-ING or Infinitive?

Doing little is fun. 
I love lounging...

Remember the general rules:


WE use the -ing form

After certain Verbs
After prepositions
When the verb is the subject of the sentece

We use the infinitive:

After certain verbs
After adjectives
For reason or purpose

See the following links
FOR:

Verbs followed by INFINITIVE
Verbs followed by -ING
Verbs Followed by Gerunds OR Infinitives (Different Meaning)*


FURTHER PRACTICE

1. Do they enjoy_____ (read) ?
2. Sorry for ______(be) so late. I overslept!
3. I don't mind _____ (help) in the house.
4. It was stupid _________(run): the train had left.
5. She's always dreamt of ________(have) a house by the seaside .
6. ___________(not/have) a mobile phone nowadays is old-fashioned.
7. What about________ (ask) our teacher?
8. We stopped_________ (talk) when the teacher entered the room.
9. Please, keep__________ (tell) us what happened yesterday.
10. She promised_________ (help) me with the essay.
11. They would prefer ________(fly) to England.
12. Will you be able________ (speak) English fluently next year?
13. She left without _________(say) good-bye.
14. He persuaded her________ (buy) another washing-machine.
15. Susan bought the car _________(give) it to her daughter for her birthday.

Answers  in Comment 1 :-)

Unit 3 - Health: injuries

INJURIES

Here's a presentation about "injuries" to complete the vocabulary we have already seen in class. Check it out! NI2 5B Injuries

The presentation to revise vocabulary to go to the doctor's is here.

STRONG ADJECTIVES

They have the idea of "very" and are followed by a normal adjective

Examples

• gorgeous = very beautiful
• huge = very big

Base Adjectives	Strong Adjectives
beautiful	gorgeous
ugly	awful
dirty	filthy
good	superb, great, fantastic
bad	terrible
happy	thrilled
angry	furious
hungry	starving
tired	exhausted
funny	hilarious
big	huge, enormous
small	tiny
fat	obese
scared	terrified
cold	freezing
hot	boiling

With strong adjectives, for intensifiers we normally use: absolutely - exceptionally - particularly - really - quite

The film was absolutely awful.

He was an exceptionally brilliant child.

The food smelled really disgusting

Very, absolutely and really are used differently according whether the adjective is a base or a strong one:

	very	absolutely	really
Base adjectives
Strong adjectives

Examples:

• He was very happy; he was absolutely thrilled.
• He was really happy/thrilled.

Intensifiers with comparatives and superlatives:
We use these words and phrases as intensifiers with comparative adjectives: much - far - a lot - quite a lot - a great deal - a good deal - a good bit - a fair bit

• He is much older than me.
• New York is a lot bigger than Boston.
• We use much and far as intensifiers with comparative adjectives in front of a noun:
• France is a much bigger country than Britain.
• He is a far better player than Ronaldo.

We use these words as intensifiers with superlatives: easily - by far - far

• The blue whale is easily the biggest animal in the world.
• This car was by far the most expensive.

To practise this grammar point, please go to tolearnenglish.com or english file. For all the other grammar points in this unit (quantifiers, articles, infinitive/gerund), please go the OUP website here.

Used to

USED TO/GET USED TO/BE USED TO

Hello again!
I hope this presentation we saw in class can help you remember the different ways we have in English to express HABITS.
USED_TO
->To do some exercises click here, here, and here. It gives you the chance to practise and correct yourself. Have a go!

FASHION and FUTURES

THIS IS THE POWERPOINT WE USED TO REVISE THE FUTURE:
5 Futures Ni2 This is the listening we did in class. To do some exercises online to practise adjective order you can go here and here.
If you want to see some different types of shops in English (with pictures), go here or for a more exhaustive list click here.
You can also have a look at this old post on fashion.

Vocabulary on TRAVEL

Hi there!
I hope this presentation can help you learn some new words to talk / write about this topic. Remember you have to show you've learnt specific vocabulary!
Travel: vocabulary

Agreeing and disagreeing

Hello every and and welcome to a new school year!

We've started by learning how to agree and disagree. Remember you have to use So / Neither / Well followed by the appropriate auxiliary and the subject. The structures we practised in class are the following:

I love opera --------> So do I  (agree) / Me too / I do too
....................-------------> Well, I don't (disagree)

I can't sing --------> Neither can I / Me neither / I can't either
....................-------------> Well / But I can (disagree)

However, looking for exercises for you to practise, I came across all these expressions from englishclub , englishpond and eslgold which will obviously be useful in any conversation. These some exercises:

• tolearnenglish.com : click here, here, here,
• daypo.com click on "realizar test"

INFINITIVE OR GERUND?

If you want to practise this grammar point and have some fun meanwhile, why don't you play battleships here? This is another online game from ESL Fun Grammar Games and this other one from englishmedialab.
For exercises, visit ego4u.
Finally you can do some of these tests, if you like: 1, 2, 3, 4.
These three tutorials might also help: 1 -2 -3.

This video shows you parts of songs where the infinitive and gerund are used ;-)

Use and Omission of the Article

(Unit 5B)

When do we use THE and when do we omit it ?
Visit this LINK and do the exercise!

Once upon a time a boy met a girl in the centre of the city.

They had an ice cream together, and then they went to the cinema to see a film. The film was called Eleven Years.

Click HERE to see Powerpoint presentation



;-)

OPINION ESSAYS

Hello again!

We'll soon revise how to structure them, but meanwhile, you can have a look at this post from Masterpapers or these instructions from eHow. In Custom Writing you can also find some good advice on what to do, what to avoid and some expressions that may come handy.

Now that Halloween is approaching, you will start hearing ghost stories and other scary stuff. However, if you would like to check for yourself if a house is really hauted (or maybe it's just your friends trying to terrify you), you can follow these steps to find out.

Finally, if you've still got what it takes, you can listen to some spooky stories here. When you click on the story, it takes you to the script, then you must click on "listen to the audio version". Try not to read anything the first time, please, just concentrate on what you hear. The second time you are allowed to read while you listen. OK? Enjoy!

R U stressed?

Just do this test to find out...   Good luck!

To find out more on the topic, you can also watch this video where an expert explains what stress is, the physical and mental effects of being stressed, when it becomes a problem and when to seek help; it's at the end of the page, but remember to switch off the subtitles the first times you hear it (pressing "CC")

In any case, if you sometimes think you can't manage stress, you may need to watch this video from the NHS page, where an expert provides some techniques for managing stress.

So ... have you ever suffered / do you ever suffer from stress? Any symptoms? What did / do you do to deal with it? If you had a panic attack, what would you do? Please leave a short paragraph with your experience (and remember to sign it, please)

FILE 5 (English File Intermediate Plus)

In this unit we are revising quantifiers and relative clauses. You can do some more exercises here and here. 

You can also do this crossword on animals. Besides, for further listening practice, you can do this listening from your MultiROM CD.

Remember you can do some more reading practice here, just choose the texts from unit 5.

We've also done some work on the environment. This is some simple vocabulary, and this is a more complex exercise. This is the listening we did in class about deforestation.

CLOTHES AND MUCH MORE

In file 4A we've seen how to describe clothes. If you want some further practice, you can gossip here to see who (according to the Mirror newspaper) were the best and wrost dressed actresses at the Oscars last Sunday. For difficult vocabulary, remember you now have a dictionary online in this page, just RIGHT-CLICK on it, so that you have it in a new tab and you don't leave the blog. For the actual list of winners, click here.

We've also practised passives, for further practice go here, or here. Theory and lots of practice here, here, here, and this link and this other one are on "to have something done".

Here's a song by Katy Perry which was sent to me by Sara for you to sing along and practise. Don't you love it?

In file 4B we'll discuss about men and women, but just to look at the fun side of it, you can watch this sketch explaining the differences between men's and women's brains. Hilarious!

part 2:

Did you like it? Any comments to make anybody? :-) 

FASHION and SHOPPING

In File 4A we're discussing fashion, shopping, etc. Then you may be interested in browsing the British version of Vogue magazine. For the latest trends, go here.

This post by Teacher Melanie talks of last year's Fashion Week in New York City. It includes some interesting vocabulary.
You can also watch this video from Learn English, a great and easy way to learn some new expressions:

Now you can listen to these activities from the BBC page:
- "Buying a pair of trainers" and "Buying some jeans" are easy conversations, and you can complete the conversations
- "Where to shop in London"  and "Oxford Street crime" are readings with comprehension questions for you to practise
Then you can listen to this podcast from ESL Pod, but don't read the transcript until you've heard it at least twice! After the dialogue they explainall the vocabulary, nice!

Do you know what is the in thing right now? What would you NEVER wear, no matter how trendy? Please leave a comment...

CONDITIONALS

Hi

This is the presentation I used in class to revise CONDITIONAL SENTENCES. 

Conditionals 0 1 2 3
And don't forget to have a look at previous entries in this blog (grammar section) that revise this grammar point, they'll help you practise it.

This is beyoncé's video "If I Were A Boy", a great song and a wonderful example of the second conditional. You can also listen to the songs in the NB2 blog here and here.



 Now the question is... What would you do if you were... God? Please leave your ideas in a comment below!

REVISION

Hello again!

As you know, we're revising some grammar points from last year, I hope this post helps you with them.

1- UNREAL CONDITIONALS IN THE PAST (3rd conditional)
This video explains them and can help you understand them "in context".

For some exercises, click here and here.
2- PHRASAL VERBS: here and here. You can also do this crossword.
3- QUESTION TAGS: exercises here and here.

4- INDIRECT QUESTIONS: an explanation can be found here. For exercises go here and here.
In case you need further practice for WHICH/WHAT, go here. And if you would like to do some reading on TV, click here.

Finding Your Way

Worried about getting lost when you go to Britain? Ever been lost for words when a tourist asks you how to get to the rum factory? Click here to practise typical expressions from Unit 5 on finding your way and giving directions.

Memory Test

Do you remember the work we did on memory? No? Do you mean you've forgotten? Well, here is a website to help you improve your memory - very interesting if you're trying to remember lots of words from the course in time for the exam! Click here to expand your memory.

Past continuous or simple

If you want extra practice on when to use the past continuous or simple, click here.

Get rid of your old clothes

Here's a video of an American man throwing out clothes he hasn't worn in 10 years. Watch it and see how much you can understand... he talks REALLY fast, but you will be surprised at how much you can follow. Listen for words you have seen in the course to describe clothes... and how many times he says the word 'hideous'. Notice American words such as 'pants' for 'trousers'. Do you think he should keep any of these clothes? Leave a comment.