Tuesday 15 March 2016

GRAMMAR ACTIVITIES ON ST PATRICK'S DAY

St.PatrickDay.jpg

Let's watch a Power Point HERE

Complete the passage with suitable relative pronouns. There may be more than one correct answer. 


March 17th is an Irish holiday 1. ............................... honours the patron saint of Ireland, St Patrick, 2................................ brought Christianity to the Irish people. According to tradition, St Patrick, 3................................ father was a wealthy man, was actually born in England. At the age of 16, he was kidnapped by pirates and sold as a slave. Some years later, he escaped to France, 4................................ he lived for many years and became a priest. At the age of 60, 5................................ he returned to Ireland, he built his first church. On March 17th, the day 6................................ St Patrick died, people wear green clothes decorated with the shamrock, 7................................ is the national symbol of Ireland.


Read and complete with a suitable word:

St Patrick’s Day: How England came to celebrate Irish culture
The Irish around the world gather to celebrate their culture on St Patrick’s Day, but in recent times increasing numbers of English people have been keen to join the party.
A survey ______________ was conducted for British Future last year found ___________English people were more likely to be able to remember the date of St Patrick’s Day than St George’s Day and suggested many were “too nervous” to celebrate their own patron saint on 23 April.
The first celebrations for St Patrick were recorded in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1737. It is believed ________ Saint Patrick, ______________ is the patron saint of Ireland, was born in either Scotland or Wales in the fourth century. He was taken to Ireland as a slave, __________ he was 16 years old, but escaped after six years. It was during his capture _______________ he turned to God.
Saint Patrick is traditionally associated with the Shamrock plant, _____________ he used to explain the concept of the Trinity. He is credited with playing a major role in converting the Irish to Christianity after returning to the country as a missionary. Legend also says that St. Patrick could raise people from the dead and he is well-known from driving all the snakes out of Ireland, although many people dispute the truth in this.
On St. Paddy’s day, pictures of shamrocks and leprechauns are hung everywhere. Some people even dress up as leprechauns complete with their big green hats. The Irish say that if a leprechaun is caught by a human, he will reveal where he hides his pot of gold.
Mike Cronin, _____________ wrote The Wearing of the Green: A History of St Patrick’s Day, said the earliest mention of the festival in England came in the 19th Century, ____________ it was seen as important for the Irish to attend mass on 17 March.
“In later decades of the 19th Century, particularly in London and Birmingham, you would see very small, local parades,” he said. “After the Second World War they became much more formal, usually based around different Irish societies such as the counties ______________ people came from, so you might have the Dublin society or a Mayo society parade.”
St Patrick’s Day faded in England, Mr Cronin said, during the darkest days of the Troubles ___________ there was a nervousness about celebrating Irishness. The only parade ______________ continued through all the years of the Troubles was the London one.
But, in the 1990s, there was a huge upsurge of the Irish-themed bar. English people became much more used to the idea ___________ they were going to this bar on this day because it was St Patrick’s Day and Guinness would be giving out free hats and whatever else. Suddenly it was acceptable to be performing Irishness out on the streets again.
Now, Irish pub owners go crazy putting green food colouring into their beers and traditional Irish Guinness sells out in all Irish pubs. People also drink lots of Irish coffee, ___________ is made with warm whiskey, sugar, coffee and topped off with whipped cream. As for food, corned beef and cabbage is a consistently popular dish. Another option is Irish soda bread and potato pancakes.
St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated world-wide with people dancing and singing in Irish pubs, watching the St. Patrick’s Day parade and wearing green clothes. The English are drawn to the celebrations due to their “jubilant party nature”, in the same way people around the globe are.

Questions on the text:
  • Why are English people too ‘nervous’ to celebrate their own Saint’s day?
  • When are where was St. Patrick born?
  • Why is he a patron saint?
  • How did St. Patrick use the Shamrock?
  • What are leprechauns?
  • What were ‘the Troubles’?
  • Why did St. Patrick’s Day become popular again?
  • What do people eat and drink on St. Patrick’s Day?

MOLLY MALONE SING IT ALONG! 

Lyrics and translation HERE


Sunday 13 March 2016

RELATIVE CLAUSES: DEFINING OR NON-DEFINING?


Relative Clauses (Cláusulas relativas)

Se utilizan los pronombres relativos para unir dos o más cláusulas, formando así lo que llamamos “cláusulas relativas”. Hay dos tipos de cláusulas relativas: las que añaden información adicional y aquellas que modifican (o definen) el sujeto de la oración.

Non-defining Relative Clauses

Estas cláusulas agregan información adicional. Se utilizan comas para separar la cláusula relativa del resto de la oración. No se puede utilizar “that” en lugar de“which” o “who” en este tipo de cláusula.
Ejemplos:
 My friend Tony, who is an excellent writer, is helping me with my English paper. (Mi amigo Tony, quien es un escritor excelente, está ayundándome con mi estudio de inglés.)
 The report, which my boss asked me to write last week, still isn’t finished. (El informe, que mi jefe me pidió que escribiera la semana pasada, todavía no está terminado.)

Defining Relative Clauses

Estas cláusulas definen el sustantivo e identifican a qué cosa o persona nos referimos. No se usan comas con este tipo de cláusula.
Ejemplos:
 I wrote the report that you asked for. (Escribí el informe que me pidió.)
 She never met the man who saved her father’s life. (Nunca conoció al hombre que salvó la vida de su padre.)
Nota: El significado de la frase cambia dependiendo de qué tipo de cláusula relativa se utiliza.
Ejemplos:
 The employees who worked long hours completed their projects on time.(Los empleados que trabajaban largas horas terminaron sus proyectos a tiempo.) 
Nota: Sólo los que trabajaron muchas horas terminaron los proyectos a tiempo.
 The employees, who worked long hours, completed their projects on time. (Los empleados, que trabajaron muchas horas, terminaron sus proyectos a tiempo.) Nota: Todos los empleados terminaron los proyectos a tiempo.

RELATIVE PRONOUNS

Utilizamos los pronombres relativos para referirnos a un sustantivo (una persona o una cosa) mencionado antes y al que queremos agregar más información o modificar. Los pronombres relativos pueden referirse a algo o alguien en singular o plural. Algunos pronombres relativos se pueden usar sólo con personas, otros sólo con cosas y algunos con ambos. A continuación, tienes una lista de los pronombres relativos.
PronombrePersonaCosa
  that 
que
xx
  which 
que / cual
x
  who 
que / quién
x
  whom 
que / a quien
x
  whose 
cuyo
xx

Grammatical Rules (Reglas gramaticales)

El pronombre relativo se encuentra en lugar de un sustantivo. Este sustantivo suele aparecer anteriormente en la oración.

That

“That” es el pronombre relativo más utilizado en inglés hablado, ya que se puede utilizar tanto con personas como con cosas. Se utiliza para sustituir “which”,“who” o “whom” en cláusulas que definen el sustantivo.
Ejemplos:
 This is the book that won the Pulitzer prize last year. (Este es el libro que ganó el Permio Pulizer el año pasado.)
 This is the restaurant that received the excellent reviews in the newspaper.(Este es el restaurante que recibió excelentes críticas en el periódico.)

Which

“Which” sólo se puede utilizar con las cosas.
Ejemplos:
 My new job, which I only started last week, is already very stressful. (Mi nuevo trabajo, que acabo de empezar la semana pasada, ya es muy estresante.)
 The house in which we lived in when we were children burnt down last week.(La casa en la que vivíamos cuando éramos niños se quemó la semana pasada.)

Who

Solo se puede utilizar “who” con personas.
Ejemplos:
 My sister, who just moved in with me, is looking for a job. (Mi hermana, que se acaba de mudar conmigo, está buscando un trabajo.)
 I never met someone who didn’t like music. (Nunca he conocido a alguien que no le guste la música.)

Whom

“Whom” se utiliza para hacer referencia al objeto indirecto del verbo, pero no lo utilizamos mucho en inglés coloquial. Es más coloquial e informal el uso de “who” en vez de“whom”.
Ejemplos:
 The woman with whom I was talking to was my cousin. (La mujer con quién estaba hablando era mi prima.)
 This is Peter, whom I met at the party last week. (Este es Peter, a quien conocí en la fiesta la semana pasada.)

Whose

El uso de “whose” indica posesión, tanto para las personas y las cosas.
Ejemplos:
 That is the girl whose parents got divorced last year. (Esa es la chica cuyos padres se divorciaron el año pasado.)
 Paul, whose wife just had a baby, will not be at work for a few weeks. (Paul, cuyo esposa acaba de tener un bebé, no irá a trabajar durante unas semanas.)

When and where, why

Estos adverbios relativos a veces se utilizan en lugar de un pronombre relativo para hacer la frase más fácil de entender. Estos adverbios se refieren a expresiones de tiempo, lugares o motivos.
Ejemplos:
 The university where I teach is an excellent school. (La universidad donde enseño es una escuela excelente.)
 Can you tell me when is the best time to call? (¿Puedes decirme cuando es la mejor hora para llamar?)
Nota: Puede omitirse el pronombre relativo cuando es el objeto de la frase.
Ejemplos:
 The exam [that] I took this morning won’t be corrected and returned until next week. (El examen que hice esta mañana no se corregirá ni se devolverá hasta la semana que viene.)
 The woman [who] I’m dating is a teacher. (La mujer con quien estoy saliendo es profesora.)

Wednesday 9 March 2016

REPORTED SPEECH: QUESTIONS



WORD ORDER
Normal word order is used in reported questions, that is, the subject comes before the verb, and we don't use use 'do' or 'did':

YES / NO QUESTIONS
This type of question is reported by using 'ask' + 'if / whether' + clause:

He asked me if I spoke English.

QUESTION WORDS
This type of question is reported by using 'ask' (or another verb like 'ask') + question word + clause
The clause contains the question, in normal word order and with the necessary tense change.

He asked me what my name was.

REPORTED SPEECH: COMMANDS, REQUESTS AND SUGGESTIONS

When we want to report an order or request, we can use a verb like 'tell' with a to-clause: 

                                                       He told me to go away. 


The pattern is verb + indirect object + to-clause. The indirect object is the person spoken to. 


Other verbs used to report orders and requests in this way are: command, order, warn, ask, advise, invite, beg, teach, and forbid.

1. Reporting Commands

Form

  • affirmative commands → to + infinitive
  • negative commands → not + to + infinitive

1.1. Affirmative commands

  • Direct Speech → Dad (to me): “Do your homework.”
  • Reported Speech → Dad told me to do my homework.

1.2. Negative commands

  • Direct Speech → Teacher (to me): “Don't talk to your friend.”
  • Reported Speech → The teacher told me not to talk to my friend.

2. Suggestions

Direct Speech

  • Father: “Let's watch a film.”

Reported Speech

  • Father suggested watching a film.
  • Father suggested that they should watch a film
Do not use the infinitive after suggest. Father suggested to watch a film.

The dentist recommended using a different toothbrush.
3. Requests

  • Could you buy some eggs?
  • She asked me to buy some eggs
  • Don't buy any eggs please.
  • She asked me not to buy any eggs.
REQUESTS FOR OBJECTS
Requests for objects are reported using the pattern "asked for" + object.
She asked for an apple.

PREFER AND WOULD RATHER


     You can use "prefer to (do)" or "prefer -ing" to say what you prefer in general:

• I don't like cities. I prefer to live in the country OR I prefer living in the country.
Study the differences in structure after prefer. We say:
  • I prefer something to something else.
  • I prefer to do something rather than (do) something else.
  • I prefer doing something to doing something else.
•  I prefer this coat to the coat you were wearing yesterday.
•  I prefer driving to traveling by train.
but • I prefer to drive rather than travel by train.
•  Ann prefers to live in the country rather than (live) in a city.

Would prefer (I'd prefer...)


We use "would prefer" to say what somebody wants in a particular situation (not in general):

•  "Would you prefer tea or coffee" "Coffee, please."
We say "would prefer to do(not "doing"):
•  "Shall we go by train?" "Well, I'd prefer to go by car. (not "I'd prefer going")
•  I'd prefer to stay at home tonight rather than go to the cinema.

Would rather (I'd rather...)


Would rather (do) = would prefer (to do). After would rather we use the infinitive without to.
Compare:

•   "Shall we go by train?""I'd prefer to go by car."
"I'd rather go by car. (not to go)
  "Would you rather have tea or coffee" "Coffee, please."
The negative is "I'd rather not (do something)":
•  I'm tired. I'd rather not go out this evening, if you don't mind.
•  "Do you want to go out this evening" "I'd rather not."
Study the structure after would rather:

I'd ratherdo somethingthan (do)something else.
•  I'd rather stay at home tonight than go to the cinema.

I'd rather you did something


When you want somebody to do something, you can say "I'd rather you did something":
•  "Shall I stay here?" "I'd rather you came with us."
•  "Shall I tell them the news?" "No. I'd rather they didn't know."
•  "Shall I tell them or would you rather they didn't know?"
In this structure we use the past (came, did etc.), but the meaning is present or future, not past.
Compare:

•  I'd rather cook the dinner now.
but • I'd rather you cooked the dinner now. (not "I'd rather you cook")
The negative is "I'd rather you didn't...":
•  I'd rather you didn't tell anyone what I said.
• "Do you mind if I smoke?" "I'd rather you didn't."