Sunday, November 25, 2012

RELATIVE CLAUSES


We use relative clauses to give additional information about something without starting another sentence. By combining sentences with a relative clause, your text becomes more fluent and you can avoid repeating certain words.

How to Form Relative Clauses Level 2

Imagine, a girl is talking to Tom. You want to know who she is and ask a friend whether he knows her. You could say:
A girl is talking to Tom. Do you know the girl?
That sounds rather complicated, doesn't it? It would be easier with a relative clause: you put both pieces of information into one sentence. Start with the most important thing  – you want to know who the girl is.
Do you know the girl …
As your friend cannot know which girl you are talking about, you need to put in the additional information  – the girl is talking to Tom. Use „the girl“ only in the first part of the sentence, in the second part replace it with the relative pronoun (for people, use the relative pronoun „who“). So the final sentence is:
Do you know the girl who is talking to Tom?

Relative Pronouns Level 2

relative pronounuseexample
whosubject or object pronoun for peopleI told you about the woman who lives next door.
whichsubject or object pronoun for animals and thingsDo you see the cat which is lying on the roof?
whichreferring to a whole sentenceHe couldn’t read which surprised me.
whosepossession for people animals and thingsDo you know the boy whose mother is a nurse?
whomobject pronoun for people, especially in non-defining relative clauses (in defining relative clauses we colloquially prefer who)I was invited by the professor whom I met at the conference.
thatsubject or object pronoun for people, animals and things in defining relative clauses (who or which are also possible)I don’t like the table that stands in the kitchen.

Subject Pronoun or Object Pronoun? Level 2

Subject and object pronouns cannot be distinguished by their forms - who, which, that are used for subject and object pronouns. You can, however, distinguish them as follows:
If the relative pronoun is followed by a verb, the relative pronoun is a subject pronoun. Subject pronouns must always be used.
the apple which is lying on the table
If the relative pronoun is not followed by a verb (but by a noun or pronoun), the relative pronoun is an object pronoun. Object pronouns can be dropped in defining relative clauses, which are then called Contact Clauses.
the apple (which) George lay on the table

Relative Adverbs Level 3

A relative adverb can be used instead of a relative pronoun plus preposition. This often makes the sentence easier to understand.
This is the shop in which I bought my bike.
→ This is the shop where I bought my bike.
relative adverbmeaninguseexample
whenin/on whichrefers to a time expressionthe day when we met him
wherein/at whichrefers to a placethe place where we met him
whyfor whichrefers to a reasonthe reason why we met him

Defining Relative Clauses Level 2

Defining relative clauses (also called identifying relative clauses or restrictive relative clauses) give detailed information defining a general term or expression. Defining relative clauses are not put in commas.
Imagine, Tom is in a room with five girls. One girl is talking to Tom and you ask somebody whether he knows this girl. Here the relative clause defines which of the five girls you mean.
Do you know the girl who is talking to Tom?
Defining relative clauses are often used in definitions.
A seaman is someone who works on a ship.
Object pronouns in defining relative clauses can be dropped. (Sentences with a relative clause without the relative pronoun are called Contact Clauses.)
The boy (who/whom) we met yesterday is very nice.

Non-Defining Relative Clauses Level 4

Non-defining relative clauses (also called non-identifying relative clauses or non-restrictive relative clauses) give additional information on something, but do not define it. Non-defining relative clauses are put in commas.
Imagine, Tom is in a room with only one girl. The two are talking to each other and you ask somebody whether he knows this girl. Here the relative clause is non-defining because in this situation it is obvious which girl you mean.
Do you know the girl, who is talking to Tom?
Note: In non-defining relative clauses, who/which may not be replaced with that.
Object pronouns in non-defining relative clauses must be used.
Jim, who/whom we met yesterday, is very nice.

How to Shorten Relative Clauses? Level 3

Relative clauses with whowhichthat as subject pronoun can be replaced with a participle. This makes the sentence shorter and easier to understand.
I told you about the woman who lives next door. – I told you about the woman living next door.
Do you see the cat which is lying on the roof? – Do you see the cat lying on the roof?

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Polite Request exercises


Requests

Choose the most appropriate answer for expressing the idea specified in parentheses.
1.       I speak to Mr. Smith, please? (Formal polite request)
2.       you open the window, please? It's hot in here. (Polite request)
3.       buying two loaves of bread on your way home? (Polite request)
4. Would you mind if I       your dictionary for an hour or so? (Polite request)
5. Would you mind if I       come to your party? (Asking for permission)
6. Mrs. Redding,       lend me two hundred dollars till next week, please? (Polite request)
7. Would you mind       here? I have a headache. (Polite request)
8. Betty,       help me with this grammar exercise, please? (Informal request)
9. Could I use your cell phone, please? – Sorry, you       . (Permission not given)
10. Could I stay here for a while? – Yes, you       . (Permission given)

Polite Requests

Passive Voice Exercises


Hadrian's Wall

Fill the gaps with the correct tenses (active or passive voice).
  1. In the year 122 AD, the Roman Emperor Hadrian (visit)  his provinces in Britain.
  2. On his visit, the Roman soldiers (tell)  him that Pictish tribes from Britain's north (attack)  them.
  3. So Hadrian (give)  the order to build a protective wall across one of the narrowest parts of the country.
  4. After 6 years of hard work, the Wall (finish)  in 128.
  5. It (be)  117 kilometres long and about 4 metres high.
  6. The Wall (guard)  by 15,000 Roman soldiers.
  7. Every 8 kilometres there (be)  a large fort in which up to 1,000 soldiers (find)  shelter.
  8. The soldiers (watch)  over the frontier to the north and (check)  the people who (want)  to enter or leave Roman Britain.
  9. In order to pass through the Wall, people (must go)  to one of the small forts that (serve)  as gateways.
  10. Those forts (call)  milecastles because the distance from one fort to another (be)  one Roman mile (about 1,500 metres).
  11. Between the milecastles there (be)  two turrets from which the soldiers (guard)  the Wall.
  12. If the Wall (attack)  by enemies, the soldiers at the turrets (run)  to the nearest milecastle for help or (light)  a fire that (can / see)  by the soldiers in the milecastle.
  13. In 383 Hadrian's Wall (abandon) .
  14. Today Hadrian's Wall (be)  the most popular tourist attraction in northern England.
  15. In 1987, it (become)  a UNESCO World Heritage Site.


Use of Passive

Passive voice is used when the focus is on the action. It is not important or not known, however, who or what is performing the action.
Example: My bike was stolen.
In the example above, the focus is on the fact that my bike was stolen. I do not know, however, who did it.
Sometimes a statement in passive is more polite than active voice, as the following example shows:
Example: A mistake was made.
In this case, I focus on the fact that a mistake was made, but I do not blame anyone (e.g. You have made a mistake.).

Form of Passive

Subject + finite form of to be + Past Participle (3rd column of irregular verbs)
Example: A letter was written.
When rewriting active sentences in passive voice, note the following:
  • the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence
  • the finite form of the verb is changed (to be + past participle)
  • the subject of the active sentence becomes the object of the passive sentence (or is dropped)

Examples of Passive Level 2

TenseSubjectVerbObject
Simple PresentActive:Ritawritesa letter.
Passive:A letteris writtenby Rita.
Simple PastActive:Ritawrotea letter.
Passive:A letterwas writtenby Rita.
Present PerfectActive:Ritahas writtena letter.
Passive:A letterhas been writtenby Rita.
Future IActive:Ritawill writea letter.
Passive:A letterwill be writtenby Rita.
HilfsverbenActive:Ritacan writea letter.
Passive:A lettercan be writtenby Rita.

Examples of Passive Level 4

TenseSubjectVerbObject
Present ProgressiveActive:Ritais writinga letter.
Passive:A letteris being writtenby Rita.
Past ProgressiveActive:Ritawas writinga letter.
Passive:A letterwas being writtenby Rita.
Past PerfectActive:Ritahad writtena letter.
Passive:A letterhad been writtenby Rita.
Future IIActive:Ritawill have writtena letter.
Passive:A letterwill have been writtenby Rita.
Conditional IActive:Ritawould writea letter.
Passive:A letterwould be writtenby Rita.
Conditional IIActive:Ritawould have writtena letter.
Passive:A letterwould have been writtenby Rita.

Passive Sentences with Two Objects Level 3

Rewriting an active sentence with two objects in passive voice means that one of the two objects becomes the subject, the other one remains an object. Which object to transform into a subject depends on what you want to put the focus on.
 SubjectVerbObject 1Object 2
Active:Ritawrotea letterto me.
Passive:A letterwas writtento meby Rita.
Passive:Iwas writtena letterby Rita.
.
As you can see in the examples, adding by Rita does not sound very elegant. Thats why it is usually dropped.

Personal and Impersonal Passive

Personal Passive simply means that the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence. So every verb that needs an object (transitive verb) can form a personal passive.
Example: They build houses. – Houses are built.
Verbs without an object (intransitive verb) normally cannot form a personal passive sentence (as there is no object that can become the subject of the passive sentence). If you want to use an intransitive verb in passive voice, you need an impersonal construction – therefore this passive is calledImpersonal Passive.
Example: he says – it is said
Impersonal Passive is not as common in English as in some other languages (e.g. German, Latin). In English, Impersonal Passive is only possible with verbs of perception (e. g. say, think, know).
Example: They say that women live longer than men. – It is said that women live longer than men.
Although Impersonal Passive is possible here, Personal Passive is more common.
Example: They say that women live longer than men. – Women are said to live longer than men.
The subject of the subordinate clause (women) goes to the beginning of the sentence; the verb of perception is put into passive voice. The rest of the sentence is added using an infinitive construction with 'to' (certain auxiliary verbs and that are dropped).
Sometimes the term Personal Passive is used in English lessons if the indirect object of an active sentence is to become the subject of the passive sentence.