TO BE WORTH IT (vale la pena)

La expresión " To be worth it" es un tanto estraña para el hispano hablante. Significa que merece o vale la pena.



Si yo digo : " It is worth it!"  vale la pena!
Si en cambio digo  "it is not worth it" No vale la pena!
Para preguntar sería: " Is it woth it?" ¿ merece la pena?



Is it worth it to study so hard? ¿Merece la pena estudiar tanto?

What is SMALL TALK ?

In most English-speaking countries, it is normal and necessary to make "small talk" in certain situations.

Small talk is a casual form of conversation that "breaks the ice" or fills an awkward silence between people. Even though you may feel shy using your second language, it is sometimes considered rude to say nothing. Just as there are certain times when small talk is appropriate, there are also certain topics that people often discuss during these moments.

Passive sentences with two objects / oraciones pasivas con dos objetos

This kind of passives are a nightmare for my students . Above all the one in which the subject is the Indirect Object, which souns weird for the "spanish ears".

Here you are some examples: ( el objeto indirecto en rojo y el directo en verde)


1) Kevin asked Dennis a question. (active )

Dennis was asked a question by Kevin.

( En este caso el O.indirecto es el sujeto, verb to be en pasado como en la oración activa seguido de part. p.; el O. directo y finalmente el agente introducido con by, que era el sujeto en la activa)

A question was asked to Dennis by Kevin .

(Este ejemplo en el que el Objeto directo es sujeto de la pasiva es más españolizado, y menos frecuente en Inglés, pero gramaticalmente correcto.)


2) She gives him a box.

He is given a box.

(el sujeto es el OI; como el pronombre personal es dativo , lo cambiamos a sujeto por eso el pronombre personal sujeto de 3ªpers. sing es He y no him. )

A box is given to him.

( El sujeto es el Objeto directo. En ninguna d elas dos pasivas utilizamos el agente introducido por "by" ya que el sujeto es un mero pronombre. La pasiva en si se utiliza para obviar el sujeto, lo que nos interesa es la acción; encima si ni siquiera sabemos quien la realizó( she, they, somebody,,,) no lo ponemos en la pasiva.

Transforma estas frases a pasiva en las dos formas:
Transform these sentences into the passive voice, it's your turn!

3) The waiter brought Fred a big steak.


4) The teacher told us a joke.


5) Michael has not sent me a text message.

Have a look to the comments to find out the answers!!

(las soluciones en los comentarios, pero hazlas primero en un papel!!)

Write an effective essay

Have a look to this video and you'll learn more about writting good and effective essays in class.

CHARLES DICKENS ATALE OF TWO CITIES

You can find the plot summary of the book and information about the aurthor, Charles Dickes and the Historical Background of the book; in the following file, you can download and print.

A Tale of Two Cities

ADELE 'S SOMEONE LIKE YOU ( Improving your English with Songs"

We start a new series of songs to improve your English called: " Improving your English with songs"
You can download the Handout or worksheet below  for free.

ADELE Someone like you

JUST OR ONLY

Ambos significan "solamente"  en Inglés. y son sinónimos la mayor parte del tiempo pero existen pequeñas diferencias:

Just’ and ‘only’ are adverbs that point to or emphasise one part of the clause. In the example , the same meaning is implied in both sentences:
I came just to speak with you for a couple of minutes.


I came only to speak with you for a couple of minutes.

But I’d like to point out that your sentences sound very formal and literary. On the one hand, ‘just’ and ‘only’ can ‘float around’ in a sentence and take more than one position. But on the other, the normal position in spoken English is between the subject and verb. They sound much better like this:

I just came to speak with you for a couple of minutes.


I only came to speak with you for a couple of minutes.

In many cases you’ll come across in spoken English, ‘just’ is used as a softener. I’d better give you an example to explain what I mean by ‘softener’:

Can I just ask you a question?

- what I’m saying here is ‘I want to ask you a question but I don’t want to inconvenience you and it’ll only take a short time’, whereas directly saying ‘Can I ask you a question?’ doesn’t have this tone.
So, we often use ‘just’ to add a polite tone, the word doesn’t specifically carry much meaning in itself.

There are other situations when we use ‘just’ but we can’t use ‘only’ in its place, for example, if I say ‘he was just here’, I’m trying to tell you he was here a few minutes ago.

So although I’ve told you about some differences, there are lots of times when they are synonymous. Basically, anytime you can use ‘only’, you can usually use ‘just’ to mean the same thing. But you’ve got to remember that the range of uses and meanings for ‘just’ are quite wide.

Follow this link to do an activity about Just and Only.

HAD BETTER (Give specific advice)

Had better ('d better)
We use “had better” plus the infinitive without “to” to give advice. Although “had” is the past form of “have”, we use “had better” to give advice about the present or future.

La fórmula sería Had better + verbo sin to: "you'd better study" para dar consejo. Pero el consejo sería específico, ya que para consejos en general, usamos Should.

•You'd better tell her everything.

•I'd better get back to work.

•We'd better meet early.

The negative form is “had better not”. La forma negativa tampoco va seguida de to:
You'd better not walk over the snake" (mejor no camines encima de la serpiente.)
•You'd better not say anything.

•I'd better not come.

•We'd better not miss the start of his presentation.

We use “had better” to give advice about specific situations, not general ones. If you want to talk about general situations, you must use “should”.

•You should brush your teeth before you go to bed.

•I shouldn't listen to negative people.

•He should dress more appropriately for the office.

When we give advice about specific situations, it is also possible to use “should”.

•You shouldn't say anything.

•I should get back to work.

•We should meet early.

However, when we use “had better” there is a suggestion that if the advice is not followed, that something bad will happen.

Cuando usamos "had better " da la sensación de que el consejo no va a ser seguido por quien lo recibe o que algo malo pasará.

•You'd better do what I say or else you will get into trouble.

•I'd better get back to work or my boss will be angry with me.

•We'd better get to the airport by five or else we may miss the flight.


Online activities to practice grammar:

ACTIVITY ONE (MATCH SENTENCES)

ACTIVITY TWO (PUT IN ORDER)

ACTIVITY THREE (should  or  had better ? )

Singular nouns that refer to group of people agreement : The Government has or have?

The government have (or has?)

In English, we often use singular nouns that refer to groups of people (eg government, committee, team) as if they were plural. (This is less true in US English. )
This is because we often think of the group as people, doing things that people do (eating, wanting, feeling etc).
In such cases, we use:

- plural verb


- plural pronoun (they)


- who (not which)

Here are some examples:

- The committee want sandwiches for lunch. They aren't very hungry.


- My family, who don't see me often, have asked me home.


- The team hope to win next time.
 
Here are some examples of words and expressions that can be considered singular or plural:


choir, class, club, committee, company, family, government, jury, school, staff, team, union


the BBC, board of directors, the Conservative Party, Manchester United, the Ministry of Health

But when we consider the group as an impersonal unit, we use singular verbs and pronouns:

- The new company is the result of a merger.


- The average family consists of four people.


- The committee, which was formed in 1983, has ceased to exist.

Quatifiers: compounds nouns made with SOME and ANY ( Compuestos con some y any)

THE QUANTIFIERS: Compound nouns made with SOME, ANY and NO


FORM:
Some + -thing -body -one -where

Any +

No +

Compound nouns with some- and any- are used in the same way as some and any.

Positive statements:
•Someone is sleeping in my bed.

•He saw something in the garden.

•I left my glasses somewhere in the house.

Questions:
•Are you looking for someone? (= I'm sure you are)

•Have you lost something? (= I'm sure you have)

•Is there anything to eat? (real question)

•Did you go anywhere last night?

Negative statements:

•She didn't go anywhere last night.

•He doesn't know anybody here.

NOTICE that there is a difference in emphasis between nothing, nobody etc. and not ... anything, not ... anybody:

•I don't know anything about it. (= neutral, no emphasis)

•I know nothing about it (= more emphatic, maybe defensive)

More examples:

SOMETHING, SOMEBODY, SOMEWHERE(algo, aguien, alguna parte)

a. I have something to tell you.

b. There is something to drink in the fridge.

c. He knows somebody in New York

d. Susie has somebody staying with her.

e. They want to go somewhere hot for their holidays.

f. Keith is looking for somewhere to live.

ANYBODY, ANYTHING, ANYWHERE (alguien, algo, algún lugar en ?; nadie, nada, ningún lugar en -)

a. Is there anybody who speaks English here?

b. Does anybody have the time?

c. Is there anything to eat?

d. Have you anything to say?

e. He doesn't have anything to stay tonight.

f. I wouldn't eat anything except at Maxim's.


NOBODY, NOTHING, NOWHERE (nadie, nada, ningún lugar)

a. There is nobody in the house at the moment

b. When I arrived there was nobody to meet me.

c. I have learnt nothing since I began the course.

d. There is nothing to eat.

e. There is nowhere as beautiful as Paris in the Spring.

f. Homeless people have nowhere to go at night.


ANY can also be used in positive statements to mean 'no matter which', 'no matter who', 'no matter what' (Any en oraciones afirmativas significa cualquiera) :
Examples:
a. You can borrow any of my books.

b. They can choose anything from the menu.

c. You may invite anybody to dinner, I don't mind.