viernes, 29 de julio de 2016

An informal letter describing a house for rent

We start our letter with Dear + our friend's first name.

Introduction

First paragraph = opening remarks and the reason for writing our letter.

Main body

Second paragraph = location of the house and details of the rent.
Third paragraph = exterior of the house (what is made of, graden, etc).
Fourth paragraph = interior of the house (e.g. floors, rooms, furniture, special features, etc).

We start each main-body paragraph with a topic sentence i.e. a sentence which introduces or summarises the paragraph.

Conclusion

Last paragraph = closing remarks, we sign off using Yours, Best wishes, etc + our first name.




Example

Dear Peter,

How are you? Hope everything's OK. I'm writing to let you know that I think I've found the perfect summer cottage for you.

It's in a really nice location. It's a quite area, but the best thing about it is that it is less than a kilometre from the sea. Also, the rent for the cottage is only 150€ a week.

The house is really charming outside. It's an old brick farm building which has been converted into a holiday cottage. It's got a patio and is surrounded by a beautiful garden.

Inside, the house is nice and comfortable. It has two floors.On the ground floor there is a cosy living room and a kitchen with all the modern equipment you would expect as well as a dining room and a WC. Upstairs there are two small bedrooms and a bathroom. The house is fully furnished so you don't need to worry about that.

Let me know if you like the sound of it. I can easily talk to the owner, Mr Smith, for you. I hope I'll see you here soon. I'll tell you all of my news then.

Yours,
Laura.

viernes, 22 de julio de 2016

viernes, 15 de julio de 2016

Vocabulary (5) - young people in society

co-educational classes/schools
segregated classes/schools
single sex classes/schools
literacy
strict/lax discipline
teacher-led
activity-centred
rate learning
learning by doing
primary school (UK)
elementary school (US)
junior/senior high school (UK)
secondary school (UK)
A-levels
university
college
degree

viernes, 8 de julio de 2016

Idiom of the day (14)

To catch somebody red-handed.
Coger a alguien con las manos en la masa.

Example: They caught me red-handed.

viernes, 1 de julio de 2016

The future seen from the past

You can use the following phrases to talk about an event or action that was expected to happen in the past, but didn't.

                           going to
          was/were + supposed to + verb
                           due to

           on the verge of +ing

We were going to go to the cinema last night, but in the end we couldn't be bothered.
They were supposed to be going away on holiday this week, but James got the flu.

The phrase on the verge of is used to suggest that the action or event was inminent.

They were on the verge of cracking the code, but the other team got there first.

You can used to be to + infinitive to explain that a formal arrangement had been made.

The Prince was to visit the town in mid-May.

You can often use the modal auxiliary verb would to talk about the future in the past, especially in conjunction with phrases such as we had imagined, they had expected, he had thought.

We had expected that they would bring some warm clothes, considering the climate.


viernes, 24 de junio de 2016

viernes, 17 de junio de 2016

Vocabulary (4) - environment

bumper-to-bumper traffic
congestion
an open dump
piles of rubbish
bleaches/detergents/cleaning products
toxic
(to) discard
(to) re-use
(to) recycle
deforestation
eco-friendly products
car exhaust fumes
factory emissions
burning fossil fuels
oil spills
overuse of chemicals in agriculture
water/air pollution
carbon dioxide
aerosols that contain CFCs
climate change
global warming
greenhouse gases

viernes, 10 de junio de 2016

jueves, 2 de junio de 2016

Patterns with get

get + adjective = become

    Things started to get exciting towards the end.

get + noun = obtain/receive

    I got my deegre last summer.

get + to-infinitive = succeed in doing something, have the chance or opportunity to do someting

    I finally got to see the Grand Canyon last year.
    Apparently you can get to be a politician without qualifications these days.

get + ing = start doing something

    Let's get going then, or we'll be late.

get + object + to-infinitive = ask or persuade someone to do something (cause)

    She got her brother to decorate her flat for her.

get + object + ing (result)

    After a long time and a lot of effort I finally got them singing in unison.
    We promise we'll get your computer system running perfectly by this 
    time tomorrow.

get passive -> This use is generally more informal

    He got run over by a car.
    The window got broken by some kids playing football.
    He got his brother arrested.
    I got my photos developed.
    I got my wallet stolen when I was on holiday.


viernes, 20 de mayo de 2016

Unreal conditions

An unreal condition is a type of conditional. Related link: conditionals.

The if clause (describing an unreal situation)

When you want to describe a past situation which is unreal, or imagine how a past situation might have been different, you backshift the verb in the if clause.

What really happened                   What might have happened
(real past)                                   (unreal past)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
She won a small amount of     ->    If she had won the jackpot,...
money in the lottery.

She wasn't paying attention.   ->    If she had been paying a little more   
                                                  attention,...

Substituting if

Instead of using if to introduce the unreal situation, you can invert the subject and verb.

     If she had won the jackpot,...     ->    Had she won the jackpot,...
     If your work had been more        ->    Had your work been more 
     satisfactory,...                                 satisfactory,...

This is more typical of formal language, especially if it is written.

The main clause

Describing possible present consequences

You use would (do) or would be (doing) to describe the possible present consequences of the unreal past situation.

If she had won the lottery, she wouldn't be working for the Tatler any more.
If she had been paying more attention, she wouldn't be in such a mess.

Describing possible past consequences

You use would have (done) or would have been (doing) to describe the possible past consequences of the unreal past situation.

If she had won the lottery, she would have bought a snazzy red sports car.
She wouldn't have been daydreaming in class if the lesson had been a little more interesting.


The if clause and the main clause can be used in either order.


viernes, 13 de mayo de 2016

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.

viernes, 29 de abril de 2016

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.

viernes, 15 de abril de 2016

The

Post de este blog sobre el artículo definido theThe (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.

viernes, 8 de abril de 2016

viernes, 1 de abril de 2016

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

miércoles, 23 de marzo de 2016