Search results for 'tag:Present tenses tag:Universities' matching tags 'Present tenses' and 'Universities'

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?

present in a past-setting narrative

Anonymous — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 03:36:47 GMT

Hi,

I am having trouble getting a firm grasp of the working of putting present-time clauses in a story or narratve that flows in past tenses -- which meant to tell something that has occurred in the past. I know if something still holds true or if something is a "universal" truth element, then the use of present tenses in midst of all past tenses is fine, I need your help in getting a concrete understanding of application part of it. Can you use some simple examples that might be used in such contexts to show me how it is done?

I went to university in *** and there, I saw this person named John. I have a weakness for an sports star and he was a well-known sports star, known to have won metals in international competitions.

Re: a question of "Simple Present Tense"

Mr. Profenglish — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 20:47:48 GMT

Anonymous wrote:

Hi everybody,

I have a question about the Negative Form of "Simple Present Tense", please help me.

Can I use "I don't read the book right now" to express the meaning of "I'm not reading the book right now"?

Thanks a lot in advance.

***********

Here is a summary about the present simple tense with all the forms of it plus examples

* * *

Form

Examples

Notes

Affirmative( Positive ) form:

Base form

S- form

1. Water consists of hydrogen and oxygen.

2. The world is round

3. He always eats a sandwich for lunch

4. My classes begin at nine.

5. She prefers to stay at home.

6. He appears to be asleep.

7. That belongs to me.

8. I remember my first teacher.

9. If you study hard, you will pass the exam.

10. If he comes early, he will catch the bus.

Present Simple Tense is used :

i. to show general statement of fact

ii. to express habitual or everyday activity

iii. with verbs of: senses, mental activity, possession and attitudes

iv. with conditional clauses type one.

Remarks:

Â§ Singular subjects take the S-from

Â§ Plural subjects take the Base form

Â§ ( he, she, it ) + S. form

Â§ ( we, they, you, I ) + Base form

S. = subject

inf. = infinitive form of the verb

S- form = verb + s

Base form = verb without ( s )

Negative form:

(do, does + not + inf.

1. They do not work at the hospital.

2. She does not go to the university everyday

Contracted Negative form:

donât + inf.

doesnât + inf.

1. They donât work in a bank.

2. I donât recognize that man

3. She doesnât prefer to stay at home.

Wh- question form :

Wh- + ( do / does ) + S. + inf. + ...?

1. Where do you live?

2. When does she go to work everyday?

3. Why do I like that nonsense?

Yes/No question form :

(Do / Does ) + S. + inf. + â¦ ?

Do they need a help?

Does he mean that book?

Short Answer form :

Yes, + S. + ( do / does ).

No, + S. + ( donât / doesnât )

Yes, he does. / yes, they do. / Yes, I do.

no, I donât. / No, he doesnât / No, they donât.

***

Regards,

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Re: attended

Neeraj Jain — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 13:56:22 GMT

Hi,

Your spelling of "distinction is wrong". I believe that statistics are expressed in the present tense. So the correct sentence, according to me, should be:

Nine out of ten students who attend this university graduate with distinction.

attended

New2grammar — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 13:52:17 GMT

Nine out of ten students who attended this university graduated with distiction.

If used as a fact (for example, some stastistic to prospective students during a college tour or a news headline), I'd say it in the present tense as follows:

Nine out of ten students who attends this university graduates with distiction.

If stating it as a statistic quoted from a survey, I'd use the past tense:

Nine out of ten students who attended this university graduated with distiction.

Is my understanding correct?

Thanks in advance!

Re: present continuous

Cool Breeze — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 14:46:28 GMT

Hi MIA

If live is in the continuous present tense, it usually conveys the idea that a person lives somewhere temporarily:

He is living in Melbourne now.
- He may be in Melbourne because his work has taken him there for a year or two, or he may be a student at a local university.

He lives in Melbourne.
- His permanent residence is in Melbourne. Perhaps he was born there.

I am curious.
- I am curious by nature. I am always curious.

I am being curious.
- I am not normally curious at all but in this particular situation I am nosier than usual and I want to hear something. The verb is indeed in the present continuous tense.

I am going to play soccer tomorrow does denote a decision on your part to play soccer tomorrow. You could also say: I intend to play soccer tomorrow.

This is the nicest boy that I have ever seen. = This is the nicest boy I ever saw.
- There is no difference in meaning. The past tense is more common in AmE than BrE. Other words Americans often use the past tense with are always and never:

I always wanted to see Tahiti. = I have always wanted to see Tahiti.
He never liked me. = He has never liked me.

Cheers
CB

Re: past perfect vs past in if-clause in type 2 conditional

yulysess — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 16:05:12 GMT

Let's spread out the issue a little bit:

____ O ____

Type 2. Basic forms.

a. If we caught the 10 o'clock train, we would (could, might,

etc.) get there by lunch-time.

b. If I came into a fortune, I would give up smoking.

c. If I knew how it worked, I could tell you what to do.

In these sentences the conditional clauses represent what is a possible, b hypothetical/imaginary, or c contrary to the present fact. The verb form in the conditional clause represents the attitude of the speaker towards the condition; it does not represent time, which is indicated by other elements in the context or situation.

Sentence a is analogous to type 1 (If we catch..., we shall get...), but is more suppositional. The speaker either regards catching that train as improbable, or he wishes to put forward in a more tentative or "polite" way the suggestion of catching it. It does not necessarily follow that the condition is in fact unlikely to be fulfilled.

Sentence b, on the other hand, is much more hypothetical: it is a form of day-dreaming in which we all indulge at times.

Sentence c presents us with totally imaginary (or unreal) situation with reference to the time of speaking: it implies that I don't, in fact, know how it works, so I can't tell you what to do. Note that the past tense is used here to indicate present unreality.

The three sentences are formally identical: they all have the same sequence of tenses:

(if) past tense, (main) conditional.

However, contextually they are rather different. They represent three points on a scale of decreasing probability, from a suppositional or tentative but possible, to b hypothetical but not impossible, to c contrary to present fact, and hence unreal.

Note that the conditional tense is not used in the conditional clause.

As we saw in example "c", the idea of something contrary to present fact is conveyed by the use of the past tense in the conditional clause. We also use the past tense to refer to present unreality after the verb "wish" (if only, also expresses the wish of the speaker), and after expressions like "I'd rather" and "It is time":

a. I wish (that) I were rich! (If only I were rich!)

b. I'd rather you told me frankly what you think.

c. It's time (It's about time, It's high time) we left.

We never use the present tense or a future form after wish. We use either the past tense as illustrated above, or we can use would (not will) to indicate that people or events frustrate our desires.

Type 2. Variations.

a. If we were to miss the 10 o'clock train, we wouldn't get there till after lunch.

The use of were to in the conditional clause sometimes has the effect of emphasizing the suppositional nature of the condition and, is in some ways analogous to the use of should in conditional clauses in TYPE 1: we can often substitute "by any chance" without changing the meaning: If by any chance we missed the 10 o'clock train, we wouldn't get there till after lunch.

Were to is used for all persons, and this variation may be applied to any conditional clause of this second type.

b. If you would reserve seats, we would be sure of a comfortable journey.

In this sentence. would is not a part of a conditional tense; it is a modal verb, and represents a more tentative (or polite) form of WILL as used in conditional clauses of type 1. It introduces the idea of your agreeing, or being willing, to do what is suggested. We cannot use this construction in the following sentence:

If he got my letters in time, he would be able to change his plans.

We cannot say

*If he would get my letter in time, since "he" can hardly exercise any willingness or unwillingness to get it.

You must, therefore, be careful to use "would" in this way only where the context will support the idea of co-operation, agreement, or willingness on the part of the subject.

Type 2. Summary of forms.

1. (If) past tense, (main) conditional.

If we caught the early train, we'd get there by lunch time.

2. (If) were to + infinitive, (main) conditional.

If we were to miss the early train, we wouldn't get there till after lunch.

3. (If) would + infinitive, (main) conditional.

If you'd cook the dinner, I'd do the washing up afterwards.

Type 3. Basic forms and variations.

a. If we had caught the 10 o'clock train, we would (could, might, etc.) have got there by lunch-time.

This sentence is completely hypothetical, and represents what is contrary to past fact. In this case, the past perfect tense is used to indicate past unreality -we didn't catch the 10 o'clock train, so we didn't get there by lunch time.

This is analogous to the use of the past tense to indicate present unreality in type 2c, and tense usage after the verb WISH follows the same pattern: we use the past perfect to refer to something wished-for in the past:

I wish you had told me before (but you didn't)

Variations on a sentence "a" are not very common, though sentences like the following are occasionally met with:

b. If you were to have asked me, I would have been only too willing to help.

Bibliography

R. A. Close (1975). A Reference Grammar for Students of English. Longman.

B.D. Graver (1979). Advanced English Practice. OUP

S.M. Parkinson (1983). A University English Grammar for Spanish-Speakers. Ed. EmpeÃ±o

R. Quirk et al. (1979). A Grammar of Contemporary English. Longman

W. Stannard Allen (1977). Living English Structure. Longman

M. Swan (1986). Practical English Usage. OUP

A.J. Thomson & A.V. Martinet (1982). A Practical English Grammar. OUP

______ O _______

Enjoy

Also look at the link Marius gave.

Re: present simple after adjective

Yankee — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 02:13:58 GMT

Hi Musesun

"This forbidden to make money in the university" is not a correct sentence. The word "forbidden" is not a tense at all -- it is just the past participle (V3) of the verb 'forbid'. You can say "This is forbidden", but you cannot say "This forbidden".

Have you learned how to make passive sentences yet? That seems to be what is confusing you.
The following pairs of sentences have the same meanings. The second sentence in each pair is the passive form of the first sentence:

Cowboys ride horses. = simple present tense, active voice
Horses are ridden by cowboys. = simple present tense, passive voice

He wrote that book. = simple past tense, active voice
That book was written by him. = simple past tense, passive voice

In addition to what I've written above, the past participle can also be used as an adjective. For example:
That is a forbidden activity. = That activity is forbidden.

Sometimes it is difficult to decide whether a past participle has been used as an adjective or is part of a passive verb construction.

Re: Need help, please tell me the truth.

Dawnstorm — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 23:19:22 GMT

Hi. I'm neither a native speaker, nor a teacher, but I'll respond anyway. I hope you don't mind.

There have been good posts already, so I'll just say a few things:

1. I'd say your teacher is trying to improve your style, not your grammar. I hope she agrees.

2. "gives" vs. "is giving". You say "gives". This makes it a statement of fact. She says "is giving", which makes it the statement of a process. Stylistically, I would agree with your teacher, here. I like "is giving" better, because emphasising the process over the fact implies that you're interested in solving the problem. ("Thailand's giving Chinese tourists a bad impression now, but it won't forever. We're working on the problem.") But, this is a personal preference and I would never change it without explaining why.

3. I think that your teacher changed the meaning of the second sentence.

Information in your sentence:

a) You have made recommendations.

b) They are based on a specific study (mentioned before in the text) by your university.

c) You have provided the recommendations (all of them) with the intention to solve the problems.

Information in your teacher's sentence:

a) You have made recommendations. (Same)

b) They are based on multiple, unspecific studies by your university (two differences: single vs. multiple; specific vs. unspecific)

c) Some of the recommendations provide solutions to the problem (three differences: (1) no longer are all solutions referred to; (2) you are talking about yourself [specifically, your reasons for providing the recommendations; although you delete yourself from the sentence by using the passive voice "the recommendations are provided ~~by me~~"], while your teacher talks about the recommendations ["the recommendations provide solutions"] (3) you imply that your recommendations may or may not provide solutions in the future, while your teacher says that some of your recommendations already provided solutions (i.e. they were tried out and they worked) (Notice, how Ruby used present tense, here? ("offer solutions" not "offered solutions")

To me, the two sentences have different meaning. Your teacher's sentence isn't really a version of your sentence; it says something slightly different.

Re: need some basic as well as advance lessons

Nef — Sat, 08 Jul 2006 01:07:48 GMT

This is a link to a writing site at Purdue University (Indiana, US). I think a "declarative" sentence is just another name for an "assertive" sentence, a statement of fact.

"He dares to speak up in class..." seems like an assertive/declarative sentence to me.

"He dare speak up in class..." does not. It isn't a complete sentence. You need the "to" and also need the "s" at the end of "dare" if you are talking about third person singular (he/she/it) in the present tense.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://users.ipfw.edu/blythes/teach/toolkit/sentype.htm
Writers use declarative sentences to make a statement. For example, "The lab samples will be ready on Wednesday," and, "It may be said that rendering XML documents is tantamount to applying visual language to logical data structures through style sheets," are declarative sentences. Each makes a statement of fact.
Interrogative sentences are used to ask questions. "When are the specifications due?" is an interrogative sentence.
Imperative sentences express a command. "Enter the data into the spreadsheet," is an imperative sentence, as is, "Submit the revised specifications by Friday." Notice that imperative sentences begin with a verb. The subject (you) is implied. Notice too that imperative sentences are used when describing steps in a set of instructions.
Writers use exclamatory sentences to express strong feelings. "I'm sure glad that project is over!" is an exclamatory sentence. Notice, though, that scientific and technical writers should avoid this type of sentence for the most part because it violates a preference for dispassionate logic.

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a few simpler examples:

assertive/declarative (stating a fact):

My dog is brown and white.

They don't like each other.

She will move to Mexico next year.

interrogative (asking a question)

What time is it?

What is his name?

Why is the world so crazy?

imperative (command, telling someone to do something)

Shut the door.

Be quiet, please.

Answer the question.

exclamatory (showing emphasis, strong feeling)

The house is on fire! (fact, so assertive/declarative, but the exclamation point & the implied sense of urgency make it exclamatory)

He is the most frustrating person alive!

I have never loved anyone that much!