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

Reporting Verbs

Some common reporting verbs include:

• admit
• agree
• announce
• ask
• complain
• explain
• invite
• offer
• promise
• refuse
• tell
• warn

Direct Speech - Reported Speech

When changing from direct speech to reported speech, several changes occur:

Time Expressions

• now - then
• today - that day
• tomorrow - the next day/the following day
• yesterday - the day before/the previous day
• last year - the year before/the previous year
• five years ago - five years before
• next week - the next week/the following week

Pronouns

• I - he/she
• you - I/she/he/we/they
• we - they
• me - him/her
• you - me/him/her/us/them
• us - them
• my - his/her
• your - my/his/her/our/their
• our - their

Tense Changes

Present Simple - Past Simple

"I fancy you" - He told me that he fancied me.

Present Continuous - Past Continuous

"I'm going... Continue reading "A Guide to Reported Speech in English: Mastering Direct and Indirect Speech" »

Asking for Information at a Travel Agency: Gap-Fill Exercise

Thomas needs a holiday. He goes to the travel agency.

• Travel Agent: Good morning. How can I help you?
• Thomas: I'd like to go away for a holiday—somewhere in the sun.
• Travel Agent: Have you any particular destination in mind?
• Thomas: Spain, I think.
• Travel Agent: Mainland Spain or one of the islands?
• Thomas: The Canaries would be nice. Yes, I'd like a hotel beside a beach.
• Travel Agent: OK. Here are a few brochures about the Canaries, with information about hotel accommodation and self-catering apartments too. When would you like to travel?
• Thomas: I'd like to go for a week in June. Is that high or low season?
• Travel Agent: I'm afraid it's the start of the high season.
• Thomas: OK. Thanks very

At the end of the film, Sebastian is able to own his own jazz club, while Mia is living in Paris and starting her acting career. While both of them are making their dreams come true, Mia and Sebastian are following different ways in their lives. When Mia returns to LA, now married to someone we don't know, she and her husband went to Seb’s (Sebastian’s jazz club), where Sebastian is playing. Mia smiles at Sebastian, while contemplating what their life together could have been like. Mia leaves the club, but sharing one last look with Sebastian. Personally, I liked the final, but I would have done different, because all the film talks about the romance of Sebastian and Mia and at the end we can see that Mia is married with another boy, and... Continue reading "La La Land: A Bittersweet Love Story" »

Synonyms

• Whether
• Chances
• Restore
• Skills

Passive Voice

Passive:

1. Stability was thought to be the most important thing in a society.
2. Children aren’t brought up in families here.
3. My uncle was sent some beautiful roses.
4. A lot of alcohol is being drunk at the party.

Rewrites

1. John must have copied...
2. We will have our windows washed tomorrow.
3. I shouldn’t have left my soma...
4. You aren’t allowed to have long,.../ You Can’t have
5. I bought a Mercedes to impress my new girlfriend.

Translations

1. You should give that disgusting director a taste of his own medicine.
2. That sweet smell brought back memories of my childhood.
3. Children are being taught while they sleep in the New World.
4. I like perfumes that set off emotions.
5. Some shops use very subtle scents so that the customers

English Verb Tenses and Aspects

1. Present Continuous

Structure: Am/is/are + verb + -ing

• You are watching TV. (Affirmative)
• Are you watching TV? (Question)
• You are not watching TV. (Negative)

2. Simple Past

Structure (Regular Verbs): Verb + -ed

• You called him. (Affirmative)
• Did you call him? (Question)
• You did not call him. (Negative)

3. Past Continuous

Structure: Was/were + verb + -ing

• You were studying. (Affirmative)
• Were you studying? (Question)
• You weren’t studying. (Negative)

4. Perfect Tenses

Past Perfect

Structure: Had + Past Participle (V3)

• You had studied. (Affirmative)
• Had you studied? (Question)
• You hadn’t studied. (Negative)

Present Perfect Continuous

Structure: Has/have + been + verb + -ing

• You have been waiting. (Affirmative)
• Have you been waiting?

Part 1: Multiple Choice

PARTE 1

1. __ you __ there? — C. were/working

2. The schoolgirls __ not __ any uniforms. — A. are/wearing

3. The company Cybertron __ __ a new controller. — A. was/producing

4. __ Scott and Ryan __ on Fridays? — B. do/drink

5. I __ __ that — D. don't/do

6. __ you __ there? — D. were/staying

7. The schoolgirls __ not __ any uniforms — C. did/wear

8. The company Cybertron __ __ a new controller — D. is/producing

9. __ Scott and Ryan __ their boss? — D. did/call

10. I __ __ it — B. didn't/do

Part 2: Dialogues and Answers

PARTE 2

1. “On a Normal Day” is the first one in the Top 20 this week. — C. What a nice title for a song!

2. Who are you thinking of? — A. Right now I'm thinking of you, my dear Alexa.

3. What... Continue reading "English Past Tense Multiple-Choice Exercises" »

David Copperfield: A Life's Journey

This is the story of David Copperfield, from his birth to adulthood. It begins on the day he was born, assisted by Dr. Chillip, when his father had already passed away. His mother was Clara, and her assistant was Pegotty.

Betsy Trotwood, Copperfield's father's sister, visits Clara on the day David is born, hoping to help raise the baby if it were a girl. However, she leaves disappointed that it is a boy.

When Copperfield is about seven years old, Clara remarries Lord Murdstone, a severe man whose main goal seems to be marrying women with money and imposing his strict regime. This has sad consequences for both Copperfield and his mother. While his mother is on her wedding and honeymoon, David is sent to Yarmouth... Continue reading "David Copperfield: A Life's Journey from Boyhood to Manhood" »

The Novel's Setting: Miners' Lives in Industrial Biscay

The text is divided into two main paragraphs. The first describes the workers' housing and introduces the main character of the novel, Aresti, who serves as the witness to the terrible living conditions of the miners. Aresti is inspired by Doctor Areilza, who worked in the miners' hospital of Triano at the end of the 19th century.

Aresti: Witness to Terrible Living Conditions

The second paragraph is divided into two parts: the first discusses the awful workers' housing, and the second details the appalling working conditions in the mines.

Quarry vs. Mine: Distinguishing Dangerous Work

The author makes a distinction between the quarry and the mine, noting that the quarry was the most dangerous... Continue reading "Social Conditions and Iron Mining in Industrial Biscay" »

1. Now that smoking is considered to be very dangerous to the health, it is especially difficult for children to buy cigarettes or tobacco. Our tobacconist, Mr. Soames, has always been very careful about this. If his customers are very young, he always ask them whom the cigarettes are for.

Hercule Poirot's Unexpected Journey

At the Hotel Tokatlian in Istanbul, private detective Hercule Poirot receives a telegram asking him to cancel his commitments and return to England as soon as possible. He decides to travel on the Orient Express, which departs that very night. During the journey, Poirot encounters an American named Ratchett, whom he had previously seen at the Tokatlian. Ratchett believes his life is in danger and attempts to hire Poirot, but the detective refuses, telling Ratchett that he "does not like his face."

A Snowstorm and a Murder

During the second night of the trip, the train is halted by a snowstorm near Vinkovci. Poirot is awakened several times by various noises and disturbances, including a cry from Ratchett's compartment.... Continue reading "Hercule Poirot's Orient Express Investigation" »