Friday, 1st February 2013
FACTUAL WRITING
Your American friend is visiting you and wants to go and buy some souvenirs for his family. There is a gift shop near your house. Write some directions for your friend telling him how to find it. Say when the shop is open and what he can buy there.
Friday, 25th January 2013
CORRESPONDENCE
Last week you played a new sport for the first time. Write a letter to your English penfriend about the sport. Say what equipment is necessary and tell him what you like and dislike about the sport.
Test your English with this quick, free online test. It will give you an idea of your English level.
Click ’start’ and answer each of the questions.
Please note: This is not a Cambridge ESOL exam and the test scores and levels are very approximate.
In active sentences, the thing doing the action is the subject of the sentence and the thing receiving the action is the object. Most sentences are active.
[Thing doing action] + [verb] + [thing receiving action]
Examples:
In passive sentences, the thing receiving the action is the subject of the sentence and the thing doing the action is optionally included near the end of the sentence. You can use the passive form if you think that the thing receiving the action is more important or should be emphasized. You can also use the passive form if you do not know who is doing the action or if you do not want to mention who is doing the action.
When rewriting active sentences in passive voice, note the following:
[Thing receiving action] + [be] + [past participle of verb] + [by] + [thing doing action]
Examples:
| Active | Passive | |
| Simple Present | Once a week, Tom cleans the house. | Once a week, the house is cleaned by Tom. |
| Present Continuous | Right now, Sarah is writing the letter. | Right now, the letter is being written by Sarah. |
| Simple Past | Sam repaired the car. | The car was repaired by Sam. |
| Past Continuous | The salesman was helping the customer when the thief came into the store. | The customer was being helped by the salesman when the thief came into the store. |
| Present Perfect | Many tourists have visited that castle. | That castle has been visited by many tourists. |
| Present Perfect Continuous | Recently, John has been doing the work. | Recently, the work has been being done by John. |
| Past Perfect | George had repaired many cars before he received his mechanic’s license. | Many cars had been repaired by George before he received his mechanic’s license. |
| Past Perfect Continuous | Chef Jones had been preparing the restaurant’s fantastic dinners for two years before he moved to Paris. | The restaurant’s fantastic dinners had been being prepared by Chef Jones for two years before he moved to Paris. |
| Simple Future will | Someone will finish the work by 5:00 PM. | The work will be finished by 5:00 PM. |
| Simple Future be going to | Sally is going to make a beautiful dinner tonight. | A beautiful dinner is going to be made by Sally tonight. |
| Future Continuous will | At 8:00 PM tonight, John will be washing the dishes. | At 8:00 PM tonight, the dishes will be being washedby John. |
| Future Continuous be going to | At 8:00 PM tonight, John is going to be washingthe dishes. | At 8:00 PM tonight, the dishes are going to be being washed by John. |
| Future Perfect will | They will have completed the project before the deadline. | The project will have been completed before the deadline. |
| Future Perfect be going to | They are going to have completed the project before the deadline. | The project is going to have been completed before the deadline. |
| Future Perfect Continuous will | The famous artist will have been painting the mural for over six months by the time it is finished. | The mural will have been being painted by the famous artist for over six months by the time it is finished. |
| Future Perfect Continuous be going to | The famous artist is going to have been painting the mural for over six months by the time it is finished. | The mural is going to have been being painted by the famous artist for over six months by the time it is finished. |
| Used to | Jerry used to pay the bills. | The bills used to be paid by Jerry. |
| Would Always | My mother would always make the pies. | The pies would always be made by my mother. |
| Future in the Past Would | I knew John would finish the work by 5:00 PM. | I knew the work would be finished by 5:00 PM. |
| Future in the Past Was Going to | I thought Sally was going to make a beautiful dinner tonight. | I thought a beautiful dinner was going to be madeby Sally tonight. |
Friday, 11th January 2013
FACTUAL WRITING
An older relative recently bought a mobile phone but cannot use it very well. Write some simple instructions for your relative telling her how to send an SMS message.
Friday, 14th December 2012
Creative writing (6ºA)
Write a composition using the following Christmas words:
family happiness
mistletoe peace
reindeer be lovely
love snowman
happier fun
ornaments January
friends star
Christmas carols snow
Christmas present Happy Christmas
New Year’s Eve Christmas tree
Creative writing (6ºC)
Write a composition using the following Christmas words:
love snow
food Santa Claus
presents holiday
happiness thankful
children snowman
family Christmas
star ornaments
The Three Wise Men
Wednesday, 5th December 2012
CORRESPONDENCE
Your Irish friend is going to visit your area next month, but cannot decide where to go. Write an email to your friend comparing two different places you know well. Say which one is best for your friend.
Friday, 23rd November 2012
Descriptive / Creative writing
Write a description (true or imaginary) for a writing competition about a time when you helped a friend in trouble. Describe what you did to help and explain what you have learnt from the experience.
Present Perfect + for and sinceUsing the present perfect, we can define a period of time before now by considering its duration, with for + a period of time, or by considering its starting point, with since + a point in time.
Present perfect + just, before, already and yetindicates that the action has happened in the very recent past and it is completed, e.g.
a. I’ve just lost my car keys and can’t leave for work.
b. Don’t call John, I’ve just done it.
Just can be placed before the main verb (past participle).
indicates the existence of past events, and emphasizing the pastness of the event with a redundant before e.g.
a. She has seen the movie before.
b. I have met her before the summer.
Before is usually placed at the end of the sentence.
It is also used in questions:
already can be placed before the main verb (past participle) or at the end of the sentence:
is used in negative statements and questions, to mean (not) in the period of time between before now and now, (not) up to and including the present. e.g.
Yet is usually placed at the end of the sentence.
Present Perfect Verb TenseThe present perfect of any verb is composed of two elements : the appropriate form of the auxiliary verb to have (present tense), plus the past participle of the main verb. The past participle of a regular verb is base+ed, e.g. played, arrived, looked.
| Affirmative | ||
Subject | to have | past participle |
She | has | visited |
| Negative | ||
Subject | to have + not | past participle |
She | hasn’t | visited |
| Interrogative | ||
to have | subject | past participle |
Has | she | visited..? |
| Interrogative negative | ||
| to have + not | subject | past participle |
| Hasn’t | she | visited...? |
Example: to walk, present perfect
| Affirmative | Negative | Interrogative |
I have walked | I haven’t walked | Have I walked? |
You have walked | You haven’t walked | Have you walked? |
He, she, it has walked | He, she, it hasn’t walked | Has he,she,it walked |
We have walked | We haven’t walked | Have we walked? |
You have walked | You haven’t walked | Have you walked? |
They have walked | They haven’t walked | Have they walked? |
The Present Perfect is used to indicate a link between the present and the past. The time of the action is before now but not specified, and we are often more interested in the resultthan in the action itself.
BE CAREFUL! There may be a verb tense in your language with a similar form, but the meaning is probably NOT the same.
The Present Perfect is used to describe:
Note: When we want to give or ask details about when, where, who, we use the simple past. Example: He read ’War and Peace’ last week.
1. Actions started in the past and continuing in the present.
2. When the time period referred to has not finished.
3. Actions repeated in an unspecified period between the past and now.
4. Actions completed in the very recent past (+just).
5. When the precise time of the action is not important or not known.
Friday, 9th November 2012
Descriptive / Creative writing
Write your diary (true or imaginary) for a day when you had the opportunity to do something you have always wanted to do.
Wednesday, 31st October 2012
Creative writing
Write a Halloween story in which there is a cat, a monster with a problem and a haunted house. Have also someone speaking!!
Friday, 19th October 2012
Correspondence
An American film company is making a film in your area next month and they are looking for extras. Write a letter to the film company explaining why you want to be an extra and saying why you might be suitable. Ask for more information about the film.
In active sentences, the thing doing the action is the subject of the sentence and the thing receiving the action is the object. Most sentences are active.
[Thing doing action] + [verb] + [thing receiving action]
Examples:
In passive sentences, the thing receiving the action is the subject of the sentence and the thing doing the action is optionally included near the end of the sentence. You can use the passive form if you think that the thing receiving the action is more important or should be emphasized. You can also use the passive form if you do not know who is doing the action or if you do not want to mention who is doing the action.
When rewriting active sentences in passive voice, note the following:
[Thing receiving action] + [be] + [past participle of verb] + [by] + [thing doing action]
Examples:
| Active | Passive | |
| Simple Present | Once a week, Tom cleans the house. | Once a week, the house is cleaned by Tom. |
| Present Continuous | Right now, Sarah is writing the letter. | Right now, the letter is being written by Sarah. |
| Simple Past | Sam repaired the car. | The car was repaired by Sam. |
| Past Continuous | The salesman was helping the customer when the thief came into the store. | The customer was being helped by the salesman when the thief came into the store. |
So...does the bird eat the Gingerbread Man?
Wait and see...the decision will be in your hands.
Expect the unexpected after the summer holiday!
These are the steps you have to follow when writing Your Personal Account:
1- Title.
2- Introduction (1st paragraph).
3- Who was with you when the event happened (2nd paragraph).
4- The body of the problem (3rd paragraph).
5- What happened in the end, how people felt, and what you have learnt (4th paragragh).
* DO NOT FORGET TO USE THE PAST TENSE.
IF + SUBJECT + PRESENT SIMPLE , SUBJECT + WILL + INFINITIVE
SUBJECT + WILL + INFINITIVE + IF + SUBJECT + PRESENT SIMPLE
We use the First Conditional to talk about future events that are likely to happen.
The "future clause" can contain ’going to’ or the future perfect as well as ’will’.
The "future clause" can also contain other modal verbs such as ’can’ and ’must’.
Reported speech is when you tell somebody else what you or a person said before.
Distinction must be made between direct speech and reported speech.
| Direct speech | Reported speech |
|---|---|
| She says:" she likes tuna fish." | She says that she likes tuna fish. |
| She said: "I’m visiting Paris next weekend" | She said that she was visiting Paris the following weekend. |
When you use reported speech, you either report:
When transforming statements, check whether you have to change:
In reported speech, you often have to change the pronoun depending on who says what.
Example:
She says, “My dad likes roast chicken.” – She says that her dad likes roast chicken.
| Direct speech | Reported speech | |
|---|---|---|
| (no backshift) | “I write poems.” | He says that he writes poems. |
| (backshift) | “I write poems.” | He said that he wrote poems. |
No backshift
Do not change the tense if the introductory clause is in a present tense (e. g. He says). Note, however, that you might have to change the form of the present tense verb (3rd person singular).
Example:
He says, “I write poems.” – He says that he writes English.
Backshift
You must change the tense if the introductory clause is in a past tense (e. g. He said).
Example:
He said, “I am happy.” – He said that he was happy.
Examples of the main changes in tense:
| Direct Speech | Reported Speech |
|---|---|
Simple Present He said: "I am happy" | Simple Past He said that he was happy |
Present Progressive He said: "I’m looking for my keys" | Past Progressive He said that he was looking for his keys |
Place and time expressions change if the context of the reported statement (ie the location and/or the period of time) is different from that of the direct speech.
In the following tables, you will find ways of transforming personal pronouns, place and time expressions into reported speech.
Changes in Personal Pronouns:
| I | he, she |
| you | he, she, they |
| we | they |
| they | they |
| he, she | he, she, I |
Changes in Possessive Pronouns:
| my | his, her, my |
| your | his, her, my |
| his, her | his, her |
| their | their |
| our, | their |
| here | there |
| this | that |
| these | those |
here, there | at the George Hotel, at school |
| last year, last month, last week | the year/month/week before |
| yesterday, the day before yesterday | the day before, two days before |
| today | that day, yesterday, the day before |
| tomorrow | the next day |
| the day after tomorrow | in two days |
| next week/month/year | the following week/month/year |
| on Monday | on Monday, 11th December |
| this morning / afternoon / evening/night | that morning / afternoon / evening/ night |
| last week, month, year | the previous week, month, year |
| three days, weeks, months, ...years ago | three days, weeks, months, .....years before |
Examples of the main changes in tense:
| Direct Speech | Reported Speech |
|---|---|
Simple Present He said: "I am happy" | Simple Past He said that he was happy |
Present Progressive He said: "I’m looking for my keys" | Past Progressive He said that he was looking for his keys |
