A DOGGY STORY

Some of you may be surprised to know that the talent show Britain's Got Talent was won, this year, not by a singer or rock group but by a dog and his trainer. If you watch the video of the winning performance, however, I think you'll see why!

Here is an exercise based on the story told in that performance.  Complete the text with the words listed underneath it. You will find the answers at the bottom of the page:

A DOGGY STORY

One day, a dog ______ some ______ from a ______ shop.  A policewoman ______ him.  She ______  him and ______ him to the police station but the dog ______ .  Then the dog ______  with a traffic cone and hid* in a ______ .  The dog _____ the _______  to the policewoman and called his ______ , a dog with three ______ .  The sausages were a ______ for his friend!  Now the policewoman ______ the dog.

searched

loves 

sausages [x2] 

legs 

gave

friend 

butcher’s  

saw

bin** 

escaped 

gift

took

stole

played

* hid - past simple of hide = nascondersi

** bin = contenitore per rifiuti

Click the space below to see the answers:

stole, sausages, butcher's, saw, searched, escaped, played, bin, gave, sausages, friend, legs, gift, loves.

PET SPEAKING EXAM - USEFUL EXPRESSIONS

In part 2 of the Cambridge PET speaking exam, the examiner explains a situation and gives you some visual material. With a partner, you have to decide what to do in the situation.

Here are some useful expressions to help you begin, maintain the conversation and end this part of the test:

USEFUL EXPRESSIONS FOR PET SPEAKING PART 2

Beginning

OK, we need to decide what to buy / get / do /where to go / what we should take [objects on a journey]

So, which of these are the most important / are the best / are the most useful?

So, which of these would he / she like?

Saying what you think

I think we should / he should + infinitive

In my opinion, we should + infinitive

It would be a good idea to + infinitive because…….

I think it would be better to + infinitive than to + infinitive

I think he’d / she’d like ….

Making suggestions

Why don’t we …? + infinitive

We could / she could + infinitive

How about…? + - ing form

What about the…. ? + object. What do you think about that?

Let’s + infinitive

I’d like to + infinitive. What about you?

……. would be useful. Do you agree?

Asking what your partner thinks

Do you agree?

How about you? Do you agree?

What do you think?

Agreeing

Yes, I agree.

Yes, that’s a good / great idea.

That sounds good.

Disagreeing

No, I don’t think so because….

I don’t think that’s a very good idea because…

That’s not a bad idea but….

That’s true but….

I’m sorry, I don’t agree.

Im not sure about that. What about….?  + object / + - ing form

Preferences

[Specific occasion] I’d rather + infinitive + than + infinitive

[Specific occasion] I’d prefer to + infinitive

[In general] I prefer + noun + noun

[In general] I prefer + - ing form + to + - ing form

Concluding

So, we think …. and … are the most important things. Is that right?

So, we’re going to take [objects on a journey] / get / buy / go to  …. and …. . Is that right?

Yes, let’s take / get / buy/ go to…..

So we think he should + infinitive…

So we think he’d like + object / + to + infinitive

Yes, I think he’d really like that.

Yes, I think that would be best.

Yes, that would be really good.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE TIPS

I am pleased to be able to tell you that students enrolling on courses at London Town - Centro Linguistico Internazionale, Modica will receive, free of charge, my booklet,
A-Z English Language Tips - come evitare gli errori più comuni nell'uso della lingua inglese.

GRATIS  per chi s'iscrive a un corso di inglese a London Town - Centro Linguistico Internazionale, Modica: il mio libretto,
A-Z English Language Tips - come evitare gli errori più comuni nell'uso della lingua inglese. 

Piace a tutti!

WHICH WORD DO YOU PREFER?

Image: WP Clipart

Did you know that autumn is often called fall in American English?  This is probably because the leaves fall from the trees in autumn.  Which word do you prefer?

When writing English, remember that days and months are written with a capital first letter but seasons are not [unless they come at the beginning of a sentence or are part of a title]:

Monday; Tuesday; October; November; autumn; fall; summer.

James Taylor - You've got a Friend

Cheryl Wheeler - When Fall Comes to New England

THE PRESENT PERFECT FOR GIVING NEWS

THE PRESENT PERFECT FOR GIVING NEWS

We often use the present perfect to give the first news of something:

Mary has arrived in Italy.

The Queen has appeared on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.

We sometimes continue in the past simple to give more details:

Mary has arrived in Italy.  She emailed me this morning.

The Queen has appeared on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.  She waved to the crowd.

We do not normally use the present perfect with a specific time reference but it is possible if the period of time is not finished:

It rained heavily in several areas of Britain this morning. [It is not morning now and the person is speaking in the afternoon or evening.]

It has rained heavily in several areas of Britain this morning. [It is still morning and it is possible that it will rain again during the morning.]

Choose the correct verb forms in the following sentences:

1.  The Prime Minister and the President had / have had a meeting. They have decided / decided to hold an election.

2.  The Prime Minister and the President had / have had a meeting yesterday.

3.  John Taylor, the MP* for Milltown, died / has died.

4.  John Taylor, the MP for Milltown, died / has died on Saturday.

5.  [You are listening to the news at 7 pm.] It has snowed / snowed in Scotland this evening and several roads are blocked.

6.  It has snowed / snowed in Scotland last night and several roads were blocked.

7.  Wales won / has won the rugby match and the score was / has been 23 - 0.

8.  England lost / has lost the rugby match last week. 

9.  The Queen has opened / opened the new hospital.  A child presented / has presented her with a bouquet.

10. The Queen has opened / opened the new hospital on Tuesday afternoon. A child presented / has presented her with a bouquet.

*MP = Member of Parliament

Highlight the space below to see the answers:

1. have had; decided  2. had  3. has died  4. died  5. has snowed  6. snowed  7. has won; was  8. lost
9. has opened; presented  10. opened; presented.

COMPOUND NOUNS

It's "goodbye" to the Olympics and Paralympics in London but British English has acquired a new compound noun during the Games.  It is games maker and refers to a member of staff or volunteer who helped make the Games happen by giving information to people or providing other kinds of assistance.  If you watched the Games on TV, you will have seen the games makers in their purple uniforms.

A compound noun is a word made up of two nouns or an adjective and a noun. Compound nouns can be written as two words, hyphenated [scritti con un trattino] or written as a single word.  Facebook is a compound noun; so is football.

Now see if you can make compound nouns by combining the words in the left and right-hand columns. You will find the answers below the lists:

arm                 stop

car                  guard

bus                  pan

post                dress

department     door

frying               boat

body               chair

evening           store

front               office

life                  park

To see the answers, highlight the space below:

armchair, car park, bus stop, post office, department store, frying pan, bodyguard, evening dress, front door, lifeboat.

SOME "ENCHANTED" GRAMMAR!

This evening we're going to look at the song I used in Monday's post again as the lyrics contain three grammar points that I would like to explain:

Some Enchanted Evening - Lyrics

Some enchanted evening, you may see a stranger,
You may see a stranger across a crowded room,
And somehow you know, you know even then,
That somehow you'll see her again and again.
Some enchanted evening, someone may be laughing,
You may hear her laughing across a crowded room,
And night after night, as strange as it seems,
The sound of her laughter will sing in your dreams.
Who can explain it, who can tell you why?
Fools give you reasons, wise men never try.
Some enchanted evening, when you find your true love,
When you hear her call you across a crowded room,
Then fly to her side and make her your own,
Or all through your life you may dream all alone.
Once you have found her, never let her go,
Once you have found her, never let her go.


- Song by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II


1.  hear her laughing

She will be in the middle of the action of laughing and you will hear this.

    hear her call

You will hear her call from the beginning through to the end of her action.

We often use these structures with the verbs see and hear:

I saw him walking

- He was already walking when I saw him.

I saw him walk

- I saw the whole action.

2.  When you find

     When you hear

This is the present simple after when to express a future action:

I'll do it when I arrive.

When I arrive means I will arrive some time in the future [not "quando arriverò" as in Italian].

3.  Once you have found her

Once here means immediately after or as soon as and we usually use it in this sense with a perfect tense.  In the song and in the examples below the present perfect is used, even though we are referring to future time:

Once you've done your homework, you can go out.

Once you've read these grammar tips, listen to the song again!

SUBJECT PRONOUNS

We use subject pronouns to avoid repetition of names.

 Replace the words / groups of words in bold with the pronouns  he / she / they:

Mrs. Jones lives in Cardiff.  Mrs. Jones is married.  Mrs. Jones has two sons.  Mrs. Jones also has a sister but her sister doesn’t live in Cardiff.  Her sister lives in Swansea and Mrs. Jones’ sister goes to Cardiff once a week. Mrs. Jones and her sister like  shopping in Cardiff.  Mrs. Jones and her sister go to Howell’s store and Mrs Jones and her sister have tea in town.  Mr. Jones stays at home because Mr. Jones doesn’t like shopping.  Mrs Jones’s sons don’t live in Cardiff because Mrs Jones’ s sons are at university in London.

Highlight the space below for answers:

she she she she she she they they he they

Now replace the words in bold with the pronouns she / we / he / they

My sister lives in Swansea.  My sister comes to Cardiff once a week.  When my sister comes to Cardiff my sister and I go to Howell’s store and my sister and I  have tea in town.  My husband stays at home because my husband doesn’t like shopping.  My sons don’t live in Cardiff because my sons are at university in London.

Highlight the space below for answers:

she she we we he they

CARE WITH THE POSSESSIVE APOSTROPHE

This photo was taken some years ago in Modica. The bar owner has made several mistakes with the apostrophe. Can you find them?

“Modican’s chocolate” is a mistake. To an English speaker, this means that there is only one Modican in the world and he has all the chocolate! There is no need for an apostrophe here as “Modican” is an adjective.

“Sicilian’s wine” means that there is only one Sicilian in the world and he has all the wine! There is no need for an apostrophe here as “Sicilian” is an adjective.

The bar owner has made similar mistakes with “almond’s pudding” and “almond’s nougat”.  “Almond” in these cases is an adjective and does not require an apostrophe.

The possessive apostrophe is used like this:

The girl’s father.
This indicates that the father belongs to the girl.

The girls’ father.
This indicates that the father belongs to more than one girl.

Mary’s garden is beautiful.
This indicates that there is one garden and it belongs to Mary.

Mary’s flowers are beautiful.
This indicates that there are several flowers and they belong to Mary.

The shop’s lights are pretty.
Here we are talking about one shop and the lights that it has.

The shops’ lights are pretty this Christmas.
Here we are talking about more than one shop.

If a word is a plural that does not end in -s we use the singular apostrophe – 's, eg:
The men’s department
The children’s books

We sometimes use an apostrophe to indicate a shop or a surgery, eg:
The butcher's = the butcher’s shop [the word "shop" is understood].
The doctor's = the doctor’s surgery [the word "surgery" is understood].

Exercise
Add the correct apostrophe form to the words in bold:

1.  My parents cottage is in Wales.
2.  She is spending Christmas at her mothers house.
3.  The teachers book is on the table.
4.  The womens cakes are on sale here.
5.  The managers secretary is in her office.
6.  The managers Convention is in Chicago this year.
7.  We are going to the newsagents.
8.  Shakespeares plays are very interesting.
9.  My cousins name is John.
10. My cousins names are John and Susan.
11. I am going to the dentists.
12. “An Englishmans home is his castle.”

Check your answers by highlighting the space below:

1. parents’  2. mother’s  3. teacher’s  4. women’s  5. manager’s  6. managers’  7. newsagent’s  8. Shakespeare’s  9. cousin’s  10. cousins’  11. dentist’s  12. Englishman’s.