Search results for 'tag:Present tenses tag:Prepositions' matching tags 'Present tenses' 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: tense problems

Cool Breeze — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 16:42:18 GMT

In the first sentence the use of a present tense (think) emphasises what your opinion is now. The past tense (thought) refers to the past; your opinion may have changed by now.

"I told her that I am (was?) happy in my job" Both are right. The sequence of tenses would require was but if you are still happy, the present tense is also possible.

"I said to her that I do (did?) not know where Bob had gone to" I would use did in your sentence because of the that clause. If you had a quotation within quotation marks, even do would be correct in some contexts. The last preposition should be omitted.

Re: Grammar Suggestion

Mr Wordy — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 20:47:10 GMT

Hi Cute572

1. Sitting at my writing desk and working on my assignment, I become captivated by the soft evening rays, pouring in through the side window and gently covering my sheet in their yellow and orange shades.

"Become" is fine (if you've decided that you want to write the sentence in the present tense).

2. The evening rays, entering through the window, casting a gradient colors [or look?] to my smooth carpet.

The commas are OK, but there is no main verb, and this is not a proper sentence. The prepositions in the last part of the sentence also need fixing. You might say:

The evening rays, entering through the window, cast a gradient of colors on my smooth carpet.

Now "cast" is the main verb.

Re: adjective or part of a passive

CalifJim — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 02:26:44 GMT

Believer
I have difficulty distinguishing between situations where a participle is used but ambiguous as to whether it is acting as an adjective or part of a passive. Do you have some guideline I can go by?

One wonders whether anything about your ability to use English in either its spoken or written form hinges on the ability to make such distinctions. Recognize that some cases are inherently ambiguous.

Nevertheless there are some guidelines if you wish to 'get into the weeds' of the various types of passive.

Believer
... things get confused when and where the 'by' seems to be almost impossible ... [as in] this case:
The work is finished.

Yes. I think I understand what you are getting at -- although for non-native speakers some of the guidelines may appear to be circular in nature.

According to Palmer (The English Verb), besides the plain vanilla 'passive' with an agent introduced by by (The man was killed by his wife.), which we may call the 'true passive', and the passive without an agent, or 'agentless passive' (The man was killed.), also a 'true passive', there are three other categories of passive -- the pseudo-passive, the semi-passive, and the statal passive. None of these three is a 'true passive'.

To understand the three types of 'false passive' (if you'd like to call them that!), it is first necessary to understand the tests for being an adjective, as enumerated by Palmer. These tests are as follows. An adjective generally can be used before a noun, after a linking verb, with the adverbs very, rather, more, or most, (sometimes with already), and coordinated with another adjective with and. Not all of these are possible for every adjective, but they are generally possible for most adjectives. The following examples show, with these tests, how finished is an adjective.

a finished product (use before a noun)

The work is finished. (use after a linking verb)

*very finished (not really possible, since finished is not gradable)

already finished (use with already)

It is finished and ready. (with and and another adjective)

________

Now for the categories.

The pseudo-passive has no corresponding active form and the past participle is completely adjectival.

The room seems very crowded. (Note the linking verb and very.)

The problem is complicated. (You could say very complicated or rather complicated. You could say difficult and complicated. You could say a complicated problem. These tests show that complicated is an adjective here.)

The semi-passive may appear to have a corresponding active form but is adjectival. Optionally, it may introduce the apparent agent with a preposition other than by, e.g., with or in. It may relate to emotional conditions. It may have negative forms with un-.

Jake was shocked by her behavior.

Roberta was worried about the exam.

Everyone was satisfied with the results.

We were quite uninterested in the presentation.

The statal passive is adjectival. The simple tense is very similar in meaning to the corresponding perfect tense, which (at least approximately) represents the corresponding agentless passive. Some examples can occur with already.

The glass is broken. (The glass has been broken.)

They were married for many years. ( They had been married for many years. Note married and happy, married couple, already married, unmarried -- signs of being an adjective.)

The exams are finished. (See the adjective tests for finished above.)

None of the three types discussed above are 'true passives'. It is often difficult to place a given usage exactly in one of the categories, so in spite of these guidelines, there are still ambiguous cases. Even some of the examples given above might be placed in a different category. Only context can resolve them.

Re: Wh grammar question...

Cool Breeze — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 11:56:23 GMT

It's correct. What is used in questions at the beginning of a clause. Are must be before the subject (you) in a question. The continuous present tense is often used to denote future action. No preposition is used before this when this refers to time.

Re: Past tense and Present tense in one sentence

Clive — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 14:04:24 GMT

Hi,

Can I use these two tenses in the same sentence?
For example, can I say:
"I chose answer B at sentence 8 in my last English test but the correct answer is C"

Sure. Forget this odd idea about tenses completely. Consider this, which is fine.

Last year, I worked in Japan, right now I work in Korea and next year I will work in China.

Please also check if I use the prepositions correctly. Yes.

Best wishes, Clive

Past tense and Present tense in one sentence

Anduy — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 13:41:26 GMT

Can I use these two tenses in the same sentence?
For example, can I say:
"I chose answer B at sentence 8 in my last English test but the correct answer is C"

Please also check if I use the prepositions correctly.
Thank you very much

Re: The passive voice of "Somebody took a photo of me."

GL2 — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 11:41:04 GMT

Believer wrote:

Thank you, Clive.

I was looking at Abdessalami On Line on its help on The Passive Voice and have some questions on its example sentence:

For its Present tense example, it gave this example sentence in the active voice: The police arrest five people every night; and it gave this this example sentence for the passive voice: Every night five people are arrested. As it seems to me, the passive voice part lacks one part missing or seems ellipted -- the police part. Why is it omitted or ellipted as the case might be?

In your response, you put in parentheses the phrase 'by somebody' and didn't include it in the sentence that suppose to be the right sentence in the passive voice. Why did you do that?

I seem to have seen similar patterns for various tenses in the passive voice. Why is that?

Not to steal Clive's thunder, but since I'm online and he's not, I'll answer your question.

In the passive voice, the subject is acted upon, and the person or thing doing the acting often appears as the object of the preposition 'by.' However, it is not necessary to include the person or thing doing the acting, which is why Clive put 'by someone' in parenthesis. The sentence would be grammatically correct with or without that part.

While the passive voice is grammatically correct, it can lead to confusion on the part of the listener if you do not state who or what is doing the acting. When it's understood, you can leave it out, otherwise, you should include it for the sake of clarity.

You can also use the passive voice if you don't know or wish to conceal the identify of the person or thing doing the acting.

"The car was stolen in the middle of the night."

"Why is your little brother crying?"

"He got punched in the face."

"Was it you who hit him?"

"Let's just say he got punched and leave it at that!"

From a style point of view, the frequent use of the passive voice is often frowned upon by English writing teachers. The active voice is usually preferred (by teachers ) both for its clarity and its more direct style, although the passive voice is still acceptable when its use is justified.

Re: Our basketball team tried hard but was defeated in the long run.

Doll — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 12:15:58 GMT

i. Our basketball team tried hard but was defeated in the long run. Nobody could say anything. "All that can be done has been done," said the coach.

can I change it to "had been done"? As I think it is a past event.-- No. It is not a past event. Be carefula bout can and has done. It is completely show us a present tense. Morover, the sentence you ask is a qoutation by the coach and has nothing to do with the match played in the past.

You can say all that could be done had been done if this is the meaning you want to give us.But this would probaly be told a few days after the match while you were talking about the match with your friends.

why not difficult to write, or difficulty in writing? --- It is difficult to write correct sentences for my students sounds okay. If you say I don't know why my students have a lot of difficult to write... will be wrong because you have to use the noun form ifter a lot of. So, it should be I don't know why some of my students have a lot of difficulty writing correct sentences. As for the preposition, it is not obligatory. You can omit it.

I don't know why some of my students have a lot of difficulty (in) writing ....

iii. I can remember ₁ my old teacher trying to make me memorize everything ₂he has taught, but in vain.₃

Number 1 and 3 are present sentences. Number 2 gives us the meaning of a past situation. Especially you can understand this from the verb trying to. In other words, it would have the similar meaning if you changed the sentence like this:

I can remember that my old teacher was trying to make me memorise everything he has taught, but in vain. So, there is no need for you to try to change the words into past.

can I change:

trying to= tried to --As I told earlier, trying to is a reduction which gives the meaning of a past situation.

memorize= to memorize -- No. Be careful about the causatives. Make someone do something, So, acording to this rule, it is make me memorise everything.

has= had-- No. Your sentence will be past perfect and it will sound wrong. Present perfect tense already gives you the meaning that the event(s) in your sentence happened in the past and still have their effects today.

iv. What is wrong with this sentence: Those who wish to take Advanced English they must first study Intermediate English.
I would say those who wish to have a grasp of Advanced English must study Intermediate English first. Of course this sentence can be changed too.

v. Never before have I seen anybody who can do the job as well as Robert.
change to as good as?
Yes you can change it to as good as but it will not give the meaning of doing something better, more successfully.

Re: Why the present tense?

Clive — Tue, 15 May 2007 03:57:36 GMT

Hi,

Can you tell me why the present tense is used Because you are doing it at the present time, meaning the time that you wrote the letter. However, simple present here gives a very formal tone to your letter. More commonly, you would say 'I am returning', meaning 'right now'.

and also whether 'on this matter' or 'in this matter' is appropriate (can you help me make that distinction better?)?

'On this matter' sounds odd.

'In this matter' suggests that you are refering to something in the matter that they are considering. eg Thank you for your consideration of my role in this matter'.

You might want to consider saying 'of this matter'. This thanks them for considering the complete and entire matter. Perhaps this may be the best preposition for you to use in your example below.

With this letter, I return you the I-20 form effective for the Spring semester of 2004.

Thank you for your kind consideration on this matter.

Best wishes, Clive