Using English Verbs, Adverbs and Adjectives

Verbs, adverbs and adjectives are all important parts of English Grammar. Read on to see examples and definitions.

Verbs

Verbs are the building blocks of English grammar. The shortest sentences, including one word sentences, include a verb. Verbs are usually described as being “action words”. While verbs do give the impression of actually “doing” something, they can also convey an idea of state, of existence and of “being”.
Verbs that are “doing” words are as follows:

• Run
• Do
• Fight
• Work

Verbs that imply state:

• Seem
• Exist
• Be
• Belong

A verb can always be found with a subject. In the following sentence “Richard speaks Spanish”, Richard is the subject, so the word speaks is the verb.
So, to simplify matters, the verb is the word that tells us what any subject is or is doing. Verbs can describe both action and state:

• Action - Isabelle plays tennis. – The verb here is plays.
• State – Isabelle seems quiet. – The verb here is seems.

Verbs are a special part of the English language, as they can change their form. Most of the other types of words in the English language such as prepositions, adjectives and so on cannot.

Let’s look at the verb “to work”. It actually has five forms:

• To work
• Work
• Works
• Worked
• Working

Adverbs

Adverbs are the words that tell us more about the actual verb that is being used. It is the adverb that changes the verb, and they can also change adjectives. We are taught to recognise adverbs by the three following characteristics:

• Function
• Form
• Position

The Adverbs Function

The main job of the adverb is to give us more detailed information about the adjective, verb and other adverbs being used.

Changing A Verb

• Daniel speaks quietly – The adverb in this sentence is quietly, and the word it is changing is speaks.
• Sarah lives locally – the adverb is locally and the word being changed is lives.

The adverbs have many other functions such as changing an entire sentence or changing certain phrases.

The Adverbs Form

You may notice that many of the adverbs end in –ly. Adverbs are actually formed by adding –ly to the end of an adjective:

• Softly
• Quickly
• Honestly
• Strongly

Don’t think though, that all words that end in –ly must be adverbs. Some words such as “friendly” are actually adjectives.

The Adverbs Position

The adverb can be found in three places in a sentence: the beginning, the middle and the end. When the adverb is at the beginning, it will come before the subject. When it is in the middle, it will come between the subject and then the main verb. When at the end of a sentence, the adverb will be after either the verb or the subject.

Adjectives

The adjective is the word that will give us more information about the noun. Noun also includes noun phrases and pronouns. Just like the adverbs, the adjectives change the noun. The adjective can be used before a specific noun:

• I like Chinese food – “Chinese” being the adjective and “food” being the noun.

Or, the adjective can be used after some verbs:

• It is hard – “Hard” being the adjective and “it is” being the verb.

This is just a basic look at the ways verbs, adverbs and adjectives fit into English grammar. There are many printed books that go into every aspect of English grammar and how to use it. This overview will give you a good starting point when you start to learn English grammar.

source : http://www.howtolearnenglish.co.uk/using-english-verbs-adverbs-adjectives.html

How To Write Paragraphs

A paragraph is a group of sentences that are neatly grouped together. Usually, the paragraph you are writing is only about one idea. Other ideas would be in subsequent paragraphs. Generally, paragraphs can be as long, or as short, as you want them to be. But, to make reading easier and the text more fluent, shorter paragraphs may be better.
If you write a paragraph and think that it is far too long, why not divide it into two or more paragraphs. This way, your thoughts will follow neatly onto the other paragraphs. Don’t have too many short paragraphs though, as it could be confusing for the readers. Remember that the main aim of paragraphs is to help the reader understand what you are trying to say.

How To Link Paragraphs

If you have thoughts that you want to write down, but they won’t fit into the same paragraph, you can link them together instead. If you are making particular points you can link them together in the following ways:

• In the first place...

• In the second place...

• In the third place...

By using these beginnings to your sentences, you can link the paragraphs together and have fluency to your text.
You can also link your paragraphs by using certain words and phrases:

• Also...
• However...
• To sum up...
• On the other hand...
• Another way...
• On the contrary...
• Another way...

Paragraph Headings

To make it even easier for your readers, your paragraphs should have headings. This breaks up the text and makes it much easier to read. If you are planning what to write, starting with the headings may make it easier for you to write what you need to. Imagine you are writing information about scented candles. You need to tell people all about it and there is quite a lot of information to give. Breaking up the text into appropriate headings is the best way to pass on your information in clear, concise text.
You could use the following headings:

• What are scented candles?
• Why should I use scented candles?
• What are the benefits to using scented candles?
• Where can I find them?
• What scents do they come in?

Planning out your paragraphs under headings makes it much easier for you to write, and makes it easier to read.

Sentences Inside A Paragraph

Normally, there are three types of sentences within any one paragraph. This doesn’t mean there has to be three sentences in a paragraph, just three types.

• Topic Sentence – A topic sentence is the first sentence your paragraph will have. The topic sentence introduces the main idea of the paragraph you are writing. It basically summarises the information you are going to give. “There are reasons why I think black dogs are better than brown dogs.”
• Supporting Sentences – The supporting sentence, or sentences, will come after the topic sentence has introduced what the paragraph is going to be about. The supporting sentences will show the reader the details, and will ‘support’ your main idea or facts. “I think that they are shinier, sweeter and nicer.”
• Closing Sentence – The closing sentence will be the last sentence you write for your paragraph. Think of your last sentence as a way to recap what you have previously discussed in your topic sentence and your supporting sentences. “So, as you can see, these are the reasons why I think black dogs are better.”

When writing paragraphs, just keep in mind what you are writing about and create a plan using headings. Also, keep in mind you are writing for other people to read, so you want to make it as fluent and as clear as possible. Following the above tips will make it easier for you to create concise, clear and easy to read paragraphs.

source :/http://www.howtolearnenglish.co.uk/how-write-paragraphs.html

A Basic English Grammar Glossary

Learning the ins and outs of English grammar can be quite difficult. However, one great way to learn how to use English grammar is to know the terms that are commonly used. This is where a grammar glossary can come in handy.
Having an English grammar glossary gives you something to refer to when needed, and it will help you remember the different terms. You don’t need to know every single grammar term to have a good grasp of English. Although, having a basic knowledge of English grammar will help you to become more fluent.

Active Voice

Verbs like ‘took’ and ‘gives’ are used in the active voice when the actual subject of the verb is the thing that is doing the action. The term active voice needs comparing with passive voice.

Adjective

An adjective in English is a word that is used to give you more information about something: ‘a pretty, green skirt’.

Adverb

An adverb in English is a word that will show more information about particular circumstances; information such as how, when and what. More often than not, adverbs end in the suffix ‘–ly’.

• ‘She carefully rode her bike.’

Apostrophe

An apostrophe can be used to show possession or a contraction. To show possession, the apostrophe would be used as so: ‘That is Isabelle’s toy.’ To show a contraction, the apostrophe would be used as so: ‘It’s been a long day today, hasn’t it.’

Conjunction

In English grammar, a conjunction is classed as a word that joins clauses together. Words like ‘and’, ‘but’ and ‘however’ are known as conjunctions.

Contraction

A contraction is when you use an apostrophe to replace missing letters in joined words: It’s (it is), don’t (do not), and haven’t (have not) are all contractions.

Definite Article

The word ‘the’ is the definite article in English grammar. It is primarily used to restrict the meaning of a noun. It makes the noun refer to something that is already known by the reader, speaker or the writer. ‘The’ can also be used to refer to something that has already been spoken about, or to something that is about to be talked about.

• ‘She’s gone to the shop.’ In this sentence, the listener or the reader will know which shop she has gone to.

Exclamation

An exclamation is a phrase or a singular word that expresses more emotion than normal. An exclamation mark is used to further express the emotion.

• Stop!
• Wow!

Indefinite Article

There are only two indefinite articles in English grammar: ‘an’ and ‘a’. These indefinite articles are used before a singular noun that also has a plural form. You would use ‘a’ when placed before a consonant sound, and use ‘an’ when placed before a vowel sound. The sound is always more important than the actual spelling of the word as all letters can sound different when placed with other combinations of letters.

• A union
• An umbrella

Noun

A noun is a word in the English language that refers to places, people, things or ideas.

• Sarah
• Woman

Passive Voice

Verbs such as ‘were taken’ and ‘was given’ are in the passive voice. This is because the subject of the verb is what has been affected by the action. The passive voice should be compared with the active voice.

Past Form

The past form is the form of a verb that usually ends in the suffix (-ed).

• Talked
• Walked
• Processed

Verb

In English, a verb is a word that is used with a particular subject. The verb will tell you what something does, what someone does, or what happens to them.

• Sing
• Die
• Spill

source : http://http://www.howtolearnenglish.co.uk/basic-english-grammar-glossary.html

A Look at English Nouns and Pronouns

Sometimes in the English language, you may come across words that have been contracted. We usually contract (shorten) words in English to join two words together . An apostrophe (‘) is normally placed where the missing letter, or letters, would be if the two words were complete.

• He is – He’s
• She is – She’s
• Who is – Who’s
• They are – They’re
• Have not – Haven’t
• Would have – Would’ve

Contractions are usually included in informal writing rather than formal writing, and more often than not in speech. Some contractions may cause confusion to some people learning English as a second language, as they can have more than one meaning.

• He would – He’d (“He’d love to go to the zoo.” – “He would love to go to the zoo”.)
• He had – He’d (“He’d already done by the time I got there.” – He had already done by the time I got there.”)

Positive Contractions

Positive contractions are usually words that denote a positive meaning in one way or another. The contraction for the word ‘is’ and the word ‘has’ (s) are used with nouns, pronouns, names and question words. So, instead of “Richard is happy”, it could be “Richard’s happy”. Instead of “there is a cat”, you could contract it to “there’s a cat”.

• I am – I’m (“I’m very pleased.” – “I am very pleased.”)
• I have – I’ve (“I’ve been there in the last year.” – “I have been there in the last year.”)
• You have – You’ve (“You have been looking ill recently.” – “You’ve been looking ill recently.”)
• He will – He’ll (“He’ll do it tomorrow.” – He will do it tomorrow.”)
• We are – We’re (“We are going later.” – “We’re going later.”)

Negative Contractions

Negative contractions are usually ended with the word ‘not’. Also, while using the verb ‘to be’, it is possible to create two other negative forms – We’re not or we aren’t. Other negative contractions that are common in the English language are as follows:

• Are not – Aren’t (“We are not going there again!” – “we aren’t going there again!”)
• Did not – didn’t (“ We did not do that right.” – “We didn’t do that right.”)
• Does not – Doesn’t (“That does not appear to fit right.” – “That doesn’t appear to fit right.”)
• Must not – Mustn’t (“You must not do that again.” – “You mustn’t do that again.”)
• Is not – Isn’t (“ That is not correct.” – “That isn’t correct.”)
• Ought not – Oughtn’t (“ You ought not.” – “You oughtn’t.”)
• Shall not – Shan’t (“I shall not.” – “I shan’t.”)

Informal Contractions

As informal contractions are almost slang words, they are not normally used in writing. You can use them when writing short notes or letters to people you are familiar with, but it is not advisable to use them in any other forms of writing. You may find informal contractions in scripts, comic books and personal letters, but you would never find them in a formal letter to an employer, or employee; nor would you find them in essays or school writing. The same goes for speech; you wouldn’t use informal contractions in a job interview or when speaking publically. However, you would probably use them when chatting to friends and family.
With informal contractions, an apostrophe is hardly ever used.

• Going to – Gonna
• What are you – Whatcha
• Want a – Wanna

There are lots of contractions in the English language. Some are more common than others, but they are widely used in speech, and in writing. They are an important part of being truly fluent in English, whether you are learning as a second language, or you are a native speaker.

source :  http://www.howtolearnenglish.co.uk/look-english-nouns-pronouns.html

Future Of English

Future of English

How to start speaking english easily

In the video above the expert will give you some advice that will help you to gain ur english skill or help you how to learn english from the start so yeah happy watching :D
much love x

The importance of speaking English According to the Experts

From W.Y. Gumpol:   

1. Mastery tenses be the determining factor of success for English language learners. Any models phrase refers to an essentially tenses. What tenses it? Tenses is the relationship work order form with the conception of time. Difficulties are often experienced by learners is verb determines that information in accordance with the time he meant. Tightly aspects of time and verb forms are embodied in the patterns become the basis of tenses in English. By way of a practical and easy to grasp, W.Y. Gumpol formulate existing 16 tenses, complete with examples and exercises. This book facilitate your learning process as it is equipped with irregular verbs, irregular verbs, and time information used in tenses.

2. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe once said: "Those who know nothing of foreign languages​​, knows nothing of their own." Human ability is not really limited, because the language is basically a way / tool to communicate. So that the people who have foreign language skills are qualified, are usually also very good at communicating with its own language.

How to be a better reader

The importance of reading

Reading is an extremely important skill. It is by reading that you learn much of what you need to know for your different school subjects. Reading is also an excellent way to improve your general English. You can only learn from reading, however, if what you read is not too difficult. For this reason, it is important to know what makes texts difficult and how you can improve your chances of understanding them.

What makes texts difficult to understand

Most of your reading difficulties will be caused by a problem on the list below. Of course, when two or more of these problems happen together, your chances of understanding will be even smaller.

• the text has many unknown words
• the text has long, complicated sentences
• the text is about a topic you know nothing about
• the text is about a topic you find boring
• the text has small print, long paragraphs, no pictures
• the text has been badly written
• you are feeling tired
• you are distracted
• you don't know the important cohesion markers
• you don't know why you have been asked to read the text

How to understand more of what you read

You can do nothing about some of the reading difficulties: for example, you can’t change the print in a book or make poor writing better. But there are many things you can do that will give you a better chance of understanding what you read. Here are some suggestions:

1. 1. Know your reading purpose - The way you read a book or a text depends very much on your reasons for reading it. This is why it is so important to know your reading purpose. You should read a question in your math exam differently from an entry in an encyclopaedia which you are looking at quickly to find out the date of an event. The kind of reading you do in class or for your homework is different from how you read a novel for pleasure in the summer vacation. If you know your reading purpose - perhaps by looking first at the questions you must answer after reading - you can choose the best reading method.
   If your teacher gives you something to read and doesn't tell you what you need to find out from the text or what you will do after the reading, ask her (or him)!
2. 2. Choose the appropriate reading speed - ESL students often take a long time to do their work because they read everything slowly and carefully. Often, however, one of the following speedreading methods will be the best choice:
   • Skimming - this is reading a text quickly to find out what information it contains. You should skim when, for example, you want to check if a text has the information you need to answer some questions or write a project. It is often enough to look at the first (and last) sentences in each paragraph.
   • Scanning - this is reading quickly to find a specific piece of information. You should scan when, for example, you are looking for the answer to a question which you know is in the text.
   In general, students should be trying to increase their reading speed. (Click to do some speed reading practice.)
3. 3. Get background information - Find something out about the topic you have to read. The more background information you have, the easier it will be to understand the text. You can get this background information background in your own language. For example, if you are studying the Italian Renaissance, you could read an encyclopaedia or textbook in your own language to find out the most important details about this historical period. Your parents may also be able to give you useful background information. Talk to them in your language. You can sometimes get background information from the text itself. Many writers include a conclusion or summary; if you read this first, it may give you a good start.
   
4. 4. Use all the information in the book - Good textbooks are well-organised, with titles, sub-titles, introductions, summaries or conclusions. Many books also have pictures with captions. Look at all these first before starting to read.Another aspect of good writing is that each paragraph has a topic sentence. A topic sentence is a sentence, usually the first one in a paragraph, that contains the main idea of the paragraph. If you concentrate on understanding the topic sentence, this may help you to understand what comes next.
   
5. 5. Increase your vocabulary - Of course, reading itself is an excellent way to improve your vocabulary, but there are many other things you can do. (More advice on learning vocabulary.) The better your vocabulary, the easier you will find your reading.
6. 6. Use your dictionary sensibly - A common mistake of ESL students is to look up each unknown word in the texts they are given to read. Occasionally this is necessary - for example, when reading examination questions. But it takes a long time and can be very boring. It can even make understanding more difficult because by the time you reach the end of the paragraph you have forgotten what you read at the beginning! (Advice on how and when to use your dictionary.)
7. 7. Learn the important words that organise text - When you read texts in your science or history books, you will find that most good writers organise their writing with cohesion markers (also called transition words). These are words that connect different parts of the writing and help writers structure their thoughts. If you learn the important cohesion markers, you will find it easier to understand the text.Here are some important cohesion markers: also, therefore, except, unless, however, instead, (al)though, furthermore, moreover, nevertheless, on the other hand, as a result, despite, in conclusion.
   
8. 8. Choose the right place to read - You can’t really expect to understand a difficult book if you are trying to read in the same room with the television on and your little brother distracting you. The same goes for reading in the bus on the way to school. You also can’t expect to read a textbook and listen to music at the same time. Try to find a quiet and comfortable place with good light, and your dictionaries and other materials nearby.
9. 9. Choose the right time to read - If you have a difficult text to read for homework, it’s probably best to do this first. If you leave it until last when you are tired, you will find it even more difficult. Important: If you have tried the advice above and you still cannot understand a text, then it is simply too hard for you. Stop reading and ask someone to help you (your ESL teacher, for example!). Nobody likes to give up, but you will just be wasting your time if you continue to work at a text that is beyond you.
   

   What to read

   Most of the time you have to read what your teachers tell you to read. But as you know, reading is an excellent way to improve your English, and so you should try to do some extra reading each week. Here is some advice on how to choose what to read:
   
   • Try not to read something too difficult - There should be no more than about 6-10 new words per page; reading for pleasure should not be hard work!
   • Reading easy books is good for you -You will improve your reading skills even if you read simple books, as long as you read lots of them. (But you may find you don't really enjoy stories written in English that has been over-simplified.)
   • Try to read some non-fiction - Reading non-fiction books or magazines will help you learn some of the words you need to do well in your subject classes. There are millions of pages of non-fiction on the world wide web!
   • Choose something that is interesting to you - This is clear. In fact, if you are really interested in a topic, you will probably be able to understand texts that would normally be too difficult for you.
   • Surf the internet - You can learn a lot of English just by surfing around on the websites that interest you. This is particularly true if the webpages contain pictures that help you understand the writing.
   source : http://esl.fis.edu/learners/advice/read.htm

Listening English Tips

You have been studying English for a long time. You have a good knowledge of English grammar and you know lots of words. You can read things in English and you can communicate well in writing. You have trouble understanding what people are saying, however, and it’s impossible for you to watch English movies or TV shows without subtitles. Does that describe you?
You are not alone. Listening is usually the slowest skill to improve. For most language learners, listening is their weakest skill. There are two reasons for this:

• You may be pronouncing a word incorrectly, and therefore you can’t understand the word when it’s pronounced correctly.
• You are listening for the wrong words and sounds. Natural spoken English is a mixture of stressed & unstressed words, linked words, contracted words, and reduced words. Many words are not fully pronounced.

Here’s an activity that you can do to improve your listening skills and get used to the sounds of natural spoken English. I learned this activity fromCarl Kwan, and I’ve expanded on his method.

Choose a short audio clip at your level.

If you are a beginner or low intermediate, choose something that is about 1-2 minutes; more advanced learners should choose longer clips that are about 3-5 minutes. Make sure you also have the words to the audio clip. You need to be able to check your work!
Here are some suggestions:
Beginners
Read Theory
Super Easy Reading
(These are reading websites, but there are listening clips for each passage.)
Intermediate & Advanced
The English Teacher Melanie Podcast (American accent)
BBC 6-Minute English (British accent)
BBC Words in the News (British accent)
ESLPod (American accent)

Activity

1. Listen to the whole audio clip once without looking at the words. Relax. Take a deep breath. Don’t panic.
2. Listen to the entire clip again. It’s easier to hear and understand what you’re listening to when you’re relaxed and not panicking.
3. Listen to the clip, but pause the clip every 5 seconds.

• After you pause the audio, write down a word, phrase or anything you can remember from the clip.
• When you have finished and listened to the entire clip, read through your notes completely.
• It’s OK if you don’t understand every word, but can you understand the general theme of what the speaker is saying?

4. Repeat step 3. Check your work. Correct your work. Add any new words you heard.
5. Read through your notes completely again. Try to finish the sentences. If you wrote down one or two words, can you figure out the sentence from those words? Use your knowledge of grammar to try to complete the sentences.
6. Hide your notes. Listen to the clip again, but this time stop after 10 seconds. Again, write down the main words you hear. Check your work compared to what you wrote down in step 5.
7. Listen to the clip completely one last time while reading your notes.
8. Compare your notes to the actual words.

• What words did you get right?
• Did you have trouble hearing certain words?
• Are there any words that you should have heard [words that you already know] but did not? Why? Is your pronunciation wrong? Was the word unstressed in the sentence? Was it linked to a word before or after it?
• Look up any new words that you don’t know.

9. Listen to the clip while reading the words. Check your pronunciation of words you know but didn’t hear or understand when you were listening.
10. Hide all your notes and the words. Listen one final time to the clip. It should be easier now to understand what the speaker is saying.
11. After about a week, come back and listen to the clip again to refresh your memory.
NOTE: Your listening skills will not improve overnight. Like anything in life, it takes a lot of practice! If you practice consistently 3-4 times a week, soon you will start to see an improvement in your listening skills.

Good luck and happy studying!

source : http://www.englishteachermelanie.com/study-tip-how-to-practice-listening-english/