Movie Listings

Impact Grammar lesson #18.

We learned about:SUBJECT VERB

AGREEMENT WITH SIMPLE PRESENT

TENSE

HOMEWORK:

-Subject verb agreement 13 questions

-Trying it: Think of a movie you have seen

recently(Cinema or DVD)

Write your own listing decribing the movie.

*USE THE SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE*

Complete Grammar Guide Subject/Verb Agreement

Structure
In present tenses, the verb must agree with the subject of the sentence. This means that there are two forms of the verb in present: one for subjects I, you, we, and they, and one for subjects he, she, and it.

"I/You/We/They live in New York."

"He/She/Itlives in New York."

(The easiest way to remember this is that first and second person nouns and third person plural nouns have no -s, and third person singular nouns have an -s.)

In the first example we used pronouns, but the same rules are true for proper nouns. If you aren't sure which verb form to use with a proper noun, ask yourself which pronoun could replace it, for example:

Mary >>> she

William >>> he

my cat >>> he/she/it

the Green Bay Packers team>>> they

me and my family >>> we

you and your family >>> you

Usage
As mentioned, subject/verb agreement generally only happens in present tenses.

The exeception to this rule is the verb be, which has the past forms were (for you, we, and they) and was (for he, she, it, and I).

Therefore, the simple past of be shows agreement, as does the past progressive of any verb.
In progressive tenses, the auxiliary be shows the agreement.

"Rod is making a lot of noise, and his neighbors are getting annoyed."

"Rod was making a lot of noise, and his neighbors were getting annoyed."

In perfect tenses, the auxiliary have shows the agreement:
"I have been to France three times, but he has never been there."

"I have been coming here for ten years, but hehas been coming here for twenty."

A Year in Madison

We did lesson #17 of Impact Grammar.

The topic was Transitive VS. Intransitive Verbs.

We also did pre-writing chapter 3 of The Write Path

pg 17-19 on Clustering and Outlining.

HOMEWORK:

-Page 19c and 19d

-Trying it: Write three or four sentences about an

experience that changed your life.

-Transitive & Intransitive worksheet 25 Questions

Transitive and Intransitive Verbs
Depending on the type of object they take, verbs may be transitive, intransitive, or linking.
The meaning of a transitive verb is incomplete without a direct object, as in the following examples:

INCOMPLETE
The shelf holds.

COMPLETE
The shelf holds three books and a vase of flowers.

INCOMPLETE

The committee named.

COMPLETE
The committee named a new chairperson.

INCOMPLETE
The child broke.

COMPLETE
The child broke the plate.

An intransitive verb, on the other hand, cannot take a direct object:
This plant has thrived on the south windowsill.
The compound verb "has thrived" is intransitive and takes no direct object in this sentence.

The prepositional phrase "on the south windowsill" acts as an adverb describing where the plant thrives.

The sound of the choir carried through the cathedral.

The verb "carried" is used intransitively in this sentence and takes no direct object. The prepositional phrase "through the cathedral" acts as an adverb describing where the sound carried.

The train from Montreal arrived four hours late.

The intransitive verb "arrived" takes no direct object, and the noun phrase "four hours late" acts as an adverb describing when the train arrived.

Since the company was pleasant and the coffee both plentiful and good, we lingered in the restaurant for several hours.

The verb "lingered" is used intransitively and takes no direct object. The prepositional phrase "in the restaurant for several hours" acts as an adverb modifying "lingered".

The painting was hung on the south wall of the reception room.

The compound verb "was hung" is used intransitively and the sentence has no direct object.

The prepositional phrase "on the south wall of the reception room" acts as a adverb describing where the paint hung.

Many verbs can be either transitive or intransitive, depending on their context in the sentence.

In the following pairs of sentences, the first sentence uses the verb transitively and the second uses the same verb intransitively:

transitive
According to the instructions, we must leave this goo in our hair for twenty minutes.
In this example, the verb "leave" takes a direct object, the noun phrase "this goo".

intransitive
We would like to stay longer, but we must leave.
In this example, the verb "leave" does not take a direct object.

transitive
The audience attentively watched the latest production of The Trojan Women.
In this example, the verb "watch" is used transitively and takes the noun phrase "the latest production of The Trojan Women" as a direct object.

intransitive
The cook watched while the new dishwasher surreptitiously picked up the fragments of the broken dish.

In this example, the verb "watched" is used intransitively and takes no direct object.

intransitive
The crowd moves across the field in an attempt to see the rock star get into her helicopter.
Here the verb "moves" is used as an intransitive verb and takes no direct object.

transitive

Every spring, William moves all boxes and trunks from one side of the attic to the other.
In this sentence "moves" is used as a transitive verb and takes the noun phrase "all the boxes and trunk" as a direct object.

A Terrible Hoiliday

Lesson # 16 of Impact Grammar

Was about Yes/No Questions

In The Simple Past.

HOMEWORK:

-Trying it:

Your friend has been on vacation

to Japan. Think of five famous places

to visit in Japan.

Write questions to find out whether

your friend went to these places.

*Write the questions in the simple past tense*

FOR MORE HELP UNDERSTANDING SIMPLE PAST TENSE:

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/grammar/frage5.htm

Newspaper Stories

We did page #15 today of IMPACT GRAMMAR.

The topic was Adjectives & Adverbs.

HOMEWORK:

-Write a story for this headline:

TEENAGER SETS FIRE TO FAMILY HOME

-Adverbs and Adjectives work sheet

Adverbs and adjectives

What is the difference between adverbs and adjectives?
A very basic answer to this question is:

Adjectives are used to describe nouns.

A big house

Black cats

Two things to note here:
Adjectives usually come immediately before the noun, and not after it as in some other languages.

Adjectives only have one form, i.e. they do not change when describing plural nouns.

One black cat.
Two black cats (not blacks).

Adverbs are used to describe verbs, adjectives or other adverbs.

He runs quickly.
It is an extremely difficult question.
The car rolled very slowly down the road.

Many adverbs end in the letters 'ly', but there are also many exceptions.

Weekend Activities

We had two classes today. In the first one
we did part of unit #3 Prewriting; of The Write Path book.

We just covered the Brainstorming section.

In the second class we did unit 14 of Impact
Grammar. The lesson was about:Prepositions
of location and direction.

HOMEWORK:
-Brainstorming: What I like about ICUHS
-Prepositions worksheet 20 Qs
-Trying it: Where do you like to go in your
city or town. You need to describe the location
of some of these places. Write directions to
go from one place to another.

*Use prepositions IN, AT, ON, TO*

In is used with the names of cities, states, counties and countries (in Dallas, in New Jersey, in Bexar County, in Mexico).

On is used with the names of streets (on Broadway, on Park Drive).

At is used with numerical addresses (at 8649 Broadway).

Try this online quiz to see what you remember:
http://palc.sd40.bc.ca/palc/Quiz/prep-location1.htm

Making an appointment

We looked at lesson #13 and the lesson was

about Prepositions in expressions of time.

HOMEWORK:

-Question sheet about: AT, IN,ON

-Trying it: Do you know when you were born?

at what time? on what day? in what month?

in what year? in the morning, afternoon or night?

In, On, At (Expressions of Time)

In = Period of Time, Year, Season, Month, Part of Day
I went to school in the past.
I went to school in the summer.
I went to school in 1974.
I went to school in March.
I went to school in the morning.

On = Specific Day, Specific Day + Part of Day
I went to school on March 10th.
I went to school on Tuesday.
I went to school on Tuesday afternoon.
I went to school on the morning of March 10th.

At = Specific Time, Specific Time + Day
I went to school at 10:00.
I went to school at noon.
I went to school at noon yesterday.
I went to school at two o'clock.

In, On At (Expressions of Place)

In = Large Areas: Continents, Countries, Cities, Towns, etc.
I live in South America.
I live in Germany.
I live in New York.
I live in South Dakota.
I live in Plains, Georgia.

On = Street Names, Island Names, Floors
I live on Fifth Avenue.
I live on South Capital Street.
I live on Long Island.
I live on Samson Boulevard.
I live on Park Road.
I live on the fourth floor.
I live on the floor above you.

At = Numbered Addresses, Institutions
I live at 241 Fifth Avenue.
I live at 9 Suiter Place.
I live at 9234 South Capital Street.
I live at Gallaudet University.
I live at this hospital.
I live at home.
I study at school.
I work at the capital.

Great Musicians

What kind of music do you like?

We completed our study worksheet pages

for "The write path." In the second class today

we did lesson #12 of Impact Grammar.

Homework:

-Write 7 wordbox sentences

-Workbook pages 13b-13g write path book

-Trying it: Bio about a musician

Use the Simple Past to express the idea that an action started and finished at a specific time in the past. Sometimes, the speaker may not actually mention the specific time, but they do have one specific time in mind.

Examples:
I saw a movie yesterday.
I didn't see a play yesterday.
Last year, I traveled to Japan.
Last year, I didn't travel to Korea.
Did you have dinner last night?
She washed her car.
He didn't wash his car.

[VERB+ed] or Irregular Verbs

Try some Irregular Verbs questions:

http://www.englishpage.com/irregularverbs/interactiveirregularverbs1.htm

We use the Simple Past to list a series of completed actions in the past. These actions happen 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and so on.

Examples:
I finished work, walked to the beach, and found a nice place to swim.
He arrived from the airport at 8:00, checked into the hotel at 9:00, and met the others at 10:00.
Did you add flour, pour in the milk, and then add the eggs?

Try the online simple past tense quiz

http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/verb-tenses_past_quiz.htm

A visit to the Doctor

We learned about "STATIVE VERBS" in Impact Grammar lesson #11.

HOMEWORK:

-Trying it: Write a dialogue between you and your Doctor.

Tell your Doctor about your health. Discuss diet, exercise, and

weight information.

*USE STATIVE VERBS IN YOUR WRITING*

Definition
A stative verb is a verb that expresses a state of affairs or being rather than action.

Stative verbs differ from verbs of action not just in meaning but in formal structure and usage.
Discussion

Some verbs have both senses that express

a state of affairs or being, and
action.

Examples (English)
-be
-concern
-have
-know

TRY THE STATIVE VERB QUIZ HERE:

http://www.englishqed.com/stativeverb.html

At the Zoo

We had two classes today. In our first class we covered chapter 2 of the write path.

We talked about Restrictive and Nonrestrictive clauses.

In period two, we did unit #10 of Impact Grammar:BE IN YES/NO QUESTIONS.

HOMEWORK:

- Finish write path pages 13e,13f,13g (DUE NEXT MONDAY)

-Think about a Zoo animal for next class to play the YES/No question game.

- Write a short story 5 sentences or more, about a mammal. The story can be real, funny, serious, or made up.

Commas with Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Clauses
Usually, the terms restrictive and nonrestrictive describe relative clauses—clauses beginning with who, which, or that.

A clause is restrictive (or essential or identifying) if the meaning of the sentence would not be clear without it. Do not use a comma with a restrictive clause.
Consider this example:

Full-time students who attend summer school usually graduate in less than four years.

Without the modifying clause, the meaning of this sentence would change, as not all full-time students graduate in less than four years. Consequently, the relative clause is restrictive and does not require commas.

A clause is nonrestrictive (or nonessential or non-identifying) if the meaning of the sentence would remain the same even without it. Always use commas with nonrestrictive clauses.
The following sentence contains a nonrestrictive clause:

College students, who buy many compact discs, are a main source of income for record companies.

The relative clause in this sentence simply adds extra information. The basic meaning of the sentence would not change if the clause were omitted. Consequently, the clause is nonrestrictive and needs to be enclosed by commas.

When a relative clause follows a proper name, the clause is always nonrestrictive because the name already makes the identity clear. Consequently, relative clauses following proper names are always set off by commas, as shown in the following examples:

Dudley Wilson, who was the highest scorer on our team, received a scholarship offer from Penn State.Penn State, which recruits only the best players, was impressed with Dudley Wilson’s scoring record.

A shopping trip

Last day we covered lesson # 9 of Impact Grammar.

The lesson was about DETERMINERS WITH NOUNS.

HOMEWORK:

-Trying it your good friend is coming to dinner. Plan a meal that you would like to cook for your friend. Be sure to use determiners:SOME, A LITTLE, A FEW, SEVERAL...............ETC.

DETERMINERS WITH NOUNS

Nouns are often preceded by the words the, a, or an. These words are called DETERMINERS. They indicate the kind of reference which the noun has. The determiner the is known as the DEFINITE ARTICLE. It is used before both singular and plural nouns:
Singular-S
Plural-P
the taxi-S
the taxis-P
the paper-S
the papers-P
the apple-S
the apples-P

The determiner a (or an, when the following noun begins with a vowel) is the INDEFINITE ARTICLE. It is used when the noun is singular:

a taxi a paper an appleThe articles the and a/an are the most common determiners, but there are many others:

any taxi that question those apples this paper some apple whatever taxi whichever taxiMany determiners express quantity:

all examples both parents many people each person every night several computers few excuses enough water no escapePerhaps the most common way to express quantity is to use a numeral. We look at numerals as determiners in the next section.

Numerals and DeterminersNumerals are determiners when they appear before a noun. In this position, cardinal numerals express quantity:

one book two books twenty booksIn the same position, ordinal numerals express sequence:
first impressions second chance third prizeThe subclass of ordinals includes a set of words which are not directly related to numbers (as first is related to one, second is related to two, etc). These are called general ordinals, and they include last, latter, next, previous, and subsequent. These words also function as determiners:

next week last orders previous engagement subsequent developments When they do not come before a noun, as we've already seen, numerals are a subclass of nouns. And like nouns, they can take determiners:

the two of us the first of manyThey can even have numerals as determiners before them:
five twos are tenIn this example, twos is a plural noun and it has the determiner five before it.

TRY THE DETERMINERS FREE ONLINE QUIZ:
http://wps.prenhall.com/ipractice/0,9716,1626380-content,00.utf8.html