Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Adverbial Clause

Just watch this video, and you will soon understand about Adverb Clause.



Monday, December 3, 2012

Complex Sentence

COMPLEX SENTENCE

A complex sentence has an Independent Clause joined by one or more the Dependent Clauses.
A complex sentence always has a subordinator such as; because, since, after, although, when or relative pronoun such as; that, who, which.

Examples;

A. When he handed in his homework, he forgot to give the teacher the last page.

B. The teacher returned the homework after he noticed the error.

C. The students are studying because they have a test tomorrow.

D. After they finished studying, Juan and Maria went to the movies.

E. Juan and Maria went to the movies after they finished studying.

Note; Subjects are in yellow, the verbs are in green and the subordinators and their commas (when required) are in red.

When a complex sentence begins with a subordinator such as sentence A and D, a comma is required at the end of the Depemdent Clause.

When the Independent Clause begins the sentence with subordinators in the middle as in sentences B, C and E, no comma required.

Note the sentences D and E are the same except sentence D begins with the Dependent Clause which is followed by a comma, and sentence E begins with Independent Clause which contains no comma.


Compund Sentence

COMPOUND SENTENCE

A compound sentence contains two Independent Clauses joined by a coordinator. The coordinators are as follows: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so. (Helpful hint: The first letter of each of the coordinators spells FANBOYS.) Except for very short sentences, coordinators are always preceded by a comma.

Examples;

A. I tried to Speak Chinese, and my friend tried to speak English.
B. Alejandro played football, so Maria went shopping.
C. Alejandro played football, for Maria went shopping.

Note; Subjects are in yellow, the verbs are in green, and the coordinators and the commas that precede them are in red.

The above three sentences are compound sentences. Each sentence contains two Independent Clauses, and they are joined by a coordinator with a comma preceding it. 

Note how the conscious use of coordinators can change the relationship between the clauses. Sentences B and C, for example, are identical except for the coordinators.

In sentence B which action occurred first? Obviously, ''Alejandro played football'' and as consequences, ''Maria went shopping.''

In sentence C, ''Maria went shopping.'' first. ''Alejandro played football,'' because, possibly, he didn't have anything else to do, FOR or  BECAUSE ''Maria went shopping.''




Simple Sentence

 SIMPLE SENTENCE

A simple sentence, also called an Independent Clause, contain a subject and a verb, and it expresses a complete thought.

Examples;

A. Some students like to study in the mornings.
B. Juan and Arturo play football every afternoon.
C. Alicia goes to the library and studies every day.

Note; Subjects are in yellow and verbs are in green.

The three examples above are all simple sentences. Note that sentence B contains a compound subject, and sentence C contains a compound verb. Simple sentence, therefore, contains a subject and a verb and express a complete thought, but they can also contain a compound subjects and verbs.



Wednesday, November 28, 2012

The Present Perfect Progressive

Form

Positive -->   Have/has + been (present perfect of ''be'') + verb-ing

- I have been working. ----> I've been walking. (sort from)
- You have been running.
- He has been cooking.
- It has been raining.
- They have been sleeping.

Negative --> Just add ''not''

- I have not been walking.
- You have not been running.
- He has not been cooking.
- They have not been sleeping.

Yes/no Question

- Have I been walking?
- Have you been running?

''Wh'' Question

- What have I been doing?
- Where have you been running?

USE

1. To say for how long unfinished actions which started in the past and continue in the present.
    We often use this with for and since (see the present prefect)

- I have been living in Taiwan for two years.
- She's been working here since 2006.
- We've been waiting for the bus for hours.

2. Actions which have just stopped (though the whole action can be unfinished) and have a result.
    Which we often see, hear or feel in the present (focus on action).

- I'm so tired, I've been studying.
- I've been running, so I'm really hot.
- It's been raining, the pavement is wet.
- I've been reading your book, it's very good.







The Future Continous/Progressive Tense

Form 

The positive ( will + be + verb-ing) ;

At 10 am tomorrow,

- I will be sleeping.
- You will be working.
- She will be studying.
- It will be raining.
- We will be eating breakfast.

The negative (will + not + be + verb-ing) ;

When John gets home,

- I will not be working. (I won't be....)
- You will not be reading. (You won't be....)
- She will not be studying. (She won't be....)
- It will not be snowing. (It won't be....)
- We will not be watching TV. (We won't be....)

Yes/no Question

When arrive at the party,

- Will I be cooking?
- Will you be dancing?

Wh Question

- What will I be doing?
- Where will you be working?
- Why will we be studying?

USE

1. A continuous action in the future which is interrupted by a time or by another action.

- I'll be waiting when you arrive.
- At 8 o'clock, I'll be eating dinner.

2. A complete action in the future that will happen in the normal course of events.

- The government will be making a statement later.
- Will you be taking your car to the meeting? = (I'm asking indirectly and politely- perhaps I want to get a lift).

3. To make a guess about the present.

- My sister will be working now. = (I think she is working now, but I'm not completely certain).