Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and problems for English

Informal Vocabulary and Formal Equivalents

This section lists common informal phrases and their definitions or formal equivalents:

• Fall out with somebody: Perder el contacto con alguien (To argue and stop being friends).
• Be up for: To feel well enough to do something.
• Have some people around: To invite people to visit you.
• In ages: For a long time.
• Mad: Angry.
• Boss: Employer.
• Now and again: Sometimes.
• To drop in: To spend a short visit.
• A mean (food or drink): A really good one.
• Catch up with: To go as fast (as someone else).
• Cheer up: To become happier.
• Fed up with: Exasperated.
• Tired: Weary.
• Here and there: In various places.
• Actually: In fact.
• Anyway: In any case.
• To discuss: To argue with somebody about something.
• To say sorry: To apologize for something.

Common Irregular Verbs: English and Spanish

Verb Conjugation

This is a list of common irregular verbs in English with their Spanish translations. Each verb includes the infinitive, past simple, past participle, and translation.

• Awake - Awoke - Awoken - Despertarse
• Be - Was / Were - Been - Ser / Estar
• Beat - Beat - Beaten - Golpear
• Become - Became - Become - Llegar a Ser
• Begin - Began - Begun - Empezar
• Break - Broke - Broken - Romper
• Bring - Brought - Brought - Llevar
• Build - Built - Built - Construir
• Burn - Burnt - Burnt - Quemar
• Buy - Bought - Bought - Comprar
• Catch - Caught - Caught - Coger
• Come - Came - Come - Venir
• Cost - Cost - Cost - Costar
• Cut - Cut - Cut - Cortar
• Choose - Chose - Chosen - Elegir
• Do - Did - Done - Hacer
• Draw - Drew - Drawn - Dibujar
• Dream

Vocabulary

1 - Match the words in A to the definitions in B.

1. Isolated 3 a. full of people or things

2. Lively 4 b. not safe

3. Crowded 1 c. far from any town or city

4. Dangerous 5 d. not interesting

5. Boring 6 e. natural, untouched by people

6. Unspoiled 2 f. full of action

7. Foreign 7 g. from another country

2 - Complete the sentences with the words below:

package holiday – guided tour – traveller`s cheques – seat belt – boarding card – scenery – guidebook – departure time

1. If you don't know which cities to visit, look in the... guidebook.

2. Always wear a …seat belt when we wanted to learn about the local history.

3. We took a ..guided tour because we wanted to learn about the local history.

4. You can't get on the airplane without... Continue reading "Enhance Your English: Vocabulary and Grammar Exercises" »

Mastering English Prepositions

• We don't go to school on Sundays.
• Wait for me at the bus stop.
• We arrive in Winchester at exactly 6 o'clock.
• Come at 10 on Sunday morning.
• I bought this hat for fifty pence.
• He hasn't been here since Monday.
• Our cat was bitten by a dog.
• My home is in London, but I was born in Lyton, a small village in Devonshire.
• Put your books on the table.
• You may write in pencil.
• There's no bus; we'll have to go on foot.
• We went to the seaside by car.
• Get on the bus here, and get off at the third stop.
• Many planes fly over the Atlantic nowadays.
• We've been waiting for over an hour.
• I'll call on you at a more convenient time.
• Hold it carefully between your thumb and first finger.
• I couldn't hear what they were talking about.
• A girl with blue eyes

Answer for: I agree, but I can't answer for my friends.

Answer back: I got a mail from my teacher since. I'm so tired now, answer back tomorrow.

Asking for: Yesterday, your friend came home asking for you, but I didn't tell him that you went out to walk the dog.

Asked after: I met your friends Peter and Ana yesterday and they asked after you.

Ask up to: My mother lets me ask up to 100 for clothes.

Asked out: Yesterday I asked my friends to the cinema.

Asked then in: Last Saturday my cousins came to my house and I asked them in nicely.

Asked: He asked his father about jobs in the factory.

Ask up: I asked my friend up to eat in my kitchen.

Backed away: I backed away from the mountain when I realized how dangerous it was.

Backed out: My friends and I backed... Continue reading "Common Phrasal Verbs with 'Ask', 'Back', 'Be', 'Bend', 'Blow', and 'Break'" »

Introduction

Irregular verbs are verbs that do not follow the regular pattern of verb conjugation. In English, there are many irregular verbs, and they can be challenging for learners to master. This guide will provide a comprehensive overview of irregular verbs in English, including their present tense, past tense, and participle forms.

Present Tense

The present tense of irregular verbs is used to describe actions or states that are happening now. The following table lists the present tense forms of some common irregular verbs:

| Verb | Present Tense | |---|---| | Be | am, is, are | | Become | become | | Begin | begin | | Break | break | | Bring | bring | | Build | build | | Buy | buy | | Catch | catch | | Come | come | | Cost | cost | | Do |... Continue reading "Irregular Verbs in English: A Comprehensive Guide" »

The Exordium: Setting Your Position

This is where you set out your position. It’s the point at which you establish your bona fides as a communicator, aiming to grab the audience's attention and hope to keep it. The strongest appeals tend to come here.

The purpose of the exordium is to put the audience into a receptive and attentive frame of mind. The main objective is to get the audience well-disposed. We structure the material to connect with the recipient, producing a favorable attitude toward the position defended by the speaker.

There are two types of exordium, depending on the degree of defensibility of the case:

• Predisposition: Used when the case is easy to defend.
• Overture: Used when the degree of defensibility is low.

Winning the Recipient'

For: por

• account
• apologize
• ask
• angry
• annoyed
• be famous
• be prepared
• be responsible
• beg
• care
• exchange
• fight
• grieve
• listen
• long
• pay
• provide
• search
• stand
• thank
• vote
• wait
• wish
• work

From: de o del

• be divorced
• be made
• be protected
• benefit
• borrow
• chose
• derive
• deter
• discourage
• distract
• emerge
• escape
• exclude
• expel
• get back
• hear
• recover
• resign
• save
• separate
• stop
• suffer

To: a con

• adapt
• add
• adjust
• admit
• agree
• committed
• connected
• dedicated
• devoted
• exposed
• friendly
• faithful
• limited
• married
• opposed
• related
• relevant
• cater
• confess
• consent
• drink
• devote
• get used
• give
• happen
• lend
• react
• reply
• respond
• subscribe
• talk
• turn
• write

ON: En

• agree
• base
• concentrate
• experiment
• harp
• hinge
• insist
• operate
• plan
• rely

OF:

• accuse
• approve
• be aware
• dream of
• envious
• fond
• frightened
• guilty
• innocent
• jealous
• made
• proud
• scared
• terrified
• consist
• convict
• disapprove
• get tired
• hear
• take advantage
• take

Characters

• Charles Linkworth — He was a condemned man in prison because he had strangled his mother to obtain her money. Linkworth owed a hundred pounds and planned to use his mother's money to pay the debt.
• Doctor Teesdale — The doctor responsible for confirming that Linkworth was dead.
• Mr Dawkins (the prison chaplain) — He heard Linkworth's confession that he had strangled his mother.
• Prison Officer Draycott — The officer who later reported strange events and who was involved when Linkworth's spirit seemed to make contact.
• Mr and Mrs Parker — They lived with Doctor Teesdale as a married couple.

Narrative

Charles Linkworth was a man who had never gotten along with his elderly mother. He also owed a hundred pounds, so one day when his wife... Continue reading "Charles Linkworth: Murder, Trial and Prison Haunting" »