one check that this is ok pleae?

"It was pandemonium almost as soon as the roadworks went up."

Subject Pronoun (it) / verb (past simple of be) (was) / noun (pandemonium) / adjective (almost) / preposition (as)/ adjective (soon)/ preposition (as)/ article definitive (the) / noun (plural) (roadworks)/ verb + partical (phrasal verb) )went up.

It is about a man talking about a traffic jam. I hope the spelling is correct, if not I am sorry.

Thank you in advance.

Edit: Could the "as soon as" be classed as a complex preposition?

Re: Attn MrPedantic , blitz here

MrPedantic — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 13:19:26 GMT

Hello Blitz

1. 'Ahead of schedule' is fine - it's the usual phrase. 'Before schedule' is used too, but it's much less common. In newspapers and official reports you'd be much more likely to find 'ahead of schedule'. 'Awaken' > 'awoken'.

2. Almost right:

'I wouldn't have drunk, if you hadn't drunk.'

3. Both are right. 'For' here is a preposition, and means 'for a period of'.

'Jog for' is a 'verb + preposition' structure. Let's call 'how long' and similar 'question' words and phrases 'Q'.

When you use this structure in a question, grammar allows you 3 forms, the first of which is the most common:

a) Q + verb + preposition? ([how long] + [did you jog] + [for]?)
b) preposition + Q + verb? ([[for] + [how long] + [did you jog]?)
c) verb + preposition + Q? ([You jogged] + [for] + [how long]?.)

4. Past simple (PS) vs Present perfect (PP)

You use the PS for an action that's complete, and the PP for a past action that still has some relation to the present, e.g.

i) 'I grew maize for 10 years' - i.e. you don't grow maize any more: the action is complete (PS). There is no relation to the present.

ii) 'I have grown maize for 10 years' - i.e. you still grow maize, and have done so for 10 years (PP). There is a relation to the present.

With 'I haven't seen her since last year', the action of seeing her is complete (you saw her last year), but it has a relation to the present: you're implying that even though you haven't in fact seen her, seeing her would still have been possible.

(So for instance you wouldn't say 'I haven't seen her' of a dead person, because seeing her is no longer possible.)

iii) 'I didn't see her since last year' is a colloquial form: it uses a PS structure in a PP situation. ('Since' in this sense implies a relation between the past and the present, so you would usually expect a PP.)

MrP