COFFEE AND TEA: mayo 2017

jueves, 18 de mayo de 2017

A DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

click here  Monolingual dictionary

click here   Bilingual dictionary
click here URBAN DICTIONARY

Click here   PRONOUNCIATION DICTIONARY

THE PAST TENSE

Use the Simple Past to express the idea that an action started and finished at a specific time in the past.

Examples:

· I saw a movie a few days ago.

· I didn't see a play yesterday.

· Last year, I travelled to Japan.

· Did you have dinner last night?

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.

The Simple Past can be used with a duration which starts and stops in the past. A duration is a longer action often indicated by expressions such as: for two years, for five minutes, all day, all year, etc.

Examples:

· I lived in Brazil for two years.

· They sat at the beach all day.

· How long did you wait for them? We waited for one hour.

The Simple Past can also be used to describe a habit which stopped in the past. It can have the same meaning as "used to." To make it clear that we are talking about a habit, we often add expressions such as often, sometimes, never, when I was a child, when I was younger, etc.

Examples:

· I studied French when I was a child.

· She was shy as a child.

· He used to play the violin.

· Did you use to play a musical instrument when you were a kid?

· She often worked at the movie theatre after school.

· They never went to school, they always skipped class.

The Simple Past can be used together with the past continuous, the past tense interrupted an action which was in progress in the past.

Examples:

· They were playing cards when the phone rang.

· While Sheila was reading outside, it started to rain.

LISTENING TASK

Click on this link and listen

http://www.ivoox.com/2729556

FILM CRITIC (REMAKES)

Listen to a person talking about film remakes and fill in the blanks.

1. Hollywood believes that classic movies need to be______________

2. Remakes are ____________ versions of old films.

3. One of the worst of all is the ____________ version of Lolita.

4. The remake of Planet of the apes has an appalling_______________

5. There are other_____________ remakes that follow the same route.

6. The Stepford wives and Alfie failed miserably at the____________________

7. Psycho can be just as______________ and _________ nearly forty years later.

Check key at the bottom

1.recycled 2.updated 3.1997 4.script 5.recent 6.box office 7.fresh - terrifying

miércoles, 17 de mayo de 2017

PRESENT PERFECT

Spanish & English

En lingüística, el aspecto gramatical o aspecto verbal es una propiedad que poseen los verbos para señalar si la acción que expresan ha concluido o no en el instante de referencia indicado en la oración, es decir, se refiere a los diferentes estados del desarrollo de la acción expresada por el verbo. Así pues, el aspecto es un accidente gramatical que se refiere al desarrollo interno de la acción. No hay desinencias que marquen los diferentes aspectos.

En español, el pretérito perfecto es un tiempo verbal empleado en el discurso hablado de manera habitual, con variaciones regionales en su uso. Ejemplos:

Le he contado a mi madre lo que he visto durante mi visita a Madrid.

He cenado con mis padres.

De manera general, puede decirse que esta forma verbal se usa para referirse a hechos pasados que tienen relación con el ahora del hablante y por eso el pretérito perfecto se asocia a hechos del pasado inmediato que prolongan su influencia hasta el presente.

Por lo tanto, el pretérito perfecto se utiliza para acciones ya realizadas pero que de alguna forma siguen vinculadas con el presente:

· acción pasada reciente realizada en un momento que aún pertenece al presente (esta …, hoy):

Esta semana Antonio ha ordenado su oficina.

· acción realizada con consecuencias presentes o futuras

Ha planeado mantener el orden en el futuro.

Si observamos bien las siguientes oraciones

                        Desde que me he tomado la medicina, me siento mucho mejor.
                        Me he encontrado con Juan y le he contado lo que he hecho este fin de semana.
                        Por fin he conocido a María. Me ha parecido muy simpática.

nos daremos cuenta de que todas hacen referencia a acciones pasadas, que ya han finalizado por completo, pero que tienen aún alguna relación con el tiempo presente. Por todo ello, podemos decir que el pretérito perfecto indica una acción pasada y terminada en una unidad de tiempo que llega hasta el presente.

Como podemos leer en el siguiente párrafo, sirve para hablar de acciones o hechos terminados en un período de tiempo no concluido:

Hoy ha sido un día especial para mí porque mi familia ha venido a visitarme. Por la mañana, hemos desayunado todos juntos y hemos visitado los monumentos. Les ha encantado la ciudad en la que vivo ahora. Nunca he estado tan lejos de la familia durante mucho tiempo.

A continuación, se exponen tres de los distintos aspectos que se emplean en la lengua inglesa:

Habitual: 'Yo paseo hasta mi casa desde el trabajo.' (todos los días)

Progresivo 'Estoy comiendo.' Indica una acción que esta en curso

Perfecto.: 'He ido al cine.' Indica una acción concluida

Present perfect in English

The present perfect tense is used when an action that happened in the past continues to have a strong connection in the present - Mary has fixed my computer (My computer is working now and I'm happy about it!)

So we use this tense when we want to talk about unfinished actions or states or habits that started in the past and continue to the present; it is used with words or expressions of unfinished time - unfinished time that started in the past and continues into the present. (this week, recently, lately ...

I have lived in Bristol since 1984 = and I still do. She has seen Peter twice this week = and the week isn't over yet.)

We use the Present Perfect to say that an action happened at an unspecified time before now. The exact time is not important. You CANNOT use the Present Perfect with specific time expressions such as: yesterday, one year ago, last week, when I was a child, when I lived in Japan, at that moment, that day, one day, etc. We CAN use the Present Perfect with unspecific expressions such as: ever, never, once, many times, several times, before, so far, already, yet, etc.

When we use the Present Perfect it means that something has happened at some point in our lives before now. Remember, the exact time the action happened is not important.

Sometimes, we want to limit the time we are looking in for an experience. We can do this with expressions such as: this month, so far, up to now, etc.

When we use the present perfect, we can define a period of time before now by considering its duration, with for + a period of time, or by considering its starting point, with since + a point in time:

For + a period of time

for six years, for a week, for a month, for hours, for two hours

                        We have taught at this school for a long time.
                        Alice has been married to John for three months.
                        They have been at the hotel for a week.

Since + a point in time

since this morning, since last week, since yesterday
since I was a child, since Wednesday, since 2 o'clock

I have lived in Spain since April 2010.

My brother has been sick since Friday.

They have been studying English since last year.

Already, just and yet can are all used with the present perfect:

Already means 'something has happened sooner than we expected:
'The movie only came out yesterday, but I have already seen it.'

Just means 'a short time ago':
'I have just seen your brother going into the bank with a gun!'

Yet is only used in questions and negative sentences. It means 'something is expected to happen':
'Have you finished the report yet?'
No, I haven't finished it yet.'

jueves, 11 de mayo de 2017

LISTENING TASK

Click on this link and listen:
http://www.ivoox.com/2729585

PARTIES

Listen to three conversations that take place at different parties and decide if the following statements are TRUE or FALSE:

1a. Wendy is Max’s personal assistant.

1b. Wendy is unhappy about her salary

2. She cannot afford to buy a house.

3. He doesn’t like dancing.

Check key at the bottom.

1a – TRUE 1b – FALSE 2 – TRUE 3 - TRUE

jueves, 4 de mayo de 2017

PEOPLE IN THE STREET- USING THE PAST TENSE

Watch the video an do the following exercise matching the people on the left with what they did on the right:

1.DANNY & DINA	A - WORKED
2.YALE	B – WATCHED A FOOTBALL MATCH
3.ASKER	C – WORKED OUT AT THE GYM
4.EDDIE	D – HIS GIRLFRIEND TOOK HIM TO WORK
5.CHARLES	E – WATCHED THE NEWS
6.MARY & HENRY	F – WENT TO WORK
7.MATTHEW	G – READ BOOKS
8.MAUREEN & RAPHAEL	H – TAUGHT AT SCHOOL
9.LIZ & MARK	I – WENT TO TIMES SQUARE
10.MIA & SHAUNA	J – PLAYED VIDEO GAMES
11.REBECCA	K – PACKED A SUITCASE & CAUGHT A CAB
12.ROBERTA	L – ATTENDED A SPEECH
13.TONY	M – DID SOME HOUSEWORK TO KEEP THE HOUSE IN ORDER

Check key at the bottom.

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
C	H	E	J	G	M	D	F	A	I	L	K	B

PRONUNCIATION OF -ED

Pronunciation of -ED