Idiom of the day (10)

Bottoms up!

¡Al centro y pa'dentro!

Writing (3) - Tips to write an essay

Cuando escribimos una redacción (essay en inglés) es muy importante tener en mente dos cosas:

1) Qué estilo, formal o informal, tenemos que utilizar (pincha aquí para profundizar en este aspecto).

2) La estructura de la redacción que vamos a escribir así como una serie de "frases hechas" que se suelen usar en cada párrafo y en cada tipo de redacción.

En futuras entradas iremos viendo con detenimiento los siguientes tipos de redacciones:

• an informal letter describing a house for rent
• a story
• a semi-formal transactional letter
• an essay providing solutions to problems
• a for and against essay
• an opinion essay
• an article describing a visit to a place
• an assessment report
• a letter to the editor
• a formal transactional letter
• a letter to apply for a job
• a letter of complaint

El objetivo es ir desarrollando el punto 2) para cada uno de los tipos de redacciones antes mencionados. Todas estas entradas serán etiquetadas con la palabra essay.

Idiom of the day (9)

Blood is thicker than water.

La sangre tira.

Negative and limiting adverbials

Sometimes you can place a negative or limiting adverbial in the front position in a sentence to create emphasis. This effect is most frequently found in writing.

Word Order

In this type of sentence, the subject+auxiliary word order is inverted.

     I have never seen anything quite so breathtaking.

     Never have I seen anything quite so breathtaking.

The same thing happens with the verb be.

    It is not only one of the oldest cities on Earth, it is also one of the most beautiful.

     Not only is it one of the oldest cities on Earth, it is also one of the most beautiful.

In the present simple and past simple, use do/does or did.

     We rarely visit that part of town.

     Rarely do we visit that part of town

Negative adverbials

Not a + noun
Not a word did she say to anyone.

Not until + verb phrase
Not until I got home did I realise how lucky I'd been.

Not until + noun phrase
Not until the end did I realise how lucky I'd been.

Under no circumstances
Under no circumstances are you to leave before you finish the exercise.

On no account
On no account can they claim to be the best.

Never
Never had I seen such a beautiful sight.

No sooner...than
No sooner had I arrived than the doorbell rang.

Limiting adverbials

Only + by + -ing
Only by bribing the police officer was he able to get away.

Only + conjunction + verb phrase
Only if he promised to help would she tell him where he had left left his keys.
Only after they had finished their lunch were they allowed to play outside.
Only when I took the test did I realise how little I knew!

Little
Little did the know that we were following them.


Rarely/Seldom
Rarely had I seen such a beautifu sight.


Barely/Hardly/Scarcely...when
Barely had I arrived when the doorbell rang.

Idiom of the day (8)

It's not my cup of tea.

No es lo mío.

The

Post de este blog sobre el artículo definido the: The (definite article)

The puede ser usado con algunos adjetivos para describir grupos de gente:

• the rich/the well-off/the poor/the less well-off/the unemployed
• the elderly/the middle-aged/the young
• the blind/the deaf/the disabled

Ejemplo: The rich had lots of time, the poor had little.

Ahora puedes practicar tú haciendo generalizaciones sobre alguno de los grupos de gente antes mecnionados.

Idiom of the day (7)

To beat around (about) the bush.

Andarse con rodeos.

Vocabulary (3) - Household chores

household chores = housework

     wash the dishes

     dust the furniture

     make the beds

     iron the clothes

     vacuum the carpets

     clean the windows

     mop the floors

     mow the lawn

Los verbos marcados en verde se pueden utilizar con la siguiente estructura: do/does + -ing

Idiom of the day (6)

...a diamond in the rough.

...un diamante en bruto.

Writing (2) - Informal or formal style?

Cuando escribimos una redacción (essay en inglés) tenemos que tener muy claro a quién va dirigida dicha redacción (ya sea carta, artículo, etc).

Si nos dirigimos a alguien que no conocemos o no tenemos mucha relación/confianza utilizaremos un estilo formal (formal style) pero si nos dirigimos a alguien a quien conocemos bien, como un amigo o un familiar muy cercano, utilizaremos un estilo informal (informal style).

Informal style

• abbreviations e.g. I've got
• simple linking words e.g. but, so, and, etc
• shorter setences e.g. I'd like to see you
• personal tone e.g. I've got some great news
• everyday expressions e.g. Thanks a lot

Formal style

• no abbreviations e.g. I have got
• formal linking words e.g. despite
• longer setences
• impersonal tone e.g. passive
• formal expressions e.g. I look forward to hearing

Idiom of the day (5)

It costs an arm and a leg.

Cuesta un ojo de la cara.

Hedging

En ocasiones no quieres decir algo categóricamente debido a que no puedes demostrar que eso es verdad. En este caso puedes usar una amplia gama de estructuras para distanciarte de los hechos y las opiniones. Esta táctica de llama hedging.

Hedging with verbs

Puedes usar appear y seem (that) para crear distancia entre tú y lo que es dicho.

     It seems that the President may soon stand down.
     It appears that the news reports are true.
     The weather appears to be changing.
     The outcome seems to be inevitable.

Para añadir más distancia puedes usar el verbo modal would.

     It would appear that you have already made up your mind.
     They would appear to be hostile.
     It would seem that you are in the wrong.
     It would seem that you are avoiding me.


Hedging with the passive voice

Puedes usar formas pasivas del verbo para mostrar que una opinión no es necesariamente tuya.

     It is widely recognised that the future of advertising is on the Net.
     There are not believed to be any survivors.
     It is not known whether he will accept the offer.

Hedging with noun phrases

Puedes usar noun phrases entorno a un sujeto.

     There is little doubt that she took her own life.
     There is some doubt that the country can control its inflation.
     There is no doubt that he knows that he's doing.
     There is little evidence of your ability to manage change.

Idiom of the day (4)

An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

Ojo por ojo y diente por diente.

Aprender inglés con canciones - 2

Retomemos youtube y la música para continuar aprendiendo y/o mejorando nuestro nivel de inglés.

Para ello escucharemos canciones de grupos ingleses como los siguientes:

• Queen: tienen canal oficial en youtube, pincha aquí para acceder a él.
• Rolling Stones: todas las listas de reproducción en una sola, pincha aquí para acceder a él.

A seguir practicando...

Idiom of the day (3)

All that glitters is not gold.

No es oro todo lo que reluce.

Quantity

Para expresar cantidad puedes usar:

• determiners: every, most, no
• quantifiers: all of, most of, none of

¿Qué expresión de cantidad usar?

1) Dependiendo en si el sustantivo es countable (C) o uncountable (U).

          There's far too much stuff (U) on the room.
          Not many of the people (C) I work with smoke.

    En ocasiones puedes usar la misma expresión de cantidad para ambos.

          He's got loads of money (U).
          I've got loads of coins (C) in my pocket.

2) Cuando hay un artículo (a, an, the), un pronombre posesivo (my, your, etc) o un pronombre demostrativo (that, these, etc) antes de un sustantivo, se utiliza una expresión de cantidad con of.

          Several of my friends live in small villages.
          (NOT Several my friends...)

          Most of the people in my neighbourhood go to work by car.
          (NOT Most of people...)

3) Cuando quieres hablar sobre pequeños números o cantidades puedes usar a few/a little para resaltar lo positivo (some) o few/little para resaltar lo negativo (not many/much).

          We did it because we wanted to have a little fun.
          Please hurry up! There's very little time.


¿Qué tiempo verbal usar?

Puedes usar un tiempo verbal singular si el sustantivo después de of es incontable o plural. Puedes usar un tiempo verbal plural si el sustantivo es plural.

         There's lots of traffic (U) in the centre.
         There are lots of tourists (C) in summer.

Idiom of the day (2)

To kill two birds with one stone.

Matar dos pájaros de un tiro.

Emphasis (cleft sentences)

What structures (= The thing(s) that)

Puedes usar What...is/was... para enfatizar el sujeto o el objeto.

          Classical music often helps me to concentrate.
          What often helps me to concentrate is classical music.

          I don't understand where they get this stuff from.
          What I don't understand is where they get this stuff from.

It is/was... + relative clause

Esta estructura se usa para enfatizar casi cualquier parte de la oración.

          Brad Pitt married Jennifer Aniston in Los Angeles in 2000.

          It was Brad Pitt who married...
          It was Jennifer Aniston who married...
          It was Los Angeles where Brad Pitt married...
          It was in 2000 that Brad Pitt married...

A menudo se usa esta estructura cuando corriges  lo que ha dicho alguien:

          It wasn't Gwyneth Paltrow who married Brad Pitt. It was Jennifer 
          Aniston.

Idiom of the day (1)

A bird in hand is worth two in the bush.

Es mejor pájaro en mano que ciento volando.

Unreal conditional clauses - alternatives to if

Una unreal conditional clause es normalmente comenzada con if pero cuando haces preguntas existen otras alternativas.

Como sabemos ya, una condicional se estructura en:

                  Conditional clause + Main clause

Conditional clause

If                                      past simple               

Imagine (that)                    past continuous         

Supposing (that)   subject    were to + infinitive

Suppose (that)                    might                  

Assuming (that)                  past perfect          

Main clause

                            would     infinitive

(question word)      could      be + present participle?

                            might     have + past participle

Ejemplos:

          Imagine you were meeting someone for the first time, how would

          you introduce yourself?

          Suppose you didn't enjoy the first date, would you still go on a

          second date?

          Assuming that you were to go on another date, where might you

          be planning to meet?

          Supposing that neither of the dates had been successful, what

          might you tell the person?