05/07/2013 17:36

           

 

Conversation Starters

Here are a few useful phrases for starting conversations (informal).
 

• How are you (doing) today? (how ya doin?)
• How's it going? (This means "How are you?" not "Where are you going?")
• How's everything?
• How's life?

• What's happening? (now)
• What you up to?

• What's new? (What interesting has happened since I last saw you?)
• What've you been up to? (whatcha been up to?)

"Just" and "only" are really close to each other in meaning.

To mean simply or merely you can use either: I didn't mean to be rude; I was only/just trying to help.
To mean something that happened a little while ago, use just: It just started raining.
To mean an amount that is not very much, you can use both, although only is more common: I can't afford it because I only have £5. / I can't afford it because I just have £25.

Diferences between "meet you" and  "meet with you"

• I will meet you

There is a difference: I will meet you or I'll meet you, could mean all kinds of things. It could mean that we're going to have a meeting, and we're going to do some work together; but it could simply mean that's where we're going to see each other, and we're going to go and do something else afterwards.

• I will meet with you

'I will meet with you' does imply a number of things: it implies that it's quite formal; it implies that it's very professional reasons and it implies that somehow, we're going to collaborate on something ...and that it will go on for quite a long time.

 

"Think of "and "think about"

In general, when you "think of something" you come up with an original idea but when you "think about something" you are remembering or considering aspects of a thing.

Therefore 'What do you think of him?' would be a question that you ask someone who has met 'him' for the first time (e.g. a first impression), whereas 'What do you think about him?‘ is asking for a more detailed and considered response.

 

The type of verb you are referring too is called a linking verb. 

Here is a list:

• to appear to be to become to feel to get to go to grow to look

  to prove to remain to seem to smell to sound to stay to taste to turn                          Linking verbs are often followed by adjectives instead of adverbs. In such situations, the adjective describes  the subject of the sentence rather than the verb. Study the examples below to learn the difference.

Examples:

• Sally grew angry.
  "Angry" describes Sally. In this sentence, "to grow" is being used as a linking verb meaning "to become."
• The plant grew quickly.
  "Quickly" does not describe the plant, it describes the manner in which it grows. In this sentence, "to grow" is not being used as a linking verb.

Lie and Lay

Lie and lay are two words that seem to cause some of the greatest confusion, even among English native speakers. Lie means to recline; lay, on the other hand, means to put or place something. Lay is a transitive verb, meaning that there is always an object after it. (Lay the book on the shelf. Book is the object.) The principal parts of lie and lay are listed below.

lie: lie, lying, lay, (have) lain
lay: lay, laying, laid, (have) laid

The confusion generally seems to occur with the forms of lie. The following sentences illustrate the correct and incorrect uses of lay and lie.

lie/lay

I lie [not lay] on the floor when I watch television.

I lay my keys on the table when I arrive home from work.

lying/laying

I am lying [not laying] on the floor watching television.

I am laying my briefcase on my desk to remind me that I have work to finish.

lay/laid

Yesterday I lay [not laid] in bed all day with a fever.

Yesterday I laid my briefcase on my desk and forgot about it when I left for work.

(have) lain/(have) laid

I have lain [not have laid] in bed all day with a fever.

I have laid my briefcase on my desk to remind me that I have work to finish.

Although these are two extremely confusing verbs, with a little practice, you should be able to remeber the differences. Unfortunately, I don't know of any helpful hints to use for remembering how to use lie and lay correctly. My only suggestion is to memorize them and practice.

There are two types of articles. They are known as the definite andindefinite articles. The words 'a' and 'an' are the indefinite articles and 'the' is the definite article. Articles are used at the beginning of noun phrases.

a or an?
If the noun begins with a vowel sound then the indefinite article to use is 'an', e.g. an apple. However if the noun begins with a consonant sound, then the indefinite article to use is 'a', e.g. a cat.

The zero article
In some cases nouns such as plural and uncountable nouns do not have articles before them. This lack of an article is sometimes known as the zero article, e.g. I've got two cats.

There are quite a few rules connected with the use of articles. Here is a basic one to start with:
 

We use the indefinite article – 'a' and 'an'

to refer to something or someone for the first time in a conversation:  She's has two children – a boy and a girl.  I hear you've just bought a new car. She bought a lovely bag yesterday.

 

We use the definite article – 'the'

to refer to something or someone that both speakers in a conversation know about or that has been referred to before:  The boy is 7 and the girl 4. I'm going to use the new one for driving my family around and I'm keeping my old one just for myself. The bag was red leather and really lovely.

 

There are a lot of rules about when we don't use articles. Here are four of them:

We don't use an article:

1. to talk about plural and uncountable nouns or when talking about things in general: I'm terrified of heights I'm into drum and bass. I hate cheese. 2. before countries, towns, streets, languages and single mountains: I'm from China.  I've climbed Mount Everest.  She speaks French. 3. Before some places and with some forms of transport: I live at home with my parents. I came here by car.  He goes to work by bus. 4. In exclamations with what + uncountable noun: What beautiful weather! What loud music! What disgusting food!