E - PORTFOLIO
GRAMMAR III
Bryam Castillo
Advisability in the PAST The past is the past, we cannot change it. However, humans are always thinking that if they had done this or that, the present would have been different. Sometimes you feel that you had to do something, nonetheless you did not; some other times you feel that you did not have to do something, though, you did it. It is called regret or even blame, and there are some expressions you can use when you feel it. Those expressions are also useful when you want to claim about someone else's actions.
Structure: Should + have + Past Participle. Could + have + Past Participle. Might + have + Past Participle. Ought to + have + Past Participle.
EXAMPLE
TEXT
Mr. Smith has died and his whole family is devastated. John told his mother that he was really sad because he could have spent more quality time with his grandfather, but he had preferred to go out with his friends the whole month. John´s mother couldn´t hide her tears and said that it was all her fault. She thought that she should have cooked healthy food for his father, instead of giving him that junk food she used to buy for him. John´s father started saying that Mr. Smith probably died of sadness because they were displeased; “I should not have argued with him” he thought. Suddenly, the doctor arrived to the waiting room and looked at their faces. “His death was caused by natural reasons. Nobody could´ve done something to help him”, said the doctor.
Activity ¡Match the sentences! 1. 2.
3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
My girlfriend left me. She won´t be able to finish her dinner. This movie is really boring. I think that dress looks awful on her. This food is burnt. My feet are freezing! I was really late for work today. The interview didn´t go to well.
A- I shouldn´t have gone to bed so late last night. B- I should have prepared more thoroughly. C- I should have put on thicker socks. D- She should have chosen a different colour. F- I should have been nicer to her. G - We should have chosen a romantic one. H - She shouldn´t have ordered so much. I - You shouldn´t have left it in the oven so long.
Passive
CAUSATIVE English language has a peculiarity, and it is that English has a specific grammatical structure to express that you paid (or persuaded) someone else to do something for you. In most cases it is related to services like cutting you hair, painting your house, washing your car, doing your nails, etc. This way of talking is really useful in daily conversations so, it is important to learn it, or at least to be able to recognize it.
Structure: Subject + have/get + object + past participle verb (+ agent)
EXAMPLES
•I have my nails made by my neighbor. •I will get my car washed tomorrow. Both examples mean that you pay or arrange for having something done by other person. An agent is the person or thing that does the action for you; you might or might not include it just like you do with passive voice statements.
You can conjugate the verbs get and have in any time and you can even add modals before them. It is important to stand out that when you use the verbs have and get in simple present it means that you are talking about a habit. For example, the sentence “I have my hair cut at Helen’s” means exactly the same to “I cut my hair at Helen´s”.
Activity Change this affirmative sentences to passive causative sentences. 1 - The mechanic changed the oil in my car. ____________________________________ 2 - The hairdresser cut my hair in a completely different style. ____________________________________ 3 - A decorator has repainted our house. ____________________________________ 4 - A friend of mine, who ﾌ《 an electrician, is going to repair my DVD player next week. ____________________________________ 5 - My jacket is being cleaned at a specialist cleaner ﾌ《. ____________________________________
6 - The town hall has just been rebuilt for the council. ___________________________________
Speculations in the These expressions might be used when someone tells you a story, so you can show him certain degree of empathy about what happened to him; when you read a history book and guess what someone did or thought, or even in daily conversations.
PAST
Depending on the modal you use, you express a different view of the event. Use “must” when you believe that something is/was certain. Use “might” when you think there is/was a possibility, and “cannot” when you absolutely think something isn´t/wasn´t possible.
•Must + have + p. particple •Might + have + p. particple •Cannot + have + p. particple
EXAMPLES •Someone says: “I was kidnapped once”. Then, you might say: “It must´ve been a nightmare”. •Your son says: “Mom, I swear I attended to high-school today”. However, you know it is a lie, so you could say: “You can´t have been there, I saw you fooling around in the park”.
You are talking about the Nazca lines in Peru and someone says: “Aliens might’ve done the Nazca lines”.
Activity
Look carefully this image. It is a pictograph story drawn by the north american indigenous tribe called the Cherokees. Try to guess the meaning of the symbols and recreate the full story using expressions such as Must have, Could have, Might have or cannot have meant this an that. It starts from the center of the spiral. The real meaning is in the next page.
Interpretation Two brothers, one of them a chief, by the names of Spotted Elk and White Beaver, together with their tribe, experienced a severe winter of deep snow and stormy weather, and three members of the same tribe froze to death. They suffered a famine and their wives were very hungry and their little girl, two years old, had the whooping cough. They sent for the Medicine Man but he did no good and the little girl died. Everybody grieved greatly.
Then the top man of the tribe had a conference with the wise man of the village who told them that the sun would soon come out, the weather would get warm, the rivers would run and the buffalo would come near to their camp and they would have plenty of food. What he said came true and in three days the lookout on the hill signaled that he had discovered the buffalo. They secured a large quantity of meat which they cured on the drying poles and were quite happy, but they did not forget to place a flag of sorrow on the little girl's grave.
Past Unreal Also called “third conditional” Basically it is used to imagine a different result of a situation that happened in the past, based on hypothetical changes done before that situation. In fact, this structure is commonly used when you don´t want to face the truth and start making excuses.
Conditionals Since this is a conditional, it is formed by 2 linked sentences. One will have the word “if” plus a past perfect clause. The other one is basically a present perfect sentence, with the only difference that it will have the modal “would” before the auxiliary “have”.
Structure: •If + subject + had + past participle verb + (rest of the clause) •Subject + Would + have + past participle + (rest on the clause)
EXAMPLES •If I had known the truth, I would have told you immediately. •I would not have lost my keys if I had bought that keychain yesterday. •If I had had more time, I would have painted the whole house. •I would have called the police if I had seen the burglar.
Notice that when the “if” clause goes at first the other one is separated by a coma (,). However, when the “would” clause starts the statement a coma is not necessary.
Activity
Complete the sentences guessing the result s ans causes of the following hypothetical facts. •
If my family had moved abroad when I was a kid,___
•
If I had been born 100 years ago, __________________
•
If I’d married someone famous, ___________________
•
If I I’d been born an animal, _______________________
•___________________________, I would’ve been much happier •___________________________, I would be much wealthier today •____________________________, I would’ve got much better marks at school •____________________________, I would’ve hit him or her
Phrasal
Verbs
Phrasal verbs are probably the biggest wall between you and the proficient English you want to reach. It is not the best introduction ever, but the reality. A phrasal verb is basically a compound verb formed by a common verb plus a particle (which is almost a preposition with another name). When both are together they create a new verb with a new meaning, which is, in most cases, absolutely different from the meaning of the verb that composes it. In this manner the verb “blow” plus the particle “up” means “explode”. Finally, there are hundreds of them.
Examples:
Come back Return Pick up Improve Figure out Understand Show up Appear Look into Research Sit down Take a seat
Phrasal
Verbs
It might sound discouraging, I know. The good part is that phrasal verbs are used EVERY DAY by native speakers. If you manage to tame them, you will be able to have a conversation in a pretty natural way, besides the fact that you won´t misunderstand what people might say. Having said that, you´d better face them up with optimism and enthusiasm. It is not necessary to say that showing all of them here is impossible. The best recommendation I can give you is to learn them in little groups instead of all mixed. For example, choose one verb and search how many different particles you can add it to create a new verb. Or choose one particle and combine it with different verbs.
Phrasal Phrasal verbs are divided in two groups: Transitive verbs and intransitive verbs. The first ones are the ones that need a direct object in order to get the complete meaning of the clause. On the other hand, intransitive verbs are the ones that do not need direct objects to be understood; hence, they are usually followed by adverbs.
Verbs The transitive phrasal verbs can be splitted or not. You can say “I will take the dishes away” or “I will take away the dishes” and both are correct. Nonetheless, if the direct object is a pronoun, you should put it between the verb and the particle without exceptions. In this manner, the phrase “She asked me to help out her” is completely WRONG.
Transitive Phrasal Verbs: •Call off (s.t) Cancel I´ll call off the meeting. •Take away (s.t) Remove Could you take away the dishes? •Help out (s.o Assist She asked me to help her out. Intransitive Phrasal Verbs: •Get ahead make progress She is getting ahead in her career. •Catch on Become popular Juggling has been catching on in my country.
Activity Here you have nine verbs and nine particles. Try to create phrasal verbs without repeating any o the particles. Then, write a sentence using the phrasal verbs you chose. More than nine sentences can be done. Some verbs might use two or three different particles.
1. Bring ( )
A- Over
2. Fill ( )
B- Off
3. Call ( )
C- On
4. Cut ( )
D- Out
5. Take ( )
F- Down
6. Look ( )
G- Away
7. Put ( )
H- Back
8. Turn ( )
I- Up
9. Work ( )
J- In
Thoughts
This quarter I have learnt much new information. I am satisfied. Even when many of the topics we had already seen them during Grammar II, Grammar III has been absolutely different. It might be because now we have the time to focus our mind on those little details that we hadn´t had time to focus on the first time we saw those topics. I have learnt about topics that were completely new for me like passive causative and some punctuation rules. I have also recognized how important the phrasal verbs are in terms of reaching a real proficiency in English. Honestly I had been avoiding them; nonetheless, I have already declared them the war. I strongly believe that this course has been useful not just for me, but everyone. Learning a language is not just about being able to speak it; it also requires being able to recognize why you speak like you speak, and when and how you can play with the rules. That is exactly what we have learnt here.