(: Asking for Information :)

Asking Information There are a number of formulas used when asking for information in English. Here are some of the most common:
· Could you tell me…?
· Do you know…?
· Do you happen to know…?
· I’d like to know…
· Could you find out…?
· I’m interested in…
· I’m looking for..
These two forms are used for asking for information on the telephone:
· I’m calling to find out…
· I’m calling about…
Here are some sample phrases and sentences for asking information in English

1. What is this? This is a tableThis is a table
2. What is that? That is a chair.
3. What’s this? It’s a pen.
4. What’s that? It’s an apple.
5. What are these? These are pencils.
6. What are those? Those are books.
7. Where is Mr. King? He is over there.
8. Where is Ms. Knight? She’s (right) here.
9. Where’s Johnny? He’s in the house.
10. When’s the movie? It’s at 9:00.
11. When’s lunch? Lunch is at noon.
12. How is the food? It’s delicious.

Information about company
What does your company do?
What is your specialty?
What do you specialize in?
What is your main line of business?

Information about products
Could you give me some (more) information on this?
What can you tell me about this (product)?
Tell me about this one/model.

Information about Price
What are you asking for this?
What does this sell for?
How much is it?
How much does it run?

(: ASKING IF SOMEONE REMEMBER OR NOT :)

Formal Expression:

• I wonder if you remember.....

• You remember...., don’t you?

• You haven’t forgotten...., have you?

• Don’t you remember.....?

• you happen to remember it now?

Ways to respond:

• Let me think, yes, I remember.

• I remember especially the scenery.

• I’ll never forget that

• I’ll always remember.

• I can remember it clearly.

Informal expressions:

• Remember the old house we used to live in?

• Remember that?

• I’m sorry I don’t remember

Ways to respond:

• Hold on. Yes, got it!

• I know.....

• It’s coming back to me now.

Respond if you forget:

• Sorry, I’ve completely forgotten.

• I’m affraid I forget.

• I really can’t remember.

• I’m afraid I have no memory of him

• Errr, let me think. No, it’s gone.Sorry, it slipped off my mind.

(: Modals In The Past Form :)

When do we use modals?

1. To talk about someone's ability (or inability) to do something

Example: "We can find your house without the street plan."

"She can't have a daughter that old!"

2. To talk about an action that is necessary (or impossible, or not necessary)

Example: "You must always have your driver's licence when you are driving your car."

"You needn't carry your passport around with you."

3. To talk about a situation that is possible (or impossible)

Example:"Do be careful with that glass, the baby might knock it over"

Modals in the Past Form

can't have	could	could have	couldn't	couldn't have
didn't need to	had to	may have	may not have	might have
might not have	must have	needn't have	ought not to have	ought to have
should have	shouldn't have	would have	would not

can't have

certainty e.g. I can't have lost my keys! (I'm sure I didn't)

could	permission e.g. When I was a teenager, I could go out as late as I wanted.
	general ability e.g. Tom could walk by the age of 8 months.

could have	possibility, but did not happen e.g. I could have passed my driving test if I'd really tried.
	uncertainty e.g. I guess it could have been Sandra on the phone.

couldn't	permission e.g. When I was a teenager, I couldn't stay out as late as I wanted.
	general ability e.g. I couldn't walk until I was 2.
	ability in a particular situation e.g. I tried hard but I couldn't persuade him to go to the party with us.

couldn't have	possibility/ability e.g. I couldn't possibly have passed my driving test, even if I'd tried harder.
	uncertainty e.g. It couldn't have been Sandra on the phone, could it?
	with comparative adjectives e.g. I couldn't have asked for better weather on my wedding day.
	unwillingness e.g. I couldn't have left the dog in the car for long (so I didn't).

didn’t need to

unnecessary action not done e.g. As I was alone this weekend, I didn't need to do any cooking (so I didn't).

had to

obligation (past form of must) e.g. I couldn't go out last night because I had to do my homework.

may have

uncertainty e.g. I guess I may have been a bit hard on her when she came home an hour late.

may not have

uncertainty e.g. He may not have found out yet that he has passed the test.

might have	possibility (didn't happen) e.g. You might have been killed!
	uncertainty e.g. I guess I might have been a bit hard on her when she came home an hour late.
	annoyance at someone's failure to do something e.g. You might have told me that you had invited all your colleagues round for dinner!
	might have known + would (idiom to ironically express that somebody's action was typical) e.g. I might have known that he would finish with me as soon as he found out I wasn't wealthy!

might not have

uncertainty e.g. He may not have found out yet that he has passed the test.

must have	certainty e.g. He must have known how much it was going to cost. (I'm sure he knew.)
	with surely in exclamations e.g. Surely he must have known how much it was going to cost!

needn't have

unnecessary action that was actually done e.g. Oh, you needn't have done the washing up!

ought not to have

criticism (more common is shouldn't have) e.g. You ought not to have been so frank with him.

ought to have

expectation (should have is more common) Why is she late? She ought to have arrived by now!

should have	expectation Why is she late? She should have arrived by now!
	should have + verbs of thinking e.g. I should have thought you knew.
	with be and adjectives, describing chance e.g. It was weird that you should have been staying in the same hostel last month.
	criticism (you didn't do something, but it would have been the right thing to do) e.g. The party was such fun last night! You should have come!

shouldn't have	criticism e.g. You shouldn't have been so frank with him.
	polite expression of thanks on receiving a gift or favour "Here's a bottle of wine for you" "Oh, you really shouldn't have!"

would have	events in the past that did not happen e.g. I wouldn't have gone out with him, but he didn't ask me.
	assumptions e.g. Oh, that would have been Sarah on the phone just now.

would not

unwillingness e.g. I asked Tom to close the window, but he wouldn't do it.

PRESENT FORM	PAST FORM
can	could
may	might
will	would
shall	should
must	-
ought to	-
need	-

(: Prepositions of Time: at, in, on :)

We use:

• at for a PRECISE TIME

• in for MONTHS, YEARS, CENTURIES and LONG PERIODS

• on for DAYS and DATES

at	in	on
PRECISE TIME	MONTHS, YEARS, CENTURIES and LONG PERIODS	DAYS and DATES
at 3 o’clock	in May	on Sunday
at 10.30am	in summer	on Tuesdays
at noon	in the summer	on 6 March
at dinnertime	in 1990	on 25 Dec. 2010
at bedtime	in the 1990s	on Christmas Day
at sunrise	in the next century	on Independence Day
at sunset	in the Ice Age	on my birthday
at the moment	in the past/future	on New Year’s Eve

Look at these examples:

• I have a meeting at 9am.
• The shop closes at midnight.
• Jane went home at .
• In England, it often snows in December.
• Do you think we will go to Jupiter in the future?
• There should be a lot of progress in the next century.
• Do you work on Mondays?
• Her birthday is on 20 November.
• Where will you be on New Year’s Day?            

Notice the use of the preposition of time at in the following standard expressions:

Expression	Example
at night	The stars shine at night.
at the weekend	I don’t usually work at the weekend.
at Christmas/Easter	I stay with my family at Christmas.
at the same time	We finished the test at the same time.
at present	He’s not home at present. Try later.

Notice the use of the prepositions of time in and on in these common expressions :

in	on
in the morning	on Tuesday morning
in the mornings	on Saturday mornings
in the afternoon(s)	on Sunday afternoons
in the evening(s)	on Monday evening

When we say last, next, every, this we do not also use at, in, on.

• I went to London last June. (not in last June)
• He’s coming back next Tuesday. (not on next Tuesday)
• I go home every Easter. (not at every Easter)
• We’ll call you this evening. (not in this evening)

 

(: Vocabulary Around The House :)

function of rooms

 

Attic	People store things in the attic.
Ballroom	A room in stately homes where rich people dance and concerts are held.
Box Room	A small room used for storage.
Cellar	Underneath the house.
Cloakroom	A small room where people put their coats.
Conservatory	A greenhouse attached to a house for the display of plants.
Dining Room	A room where people eat.
Drawing Room	A room in stately homes where rich people entertain.
Games Room	A room in large houses where games are played.
Hall	The entrance passage to a house.
Larder	A small room used for the storage of food.
Library	A room where books are kept.
Lounge	Another name for living room.
Music Room	A room where people play music.
Office	A room where people work.
Pantry	A small room used to store kitchen and dining items.
Parlour	Old fashioned word for living room.
Sitting Room	Another name for living room.
Spare Room/ Guest Room	A room where guests sleep.
Toilet	A room where people go to the toilet (often known as WC)
Utility Room	A room where appliances such as washing machines are used.

 

(: FINITE VERBS :)

Definition

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A finite verb is a verb that is inflected for person and for tense according to the rules and categories of the languages in which it occurs. Finite verbs can form independent clauses, which can stand by their own as complete sentences.

A non-finite verb has no subject, tense or number. The only non-finite verb forms are the infinitive (indicated by to), the gerund or the participle.

Some Types Tense:

• Finite verb forms include: I go, she goes, he went
• Non-finite verb forms include: to go, going, gone

Identify the finite verbs in a sentence:

1. Most finite verbs can take an -ed or a -d at the end of the word to indicate time in the past:cough, coughed; celebrate, celebrated.
   

2. Nearly all finite verbs take an -s at the end of the word to indicate the present when the subject of the verb is third-person singular: cough, he coughs; celebrate, she celebrates.

3. Finite verbs are often groups of words that include such auxiliary verbs as can, must, have, and be: can be suffering, must eat, will have gone.

4. Finite verbs usually follow their subjects: He coughs. The documents had compromised him. They will have gone.

5. Finite verbs surround their subjects when some forms of a question are asked: Is he coughing? Did they celebrate?

(: Narrative Text :)

Narrative Text

Someone tells a narrative text in order to entertain, stimulate emotion or to teach.

A narrative text has three elements or parts :
1. The orientation introduces main characters in a setting of place and time. It tells about : the story’s setting , the time when the story happens, and the main characters of the story.
2. The complications tells the problems of the story and how the main characters solve them. Series of events ( It includes situations, activities, or events that lead to the climax or complication. )
3. The Resolution tells the ending of the story (The complication or problem is solved here. It shows the end of the story, usually a happy ending ).
A narrative text uses the simple past tense.

EXAMPLE :

The Prince and Princess

There once was a prince who wanted to marry a princess, but it had to be a real princess. So he went all over the world looking for a real princess. Everywhere he met young ladies who told him they were real princesses, but he could never be completely sure that this was true. There was always something about them that did not seem quite right. And so, after along time, the prince went back home to his parents and was very sad.
One evening there was a terrible storm. It rained heavily and there was thunder and lightning in the sky above the royal castle. Then there was a knock at the castle gate. The old king went out to see who it could be.
A princess was standing outside the gate. The rain ran down over her hair and clothes and into her shoes. She told the king that she was a real princess, and he asked her to come inside.
“Well, said the old queen. We’ll soon find out if that is true. She went into the guest bedroom and took the mattress and blanket off the bed. Then she put a little green pea on the bed. She put twenty mattress on top of the pea, and then twenty blankets on top of the mattress. This was where the princess was going to spend the night.
The next morning the queen asked the princess how she had slept.
“Oh, it was terrible!” answered the princess. “I didn’t close my eyes all night. I don’t know what was in my bed, but I lay on something hard, and now I am black and blue all over. It was quite a terrible night”
Now, the king, the queen and the prince could be sure that this was a real princess! She had felt the little pea through twenty mattresses and twenty blankets. Only a real princess will be able to do that!
So the prince married the princess, and the pea was put in a museum for everyone to see. And, unless someone has taken it, it is still there today.