Revision: vocabulary

Word order

Word order

Let's have a look at a typical structure of an English sentence:

Subject	Verb	(Indirect Object)	(Direct Object)	(How)	(Where)	(When)
We	had		a football championship
They	play		hockey		in the stadium	every day
My friend	gave	me	a book			yesterday
The staff	greeted	the guests		politely

It is essential that you remember that the word order in English sentences is not so flexible as in other languages.

By Daveybot. C. Common

So that you notice how word order in English works, try to do the same with the following sentences:

1. Walked / the beach / we / slowly / along →

2. Her children / she / always / a big breakfast / makes →

3. Thursday / the boys / their bikes / ride / every →

4. to have / would / for Christmas / bike / a new / like / you ?→

5. His girlfriend / last week / his laptop / lent / John →

Self-assessment

Write the following words in the correct order to make sentences.

1. Paco / a / mac / was / in England / wore / when / he .

JXUwMDA4JXUwMDMxJXUwMDAyJXUwMDBj JXUwMDJmJXUwMDE4JXUwMDFkJXUwMDE3 JXUwMDM5 JXUwMDM1JXUwMDBjJXUwMDAy JXUwMDJmJXUwMDFmJXUwMDBkJXUwMDBi JXUwMDMwJXUwMDBk JXUwMDJmJXUwMDE2JXUwMDEy JXUwMDMxJXUwMDA3 .

2. a/ The / in / football / football / team /man / played.

JXUwMDBjJXUwMDNjJXUwMDBk JXUwMDM1JXUwMDBjJXUwMDBm JXUwMDMxJXUwMDA3 JXUwMDM5 JXUwMDJjJXUwMDExJXUwMDA0JXUwMDBj .

3. could / objects / flying / see / They / some / their/ heads / over.

JXUwMDBjJXUwMDNjJXUwMDBkJXUwMDFj JXUwMDJiJXUwMDE2JXUwMDAw JXUwMDJiJXUwMDFjJXUwMDAyJXUwMDA4 JXUwMDM3JXUwMDE5JXUwMDEzJXUwMDE3 .

4. All / very / them / excited / got / of.

JXUwMDE5JXUwMDJkJXUwMDAw JXUwMDM3JXUwMDA5 JXUwMDJjJXUwMDFjJXUwMDBkJXUwMDA4 JXUwMDNmJXUwMDA4JXUwMDFi JXUwMDJlJXUwMDEzJXUwMDE3JXUwMDBi .

Adjectives ending in -ed or -ing

Choose the right adjective to complete the sentences:

WORRYING - RELAXED - DISAPPOINTED - CONCERNED - BORING - CONFUSING - TIRING - SURPRISING - TERRIFIED - EMBARRASSING - SURPRISED - TERRIFYING

1. John's mother was that he passed all his exams in June. He hadn't studied very much

2. Her weight loss was very . She looked really ill

3. After getting a massage I felt very

4. I was really when I didn't get the job

5. The film "The Wolf Man" was . The children who were watching it were

6. I don't like people who only talk about themselves. They are really

7. There were a lot of road signs. It was very

8. I was after reading the news headlines

9. Working as a waiter is a very job

10. The teacher forgot to close his zipper. It was very

11. It is not that you failed the exam. You didn't do any work

Reading activity

Audio The man who told his experience at the beginning of the topic said he was a forgetful boy. Paco remembers almost everything he said, so, he is not a forgetful man. He has an excellent memory. In fact, he needs to have a good memory to be able to memorize all the names, significant dates and historical data he has to remember for his exams at the University. The programme on TV in which that man told his story was about natural hazards which have caused terrible natural disasters.

He remembers, for example, other natural hazards that occurred on December 26, 2004 when a tsunami struck Thailand killing about 230,000 people; or the massive earthquake that hit San Francisco in the early 20th century, concretely in 1906, and in which between 225,000 and 300,000 people were left homeless out of a population of 410,000.

By Lester C. Guernsey. Public domain

He is convinced that, if not for all, global warming is responsible for some of the natural hazards occurred in the last fifty years, although it cannot be proved. In any case, it is a job for scientists.

After remembering all these things, Paco breathed relieved and put on his clothes. He is ready to visit the city.

forgetful - excellent - significant - historical - natural - terrible - massive - early - homeless - global - responsible - ready

All the adjectives in the box are formed by adding a suffix to the verb or the noun becoming derivatives. Try to separate the suffix from the stem of the word.

Put the word in brackets into the correct form. You will have to use prefixes and/or suffixes.

Example: The rate of (EMPLOY) ... in this country has been rising steadily → UNEMPLOYMENT (UN: PREFIX - MENT: SUFFIX)

1. I don't remember my (CHILD) as a happy period of my time

2. He looks really shabby. He doesn't take any care about his (APPEAR)

3. Her (APPLY) for the job wasn't accepted

4. I think I'll be (ABLE) to finish all these letters for tomorrow. I am sorry

5. He is said to be a very (EFFICIENCY) worker

6. I am sorry to (AGREE) with you, but you are mistaken

7. I had no (CHOOSE) , I had to make that (DECIDE)

8. The police arrested the man without (EXPLAIN)

9. The tsunami caused terrible (DESTROY) in the area

10. Our (FLY) was cancelled becuase of bad weather

11. She looked at her (REFLECT) in the mirror

12. Failing her exams was a great (DISAPPOINT) to her

13. She arrived late at work because she had (SLEEP)

14. He has won the (CHAMPION)

Fill in the blanks with a suitable adjective from the word between brackets. Remember that -ed and -ing are also suffixes to form present and past participial adjectives!

By Vasily V. Titov. Public domain

1. Paco thinks that global warming is responsible for and (natural; environment) disasters.

2. A huge earthquake caused the (dread) tsunami in Thailand in 2004.

3. It was a (pity) sight to see all those people floating after the tsunami.

4. The earthquake in San Francisco was (catastrophe).

5. It is (logic) that people in (coast) Thailand are (frighten) of tsunamis.

Important

Attributive vs Predicative adjectives

Most of the adjectives seen up to now may function attributively or predicatively. Do you know the difference between them? If you don't, don't worry, it's very easy!

Attributive adjectives are those adjectives that, in English, are placed in front of a noun (e.g. Paco is not a forgetful man).

Predicative adjectives, on the other hand, are those adjectives that are placed after the verb, normally a copula verb such as to be (e.g. He was very forgetful when he was a child). That is, it is part of the predicate of the sentence.

Why don't you relax a little bit and listen to the song in the video on the left to see the difference between subject and predicate? If you want to get the lyrics of the song, click here. Pay attention also to the verb tenses, since the tense studied in the topic, the Simple Past, is used in it!

REMEMBER: Adjectives in English never take the plural!!!!

« Anterior | Siguiente »