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We’re not going to look at the swear-word kind of expletives, those four-letter words that can do a great job of rendering a character’s emotions at just the perfect time. What I want to talk about are the other expletives, the kind associated with grammar.
Expletives can be used to create emphasis but are often used instead as filler words by unsuspecting writers. Expletives are known as empty words, so that should give you an idea of how weak they can be. They add nothing to meaning for your text and can instead confuse the reader (by adding unnecessary words) or dilute the meaning of surrounding words.
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Lưu ý: Cleft sentence có hai cấu trúc: (1) It-cleft sentence, và (2) Wh-cleft sentence. Bên dưới là một vài so sánh sơ lược. Tuy nhiên, chỉ là sơ lược, chi tiết cụ thể có thể có điểm khác.
It-cleft sentence: Về mặt “hành văn”, kiểu câu It-cleft sentence khá giống với kiểu câu Loose/Cumulative Sentence, ở chỗ: nhấn mạnh ở đầu câu, đưa thông tin chính lên đầu câu, sau đó bổ sung thông tin phụ trợ ở phần tiếp theo.
Wh-cleft sentence: Về mặt “hành văn”, kiểu câu Wh-cleft sentence khá giống với kiểu câu Periodic Sentence, ở chỗ: dành thông tin mới đến cuối câu mới bung ra, nhằm tạo hiệu ứng tâm lý chờ đợi, bùng nổ, giống như thủ pháp thắt nút – cởi nút.
We use cleft sentences, especially in speaking, to connect what is already understood to what is new to the listener. In a cleft sentence, a single message is divided (cleft) into two clauses. This allows us to focus on the new information.
Lưu ý sự khác nhau trong cấu trúc động từ giữa hai loại (inversion đảo cấu trúc động từ; periodic sentence chỉ đảo thành phần bổ nghĩa, không đảo cấu trúc động từ).
Mục đích của cả hai đều là để nhấn mạnh, tạo hiệu ứng tâm lý đối với người đọc.
What is inversion?
We use inversion in several different situations in English. Inversion just means putting the verb before the subject. We usually do it in question forms:
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What is a periodic sentence?
A periodic sentence is a sentence which has been deliberately structured to place the main point at the end. Or, in other words, a sentence that delays the expression of a complete thought until the end, or until near the end, is called periodic.
Therefore, a period sentence will have its main clause or predicate as the last part.
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Definition
A loose sentence, also called a cumulative sentence, begins with a main clause that is followed by phrases and/or clauses that modify the main clause. These phrases or clauses add information to the main or independent clause.
Times have changed for people with disabilities… but language lags behind.
Life for most people with mental or physical disabilities is vastly improved over what it was twenty or thirty years ago. The Americans with Disabilities Act and other federal and state laws assure that people with disabilities have the same basic rights as people without disabilities. Some things have been slower to change; namely, attitudes and perceptions about people with disabilities. Ignorance and discrimination can be serious impediments to achieving integration, productivity, and independence for people with disabilities.
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Many people see only a slight little difference between oxymoron and paradox. Most of the time they find it hard to make out a difference between the two terms. Even though there are no hard rules that separate oxymoron and paradox, one can come across many things that differentiate them.
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If you want to discuss the meaning of a word, it helps to know the difference between denotation and connotation. These two terms are easy to confuse because they describe related concepts. Additionally, both denotation and connotation stem from the Latin word notāre, meaning “to note.”
Bạn chắc đã nghe câu này nhiều lần: “Đừng hỏi Tổ quốc đã làm gì cho ta, mà hãy hỏi ta đã làm gì cho Tổ quốc.” (ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country)
Nhiều người tin là nó xuất phát từ bài Diễn văn Tuyên thệ nhậm chức của Tổng thống Mỹ John F. Kennedy vào tháng 1 năm 1961.
Tuy nhiên, đây là một trong những bài diễn văn nổi tiếng thế giới. Vì vậy, xin giới thiệu dưới đây, coi là một bài đọc hay, nên xem. Và cũng xin giới thiệu cả video clip ghi lại toàn bộ bài diễn văn này của JFK.
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As the days pass, the cycle of the week shapes how we live our lives. Have you ever wondered, “Why is a week seven days long?” How about where the names of each weekday come from?
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As the new year starts you might have recently bought a new diary or calendar and thought ‘Where do these words come from?’ – at least that’s what I did. There is also, of course, also the chance that you have been merrily scheduling in gym appointments and book clubs and all sorts of other details relating to New Year’s resolutions (have you kept yours so far?) but we’ll take the opportunity to add a resolution to your list: learn where we got the names for all the months of the year. Spoilers: it’s a mixture of gods, rulers, and numbers.
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The five-paragraph essay is a format of essay having five paragraphs: one introductory paragraph, three body paragraphs with support and development, and one concluding paragraph. Because of this structure, it is also known as a hamburger essay, one three one, or a three-tier essay.
“Tell ’em what you’re gonna tell ’em, tell ’em, tell ’em what you told ’em”
A friend invites me over for dinner at 6 p.m. What time am I expected to arrive?
Americans are much more time-conscious (aware of time) than people from most other cultures. If someone invites you for 6 p.m., he or she expects you to be there at that time or a few minutes early. This is true for any appointment or meeting, whether it is a business meeting or social event. One exception is a casual party or “open house,” in which case guests may arrive at any time after the event starts. If you must be late, call the individual to let him or her know what time you expect to arrive.
In academic writing, the author is responsible for making the text as clear as possible for the reader. To achieve clarity, the author has to ensure that the writing is explicit: in other words, it should anticipate and address the reader’s questions. An active reader will want to know what the author’s aims are and how they will be achieved; what the author’s position is about key issues; how the argument is constructed; how ideas relate to each other. Good writers use signposting language to signal to the reader where these answers can be found.
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Christmas comes but once a year
Because Christmas only happens once a year, we should be kind and generous as it is a special time.
“Christmas comes but once a year, so we urge you to give generously to our Christmas charity collection.”
like turkeys voting for (an early) Christmas
If people are like turkeys (the large bird eaten at Christmas) voting for Christmas, they choose to accept a situation which will have very bad results for them.
“Oil companies asking their customers to use less oil is like turkeys voting for Christmas.”
like Christmas came early
When you receive some unexpected good news or good fortune, you can describe it as Christmas coming early. The good news/fortune is a ‘present’.
“Christmas came early for Disney. Their latest film ‘Disney’s A Christmas Carol’, starring Jim Carrey, made $31 million dollars in its opening weekend.”
Civics (History and Government) Questions for the Naturalization Test
The 100 civics (history and government) questions and answers for the naturalization test are listed below. The civics test is an oral test and the USCIS Officer will ask the applicant up to 10 of the 100 civics questions. An applicant must answer 6 out of 10 questions correctly to pass the civics portion of the naturalization test.
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There are several different ways to write the date in English. They vary from formal to informal, and there are differences between British and American English. The following table shows some typical formats.
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Bài bên dưới là các quy định chung về cách thể hiện số và chữ số trong European Commission. Sự khác nhau nếu có giữa các quy định của các nguồn khác nhau là không đáng kể. Có thể sử dụng cho viết formal English.
Adding affixes to existing words (the base or root) to form new words is common in academic English.
Prefixes are added to the front of the base (likedislike), whereas suffixes are added to the end of the base (activeactivate).
Prefixes usually do not change the class of the base word, but suffixes usually do change the class of the word.
The most common prefixes used to form new verbs in academic English are: re-, dis-, over-, un-, mis-, out-. The most common suffixes are: -ise, -en, -ate, -(i)fy. By far the most common affix in academic English is -ise.
A contraction is a shortened version of the written and spoken forms of a word, syllable, or word group, created by omission of internal letters (actually, sounds).
In linguistic analysis, contractions should not be confused with abbreviations nor acronyms (including initialisms), with which they share some semantic andphonetic functions, though all three are connoted by the term “abbreviation” in loose parlance. Contraction is also distinguished from clipping, where beginnings and endings are omitted.
The definition overlaps with the grammatical term portmanteau (a linguistic blend), but a distinction can be made between a portmanteau and a contraction by noting that contractions are formed from words that would otherwise appear together in sequence, such as do and not, whereas a portmanteau word is formed by combining two or more existing words that all relate to a singular concept which the portmanteau describes.
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[WARNING! This song may not be appropriate for some ages and audiences].
LYRICS
Whatcha doin’ tonight, baby? I kinda like your style, lady. Wanna hang out for a while, honey? I’m gonna drive you wild, so try me! Gimme everything you’ve got, baby. Lemme see the lot, lady. We really gotta rock, honey.
A contraction is a shortened version of the written and spoken forms of a word, syllable, or word group, created by omission of internal letters (actually, sounds).
In linguistic analysis, contractions should not be confused with abbreviations nor acronyms (including initialisms), with which they share some semantic andphonetic functions, though all three are connoted by the term “abbreviation” in loose parlance. Contraction is also distinguished from clipping, where beginnings and endings are omitted.
The definition overlaps with the grammatical term portmanteau (a linguistic blend), but a distinction can be made between a portmanteau and a contraction by noting that contractions are formed from words that would otherwise appear together in sequence, such as do and not, whereas a portmanteau word is formed by combining two or more existing words that all relate to a singular concept which the portmanteau describes.
While there are plenty of other dialects of spoken English, American and British are the most commonly taught in ESL/ESOL/EFL courses. Perhaps that’s because there are literally millions of Americans and the fact that British accents are pretty dreamy. British English and American English are both valued and respected, despite those who often assert that one is better or easier to understand than the other. The similarities between the two far outweigh the differences, but those differences can sometimes really impact understanding. See more below:
Let’s go for a drink!/ Let’s go down the pub! / Let’s go out for a few bevvies. / a few jars. -Let’s go to my local public house – the pub – for some drinks.
We’re going to paint the town red. / We’re going to go on a bar crawl. – We’re going to several pubs or bars.
I’ll get the booze!- I’ll buy the beer!
A glass of bubbly – A glass of champagne or sparkling wine.
That wine iscorked! It tastes like vinegar.-the wine is bad.
A chaser – A measure of a spirit such as whisky or rum which you drink with beer.
A double – 2 measures of spirits. A single measure is usually 1/5 of a gill – 25 ml.
A drop of the hard stuff – Some spirits rather than beer or wine.
Có thể học được rất nhiều từ các video clips bên dưới: học nghe, học nói, học thuyết trình, học trình bày slide, học về slang, học cách vượt qua sự khác biệt văn hóa, học cách hòa nhập môi trường mới, biết trước về các diễn tiến tâm lý thường xảy ra khi gia nhập môi trường văn hóa mới, học cách tự tin, học tính kiên trì …
For some words, where stress is placed depends on their position in a sentence. When the word is spoken alone or at the end of a sentence, the stress occurs near the end. When the word occurs before another word in a sentence, the stress occurs earlier.
Intonation is the pattern of pitch changes as people speak. These change from one culture to another. Pitch is the tone of your voice. In American English, people have about 3 notes that they use when speaking. Most words are in the middle tone. Stressed words are in the high tone, and the low-tone often comes before a stress (it makes the stress larger by creating more difference in tone). The low tone may be used at the end of sentences too, though you do not always have to end on a low tone.
The word yes is great and all … but there’s plenty of other ways you can offer someone a verbal go-ahead. So if you feel like dipping your toes into the wild waters of alternative affirmations, then take a gander at the list below. If you’re feeling brave, deploy an aye aye in a business meeting or let loose a fo’ shizzle when someone asks if you’d like to go grab an ice cream. Let’s have a look at other ways to say yes!
Sometimes you need somebody to get the point, and a simple no won’t do it. We’ve taken a look through the Historical Thesaurus of the OED and other sources to find out how best to say no to something. Now you can say no daily for almost a whole month without repeating yourself.
1. no
Let’s start with the easy one. No dates to Old English, unsurprisingly; a corresponding o(meaning ‘ever; always’) is now obsolete.
As I noted in my earlier article, rules and conventions about when to use and not to use commas are legion. But certain errors keep popping up. Here are a few of them.
When you’ve used all the battery power of something like a mobile phone, so that it doesn’t work anymore, we can say it’s ‘out of juice’. It’s a slang expression.
Sometimes if a person feels low on energy, they could say ‘I’m out of juice’. Also if your car is low on petrol, you could say ‘The car’s running out of juice.’
Examples:
My laptop’s out of juice. This is so frustrating.
I am packing three spare phone batteries so I don’t run out of juice on my climbing trip.
Have you ever had one (or a few) too many cookies and then felt horribly guilty about it? If so, this is the phrase for you! It extends figuratively to encompass someone being caught doing anything wrong or mischievous.
2. Easy as pie
This phrase refers to ‘something easily accomplished or dealt with’and began life, according to the OED, in the early 20th century. We all know just how easy it is to consume a slice of pie (or a whole pie…).
When you’re a Brit living in the United States, as I am, sooner or later – and it’s usually sooner, even if you’re trying hard to fit in – you’ll end up using a word or phrase that yourinterlocutor just doesn’t understand. Everyone knows the obvious pitfalls, and they’re constant causes of amusement or starters of conversation, so they’re also easy to remember – elevator instead of lift, sidewalk instead of pavement, fall instead of autumn, restroom or bathroom instead of loo… And even if you do slip up on these, most Americans find them easily ‘translatable’ since the differences are well known. Diverging pronunciations, too, such as those used for schedule or controversy, don’t necessarily stop you getting your point across. But I’ve come to realise that occasionally, my American listeners have simply never heard some of the words I’m using and have no idea what I’m talking about – rather thrilling, really, in such an interconnected age, to find some last bastions of linguistic bafflement. Let me take you through a – perhaps slightly more than averagely – confusing day for this Brit in the US to show you what I mean.
Ten things you might not have known about the English language
Hey, English speaker! Congratulations. You speak a language that straddles the globe like nothing before. Statistically, English is unlikely to be your first language and you are likely to be from an educated background. Again, congratulations.
Here are ten things that you may not have known about this wonderful language of ours:
After you give your opening statement, you should give a brief overview of your presentation. This includes what your presentation is about, how long you will take and how you are going to handle questions.
For example, a presentation to sales staff could start like this: “Welcome / “Hello everyone.”
Có nhiều định nghĩa và cách phân loại khác nhau về misplaced và dangling modifier. Chỉ cần hiểu đâu là modifier, nó bổ nghĩa cho yếu tố nào trong câu, và đặt nó đúng chỗ là ổn.
Dangling modifier:
When we begin a sentence with a modifying word, phrase, or clause, we must make sure the next thing that comes along can, in fact, be modified by that modifier. When a modifier improperly modifies something, it is called a “dangling modifier.” This often happens with beginning participial phrases, making “dangling participles” an all too common phenomenon. In the sentence below, we can’t have a car changing its own oil.
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A euphemism is a polite expression used in place of words or phrases that otherwise might be considered harsh or unpleasant to hear. Euphemisms are used regularly, and there are many examples in every day language.
