The Four Sentence Structures

The Four Sentence Structures

The simple sentence is one of the four basic sentence structures. The other structures are the compound sentence, the complex sentence, and the compound-complex sentence.

• Simple sentence: I purchased a tour guide and a travel journal at the bookstore.
• Compound sentence: I purchased a tour guide and a travel journal, but the bookstore was out of maps.
• Complex sentence: Because I was planning to visit Tokyo, I purchased a tour guide and a travel journal.
• Compound-complex sentence: While Mary waited, I purchased a tour guide and a travel journal at the bookstore, and then the two of us went to dinner.  

Constructing a Simple Sentence

At its most basic, the simple sentence contains a subject and a verb:

• I am running.
• Kelsey loves potatoes.
• Mom is a teacher.

However, simple sentences also can contain adjectives and adverbs, even a compound subject:

• He can follow that path and see the waterfall.
• You and your friends can see the waterfall from the trail.
• I was wearing my navy linen suit, a crisp white shirt, a red tie, and black loafers.

The trick is to look for multiple independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction, a semicolon, or a colon. These are characteristics of a compound sentence. A simple sentence, on the other hand, only has a single subject-verb relationship.

As you can see from the above examples, a simple sentence—even with a lengthy predicate—is still grammatically less complex than the other types of sentence structures.

How does this make you feel?

 


"The Present" 



Please watch this video and then send me an email with a short description of how this makes you feel as you watch it.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjqiU5FgsYc

The Can Can ....

 Watch this video with the can can girls and read along with the text of the song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzZg9rMoXWA

As you probably already know, can is a verb that means ‘to be able to’ or ‘to have the possibility to.’ However, can has many other meanings. As a noun, a can is an aluminum container, especially one used for liquids, or the quantity held by one of them. In US English, it is also a big container for garbage. Informally, in US English, it either means ‘the toilet’ or ‘prison.’ As a verb, can means ‘to preserve food by putting it in a can.’ Informally, in US English, it means ‘to fire someone from a job’ or ‘to put an end to something.’

Example sentences

• Joanne bought a can of soda to drink with her lunch.
• Harry divided the can of soup into three portions.
• Carol took her trash out and put it in the garbage can.
• Luke hates it when his girlfriend walks into the bathroom while he's on the can.
• Wendy ended up in the can for her part in the robbery.
• In the autumn, I can tomatoes from my garden so that I'll have vegetables for the winter.
• The boss canned Neil for always being late to work.
• The kids were making too much noise, so their dad told them to can it.

Words often used with can

in the can (informal): finished. Example: “Everyone on the team was relieved to finally have the project in the can.”

In pop culture

You might have heard of the can-can, the famous music hall dance. There is a 1960 movie called Can-Can, about a Parisian nightclub where the dance is performed, and you can see the movie trailer here:

Listen and read

A short post this week.   Listening and reading at the same time will help you to improve your English.

1.   Listen to the audio
2.  Listen and read along with the subtitles
3.  Listen and write out the story without looking at the subtitles.

https://www.rong-chang.com/ne/es/es009.htm

Happy Easter and the meaning of Easter

 Easter is the Christian Church's oldest and most important festival. It celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ three days after his execution by crucifixion.

The main Easter festival is from Good Friday (when Jesus was killed by crucifixion) to Easter Monday three days later (when Jesus was found to have come back to life or resurrected).  
Easter Sunday, also called Easter Day, is the principal day on which Easter is celebrated.

Two powerful symbols emerged from Easter: the cross on which Jesus died (and which became the official symbol of the Christian Church); and the egg, with its meaning of birth (symbolizing Jesus's resurrection or return to life).

Easter is a "moveable feast" - which means that its date "moves" from year to year. Unlike Christmas Day, which is always on December 25, Easter is not always on the same date (though it always falls somewhere between 21 March and 25 April).

 

Vocabulary

celebrate (verb): publicly mark a happy event
resurrection (noun): coming back to life; rebirth
execution (noun): putting someone to death
crucifixion (noun): killing somebody by nailing them to a cross

The cream of the crop

the cream of the crop = la crème de la crème

If something or someone is in the cream of the crop, they are among the best of a class of things or people.

Listen listen listen

 




Students sometimes say: 'I don't listen to the BBC news on the radio because it's too fast for me and I can't understand it.' That's a pity! When it's too fast for you, when you can't understand it, that is exactly when you NEED to listen to it!!!

How can you improve if you don't listen and practice?

When you were a baby, did you understand your own language? When you were 3 weeks old, or 2 months, or 1 year, did you understand everything? Of course not! But you learned to understand by listening. Think about it. You learned to understand your own language by listening, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. After that, you learned to speak. Then you learned to read. And then you learned to write.
 Try listening today.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live:bbc_radio_fourfm

Mardi Gras

Pancake Day or Mardi Gras

Americans are often surprised to hear that British people have a special day in celebration of pancakes. After all, American pancakes are a typical breakfast or brunch meal. However, pancakes in the UK are much thinner than American pancakes because they don't use baking powder, so they are not fat and fluffy and, instead, are more like French crepes.

Why pancakes?

Pancake Day is actually another name for Shrove Tuesday, which takes place 40 days before Easter Sunday and marks the start of Lent. In some other countries this day is called Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, because it's when people ate all the good things for the last time before starting 40 days of religious fasting for Lent. Milk, eggs and oil or butter might not seem special nowadays, but hundreds of years ago they were one of the few ways of turning a basic recipe of flour and water into something richer.

Recipe

To make about 12 pancakes you need:

100g plain flour
2 large eggs
300ml milk
15ml of oil, plus extra for frying
a pinch of salt

1. Put the flour, milk, oil and pinch of salt into a bowl. Whisk them together, then add the eggs and whisk again until you have a smooth liquid called batter.
2. Leave the batter to rest for 30 minutes if you have time.
3. Put a medium-size frying pan over medium heat and put a little oil in the pan.
4. When the oil is hot, pour a large spoonful of batter into the pan and move the pan so that the batter covers the bottom of the pan. 
5. Cook the pancakes for one minute on each side until they are golden.
6. Serve the pancakes warm with the topping you like best. 

idioms in English for practice

This week we are practicing idioms.

There are so many in the English language.

Here are a few of the most common ones;   Can you find the equivalent expressions in French?

Common English idioms & expressions

These English idioms are used quite regularly    

You may not hear them every day, but they will be very familiar to any native English speaker.

You can be confident using any of them when the context is appropriate.

Idiom	Meaning	Usage
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush	What you have is worth more than what you might have later	by itself
A penny for your thoughts	Tell me what you're thinking	by itself
A penny saved is a penny earned	Money you save today you can spend later	by itself
A perfect storm	the worst possible situation	as part of a sentence
A picture is worth 1000 words	Better to show than tell	by itself
Actions speak louder than words	Believe what people do and not what they say	by itself
Add insult to injury	To make a bad situation worse	as part of a sentence
Barking up the wrong tree	To be mistaken, to be looking for solutions in the wrong place	as part of a sentence
Birds of a feather flock together	People who are alike are often friends (usually used negatively)	by itself
Bite off more than you can chew	Take on a project that you cannot finish	as part of a sentence
Break the ice	Make people feel more comfortable	as part of a sentence
By the skin of your teeth	Just barely	as part of a sentence
Comparing apples to oranges	Comparing two things that cannot be compared	as part of a sentence
Costs an arm and a leg	Very expensive	as part of a sentence
Do something at the drop of a hat	Do something without having planned beforehand	as part of a sentence
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you	Treat people fairly. Also known as "The Golden Rule"	by itself
Don't count your chickens before they hatch	Don't count on something good happening until it's happened.	by itself
Don't cry over spilt milk	There's no reason to complain about something that can't be fixed	by itself
Don't give up your day job	You're not very good at this	by itself
Don't put all your eggs in one basket	What you're doing is too risky	by itself
Every cloud has a silver lining	Good things come after bad things	by itself
Get a taste of your own medicine	Get treated the way you've been treating others (negative)	as part of a sentence
Give someone the cold shoulder	Ignore someone	as part of a sentence
Go on a wild goose chase	To do something pointless	as part of a sentence
Good things come to those who wait	Be patient	by itself
He has bigger fish to fry	He has bigger things to take care of than what we are talking about now	by itself
He's a chip off the old block	The son is like the father	by itself
Hit the nail on the head	Get something exactly right	by itself
Ignorance is bliss	You're better off not knowing	by itself
It ain't over till the fat lady sings	This isn't over yet	by itself
It takes one to know one	You're just as bad as I am	by itself
It's a piece of cake	It's easy	by itself
It's raining cats and dogs	It's raining hard	by itself
Kill two birds with one stone	Get two things done with a single action	by itself
Let the cat out of the bag	Give away a secret	as part of a sentence
Live and learn	I made a mistake	by itself
Look before you leap	Take only calculated risks	by itself
On thin ice	On probation. If you make another mistake, there will be trouble.	as part of a sentence
Once in a blue moon	Rarely	as part of a sentence
Play devil's advocate	To argue the opposite, just for the sake of argument	as part of a sentence
Put something on ice	Put a projet on hold	as part of a sentence
Rain on someone's parade	To spoil something	as part of a sentence
Saving for a rainy day	Saving money for later	as part of a sentence
Slow and steady wins the race	Reliability is more important than speed	by itself
Spill the beans	Give away a secret	as part of a sentence
Take a rain check	Postpone a plan	as part of a sentence
Take it with a grain of salt	Don’t take it too seriously	as part of a sentence
The ball is in your court	It's your decision	by itself
The best thing since sliced bread	A really good invention	as part of a sentence
The devil is in the details	It looks good from a distance, but when you look closer, there are problems	by itself
The early bird gets the worm	The first people who arrive will get the best stuff	by itself
The elephant in the room	The big issue, the problem people are avoiding	as part of a sentence
The whole nine yards	Everything, all the way.	as part of a sentence
There are other fish in the sea	It's ok to miss this opportunity. Others will arise.	by itself
There's a method to his madness	He seems crazy but actually he's clever	by itself
There's no such thing as a free lunch	Nothing is entirely free	by itself
Throw caution to the wind	Take a risk	as part of a sentence
You can't have your cake and eat it too	You can't have everything	by itself
You can't judge a book by its cover	This person or thing may look bad, but it's good inside	by itself

How to make scones and the recipe

Winter calls for cosy tea time next to a roaring fire,  your English homework and scones.  Scones are the easiest British teatime treat. 

 

Ingredients

• 225g self raising flour (or packet of Alsa yeast )
• A pinch of salt
• 40g butter
• One and a half tablespooons of caster sugar
• 110 ml  milk
• 1 free-range egg beaten for glazing 

 Method

• 1. Heat the oven to 220C or Gas 7. Lightly grease a baking sheet.
     
     
  2. Mix together the flour and salt and rub in the butter with your fingers. 
     
     
  3. Stir in the sugar and then the milk to get a soft dough
     
     
  4. Turn on to a floured work surface and knead very lightly. 
     Pat out to a round 2cm  thick. Use a 5cm cutter to stamp out rounds and place on a baking sheet. Lightly knead together the rest of the dough and stamp out more scones to use all the dough up.
     
     
  5. Brush the tops of the scones with the beaten egg. Bake for 12-15 minutes until well risen and golden. 
     
     
  6. Cool on a wire rack and serve with butter and good jam and maybe some clotted cream.
     
     
     
     
      If you would like to know what clotted cream is and how to make it then watch this video.
     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7QxzsvJZ1w
     
     
     Enjoy!!
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

2019 New Year Traditions around the world

Traditions that live on

There are a number of strange and interesting New Year's traditions around the world. 
In Scotland, New Year's Eve is called Hogmanay and 'first footing' remains a popular custom with people visiting friends' and neighbours' houses just after midnight. The first person who visits your house should bring a gift as this will mean good luck. 

In Spain, it is the custom to eat 12 grapes as the bells sound for midnight on 31 December. One grape is eaten at each sound of the bell and each grape is supposed to bring good luck for each month of the year ahead. 

In Brazil, Ecuador, Bolivia, Venezuela and some other Central and South American countries, people wear special underwear of different colours on New Year's Eve. Red is supposed to be good for bringing love in the new year, while yellow is supposed to bring money.