LINKING WORDS OF CONTRAST

However

However can occur at the start of a sentence- it is followed by a comma

and then a clause. However can also come in the middle of a sentence
to separate two clauses.

Many people think it rains in England all the time. However, this is
only partly true - it rains 95% of the time and the other 5% it's
overcast.

Many people think it rains in England all the time; however, this is
only partly true.

Although

Although can come in the middle or at the beginning of a sentence and

introduces a subordinate clause. It can be replaced
with though and even though.

Although it is true that we are good at following rules, English

people do not love queuing!

Despite

Despite appears at the beginning of the clause or in the middle of a

sentence. It is always followed by a noun or verb + ING. It can be
replaced with in spite of.

Despite being a little formal, English people are actually very

warm-hearted.

While

While joins two contrasting clauses together and sits at the beginning of
one of the clauses. Usually at the beginning of the sentence. In a more
formal and literary style, we can say whilst.

While international opinion of our food is not good, I think that

English food is delicious!

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 USING THE PRESENT TO TALK ABOUT THE FUTURE

Telling a story
When telling a story we often switch to the present tense when we get to an
exciting or dramatic part. This makes the events more immediate and exciting
for the listener.

Last year I was swimming off the coast of New Zealand, when
suddenly I see a shark coming up behind me.
Everyone starts screaming. I swim as fast as I can.

Newspaper headlines
Journalists very often use the present not the past in newspaper headlines to
make newspaper stories more exciting, fresh and immediate.

Terrified swimmer is chased out of sea by shark.

Man dies in forest fire.

With hear, tell, gather, say

We use certain verbs like tell and hear in the present tense even though we
heard something or were told something in the past. This puts more emphasise
on the information you heard rather than the fact you heard it.

I hear you're getting married!

She says she doesn't like the present!

When telling jokes

We often use the present to tell jokes, rather than the past. This makes the joke
more immediate and dramatic for the listener (even if the joke is not very funny!)

A pony walks into a bar and whispers to the bartender, "I'll have a
beer, please."
The bartender asks, "Why are you whispering?".
"I'm a little hoarse."

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 5 ways to talk about the future

1. be + full infinitive

We use be + full infinitive to talk about events in the future. It's quite formal
and is often used by journalists.

The prime minister is to open a new factory. The motorway is to

shut for maintenance. The actor is to be awarded for his services to
theatre.

2. be due + full infinitive

We use be due + full infinitive to talk about scheduled events.

Ling's train is due to arrive at 9:37.Jayeesh's parents are due to

leave this evening. Ivana's exam's due to finish at noon.

3. be + sure / bound + full infinitive

We use be + sure / bound + full infinitive to talk about a future event we are
confident will happen.

João's sure to be late. He always is.Lenu was bound to win. She's so

much better at tennis than Carmela.It's bound to rain tomorrow. It
always does when we have a picnic.

4. on the verge of / on the brink of

We use on the verge of / on the brink of for events that are going to happen
very soon. These phrases are followed by nouns or gerunds (words made from
verb + ing which act as a noun).

The volcano was on the verge of erupting.

The minister was on the brink of resigning.

The countries were on the verge of war.

5. present tense with a future meaning.

We often use a present tense with a future meaning after verbs such
as hope, plan, aim, intend, want and propose. The verb that follows is in the
infinitive.

Elif hopes to finish her studies and find a job next year.

Ekatrina intends to buy a house after saving for a few years.

Jorge plans to live abroad.

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 wHEN PAST IS NOT THE PAST

1. When a plan isn't certain

I was thinking of going to that party later.

In this example, the use of the past continuous makes the plan
less definite in the speaker's mind than if she had used a present
continuous sentence I am thinking of going to the party later.

2. To be polite

I was wondering if your report was ready.

In this example, the use of the past continous and past simple
make the speaker sound more polite than if he had used present
tenses I am wondering if your report is ready. This is because
the past sounds less direct.

3. To sound more urgent

It's time we left.

In this example, the use of the past tense makes the speaker
sound more urgent than if she had used the present tense It's
time to leave. By using the past, the speaker gives the idea that
we should have left already.

4. With 'wish' and 'if only'

I wish I had more time.

If only I had more time.

After wish and if only, we have to use the past tense. Present
tenses are not correct. However, these sentences have a
hypothetical present of future meaning.

5. With 'suppose' and 'what if'

Suppose we went on holiday to Thailand.

What if we finished before the deadline?

When we use past tenses after suppose and what if, the situation
sounds less likely than if we had used present tenses Suppose
we go on holiday to Thailand.

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 STATIVE VERBS IN CONTINUOUS FORM

Many state verbs have two different forms (a state one and a dynamic one) with
a change in meaning:

I have a dog (I own a dog). I’m having a shower (I am taking a shower

now).

Mike's usually so energetic! (a personality trait). Why's he being so

lazy? (current behaviour).

We can use the present continuous with forever, always and constantly to
show annoyance about a repeated habit:

You're forever interrupting me.

I know I quit, but I’m constantly wanting a cigarette.

State verbs can be used in the continuous form to make requests and questions
more polite and less direct:

Sorry to interrupt. I was wanting to borrow the car.

Sometimes we use a state verb in the continuous form to emphasise a strong

feeling at the moment of speaking:

I'm loving this party!

I don’t care how long the chef took to cook it. I’m not accepting that.

Some idioms and set phrases use state verbs in the continuous form:

I just don’t know what to do about this situation. It's really weighing on
my mind.

I've been seeing my boyfriend for a few months now.

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 INFINITIVE OF PURPOSE

We use infinitives of purpose to explain why we're doing something:

You're watching this video to get better at speaking English.

We can also use for + somebody to explain that we're doing an action on
behalf of someone else.

I make these videos for you to get better at English.

In more formal English, we can use in order to or so as to to express purpose:

The government has raised taxes in order to fund the NHS.

People have taken to the streets so as to protest against the increase

in taxes.

We can add 'not' to make these negative - so as not to and in order not to:

He paid the fine in order not to go to prison.

I've worked really hard all my life so as not to be poor.

We can use the infinitive of purpose after a noun, pronoun or indefinite pronoun
to explain what we need it for or, what we intend to do with it:

I want a house to live in.

Do you have any more food to cook?

Do you have anything to eat?

We've made this quiz FOR YOU TO practise infinitives.

It's important that you review this lesson SO AS NOT TO

forget!

We'll finish this quiz here IN ORDER NOT TO exhaust you!

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 GERUND OR INFINITIVE

Regret

When 'regret' is followed by the gerund you feel sorry about something you did
– or didn't do - in the past.

I regret telling you I was going to enter that singing competition!

You'll regret not finishing university.

When 'regret' is followed by the infinitive, you regret something you are about
to say. Often used in formal, written English with verbs 'tell', 'say' and 'inform'.

We regret to inform you that your application has not been successful.

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 HOW TO GIVE EMPHASIS

Sometimes there's a particular part of a sentence that you really want to stress.
It might be because it's new information or because it's the most interesting or
important part of a sentence.

One way of giving emphasis is by changing the structure of a sentence and

using something called a cleft sentence. In Unit 12 we looked at 'it' cleft
sentences. Now let's study 'what' cleft sentences.

'What' cleft sentences

You can use a 'what' cleft to draw attention to the most interesting or important
part. Compare these sentences:

Normal sentence structure

We got to our hotel and realised that our room had been double
booked.

They moved us to a different hotel.

He offered us another week there for free.

With emphasis using 'what'

What happened was we got to the hotel and realised that our
room had been double booked.

What they did was move us to another hotel.

What he did was offer us another week there for free.

Structure - Emphasising the noun

What + understood information + is was + emphasis

What I hated most was the insects everywhere.

Structure - Emphasising the verb

What/All + subject + do/does/did + is/was + verb

What they did was move us to another town.

Structure - Emphasising the whole sentence

What happens/happened + is/was + clause

What happened was we got to the hotel and realised that our
room had been double booked.

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Sometimes there's a particular part of a sentence that you really want to stress.
It might be because it's new information or because it's the most interesting or
important part.

One way of giving emphasis, is by changing the structure of a sentence and

using something called a cleft sentence.

'It' cleft sentences

You can use an 'it' cleft to draw attention to the most interesting or important
part. Compare these two sentences:

Rob ate my biscuits.

It was Rob that ate my biscuits

In the second sentence, we are focussing on the fact that Rob did this. It wasn't
another person.

Structure

It + is/was + emphasis + (that) + rest of message

It was Rob that/who ate my biscuits. (not Catherine)

It was my biscuits that Rob ate. (not my sandwiches)

It was yesterday that Rob ate my biscuits. (not today)

We can also use this structure in the present tense:

It is me that/who does all the work.

Question form

Is/was + it + emphasis + (that) + rest of message

Was it Rob that/who ate my biscuits?

Was it my biscuits that Rob ate?

Was it yesterday that Rob ate my biscuits?

Negative form

It + isn't/wasn't + emphasis + (that) + rest of message

It wasn't Rob that/who ate my biscuits.

It wasn't my biscuits that Rob ate.

It wasn't yesterday that Rob ate my biscuits.

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 NATIVE SPEAKER MISTAKES

Native speakers often say things that don't follow the rules of standard English.
This is due to regional variation, changes in formality and personal preference.
Here are three typical native speaker 'mistakes':

1. Using past participles instead of past simple

Native speakers sometimes use a past participle instead of a past simple verb -
or they forget to include 'have' to make the present perfect.

"John, how was the test? Have you finished?" "Yeah! I done it!"

Correction: "John, how was the test? Have you finished?"

"Yeah! I have done it! / I did it."

2. Using 'me' instead of 'I'

Native speakers sometimes use the object pronoun me instead of the subject
pronoun I and put these in the wrong order.

Me and John went to the shops.

Correction: John and I went to the shops.

3. Splitting infinitives Native speakers often separate the 'to' from the
'infinitive' - normally by inserting an adverb.

I need to quickly stop at the bank.

Correction: I quickly need to stop at the bank OR I need to

stop at the bank quickly.

Note: In spoken English, split infinitives are quite common and are not normally
viewed as an error. Splitting an infinitive can make the meaning of your
sentence clearer and more natural.

You need to really pay attention here. I want our profit to more
than double this year.

Me and Seren are having a joint birthday party

tonight.
Seren and I are having a joint birthday party tonight.

Alex told me and John about the party.

Alex told John and me about the party.

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 ADVANCED LEARNER MISTAKES

1. Word order in WH word clauses

a) Advanced learners often automatically invert the subject and auxiliary verb
after a WH word clause, as if it were a question. However these WH clauses
are the same as normal sentences so the word order is the same too!

NOT: He realised what was he doing.

Correction: "He realised what he was doing. (OR: He realised what he

wasn't doing.)

NOT: I can’t believe what have you done.

Correction: "I can’t believe what you have done. (OR: I can't
believe what you haven't done.)

b) Advanced learners can forget that an affirmative clause after a WH word

which uses the present simple or past simple tense does NOT use an
auxiliary (Negatives still have two verbs)

Past Simple:

NOT: I don’t know where did he go last night.

Correction: I don’t know where he went last night. (OR: I don’t know
where he didn't go last night.)

Present Simple

NOT: They want to see what does he do.

Correction: They want to see what he does. (OR: They want to see
what he doesn't do.)

2. Generalisations with 'The'

Many advanced learners forget that English does not use a definite article
(the) when speaking about a plural or uncountable nouns in general; i.e.
meaning ‘all of them’.

NOT: The life is beautiful.

Correction: (-) Life is beautiful.

NOT: What makes me sad is the poverty.

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 Correction: What makes me sad is (-) poverty.

When we use 'the' with a plural or uncountable noun, it means that we

are being specific about only one of that type of noun.

I’m reading about the life of Michael Jackson. Only his life and no
other)

The poverty in our society is a terrible thing. (Only our society and no
other)

The sports that you do don’t interest me. (Only your sports and no
others)

HOWEVER: It is possible to use the definite article plus a singular

countable noun to generalise too. This makes one noun an example for all
of the same group. Compare:

Life would be much less interesting without tigers.

Life would be much less interesting without the tiger.

Cars are probably the most important invention in mankind’s history.

The car is probably the most important invention in mankind’s history.

 Have you seen what John will be doing

tomorrow?
 You are going to travel to almost every
country in the world!
Where aren't you going?
 The play was what everyone hoped it would
be.
 I don't know how society would function
without the mobile phone.

BEING POLITE TO SOFTEN YOUR ENGLISH

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In English, politeness is considered to be very important. While it is ok to be
direct in informal situations or with friends, it is very important not to come
across as rude in formal situations or with strangers.

Requests, suggestions and questions:

We soften requests, and suggestions and questions by using past forms,
continuous forms or both.
Direct: ‘Pick me up on your way to the party this evening!’
More polite: ‘I was wondering if you could give me a lift later.’
We can also make requests softer by using a negative question with a
question tag.
‘You couldn’t give me a lift later, could you?’ or ‘I don’t suppose you
C Could pick me up tonight, could you?’

Giving Opinions:
We use verbs like reckon, guess, feel to make your opinions less direct. You
can also use vague expressions like ‘sort of’, ‘kind of’, ‘a little bit’.
Direct: 'You're too young to get married!'
More polite: 'I reckon you're a little young to be getting married!
It also helps if you make it into a question:
‘Aren’t you kind of young to be getting married?’

Discussing Problems:
We introduce problems with verbs like seem and appear to soften them.
Direct:‘You've made a mistake in this report!’
More polite: ‘You seem to have made a mistake here.’
You can also use these to introduce your own problems.
‘I seem to have lost those reports you wanted’.

Saying No!
We find it really hard to say no! So instead we use tentative language to
soften it.
Direct: ‘No, I'm not coming to your party this evening.’
More polite: ‘I’m not sure I'll be able to make it to your party this e
E Evening…’

INVERSION

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Inversion happens in English for emphasis, dramatic purpose or formality. This
type of inversion uses negative and limiting adverbs - these are a group of
adverbs which limit the meaning of a verb or make it negative. Examples
are never, hardly, no, only...and there are others (see grammar page for more
details)

To invert a sentence move the adverbial to the beginning of the sentence

and invert the subject and auxiliary verb:

‘I had never met someone so interesting.’ becomes ‘Never had I met someone
so interesting.’
'He won't often go to work.' becomes 'Not often will he go to work'

Notice that if the auxiliary verb is negative in the first sentence, it becomes
affirmative in the inverted sentence and the 'not' moves to the front.

In cases where the tense does not use an auxiliary verb in the affirmative,
such as the present simple or the past simple, one must be added.

Present Simple:
‘I rarely go outside.’ becomes ‘Rarely do I go outside.’
'They don't ever know what to do' becomes 'Never do they know what to do.'

Past Simple: (Notice how the verb changes from past tense to infinitive)
‘She seldom worked very hard.’ becomes ‘Seldom did she work very hard.’
'We never went to the shopping centre.' becomes 'At no time did we go to the
shopping centre.'

Some negative or limiting adverbials require you to complete a whole

clause before the inversion takes place.

‘I didn’t know what to do until I saw what had happened.’ becomes ‘Not until I
saw what had happened did I know what to do.’

In this case, ‘Not until I saw what happened’ is the adverbial clause. The
inversion takes place after this, in the main clause.

'Hardly' puts the inversion in the adverbial clause. It uses 'than' and
'when' to connect with the main clause.

‘Hardly had I got home than the dog started barking.’

'Hardly had he got into the bath when the phone rang.’

Little did they know means they didn't know. The subject can be changed.

‘Little did they know that he had stolen all of their money.’ (They didn't know he
had stolen all of their money)
'Little did he know that they would never meet again.' (He didn't know that they
would never meet again.)
Inversion happens in English for emphasis, dramatic purpose or formality. In
order to invert, the subject verb object order of a normal sentence is changed in

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some way.

1. Reduced Conditionals:
Conditionals are sentences in English which express the result or possible
result of a real or imagined action. They usually start with if:

If you go to town, will you get me a cola? (1st conditional)

If I were an animal, I would be a dog. (2nd conditional)
If I had stayed longer, I would have learned a new language. (3rd
conditional)

In second and third conditionals we can remove the if and invert the subject
and auxiliary verb. This is considered to be more formal and so more polite.In
the case of the second conditional, if the verb is an action we use were and the
infinitive.

Were I an animal, I would be a dog.

Were I to go on holiday, I would go to Jamaica. (If I went on holiday...)
Had I stayed longer, I would have learned a new language.

To invert a first conditional in this way, we need to use the word ‘should’. Should
makes a first conditional more polite and more tentative. Then we remove the if
and invert the subject and auxiliary verb as normal. So:

If you should go to into town, will you get me a cola?

Should you go to into town, will you get me a cola?

Negatives in these forms are not contracted. So:

Should you not go to town…

Were I not a human…
Had I not left so early…

2. Adverbs of place or movement:

Adverbs of place or movement usually come after the verb in a clause.When
an adverb of place or movement is put at the beginning of a clause, then the
whole verb phrase, and not just the auxiliary verb, can be put before the
subject. This is done for dramatic effect and is usually conveyed in a written
style and even more so when introducing a new noun - such as in a story. So,
for example:

The spy came through the window.

Through the window came the spy (adverb of movement + complete
verb phrase + subject)

300 men would stand in the pass.

In the pass would stand 300 men. (adverb of place + complete verb
phrase + subject)

This is common with shorter adverbs in speech, such as: here & there. If a
pronoun is used instead of a noun, it must go before the verb.

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 There sat my father. There he sat.
On ran the racers. On they ran.
I opened the box and out jumped a puppy! I opened the box and out it
jumped.

3. Consequences of an adjective:
We can use so plus an adjective, then we invert the normal subject and
auxiliary verb, and finally we use ‘that’ to emphasise how strongly something’s
description affected us and what the consequence was. We can do the same
thing with a noun using such.

So beautiful was she that I fell in love immediately (so + adjective +

inversion + that + consequence)
Such a beautiful woman was she that I fell in love immediately. (such +
noun + inversion + that + consequence)
 Over the bridge, just under a tree, sat a dog
 The music was so beautiful that I cried like a
baby.
 Should he return, please call me
immediately.
 Had you not been late, we could have caught
the flight.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Never will I ever take up smoking.
Hardly I had picked up my book than my daughter
called me.
Little did she know that she had already been offered
the new job.
Barely couldn't I understand what he was saying.
Not before you send in your passport you can receive
a visa.
Little food did he had to share.
Only could he see now what a terrible decision he had
made.
Gab: C – I – C – I – I – I – I

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