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Showing posts from March, 2011

Phrasal Verbs And Its Types

Phrasal verbs    are verbs that change their meaning in some way by the addition of one or more particles (prepositions or adverbs of words like at , out , after , for , etc.) For examples: Pure Verb : Take Phrasal verb : Take off There are four types of phrasal verbs: Types 1: When the object is a full noun the particle may come either before or after it. For example: I will take off my jacket . or I will take my jacket off . When the object is an objective pronoun like / him /, / her /, / you /, / us /, / them /, etc. it must come between the verb and the particle. For example: Give it up, now!   Types 2: This type consists of pure verb, particle, preposition and the object. The particles always precedes the pure verb. Besides, the particle and the preposition can not be separated from the stem. (except with the verb "be" which is used in negative sentence, see on (b) below) For example: (a) She always gave in to his demands . (b) I was not about to do the pr

How To Write A Simple Passage

Writing a passage will measure our skill in reading comprehension Sometimes we find it difficult how to make relation each paragraphs into one idea. Here, you will learn how to write a simple passage: 1. Decides what topic will be written. 2. Find the suitable title for your topic. 3. Write main idea for each paragraphs Let's do it~! At first we decide the topic, for example, "What we usually do in the night weekend". And then try to find the suitable title for the topic, say; "Playing chess in the night weekend". Here's the main idea for each paragraphs: make a phone call to my classmate, Rudi In his house Playing chess with him Going home The forth points above is the main idea which will become a mirror of the whole paragraphs. Here's the illustration! Playing chess in the night weekend I stayed at home in the night weekend. I didn't have a plan what to do and I really feel bored of watching TV alone. Then I called my classmate, Rudi

Position Of Adverbs In Sentences

Adverb of Manner Do you still remember what an adverb is? Adverb has its own position in sentences. Adverb of manner (e.g. fast, well, quickly, carefully, etc) are generally placed after the verb or after the object . For example: (a) It is raining heavily . (b) She speaks English well . Notice that, in (a),  the verb raining is the verb and heavily is placed after it. In (b), well is placed after the object English . Adverb of Place/Time Adverb of place (e.g. here, there, on the wall, in the box, in the classroom, etc.) or adverb of time (e.g. today, now, yesterday, next month, two weeks ago, etc.) is usually placed after the verb of intransitive (e.g. go, come, stay, sit, stand, sleep, etc.) Notice that verbs like go, come, stay, sit, stand, sleep is in intransitive verbs forms . Therefore, place the adverb of time or adverb of place after it. For examples: She goes to school . I come here on time. I just stay at home today. He always sleeps in the bathroom. Words un

Present Perfect Continuous Tense

Usage: Present perfect continuous tense is used when we would like to express something happened that was began in the past time and still continue to the present time and we do not know if it still happens in the future. In other words, there is a relation that indicates duration of an activity which is began in the past time till now.  From here, we can see that there are three main points in the tense that we have to know: Activity in the past time Present Activity Possibililty in the future For example: Past event was began > Budi did his homework yesterday . At a time of speaking > Now he is still doing it. Possibility > We do not know if he will finish his homework one or two seconds in the future or not. Look at this following illustration ! For Preposition for is usually used in the present perfect continuous tense. This indicates duration (past > present). For example: I have been doing this homework for 2 days . Since Since is used to i

Step By Step

Step 1 Step 2 Step 2-A Step 2-B Step 3 Step 4 Step 5 Step 6 Step 7 Step 8 Step 9 Step 10 Step 11 Step 12 Step 13 Step 14 The orders above must be learned step by step without Jumping to the next one if you don't understand your current lessons yet!

Grammar In Focus

1. The Use Of Be 2. Command And Prohibition 3. Pronoun 4. Infinitive 5. Polite Requests 6. Question Tags 7. Degrees Of Comparison 8. Expressing "There is" and "There are" 9. Modal Auxiliary 10. Articles 11. Adverb Of Place 12. Indefinite Pronoun 13. Adjective Clauses I 14. Adjective Clauses II 15. Adverb Of Manner 16. Compound Noun 15. Transitive And Intransitive Verbs 16. Conjunction 17. Determiners 18. Exclamatory Sentence 19. Passive Voice I 20. Passive Voice II 21. Passive Voice III 22. Phrases 23. Clauses 24. Conditional Sentence 25. Noun Clause 26. Gerund 27. Direct And Indirect Speech 28. Participial Adjectives 29. Hidden Negative Meaning 30. Participial Phrases 31. Should And Had Better 32. Adverb Clause 33. Structure Of Preposition 34. Structure Of Adverb 35. Structure Of Adjective 36. Structure Of Noun 37. Transformative Auxiliary 38. Does Verb Agree At The Subject? 39. Direct And Indirect Speech II 40. Letters And

Dialectical Hindrance In English Pronunciation

Introduction For some people in Indonesia, speaking English is so difficult. This is caused by factors of dialectical function in original native languages. As you know that Indonesia has many native languages such as, Sundanese, Balinese, Javanese, etc. All natives languages interfere the system of their communication. Speaking English which is rich of the system of structures makes them frustrated to learn English. This page, I hope, will help them to know more about what they feel. For my beloved visitors, my observation and research concerning this study, of course, is not perfect yet. Therefore, further discussion will be appreciated to find the best solution for English learners. This is a mirror for other countries which have the same problem in speaking English. Point of Discussion : Case Study in Javanese Native Language In this opportunity, I would like to discuss about Javanese native language. I can say that there are so many Javanese speaks English fluently. " Fluen

Adjectives And Its Kinds

Definition . Adjective can be defined as a word which modifies a noun or pronoun. Here, the noun is a head word in a phrase or in a sentence. Study this follows! (a) I am happy . (b) She is my cute baby . in (a), the word happy is (pure) adjectives *). Happy modifies subjective pronoun ( I ). In (b), the word cute is an adjective and modifies the noun baby . In (a), adjective is used in a sentence, and in (b), cute is used in a phrase (cute baby). Why To Modify As a modifier, adjective has a main function to modify noun or pronoun. In other words, it gives a new information for the noun or the pronoun to make it more clearly for listeners or readers. Noun as an Adjective A noun can be as an adjective when it modifies (or give new information to) other noun in a phrase. For examples: Biology book Biology is a noun and book is too. Which modifies which? Here, biology modifies book . When there is no biology , book does not have more clearly about what kinds of bo

Idiom: Mistakes and Errors

Back the wrong horse    If you back or bet on the wrong horse, for example the loser in a contest, match or election, you support the wrong person. When I voted for him, I was convinced he would win, but I backed the wrong horse! Bark up the wrong tree   A person who is barking up the wrong tree is doing the wrong thing, because their beliefs or ideas are incorrect or mistaken. The police are barking up the wrong tree if they think Johnny stole the car.     He can't drive! Eat crow/eat humble pie   If you eat crow (or humble pie), you have to admit that you were wrong about something and apologize.   He had no option but to eat crow and admit that his analysis was wrong. Eat one's words    If you eat your words, you have to admit that what you said before was wrong. After predicting disastrous results, he had to eat his words with the success of the new product. Freudian slip   This refers to a mistake made by a speaker which is considered to reveal their true thoughts or f

Can vs Able To

Can is one of the members of modal auxiliary; can, may, must, will/shall. Can usually expresses the idea that something is possible because certain characteristics or conditions exist. Can combines the idea of possibility and ability. For examples: Tina is smart. She can complete the test successfully. The previous statement Tina is smart is to emphasize the auxiliary can complete.... . In this case, there is a possibility of an action which is done by subject, Tina. In other words, It is possible for Tina to complete the test because she is smart. Here, can combines the idea of possibility as well as Tina's ability. Cannot or Can't In negation, we can put negative term 'not' in the end of the can. This is to express impossibility of inability. For examples: Tina is not smart. She can't complete the test successfully. or, Tina is stupid . She can't complete the test successfully. Note: negative can can be written as cannot

Teaching English: Method and Strategies

There are many methods and strategies in teaching English. For English teachers in Indonesia, as a second language, English language teaching is its own challenges because teachers have to deal with so many systems, traditions, behaviors, culture and styles and require ongoing research. All native systems, of course, interfere the system (method) of teaching English. Teachers should pay close attention to both regional culture and the English subject. These two should go together to reach the teaching targets. Reading English curriculum which is designed to achieve the best target, for English teachers, is something simple instead of implementing it. Teachers is not not only required to teach based on the curriculum but also more than that. In other words, teacher must be more creative to do trial and error and some research to find the best solution in related to achieving English teaching target. Teaching high school students is easier than kids. Kids is spesific. Their world, ps

English For Flasher

Welcome to English For Flasher! I don't mean to make you shock for the articles now. I can say that this is not a lesson. This is made in relation to some people who knows me as an English instructor in my village who asks me (about English lessons), like a "flasher". Why Flasher? Have you ever seen a flash, sometimes it comes suddenly and fades or goes aways in other time. Here's what happen actually, yesterday when I was sitting in the living room and reading a daily afternoon newspaper, my neighbor, Jimmy, asked my about English. Jimmy : Hi Herman! Me : Hi! Jimmy : I wanna ask you something 'coz my son asked me about English lesson that I never know what that was. Me : What did he ask you about? Jimmy : What is " -Ing "? Me : Oops! Where do I have to start to explain it then? ( thinking hard ..... .) Jimmy : Can you help me for that, herman? Me : Sure, jimmy! Come to see you son! I'm going to explain him what that is actually. ( smile ..... )

English Writing: Lexical vs Structural Meaning Word

English writing is an activity of writing something in English structure. This can be a passage, a story, a poem or a personal diary. When we write a sentence in English, as a second language, that will be hard to do. Writing activities needs more energy instead of speaking. In speaking, we just know everything in mind and express it orally which can be listened to someone else or listeners. In writing, we also meet readers and check if we write well or not. Learning English grammar which is full of rules and formula, sometimes, takes a lot of time to understand  because of varieties found in grammar lessons. In Grammar, we will find 16 tenses, verb-patterns, parts of speech, regular or irregular words, figure of speech and many things. This, sometimes, makes us bored and tired. In this opportunity, I would like to invite you to discuss English Writing in concerning to lexical meaning word and structural meaning word. Actually, this discussion had been done in the previous lessons. B

English Grammar vs English Speaking

Perhaps , there will be a contradiction when I launch this title: " English Grammar vs English Speaking ".  For native speakers, the differences will be something ... like a joke or a clown. I can't believe in the statements, like "Learning English Conversation is better than English Grammar .." or "Speaking is the most important things instead of writing or learning English structure which is full of formula or something (they said) annoying. Oops!. What a world ...! What exactly happen then? Learning English will be automatically directed to 4 things: 1. Listening 2. Speaking 3. Writing 4. Reading I'm not talking about the method of teaching English here, I mean .. which one is better? Listening is the first or speaking?, writing is in the end or reading? Well, Absolutely not. But one thing that I want to emphasize to you in this chance is, we'll be like a clown when trying to compare the two main subject; Writing (grammar) or Speaking?. Ope

Noun: Kinds Of Nouns

Definition Noun is one of parts of speech as well as one of parts of a full sentence beside other words, like pronoun (subjective pronoun) and phrases. Noun is also used as the name of a person, place, thing (physical, e.g. table, book, pen, house, building, etc. or abstract, e.g. development, betterment, learning, etc).  Kinds Of Nouns Proper noun is a noun which refers to particular thing, like Mr.Brown, India,  Bali, Hendric. Here, proper means one's own (Wren & Martin, 1996). For examples, Mr. Brown is a lawyer. Mr. Brown is a proper noun and it positions at a subject.  Common noun is a general noun. In other words, common noun refers to something general or the opposite of proper noun, like country, man, building, etc.            Please compare the two opposites below for your review:            Mr. Brown >< man            India >< country            Building >< house Common noun includes a collective noun . A collective noun is the name

Grammar In Focus

Learning our own native language particularly a foreign language, for some reasons, gets difficult and sometimes it needs more energy, time and money to spend. Learning English Grammar is like doing something with math subject which is full of formula and the rules that learners must obey. Otherwise, the target in perfection in the subject will be in vain. Why Learn English? English language is an international language which is spoken by 70% non or native speakers in the world places English language is a primary subject at school and this is supported by courses which established to train or to learn English out of school as formal education place. This state, actually, produces English speakers with spesific needs and purposes. However, all programs and plans, in fact, achieve nothing and perhaps, only 20% the formal and non formal education reach. Therefore, we can find more than hundreds of programs and sites which offer the same program and to train their students to be able to

Part Of Speech

Parts of speech or English Parts of Speech is words, which are classified, which are used in expressing a sentence or even interjection expression. Each of the parts is not all used in a full sentence. It depends on the speakers and the message conveyed. There are over thousands of words in English and Experts classified the words into parts to make it easy, regularly, learned by all learners as well as learners as their second language. To define the parts of speech, experts and other resources has their own point of views. EnglishClub.com has unique explanation about parts of speech instead of defining it. "........... When we want to build a house, we use concrete to make the foundations or base. We use bricks to make the walls. We use window frames to make the windows, and door frames to make the doorways. And we use cement to join them all together. Each part of the house has its own job. And when we want to build a sentence, we use the different types of word. Eac

Cedal : A Case Of English Pronunciation

Cedal ( Java , Indonesia) is a kind of physical defect in a part of tongue - tongue is shorter than normal tongue as well mostly chinese that have the same short tongue. It influences one's pronounciation of / r / as a tap or as / l /. However, This disability even produces good effect in pronunciation. My friend, Rizal Magug , one of Ganesya English College, in lampung province - Indonesia, in fact, can pronounce words fluently and native speakers who taught him said that his pronunciation is very excellent. In the long run, he got ten in pronunciation subject. Considering the case, I am interested in writing in this page and discuss it here. According to wikipedia.org , Cadel or cedal a person's inability to pronounce a letter, so it will pronounce a letter to other letters (the most common is to say the 'R' into the letter 'L', this phenomenon is related to en: Rhotacism ). This inability is generally experienced at the age of the children. However peopl

How To Write In MLA Style And Format

MLA is a modern language association . It's a kind of the method in typing a paper. MLA is the most commonly used to write papers and cite sources within the liberal arts and humanities. This following section is to describe how to type MLA Style and format ; Set the font to 12-point Times New Roman . MS-Word documents often default to 10-point pitch.  This is too small for most people to read easily. 1.From the menu, select "Format | Font..." 2.Click on the "Font" tab (if it is not already on top) 3.Set the font for Times New Roman, Regular, and 12. 4. Click "OK" or, to reset the default, click "Default..." and then "Yes" Set the page margins to one inch all around 1.From the menu, select "File | Page Setup..." and click the Margins tab. 2.Set the top, bottom, left, and right margins to 1 inch. 3.Click "OK" or, to reset the default, click "Default..." and then "Yes". Set the line