TELEPHONIC CONVERSATION

A simple telephonic conversation can prove to be a nightmare, especially if the speaker is new to the language. When conversations are held face to face, gestures and actions can be a saving grace but phone calls can make one break into cold sweat !!

QUESTION TAGS

   

                       QUESTION TAGS

These are short questions placed after a sentence. If the main part of a sentence is positive, then a negative question tag is used.

THE APOSTROPHE

THE APOSTROPHE is a punctuation mark used to show possession ( ownership ) and omission ( contractions ).

PLURAL NOUNS

When we speak of more than two nouns ( person, place, thing or idea) we refer to it as PLURAL nouns.

We usually add an

S, ES, or IES

to the noun to get the plural form. Have a look ...

REPORTED SPEECH

How do we report questions asked ?

REPORTED SPEECH

DIRECT SPEECH


We often need to report what someone says or has said to a third person. We can say the exact words spoken by the speaker, in which case it is the direct speech. The direct speech is enclosed in quotation marks.

WORD POWER

HOMOPHONES

WORD POWER

MORE ON WORDS !!!

               




                               SILENT LETTERS 

Silent letters are letters that you can't hear when you say the word aloud, but they are very much there. This may prove to be frustrating for English learners as about 60% of English words have silent letters.

Phrases

                                     


                                              PHRASAL VERBS 

A group of words ( known as PHRASES ) that consist of a verb and a preposition, or a verb and an adverb or both. What's interesting is that the meaning of the total phrase is in no way the meaning of any part of the phrase.

ADVERBS

                                                                      ADVERBS

What are adverbs ?

More about prepositions

ADJECTIVES - PICTORIAL REPRESENTATION

The degrees of comparison

Verb tenses - pictorial representation

Verb tenses tell us more about the time when actions were performed.

VOCABULARY : FOOD

     VOCABULARY RELATED TO FOOD

If there is a topic that is sure to interest people of all ages then it surely is "food".

So lets see if we can put together vocabulary related to food in as interesting a manner as possible !

The following verbs frequently appear in recipes.
These words and phrases will help you talk about food and related topics.


A Dish : a food item prepared in a particular way.

A Recipe : the various inputs to prepare a meal, along with the proportions and method.

A Course : is one part of a meal. An elaborate meal consists of many courses such as starters, a soup, the main meal consisting of multiple dishes, desserts etc.

 Starters : a small portion of food and usually the first part of a meal.

Desserts : is usually the last in the meal.

VOCABULARY

What does this word mean?



It is defined as a set of familiar words within a person's language or a stock of words used by or known to particular people or groups of persons.

Why is it so vital to learn vocabulary ?

A good range of vocabulary is very important to effectively convey ideas, opinions and thoughts without having to repeat the same words over and over for want of a better word.

Contrary to what people believe, the idea behind using a fine set of words to describe something is not to confuse or perplex people using fancy and complicated words !! They actually help put across ideas in an impressive manner.

How articulate you are and the impression you make on others is largely attributed to the wide range of vocabulary that you use among other things. 

PUNCTUATIONS

Alas ! Your writing is incomplete without the use of these symbols which go by the name of Punctuation marks. 

Although they look confusing, they really are quite easy to master - if you could grasp the various aspects of grammar in the previous blog-posts, then this isn't going to be tough ! 

VERB TENSES

The word "grammar" most certainly isn't the most favourite of students, not to mention the teachers. In fact, the most natural reaction upon encountering the word is to cringe!

Most teachers know the rules of grammar, I know. But it's one thing to know it and quite another to teach it effectively so that the students not only understand it , but are able to apply it in apt situations.

" My sister studies French" 
                  and 
" My sister is studying French" are not quite the same meaning. There is a subtle difference of time.